Can you give me some guidance on whether my current approach to improving body composition makes sense, or if I should adjust anything for my short/medium-term goals?
Recent Context
Didn’t train for 5 months (May to October) due to surgery recovery, travel and slacking off
Restarted PB 1 Gen 2 (currently in week 5), been able to add load weekly and strength is within ~20% of pre-hiatus numbers, though still far from all time bests.
e.g., squat: 115 x 4 @ 9 (previous run) → 100 x 4 @ 8 (now), bench: 95 x 4 @ 9 → 80 x 4 @ 8
Stats
Age: 26
BW: 78.5 kg (77 in May)
Height: 181 cm
Waist: 84 cm (82 cm in May)
Est. BF: ~25% (can share pics if helpful)
Nutrition
October → Nov 10: Eating healthyish, 1-2 meals out/week, 4g creatine daily; BW climbed from 81.5 kg to 83 kg in the first few days and held there steadily.
Nov 10 → now: Eating to appetite with intention to lose weight, prioritised protein, didn’t track at first to avoid overthinking. Logged this past week out of curiosity:
Weight dropped from 82.8 to 78.5 kg, waist from 89 to 84 cm
Subjectively, hunger is surprisingly fine, energy and sleep are okay
Goals (mostly short-term)
Get significantly leaner: thinking 76-78 cm waist, ~12% BF, which might put me at 70-71 kg.
Maintain that for a month, before starting a slow gaining phase.
My thinking is that starting a bulk leaner would make it last longer before reaching an arbitrary cutoff, and I won’t be as anxious about accumulating body fat if I had less overall stores to begin with.
And of course long-term, I wanna get as much fitness as my genes and habits I accumulate would allow.
I have several family events/travel in ~3 months. Historically, I maintain well during those periods but struggle with active cutting/gaining, so the plan is to finish the cut before then and hopefully hold a few weeks at maintenance.
If you think I’d benefit from a consult or a month of nutrition coaching, I’m open to signing up while the sale is on. Also, happy to provide pics if they help.
I think going all the way to 70-71kg is going to take quite a while if you want to do it in a manner where you preserve most of your existing muscle mass. I think the time course of that, plus a maintenance phase, then the slow bulk is a pretty long process that doesn’t lead to better muscle or strength outcomes. On the other hand, being leaner for longer may be a priority and I can understand that.
Maintenance Cals are likely 2600-2900 for you, so I think 1400 Cal/d is too low for this purpose. I’d also want to see protein in the 150-160 range and fiber > 30g/day.
If it were me, I’d be aiming to maybe lose 1-2kg if you’re dead set on being leaner. Then, I’d plan on a few weeks of maintenance, before entering a slow bulk. IMO, you’re too tall to walk around at 71kg and look like you lift. If you want to be really lean, I get that, but that would not be my preferred choice here.
I do think some active management from a professional would be good here if that’s something you’re open to.
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply - really appreciate you taking the time. Yeah, the timeline and tradeoffs you mentioned about going all the way down to 70 kg make a lot of sense. Tbh, I might not even enjoy the end result as much as I think, so a smaller loss now seems like a better move.
I figured it might be useful to share a few recent pics for some extra context, just in case I’m carrying more fat than you may have assumed. I’ve been a tad bit leaner in the past, but nothing dramatically different. If seeing these changes your thoughts at all, I’d love to hear it.
Also, how do you suggest I transition from what I’m currently doing? You’re right about my maintenance range, based on past experience. Would it make sense to bump up to ~2200 kcal right away, while bringing protein and fibre up, and let my bw come down a couple of kilos, before going on a month long maintenance phase? Or would you prefer a different approach for wrapping up this cut?
I think we’re getting into consult territory with more specific advice.
To reiterate what I would do from my last reply:
If it were me, I’d be aiming to maybe lose 1-2kg if you’re dead set on being leaner. Then, I’d plan on a few weeks of maintenance, before entering a slow bulk.
