Half way through cut Crisis/Predicament

[Barrington]

I have been cutting for about a month now and i have lost quite a bit of the bloat around my belly which had given me the incentive to cut.
I still can't see my abdominals though and i am not too happy when i look in the mirror as i am not as lean as i want to be (still got a bit of love handles aswell). I have sorted out my diet, cut the gold top milk gainer shakes etc and i eat pretty cleanly. I have yet to do any cardio so i am thinking of doing some fasted walking in the morning.

I am not aiming to be super lean like some of the guys on this forum i just want to get rid of the flab around my mid section.
I look fine in a t shirt but when i take it off (i'm not a shirt off at the first bit of sun guy though!)
i feel a bit middle heavy.
I weigh 15 stone at 5,11' and am the victim of a over enthusiastic bulk. Although i was too skinny to start with and i have bulked up elsewhere not just belly (legs, arms etc) so i'm not too bothered.

My predicament is.. i am wondering how easy it is to mantain a six pack/leaness, and if i get there will i just lose it again? I don't calorie count or do the macro thing i just eat as cleanly as i can.

Secondly... my main goal is hypertrophy and getting my lifts up (i would ideally like to do this with a flat belly) i feel like i'm being torn in different directions, between not worrying about my belly and getting more mass and strength, and between getting lean and staying lean at the expense of mass gain.

I can't work out whats more important to me and am having a mid cut crisis.

[James]

If you are strict with diet you can maint and even add muscle mass/reduce fat all at once, although it is a painfully slow process! Eating 'clean' or not will not matter. For more margin for error, I would suggest fasting.

[Barrington]

I've had a look into fasting and don't think its for me, i can't eat too much in one sitting. I've seen some of your meals and i honestly think i would struggle to get through half of one. People, you included do seem to get good results from it though.
I'm just wondering if after the time and effort of losing my belly i'm going to put it on again, and maybe i should just concentrate on getting bigger (muscle wise) and not worry about my podge. You only really notice it without a shirt on.
I'm sort of thinking aloud and seeing if anyone else has had similar thoughts or been in the same situation.

[tony4100]

A voice I prayed to hear!! I am in the same situation as you are, however, I am wondering if I will ever get a glimpse of my abs!

I have been fasting for a while now and since starting on rapid fat loss I can easily go 24 hrs between meals.

Over the last 3-4 months I have made some good progress on strong lifts and I have thought about just continuing for the next 12 month, however, I really want to be lean.

We should bounce a few ideas between us!!

[Barrington]

I feel your pain lol. I'll have to google Rapid Fat Loss and do some reading.
I don't really feel fat and i wouldn't say i was but i would like to get rid of the midsection. Although sometimes i just wonder if i should just hit it hard for two years or so (i've been training seriously for 10 months) and as long as i make sure my belly doesn't get any bigger, not worry about it.
I'm definitely not near where i want to be yet size and strength wise and i did always think that i would like to be relatively happy with my progress and then cut, but i wasn't counting on the bulge. Would be interested to hear your situation, you're getting on alright with fasting then?

[tony4100]

No I don't feel fat nor am I fat either, just would like to lean up and see the abs. I have indentations down each side of my abs, but still have some fat. I wrote in another thread that I sometimes feel that the amount of effort I put into my training and diet (I mean I weigh most food and eat pretty much the same stuff day in day out and I don't really have a problem with that) is disproportional to the gains I have made. I think I have a good understanding of macros and calories fats, etc and the like.
I train with kettle bells once a week and do strong lifts on the other 2 days, so I think I am doing the right sort of training.

My plan is/was to continue with my stronglifts until I have stalled and deloaded twice at 1x5 then go on to something like hypertrophy specific training (HST). I seem to be falling into the trap of losing focus and goal shifting.

But as you said, do you forget about being lean for a year or two and just eat like a horse and lift heavy? I am in the same dilemma and don't have the answer - sorry!! Perhaps it will all come at once!!

Fasting is great, it allows me to eat a couple of large meals in an 8 hr window, leaving 16 hrs to not think about cooking or eating. I often stretch it to 20-4 hrs and now I am on RFL i eat all my daily macros in one meal every 24 hrs.

[Pkant2002]

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I wrote in another thread that I sometimes feel that the amount of effort I put into my training and diet (I mean I weigh most food and eat pretty much the same stuff day in day out and I don't really have a problem with that) is disproportional to the gains I have made.
.

