8/3/11 UPDATE!
Just wanted to post a quick update!
So I added in 4 oz. of brown rice as a pre-workout meal about 45 minutes to an hour before I work out. I notice I have more energy and more ‘pop’ in my workouts now. I switched the fruit I usually had before to post-workout (an apple & a banana) and then down my usual chicken/broccoli dinner. I’m at 2531 calories, 231 carbs, 37 fiber. So I’m around 200 net carbs for my training days which is actually double what I was getting before. I cut out the intense a.m. conditioning and swapped in incline walking on a treadmill, fasted.
I noticed yesterday I looked much leaner through my torso, and my chest actually looked thicker & denser, so I weighed myself first thing in the a.m. after going to the bathroom…200 lbs! It’s not just my imagination either; there’s a semi-pro bb’er at my gym who I talk to frequently, he noticed I look much more cut over the last few weeks, and that I’m looking ‘fuller’. I’m assuming it’s glycogen in the muscles. I’m actually happy with how this is going, so I may not reduce the carbs in a week or so as I had initially planned to do once I was out of the rut.
Thanks again guys & gals!
OP:
OK, so I recently bulked up to 231 lbs., and started a cut on March 1. I’m down to 200 lbs. as of this morning, but the problem I’m having is that I don’t seem to be losing any more fat. My abs are visible, as is my serratus, but they have been since a few weeks ago since I was 206. I feel like after a certain point on a cut my body just starts cannibalizing muscle instead of fat, and I don’t know what to do.
I feel like I’m doing everything right as far as nutrition goes; ~2200 calories per day, 280g protein, keeping carbs around pre and post workout, and some in the morning for a total of about 115 net on training days. The only day that I do post workout carbs is on tuesday after my brutal squat/front squat workouts. I take in about 150g of carbs before I demolish some meat. 3 days per week before I do my PM workouts I also do a fasted AM cardio session usually consisting of some form of tabata, kb swings, jump work, etc.
On the two days per week when I do conditioning only I take in about 15g net carbs, and do fasted conditioning work in the A.M. The only thing I can think of to do is on the 3 days per week when I do two-adays take in some carbs after my PM workout to restore glycogen. Maybe I’m doing too much on those days to only take in about 115 net carbs?
So I feel like since nutrition is pretty much where it should be and I get 9 hours of sleep per night that only leaves training. I upped volume by doing a lot more sets in the 8-10 rep range, and set a couple of my goals for the cut to be get to 10 reps @ 400 on deadlifting and 10 reps @ 300 for squatting. This Friday I may get the 10 @ 400, and Tuesday I actually set a new PR on front squats, so my strength is staying up, but I feel like I’m not holding on to weight the way I want to.
It’s frustrating as fuck because I keep ending up at the same FUCKING point after every cut. 187 @ 10.5% bf. EVERY.FUCKING.TIME. No matter how disciplined I am, no matter what my weight gets up to, no matter how much muscle I add, I lose everything until I’m back at that same fucking weight, and now I’m only 13 lbs. away from it again. It makes bulking seem pointless since I’m going to lose everything anyway.
So what the hell am I supposed to do? Is there something wrong with my routine? It’s still based around the major compound movements 4 times per week, mostly in the 8-10 rep range. The other 2 days per week that I workout is my conditioning stuff, usually plyometrics, and explosive stuff as I noted before. The A.M. conditioning workouts I do 3x per week before PM weighted workouts are the same. Here’s my most recent workouts from my log:
Can someone please tell me what I’m doing wrong here? I’m really getting sick of this shit.