Cutting and bulking plans

Michael Ray

Member
Vendor
In the last year I've been tracking quite a few changes to my diet and exercise. I've lost about 17 pounds of jelly and put on some lean muscle. I still have some "hard to reach" jelly to lose, and would ultimately like to put all of my pounds back on in lean muscle. To say I'm new to the concepts in play here, would be an understatement. With that in mind, I don't even know if this is the right way to go, as concepts/plans go.

I've been looking at some things, and have stumbled upon RP Strength. Has anyone here used their diet planning spreadsheets? If not them, have you tried anything else, as far as systems go? Thanks for any input you can provide.
 

Dr. Cornwallis

Regular Member
I played around with diet and nutrition for a long time before I figured out what everyone was trying to tell me for years. I eat a lot of healthy calories from Whole Foods and I follow a good strength and conditioning program. I eat a lot of lean meats, chicken, rice and veggies.

Unless you're quite obese, I would against working out in a calorie deficit and rather, workout in a slight calorie excess and focus on building muscle. The best way to burn fat is to build muscle and if you are in a calorie deficit, you will not be building as much muscle (if any). If you stay in too much of a calorie deficit for too long you can actually begin to hold onto more fat as your body goes into a state of starvation.




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Michael Ray

Member
Vendor
I played around with diet and nutrition for a long time before I figured out what everyone was trying to tell me for years. I eat a lot of healthy calories from Whole Foods and I follow a good strength and conditioning program. I eat a lot of lean meats, chicken, rice and veggies.

Unless you're quite obese, I would against working out in a calorie deficit and rather, workout in a slight calorie excess and focus on building muscle. The best way to burn fat is to build muscle and if you are in a calorie deficit, you will not be building as much muscle (if any). If you stay in too much of a calorie deficit for too long you can actually begin to hold onto more fat as your body goes into a state of starvation.

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Thank you.
 

M80Ball

Newbie
I played around with diet and nutrition for a long time before I figured out what everyone was trying to tell me for years. I eat a lot of healthy calories from Whole Foods and I follow a good strength and conditioning program. I eat a lot of lean meats, chicken, rice and veggies.

Unless you're quite obese, I would against working out in a calorie deficit and rather, workout in a slight calorie excess and focus on building muscle. The best way to burn fat is to build muscle and if you are in a calorie deficit, you will not be building as much muscle (if any). If you stay in too much of a calorie deficit for too long you can actually begin to hold onto more fat as your body goes into a state of starvation.




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Gotta disagree with you there brother. By that logic, no powerlifter / strongman should be fat due to the muscle mass they have and they'd qualify as bodybuilders as well. You're absolutely right in saying that little to no muscle mass will be built in a deficit (unless the individual is just starting weight training). It's a balance. The way to avoid the starvation mode you mentioned is to not drop your calories too fast or too extreme. There's only about a 300 calorie difference between my surplus goal and deficit goal (2700 vs 2400).

Michael, it depends on how long you've been cutting for. If you don't have a ton of fat left, you could start up a small bulk again (.5lb/week) and do that for a few months. Recomp after that cycle if needed. Or you could just finish off the cut and eliminate all the fat you want before getting into a surplus again. It's largely up to you and your goals. You can't do both at the same time, so we need to figure that out first.
 

Dr. Cornwallis

Regular Member
Gotta disagree with you there brother. By that logic, no powerlifter / strongman should be fat due to the muscle mass they have and they'd qualify as bodybuilders as well. You're absolutely right in saying that little to no muscle mass will be built in a deficit (unless the individual is just starting weight training). It's a balance. The way to avoid the starvation mode you mentioned is to not drop your calories too fast or too extreme. There's only about a 300 calorie difference between my surplus goal and deficit goal (2700 vs 2400).

Michael, it depends on how long you've been cutting for. If you don't have a ton of fat left, you could start up a small bulk again (.5lb/week) and do that for a few months. Recomp after that cycle if needed. Or you could just finish off the cut and eliminate all the fat you want before getting into a surplus again. It's largely up to you and your goals. You can't do both at the same time, so we need to figure that out first.

I think you may be misunderstanding. There's a difference between eating plenty of good clean food in order to build some muscle and perform while losing fat and eating an 8k calorie a day powerlifting diet... extremes. Some power lifters are quite lean, however.


