Tuesday 12 June 2018

A new bulk and cut cycle

I started taking my diet seriously in August 2017, and I saw the most pronounced changes in my body composition that I've ever seen in my life (and I've been training on / off for about 5 years).

In mid-Aug 2017, I started a bulk that ended about Nov 2017. In that period, I went from around 66-67 kg to 73.3kg, the heaviest I had weighed in my life.
Nov 2017 - Feb 2018: Started cutting, went down to 67kg
Feb 2018 - Apr 2018: Started bulking, went from 67kg to 71kg
Apr 2018 - Jun 2018 : Started cutting, went down to 65kg (current).

I'm at the tail end of this cut, and aiming to end at about 64kg so that I will be really lean, and plan to start on a much slower bulk.

From the previous experiences in bulking (especially the first bulk cycle in Aug-Nov 2017), going up too quickly (0.5kg seemed a bit too fast) just made me look fat at the end of my bulk. My previous cut to 67kg I didn't really see leanness/abs that I liked, hence I pushed lower this time with the goal of 64kg. Realistically, I think I'll need to hit 62kg to really get the 'shredded' look, but I don't think I can bring myself to do that.

First, some progress pics:

Even though I lost 8(!) kg, my muscles actually look more defined. It's clearer in the next picture. 

Gosh, I look overweight in the 1st pic. 
For this upcoming bulk, I'm planning to REALLY take it slow, aiming for just about 0.5-0.6kg gain in two weeks. I'm hoping that this slow bulk will mean I retain my leanness as I put on mass. The target is to hit about 69-70kg in 16 weeks, eat at maintenance for 2 weeks (apparently helps to reset hypertrophy pathways), then cut back down to 65 in 8 weeks (i.e. half a year; 26 weeks cycle). The general goal is to push up my 'bottom weight' by 1kg each cycle.

I'm not sure how easy it will be to maintain a constant rate of weight gain/loss, and I'm expecting to hit some unexpected plateaus or spikes that will necessitate some modifications to the plan, but I plan to bump up my calories by 200 initially (assume that's about maintenance for me) for a week. If no weight change, I will bump it up by another 100. If there's weight change, I will maintain that calorie intake until weight gain slows to less than 0.15 a week. For bulk phase, I will not be rushing, so I foresee I may actually end up under 70kg at the end of 16 weeks. For the cut phase, I will be more aggressive in my reduction of calories if my weight doesn't move week-on-week.

The eventual goal is to walk around at 70kg, lean, and maintain that. To achieve that, it seems like it will take 3 years, assuming a 6 month bulk/cut cycle. So will I have a lean, mean physique in 2021? I certainly hope so!

Some of the changes that I will be adapting for this bulk cycle is also to try to maintain a 50:50 eat clean ratio. Previously, I was more or less going IIFYM style, eating whatever just to hit my calorie target. I will be more deliberate this time, and hopefully it will help maintain leanness.

Training-wise, I will stick to N-suns for a while, and hope that I can break 100kg on Bench Press once I start eating more (I was at 97.5kg for 3 reps at one point). I have little doubt this programming will help me bring my Deadlift (once I can start doing it) up to 100kg (and beyond) too, so I'm looking forward to that. Hope my knee gets fixed soon.

1 comment:

  1. jesus fuck you really have shit genetics, like the skeleton of a woman. I have the same problem and I'm constantly bullied about it

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