I spent some time cutting down weight from around 83kg to 74kg, with my waist dropping from about 102cm down to 93cm. For about the last 3 months I’ve been gaining weight again, hopping to put on muscle and minimize my waist circumference. I’m back up to 82kg and my waist is practically where it was before and visually I’m the same as when I starting cutting weight the first time around. I’m training following typically BBM formula and I eat practically the same thing everyday (grains, milk, fruit, vegetables, chicken breast and protein powder) with very little straying from that, so I’m not sure exactly what is going wrong.
Hey Dylan,
Sorry to hear this has been your experience. A few questions, am I understanding you correctly that you gained 9kg in 3 months? Also, was the lowest your waist got 93cm?
-Jordan
Around 8-9kg, which was definitely faster than I had planned. The amount of calories needed for me to gain weight must have been miscalculated. The lowest my waist got was about 93cm
I think that your rate of weight gain was about three times as fast as it should have been and I would’ve liked to see your waist get down to 86cm or so before gaining weight again. That’s what I’d do going forward.
Originally I wanted to keep going before, but the thing is I have very little upper body muscle, and I think my kids were suffering because of it. I hold all my fat around my waist, like a beer hut, but my chest, shoulders and arms are tiny. While my squat and deadlift were going fine my Bench was continually getting worse over the period of cutting, and it’s already significantly behind my squat and deadlift
What do you mean your kids were suffering because of it?
I think that with centrally located body fat, I’d make an even stronger case for reducing body fat. I’d also adjust programming for your bench press given your recent results. What program were you running?
Whoops, didn’t mean to say kids. Meant to say lifts, guess it was just auto correct fail.
As for programming I am currently doing this
https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/forums/unmoderated-forums/programming-discussion/60945-current-program-thoughts
My squat has been progressing the without any issues. Deadlift progress has been meh, but bench is terrible
Yea I can see the general idea there, but I think the program would be better with more consistent volume work and more volume overall for the upper body. We have a few templates that would suit you, but I understand wanting to tinker as well.
What would you recommend?
PB I or Strength I.
You think I should move back down to 3 days a week?
I don’t think your training frequency should be evaluated independently of training volume and average intensity.