My new approach

[pollox]

Just finished a long 3 month cut...

would like to start a gradual bulk, by increasing cals by 200 a week, for 4 weeks, then cut dwn a week, something like this:

Weeks 1-4: Eat to gain
Week 5: Eat to cut
Weeks 6-8: Eat to gain
Weeks 9-10: Eat to cut
Weeks 11-13: Eat to gain
Weeks 14-15: Eat to cut

Each time im eating to gain im adding 200 cals per week, everytime im cutting im taking off 200 cals

thoughts on this approach?

edit: also starting Saturday im going to take a week off lifting, just gunnna do cardio for the week, my muscles need rest before i start my new program..... i will be following a 5x5 base, lifting 4 days a week with one cardio day

[Ritch]

I hope you mean 200 cals a day. But even then, it`s so little I doubt it will be effective. I do believe in calorie cycling, but your approach needs to be more aggressive.

[pollox]

I hope you mean 200 cals a day. But even then, it`s so little I doubt it will be effective. I do believe in calorie cycling, but your approach needs to be more aggressive.

hey old friend, no pun, yeah what im saying is every week i will add 200 cals

example, week 1=2100k per day week 2=2300k per day

id like to try this approach in order to regain strength lost on cut with minimal fat gain while doing so

[Ritch]

It`s cool that you`re thinking up stuff on your own. I do this alot as well. To be able to think for yourself is a great attribute in bodybuilding. But it you`ve been cutting for 3 months your body is in a state where it can handle much more cals than you`re planning on taking in. After a such a long period of being in a state of caloric deficiency, you should be able to eat big for a good 3 weeks with minimal fat gain. Prae here said many of his clients can go up to 6 weeks, but I doubt you took it as far as his clients do in terms of a strict diet and cardio.

An increase of 200 cals a week is only an extra 29 cals a day. That`s like saying I`m gonna do a bulk phase and add an extra 7.25 grams of protein a day because that`s what it comes out to calorie wise. You see how you need to up the cals more?

There was a guy who stated it`s possible to do what you`re saying and it was posted here. The guys name is Mike Mentzer. An ex IFBB pro from the 70`s. Mike was a guy who could really think outside the box. Well that theory was put out a long time ago and nobody I tried it. It just defies anything logical.

[Memo]

I was thinking about something like that to keep my metabolism a little slower, but quickly realized that eating as much as I can and do more cardio works better for me.

[pollox]

It`s cool that you`re thinking up stuff on your own. I do this alot as well. To be able to think for yourself is a great attribute in bodybuilding. But it you`ve been cutting for 3 months your body is in a state where it can handle much more cals than you`re planning on taking in. After a such a long period of being in a state of caloric deficiency, you should be able to eat big for a good 3 weeks with minimal fat gain. Prae here said many of his clients can go up to 6 weeks, but I doubt you took it as far as his clients do in terms of a strict diet and cardio.

An increase of 200 cals a week is only an extra 29 cals a day. That`s like saying I`m gonna do a bulk phase and add an extra 7.25 grams of protein a day because that`s what it comes out to calorie wise. You see how you need to up the cals more?

There was a guy who stated it`s possible to do what you`re saying and it was posted here. The guys name is Mike Mentzer. An ex IFBB pro from the 70`s. Mike was a guy who could really think outside the box. Well that theory was put out a long time ago and nobody I tried it. It just defies anything logical.

no ritch youve got me all wrong...

ill explain further

lets say i start tomorrow, im gunna eat 2100 cals,and im gunna continue eating 2100 cals until next thursday..then, on friday, im gunna eat 2300 cals, and the day after that, until i hit the friday after that, where i will then eat 2500 cals for the rest of that week, and so on and so fourth

im not going to increase my cals every single day, so by the end of the month ill be eating 2700 cals per day...

last time i came off from dieting down i jumped straight back t eating 3500 cals per day and i gained a bunch of belly fat from such a dramatic increase

[Memo]

why don't you find your maintenance, and eat 300 cals a day for 3 months and see how it goes.

[tiramisu]

500 calories a day or 3500 calories a week over maintenance is the equivalent of gaining about 1 pound per week. 200 calories per day is a pretty small jump.

I'd probably start at 1000 calories per day over maintenance and see how that works but I'm not the sharpest bowling ball in the deck when it comes to the theory of bulking.

[colbertroader]

I see your thoughts.