I feel your pain, i have been hitting the gym hard for 7 months now and have seen huge gains in terms of lifts. But here is the big thing, i look no different and people have started mentioning i should go to the gym which is depressing when in fact i got 3 times a week and read and write about it 7 times a week. I am going to swap to HST in one month time and hope to see some gains in size. Last night i went out and i felt like the weediest weed ever compared to every other person out.

[short a**]

I personally have just been in the situation you are in. And my new feeling towards my situation is BULK, I have spent around 2 years of my life hoping between bulking and cutting, each time saying ok this time I'm really gonna bulk for a sensible prolonged period of time. Unfortunate the reality I faced is that I would put on good muscle but also fat, I would then think to myself I want my abs back!! But when it comes to it I have no where near the muscle I thought I had and as a result when I cut I end up back where I started, disappointed and feeling like I just wasted my time!

I guess what I'm saying is that having been in your exact situation a couple of moths ago I finally decided to really go for it, bulk for a good period of time, and see where I am in 6months. I am not however just gonna eat everything in sight this time, I'm gonna do it properly with a +500kcal maintenance kals on workout days and maintenance kals on non workout days. Inevitabley I will put on fat but hopefully this time I will gain a decent amount of muscle to go with it and make it worth it. And in a years time I wont be disappointed like I am now that I've wasted my time hopping between two goals to little or no effect!

That is however just my opinion, I hope it helps and good luck whichever you chose !

(P.s sorry for bad spelling if there is any I'm very dyslexic)

[stronglikewood]

Pkant2002- you're doing 5x5 aren't you? If you're goal is get bigger and 5x5 isn't adding mass then switch to a more traditional hypertrophy routine. People that grow from low reps are fast-twitch dominant and often naturally very strong/fast/athletic. If you have a slight build then you probably need to do higher reps and more volume. I'm naturally slim and don't get much from low reps. Lots of food and volume from sets and reps has made me grow a lot since I started.

Barrington- What are your lifts like at the moment? If they're high for your weight, then I'd do a minor cut. If they're still lowish then I'd carry on training as you are like a bodybuilder whilst staying at the same weight. I sat at 14st for many months, then 14.5stone for many months. Even though my bodyweight was the same, my muscle mass increased. After I couldn't get any stronger at each bodyweight I gained more weight to carry on progressing without getting too fat. Basically, if you stay the same weight but add 10kg or whatever to your 10 rep sets then you will be bigger than you were before, even if you're the same weight.

[Barrington]

Quote

Barrington- What are your lifts like at the moment? If they're high for your weight, then I'd do a minor cut. If they're still lowish then I'd carry on training as you are like a bodybuilder whilst staying at the same weight. I sat at 14st for many months, then 14.5stone for many months. Even though my bodyweight was the same, my muscle mass increased. After I couldn't get any stronger at each bodyweight I gained more weight to carry on progressing without getting too fat. Basically, if you stay the same weight but add 10kg or whatever to your 10 rep sets then you will be bigger than you were before, even if you're the same weight.

My lifts i am not very happy with really, its partly why i am struggling with the incentive to cut as i would like to keep trying to get them higher.
I was doing 5x5 but i kept stalling and stalling and i think i grow better with higher reps so now i am doing Reverse Pyramid style (except on squats) so some of my lifts at the moment....

Bench = 82.5kg 2x5 70 1x8 60 2x10
OHP = 42.5kg 2x5 35kg 1x8 30kg 1x10
Squat = 70kg 4x5 70kg 1x3 (I have real problems with progression as i have a knee injury and started going ATG a while back, so the weight dropped. Excuses excuses lol!)
DB Curl = 15kg 1x10 1x8 etc

I am very much aware that for my weight i am not very strong and i get quite fed up seeing most of the peoples constant progression in their journals, its partly why i stopped 5x5 as i got to a point where i just wasn't progressing for weeks on end. I have found that i will be getting nowhere for ages and then suddenly with no apparent reason my lifts will increase and then stay at that level for a while. I definetely don't have linear progression.

At the moment i am thinking that i will sack this cut and concentrate on my lifts and mass.
I'm also quite liking the RPT as i do a bit of low reps and high reps and thus get to keep my high weight, at least for a set or two. For instance if i did 4x10 or something i would obviously have to drop the weight, and seing as the weight i'm lifting isn't that great at the moment i'm not sure i want to go lower.

I think you're right though as long as i am progressing (albeit slowly) and not getting fatter i should probably stick to the 'bulk'.