Group: Competitive Bodybuilding & Fitness

Created: 2012/01/01, Members: 21, Messages: 5367

Discuss the process of preparing for a competition on the sport of body building, fitness and more!

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Cutting Question

mikencharleston
mikencharleston
Posts: 1,585
Joined: 2002/01/09
United States
2005/10/04, 10:05 AM
This is more out of curiousity than anything else. Like many non body builders on the site, and to keep the workouts and the diet from getting boring, I do mass cycles followed by cut cycles a couple of times a year and have always managed to hit near my goals. I'm getting ready to do a lot of road time for the next six months and wanted to shed a little body fat and just a bit of weight. This cycle has lasted almost double what I normally do but until the last week, I was able to maintain a slow but consistent fat loss with no weight loss. I needed a workout break and took off the last 4 days but stayed clean with the diet and the only supplements are cAMP and C2. I've dropped 8 lbs in the last five days (obviously not all fat) and even though it wasn't part of the plan, the results are better than fine. Sorry for the long post but not having the experience with extreme cuts that some of you have, I was wondering if this rapid loss is normal after 2 months of virtually no weight change, and if so does it usually tie in with a change in workout routine?

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Mike
in Pensacola Now.
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2005/10/07, 11:09 AM
Could be a number of things. First comes to mind wondering if your diet has changed in that you cut back on carbs. This could well indicate what you lost was mostly water. In most cases, that much weight fluctuation in that short a time period is due to water weight.

However(notice there is that however!!:big_smile:), at our ages, it may sound odd, but we cannot take the breaks that younger folks can take from the workload. We will not grow as they will, our bodies will be looking to shed a load as quickly as possible. This is due to many factors, namely test levels. At our age, test levels are dropping like a rock, and estrogen levels are very high. And any fat gain will intensify(add to) estrogen levels even more. It is a fact that most men at age 50 have less test/more estrogen than a post menapausal woman. This may not be what you want to hear, but it is a fact. So, in the end here, the other scenario is that your body is shedding a load it does not want. Be very careful, monitor yourself closely.

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If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....

bb1fit@freetrainers.com
mikencharleston
mikencharleston
Posts: 1,585
Joined: 2002/01/09
United States
2005/10/07, 11:33 AM
Thanks Ron - I figured it was probably mostly water weight and it stabilized a couple of days after I made that post and started the weight cycle again. After checking my log I also noticed I cycled off creatine a couple of days before coming off the workout cycle. I did need the break this time as it was the most affective (but for me, extreme) cut I'd ever stuck to for this long. I was depleted and by the way, I was using a spin-off on one of your cutting diets I had printed out a couple of years ago but cut the carbs too much. How the heck do you do that over and over??? :)

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Mike
in Pensacola Now.
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2005/10/07, 12:19 PM
The drastic carb cuts usually are at the end of the diet, last few weeks. In the beginning, normally keep carbs up, but as you plateau, you have to keep making changes. At some point, protein cuts are not an option, and carbs are. It is better to keep fats high and protein high for cutting(that is, after you have exhausted normal means, and still need to get to a lower bodyfat for instance for competition).

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If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....

bb1fit@freetrainers.com