First cycle (test only) diet question

[AverageMan]

I know folks say to increase your caloric intake when running a cycle. My fear is adding too much BF. I spent the better part of a year dropping BF and don't want to put it back on.

Would a carb cycling diet be ok for a test only cycle? I don't want to starve my body of calories and miss out on gains but also want to limit BF accumulation.

 

[Gibsonator]

Dude I was in the same boat worrying about that. Slowly increase your cals and carbs and reassess on a weekly basis. Continue to eat clean but more. I'm 8 weeks in, have gained 10 lbs and put on very very little body fat that I can tell.

 

[Roush]

I know folks say to increase your caloric intake when running a cycle.

plenty of guys run a calorie deficit while on cycle for a cut and fat loss.. the anabolics help maintain muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. just depends on your goals.

However, IF your wanting to put on some muscle mass and gains while on this cycle , you MUST be in a calorie surplus. Your body simply cannot 'build' new muscle without the raw materials to do so (calories). and 'maintenance' calorie is just that , maintenance, you have to be in a surplus.

the good news is that you can be in a calorie surplus and not gain lots of fat, IF your stressing your body with plenty of weight lifting and heavy muscular stimulus . the 'added' calories will be there and be used for muscular adaptations (if your workouts are intense enough) and not fat storage. your body will know to use these added calories for muscle gain.

without enough volume and proper stimulus though , added calories will be stored as BF. so just make sure your training is on point and intense enough to force adaptation and muscle growth.. add calories slowly and adjust as needed, also as your training work load goes up* , you will need to add more calories. if you add more calories then the body can use for recovering and building muscle though, then you will store fat (its a fine balance, but the training has to be there)


* your training work load should be going up , as you adapt you will need to add more stimulus (through either more volume or more weight); if your not going up , then your doing something wrong. example, if in week one of your cycle your benching 225x10 reps x 5 sets , and if your still doing 225x10 reps for 5 sets at week 8 ,, then your not stimulating and forcing adaptations (muscle growth); you'll need the surplus of calories to force these adaptations (again, unless your cutting).

 

[AverageMan]

plenty of guys run a calorie deficit while on cycle for a cut and fat loss.. the anabolics help maintain muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. just depends on your goals.

However, IF your wanting to put on some muscle mass and gains while on this cycle , you MUST be in a calorie surplus. Your body simply cannot 'build' new muscle without the raw materials to do so (calories). and 'maintenance' calorie is just that , maintenance, you have to be in a surplus.

the good news is that you can be in a calorie surplus and not gain lots of fat, IF your stressing your body with plenty of weight lifting and heavy muscular stimulus . the 'added' calories will be there and be used for muscular adaptations (if your workouts are intense enough) and not fat storage. your body will know to use these added calories for muscle gain.

without enough volume and proper stimulus though , added calories will be stored as BF. so just make sure your training is on point and intense enough to force adaptation and muscle growth.. add calories slowly and adjust as needed, also as your training work load goes up* , you will need to add more calories. if you add more calories then the body can use for recovering and building muscle though, then you will store fat (its a fine balance, but the training has to be there)


* your training work load should be going up , as you adapt you will need to add more stimulus (through either more volume or more weight)***8230; if your not going up , then your doing something wrong. example, if in week one of your cycle your benching 225x10 reps x 5 sets , and if your still doing 225x10 reps for 5 sets at week 8 ,, then your not stimulating and forcing adaptations (muscle growth)***8230; you'll need the surplus of calories to force these adaptations (again, unless your cutting).

Thanks Roush - My goal is to add muscle mass. I'm been cutting BF for a long time and want to add mass.

What about macros? On a cut I kept carbs low / moderate (100-125g) on workout days and very low (30-35g) on rest days (typical 5 on 2 off). This was very effective in dropping BF. Is it OK to keep carbs in this range and up my protein / fat (to a lesser degree) in order to add calories (going from maintenance to surplus). Is really upping your carbs beyond 100-125g necessary to add muscle mass? I'm carb sensitive and blow up like a balloon when I up carbs too much. All carbs are from clean sources - oatmeal, squash, sweet potatoes.

Training is on point. I work my ass off in the gym. I like 3J's reverse pyramid workout plan - regardless of heavy or light weight, I always practice hypertrophy and find this to be effective.

At week 4 of 400mg Test / week and strength has started going up 10-20 lbs more on all lifts.

 

[Roush]

Thanks Roush - My goal is to add muscle mass.

