As the title says, I can’t really decide which one to do. I have always been hovering around 15% BF but this time I want to get lean and get to 8-10%.
My primary focus is strength, because I feel I am not strong enough and I have so much room to progress (Been training seriously for 2,5 years, had serious injuries in sports during, my total is only ~500kg but the last 6 months I have gained around 100kg on it and keep gaining). So the last two months I have slowly transitionned from a 3700 cal diet to 2700.
So I have never done any special diet yet, I just want to know which one would help me achieve my fat loss without being being too harsh on my sanity (still have to lift heavy and improve technique).
I will start the program for strength and athleticism by CT as it fits my psychological profile and goal. (5 days of training)
I have been into IF for many years but I must admit to having failed on several occasions to adhere to 5/2. The two low calorie days weren’t too bad but I felt ravenous on the days in between and tended to over-compensate, making the whole exercise pointless.
Carb cycling is relatively simple to organise so perhaps consider the many articles on this site for that one.
As JFG mentioned, your best results will come from the one that you give the greatest adherence to.
For me, unlike James, the 5/2 seems almost too easy for me. I have recommended it to several friends who have also had some pretty amazing results (without changing anything else).
I enjoy the aspects of only “dieting” two days a week on non-consecutive, non-workout days. It is pretty simple for me, I drink more water/green tea/coffee on these days to keep my stomach full.
That being said, on my regular days I typically structure my diet around a kinda carb cycling approach just eating more carbs on my intense (squat/deadlift) days than on my easier (bench, etc) days. But I don’t exactly track exact cals/macros on those days.
