Hello! About 2 months ago I bought myself a power rack and a barbell to be able to workout at home. I’ve noticed that by adhering to a handfull of exercises (which I’m limited to) and training more regularly I’m making decent progress. I’m back at my old strength standards (which isn’t much tbh) but with great form. Yesterday for example I squatted 80kg (over warm-up) for a single with full control and a slight pause. Even my bench press is feeling great, even though I never felt confident on that lift.
I picked the guaranteed muscle mass routine from Paul Carter because in essence it resembles WSFSB3 and I’ve had decent results with that in the past. I really like the simplicity, the focus on strength progression on that single all-out set (+50%) and the rep pr’s on the 350 sets.
I’m just not sure about my nutrition. In the T-Nation article he says that if you’re 15+ % bodyfat you should cut down first. If you’re between 12 and 15% you should eat at maintenance (or a slight surplus). I’m in the latter category. I’m 6ft (183cm), 28 y/o and 165lbs (75kg). I’ve read numerous other articles by Paul and he always advocates the same: get lean first. At the moment I’m the guy with upper abs in good lighting on an empty stomach… so I’d put myself at 14-16%.
What should I do?
I’ve been eating at maintenance (some days slightly higher, others lower - max 10%) and I look a bit leaner, everything also feels a bit tighter… Bodyweight hasn’t really changed (7-day average stays within 0.2kg’s week to week). So I’m guessing I lost some bodyfat and gained muscle, since I’m a lot stronger than 2 months ago. But it’s hard to believe that this is the best approach. I’m in that awkward place where I know I should lose some fat and need - a lot - more muscle.
PS: I’ve noticed a big difference from upping protein from 0.8 to 1+ grams as Paul said in the article… So I’m inclined to believe him on the whole maintenance calories thing. I’d like to hear his stance on this aswel if someone would be so kind to tag him? Thanks!