Did some reading on the forum and I wanted to make sure I have this down.
When your waist size is 37 inches or greater, it’s recommended to enter a caloric deficit until your waist is 33 inches or less. At which point you can begin another round of caloric surplus to build up muscle up to that 37 inch border, right?
That’s in the ballpark of BBM’s standard recommendation. At 37" you’re at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, so I think the stock recommendation is to stay < 35" I think the lower number (33 vs 31, etc) is less important.
The other pieces of advice that have been important to me–when you finish cutting, maintain for awhile (month or so) before going into a surplus and when you do go into a surplus, do it very slowly. The average person’s body cannot add 5 pounds of lean body mass a month.
I think I read on another post somewhere here that 35" is the high end for bulking. So that all makes sense, thank you.
Muscle mass addition happens slower and slower as you progress in your training, right? So, for someone who’s an intermediate lifter, do you think staying near the 0.5 lbs a week during a bulking phase is a better idea?
Yup! <= 1 KG a month (2.2lbs).