What about macros? On a cut I kept carbs low / moderate (100-125g) on workout days and very low (30-35g) on rest days (typical 5 on 2 off). This was very effective in dropping BF. Is it OK to keep carbs in this range and up my protein / fat (to a lesser degree) in order to add calories (going from maintenance to surplus). Is really upping your carbs beyond 100-125g necessary to add muscle mass?.

if your carb sensitive and your wanting to keep BF% in check , then you probably do need to keep carbs on the lower end.

but, I will say that for a 'massing cycle' carbs are pretty important . they are anabolic and anti-catabolic (not anabolic in the way that protein is , being muscle growth needs the amino acids/protein for building muscle) .

Carbs provide an anti-catablic because when there is plenty of blood glucose and glycogen stores your body will use that for its preferred energy source,, on low carbs and depleted glycogen stores your body can use protein (via Gluconeogenesis) as its energy source as well as breaking down its own muscle 'catabolism' for energy .. so not only are you loosing out on protein as the raw material for muscle growth , your loosing muscle itself as well.
again, with plenty of carbs in your system , then there is no need for the body to do this.

Carbs are 'anabolic' in that they help drive nutrients (glucose becomes glycogen stores in the muslce) and especially water into the muscle cells. This is beneficial for both strength and muscle growth , as well as muscular endurance ,, which plays a role in hypertrophy as well being training beyond perceived failure will generate a lactic acid response (and studies have shown lactic acid as a factor in muscle growth)..

training with low carbs will deplete glycogen stores rapidly .. and not refueling those glycogen stores adequately will negatively effect hypertrophy.


so I'd say that upping carbs for a massing cycle will definitely be beneficial to the goal of adding muscle mass.. however being carb sensitive means you'll have to pay careful attention and adjust often.

along with carb cycling , you may benefit from carb 'timing' as well . getting most of your daily intake of carbs in the hour windows before and after your workout (but no carbs at other times, example in the morning no carbs , if your workout is in the afternoon).. this way you can still take in higher amounts of carbs , but timing can help you use those carbs more effectively and possibly help out the carb sensitivity .



note: I've tried to bulk on a ketogenic diet .. it was a failure . I've bulked on high carbs with way way more success. . i'd rather add just a bit of fat knowing the mass gains are there too . because , it is way easier to loose body fat , then it is to build muscle. being the latter is much harder , you should commit more efforts to the massing phase then the cutting phase imo.

 

[Gibsonator]

That's some solid advice there roush good shit

 

[49ER]

Turkey sandwiches

 

[Teutonic]

In time A-M you will know what to do for YOU; just remember w test augmentation come s estro increases which CAN make fat more apt to accumulate so keep that in check.

Stat s ??

How bought a photo bro...it would help.

 

[AverageMan]

Thanks Roush - great information! I never knew carbs were REQUIRED to bulk (add muscle) - I was under the assumption it was all about total caloric intake.

Teutonic - stats are:
late 30's
ran a cut down to low / mid 150 lbs (>10% BF) on a trt dose of Cyp over the course of 12 months. 5'8" tall
cut diet was high protein / moderate fat / moderate carbs (250 / 75 / ~125) - 2700 calories

I don't have a big frame, thus the low weight. My goal is to slap on as much muscle mass as possible and minimize fat.

I've already started to increase calories and am up to 165 lbs. Abs are a little less visible already vs on the cut diet. Also cut down on cardio.... (like to do some cardio for general good health).

Not a fan of my pic on the interwebs...

 

[Megatron28]

If you are going to go low on the carbs (and thus deplete your glycogen) make sure you lift heavy for low reps. Sync your training with your diet.

 

[Roush]

If you are going to go low on the carbs (and thus deplete your glycogen) make sure you lift heavy for low reps. Sync your training with your diet.

yep . low carbs and depleted glycogen stores while lifting lighter loads will result in 'shrinkage' and 'de-volumiziaiton' of the muscle cells .. the exact opposite you want when massing. you'll need enough stimulus and overload to keep the muscles 'adapted' to the stimulus. going light and low carbs won't do this.

lots of guys make this mistake gong low carb and cutting for a show . they switch over to high rep lower weight workouts thinking that that is somehow going to bring out more definition or keep them from getting hurt . Well it was the heavy weight and high amounts of overload that built the muscle in the first place ,, don't give up what got you there in the first place; your body will just go backwards to homeostasis , it needs the overload in order to HAVE TO keep and maintain the muscle mass you built in the off season

again , low carbs with little muscular overload / or heavy weight will result in just the opposite of massing

 

[Milton]

did you end up upping your carbs?