Gotta remember your hormones/metabolism/BMR all timing. When you said you jumped from a diet to 3,500 cals in the past & gained fat you likley went at the 3,500 for too long. My belief is it takes up to 12 days for the body to respond fully to a large calorie change to maintain homeostasis. I can tell you I've had great gains is the past doing 12 day cycles of high & low calorie phases. (Yes this was quoted by Bill Phillips stolen from a Swedish scientist Acheim Akerfelt sp??). Anyway, I start with my BMR estimation which is around 2,400 cals/day right now. Then throw in the weights and cardio cals I'll be burning over a 24 day period. Divide all that by 24 and that's my maintenance calorie intake. Let's say that figures out to be 3,200 cals/day. Then for 12 days I do as low a calorie phase as I feel comfortable (usually that averages to between 1,800 and 2,300 cals/day keeping carbs between 150 & 200g/day). AT this point my body is real hungry to make full use of calories. So I then for 12 days eat the difference which is (3,200 x 24 = 76,800cals for 24 days minus (about 2,000 x 12 days = 24,000 from the low cal phase leaves 52,800 for the next 12 days or 4,400 cals/day.

Now all those calcs assume maintenance not necessarily weight gain. If I was real aggressive I'd add 500 cals/day to the whole 24 day period and split the math up again.

I can tell you I folllowed this for 3 months several years back and by the end of the 3 months my metabolism was literally ON FIRE! At a higher weight, my body was tighter and harder than ever and strength & energy & immune system were topped right up. I felt invincible.

Anyway, good that you're trying new things but like a few mentioned above maybe try to get a little more agressive with you cycling approach.

cheers

[pollox]

I see your thoughts.

Gotta remember your hormones/metabolism/BMR all timing. When you said you jumped from a diet to 3,500 cals in the past & gained fat you likley went at the 3,500 for too long. My belief is it takes up to 12 days for the body to respond fully to a large calorie change to maintain homeostasis. I can tell you I've had great gains is the past doing 12 day cycles of high & low calorie phases. (Yes this was quoted by Bill Phillips stolen from a Swedish scientist Acheim Akerfelt sp??). Anyway, I start with my BMR estimation which is around 2,400 cals/day right now. Then throw in the weights and cardio cals I'll be burning over a 24 day period. Divide all that by 24 and that's my maintenance calorie intake. Let's say that figures out to be 3,200 cals/day. Then for 12 days I do as low a calorie phase as I feel comfortable (usually that averages to between 1,800 and 2,300 cals/day keeping carbs between 150 & 200g/day). AT this point my body is real hungry to make full use of calories. So I then for 12 days eat the difference which is (3,200 x 24 = 76,800cals for 24 days minus (about 2,000 x 12 days = 24,000 from the low cal phase leaves 52,800 for the next 12 days or 4,400 cals/day.

Now all those calcs assume maintenance not necessarily weight gain. If I was real aggressive I'd add 500 cals/day to the whole 24 day period and split the math up again.

I can tell you I folllowed this for 3 months several years back and by the end of the 3 months my metabolism was literally ON FIRE! At a higher weight, my body was tighter and harder than ever and strength & energy & immune system were topped right up. I felt invincible.

Anyway, good that you're trying new things but like a few mentioned above maybe try to get a little more agressive with you cycling approach.

cheers

thanks for the in depth response

ill look to add 400 cals extra per day for the first two weeks and see where that gets me.... ive never really cycled calories before, only basic eating abve maintenance for a period of time till i got stronger/fatter and eating under maitenance till i got body fat down/felt too depleted

[pollox]

500 calories a day or 3500 calories a week over maintenance is the equivalent of gaining about 1 pound per week. 200 calories per day is a pretty small jump.

I'd probably start at 1000 calories per day over maintenance and see how that works but I'm not the sharpest bowling ball in the deck when it comes to the theory of bulking.

i wont be using any AAS so to think that im gunnna add a pound of muscle per week isnt realistic

[AlladdinSane]

Man... People here sure are being nice to you...

[L3]

i wont be using any AAS so to think that im gunnna add a pound of muscle per week isnt realistic

he didnt mean 1 pound of muscle, he meant 1 pound of mass.

i wonder how much tren you would need to put on 1lb/muscle a week...

[pollox]

he didnt mean 1 pound of muscle, he meant 1 pound of mass.

i wonder how much tren you would need to put on 1lb/muscle a week...

lol yea, i know what he meant..

probably not as much as you think after a long time in a caloric deficit, but i really have no idea lol