'Rebounding' Into Hypertrophy?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’ve actually been in the process of dieting in the past when the scale would just stall. After a couple of weeks, I’d start looking fuller, but still, not budge of the scale.

I take this to mean the body would grow if I were to let it, so I’ll usually up the cals for a few weeks and then resume my decent.

Do I have any scientific data to support this? Of course not (I’m not that smart -lol), but sometimes it just feels like the body ‘wants’ to grow, especially after being depleted for a prolonged period.

S[/quote]

Which would lend credibility to the idea of Intermittent Fasting, no?

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I think intermittent fasting is the perfect way to diet down for a competition OR just diet down to whatever wieght and body fat you want to walk around at.

I know most on here don;t like the concept. I also don;t think youre going to be building any decent size on an IF program. But IMO IF (especially the one discussed by Martin Berkan (sp)) is great.

I would encourage you to look at his stuff. He himself feels the 6 meals a day works great for size and to a certain extent (depending on the person) for cutting down.

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’ve actually been in the process of dieting in the past when the scale would just stall. After a couple of weeks, I’d start looking fuller, but still, not budge of the scale.

I take this to mean the body would grow if I were to let it, so I’ll usually up the cals for a few weeks and then resume my decent.

Do I have any scientific data to support this? Of course not (I’m not that smart -lol), but sometimes it just feels like the body ‘wants’ to grow, especially after being depleted for a prolonged period.

S

Which would lend credibility to the idea of Intermittent Fasting, no?[/quote]

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YOure also a classic endo meso type, I assume? Gain size easily, difficult to get/stay lean?
Don;t take my word for it, but I think with a few such cycles (with enough lifting volume and trying to progress each session) you could get to a lean 200 pounds quite comfortably.

OT I also recommend the hanging weighted lat stretch that many do here already and weighted sissy squat position stretch. WHen youre past puvberty, your frame needs a little coaxing to change in order to hold more lean mass.

Too many people here try to fill out poor frames with just eating big and lifting hard (not going to work too well after a certain age).

[quote]johnward82 wrote:
PonceDeLeon wrote:
Stu,

So, are you saying that the rebound effect is more tied to overall weight or to body composition?

Say you were 200 lbs @ 20% and you cut some BF. Can you rebound back to a previous weight ‘set point,’ albeit with a better body composition?

Seems like that might be possible but the tendency for your body to recompose at the most recent body composition - say, prior to the initial cut - will be the uphill challenge. Resisting this tendency, I mean, and instead shooting for a rebound into a more desirable body composition.

Thanks for chiming in, man. I like hearing about first-hand experiences on stuff like this.

I will take this road. I am no where by any means of the body type or condition that you are looking for but my story in a nutshell.

Dieted down from 250 to 165. When I started to put weight back on, 190 came to me quick fast and in a hurry. More fat than what I would have liked, but way more muscle is being carried than it was when I hit the same weight on the way down.

I look forward to trying this same concept at higher weights in stead of higher “blob like” weights.

FWIW

[/quote]

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While I’m one of probably the majority who will argue against any sort of fasting, I will occassionally have a very very low calorie day. Sometimes you just don’t feel like eating, and I certainly don’t think you should force it,… BUT, I’m way too worried about losing any muscle,… so if I eat nothing but a couple of shakes and a can of tuna on a particular day… it’s so far below my maintence, than the next day I’m raring to gorge again, ready to tear up the weights, and usually look tight as hell.

S

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Stu,

That’s the other thing I question: muscle catabolism during a day of little exercise.

Isn’t it generally accepted that, when you exercise, the intensity of physical effort exerted dictates what energy store is tapped into? In other words, intense effort will tap into ATP and glycogen and amino acid (muscle) stores, whereas lower intensity will tend to tap into adipose tissue for energy?

If so, then how is it that people are worried about muscle being broken down when they wait a bit longer between meals, assuming there is no serious physical activity like exercise going on? I mean, won’t the body just continue to use up the fatty tissue?

And I am talking about merely walking around, sitting at your desk, etc, as the sole forms of energy expenditure during this time.

Almost seems like an unfounded worry, unless you are carrying little to no body fat and muscle tissue is then a preferred source of energy by your body…

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Hmnnn well, aside from requiring energy for activity, your dietary intake is what will enable your body to repair and grow from the ‘damage’ you subjected it to the previous day.

So I’d certainly worry more about fueling growth when you eat frequently than I would about the fact that you don’t exercise on a given day. I think somehow, this all gets way too complicated when discussed on here.

We all understand since high school that proteins are the ‘building blocks’ for growth and repair, and we’ve all seen the various diagrams where nutrients, and hormone levels start to drop after the 2 hour mark. For me,… it’s just that simple -lol.

Your body can tap into any macronutrient as an energy source, however the net result, and the cost of each is different (don’t make me get out my CSCS notes, just take my word for it)

S