Hi guys, bit of back story first, I’m 6ft 2inch 197lbs, I’m into sports so never really done weights and went through a period of just eating whatever I wanted because I was exercising a lot (rowing) my body fat was around 25%, after a few years of faffing with my diet I’m at about 18% I haven’t exactly tried to lose weight just staying the same really. I’ve been in the gym for a few months trying to follow a programme called Arnold’s blueprint to cut (it was on the body space app) but it’s fairly boring and don’t know of its right for cutting or whatever because I’m not very strong, my max squat is 140kg max deadlift 180kg so I’d like them to get bigger but I don’t want to bulk up until my body fat is lower. Basically I’m just curious as to what programme is good for me, I looked at 5x5 but I enjoy doing a variety of exercises. I’m eating 1700 calories a day so this blueprint is really taxing.
Have you considered upping the calories just a bit?
I think you might burn out rather quickly at that low of an intake, assuming you are training 3-4+ times/week. You’ll probably notice more rapid fat loss with 1700 kcal/day at your BW, as your stats are similar to mine, but you might look at the long haul and opt for 1-2 lbs of fat loss per week, commensurate with a good training program, at body weight x 10-12 calories = 1970-2360 calories/day for you. When go that low, my performance eventually suffers in the gym.
Thanks for the reply mate, I try to eat around 2500 calories 1 day a week as a bit of a refeed and carb cycling around 100g per day, and I’m training 6 days a week.
A great article on how to give less fucks about calories
The program depends on your specific goal. If you want to lose fat, fine. If you want build strength, fine. But you’re not going to do both at the same time. Also, building strength doesn’t necessarily mean you need to bulk up. Plenty of people build strength without increasing bodyweight, it’s a matter of programming and nutrition (like anything else).
[quote=“Coffeets, post:1, topic:213784”]
a programme called Arnold’s blueprint to cut (it was on the body space app) but it’s fairly boring
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I looked at 5x5 but I enjoy doing a variety of exercises[/quote]
You need to get your Training A.D.D. under control. The blueprint program, from what I’ve read, is pretty traditional bodybuilding work. 1-2 bodyparts per workout, 3-5 exercises per bodypart, plenty of volume and supersets with intensity techniques. If that’s “fairly boring”, I don’t know how to help you, other than to remind you that, while it’s nice to enjoy training, “fun” workouts aren’t always productive workouts.
Again, figure out your specific, number one, primary goal and that’ll clue you in to which way to go. In any case, a new program would be a good call. Spending a few months doing the same thing isn’t always the best way to see progress. (It can be, provided you’ve seen significant results in that time, but that doesn’t sound like the case here.)
x2, good program and yeah you need to eat more to fuel your workouts