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M80Ball

Newbie
I think you may be misunderstanding. There's a difference between eating plenty of good clean food in order to build some muscle and perform while losing fat and eating an 8k calorie a day powerlifting diet... extremes. Some power lifters are quite lean, however.


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Oh shit I gotcha, I misunderstood. Completely agree with you. People say "just eat man!" when they ask about bulking. That's a perfect road to go down if you want to get fat.
 

ajsomp

Regular Member
In the last year I've been tracking quite a few changes to my diet and exercise. I've lost about 17 pounds of jelly and put on some lean muscle. I still have some "hard to reach" jelly to lose, and would ultimately like to put all of my pounds back on in lean muscle. To say I'm new to the concepts in play here, would be an understatement. With that in mind, I don't even know if this is the right way to go, as concepts/plans go.

I've been looking at some things, and have stumbled upon RP Strength. Has anyone here used their diet planning spreadsheets? If not them, have you tried anything else, as far as systems go? Thanks for any input you can provide.
I've used RP for a few years. They simplify things, a lot. To the point where it has changed my perception of how to keep a sustainable lifestyle. BLUF- buy the templates. If you buy one cut and one bulk you can use it multiple times (they even talk about this and tell people not to buy one every time). I do cycles of cut, sustain, bulk, sustain, cut, etc continuously. My weight usually stays within 10-15 lbs - but I look completely different than I did 3 years ago.
 

Sunshine_Shooter

Established
I've used RP for a few years. They simplify things, a lot. To the point where it has changed my perception of how to keep a sustainable lifestyle. BLUF- buy the templates. If you buy one cut and one bulk you can use it multiple times (they even talk about this and tell people not to buy one every time). I do cycles of cut, sustain, bulk, sustain, cut, etc continuously. My weight usually stays within 10-15 lbs - but I look completely different than I did 3 years ago.

So it's worth the $100-$160 for each template? That seems a little steep, but I've never purchased anything similar before.

I get that they have a template for losing weight and a new template for gaining muscle, and that they are adjusted for gender and starting weight, s how often would I actually need to get a new template?
 

Michael Ray

Member
Vendor
So it's worth the $100-$160 for each template? That seems a little steep, but I've never purchased anything similar before.

I get that they have a template for losing weight and a new template for gaining muscle, and that they are adjusted for gender and starting weight, s how often would I actually need to get a new template?

See? That's my primary source of hesitation with them, really. If the spreadsheet is scalable based upon the ability to key in your current weight and let the various formulae programmed into the sheet take over, it makes a lot more sense. Otherwise, I am going to have to go back and buy a new spreadsheet at some point. If that's the case, how do I determine when I need to do that?
 

Sunshine_Shooter

Established
See? That's my primary source of hesitation with them, really. If the spreadsheet is scalable based upon the ability to key in your current weight and let the various formulae programmed into the sheet take over, it makes a lot more sense. Otherwise, I am going to have to go back and buy a new spreadsheet at some point. If that's the case, how do I determine when I need to do that?

Maybe do a group buy and get 12 spread sheets, all of similar yet slightly different variables? Then we could reverse-engineer their formula? Then we would know when to get new spreadsheets. Of course, then we wouldn't need to buy new spreadsheets...
 

Lex137

Newbie
I’m not sure if this will help, but I will tell you what I am doing since your asking for input. Im 34 years old I started out around 178-180 lb which would be fine if I wasn’t 5’5” (almost little person height), and 22%+ body fat. Didn’t know how much or even how to eat and where to start. I decided I needed help and looked up the top performance center in my area, started training 3 times a week for 1hr sessions, the coach got me a nutritionalist who mapped out my diet for a week at a time, she would tweak things every week.

So I know how much quantity and weight to eat. It’s a super clean way of eating, and I don’t eat out, cook and meal prep all the time. I’m now down to 153lbs and bf down to around 16-17%. I eat about 1900-2300 calories a day depending on low or high carb days. I don’t always eat all my snacks in between meals and I’m usually never hungry. I also don’t drink anything, but water and palin tea.

So my recommendation would be, to go see a professional and get real advice that is specific to you. Not just some diet that you’ll do for a couple of months and then be back to where you are now. It’s a lifestyle change I wish you the best of luck on your journey!
 
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