Ironlifter36's 12 Week Transformation Log

[ironlifter36]

Looks real nice so far, low carbs suck, but make the body get rid of the waste faster. I'm pretty much doing same here but starting to cut carbs a bit more due do a bit more % to lower. But i needs to do it. How much & fast are you going to increase your macros when you transition yourself. That's one thing i ran into last time , I did it too quick & didn't give much time for my body to change without storing cals.

Depends on how long I have been in a cut. Since I am doing a mini-cut now, I am going to transition pretty fast. See below:

Current Cal - 2330 Cal 260P 205C 50F
Week 1 Transition 2500 Cal 260P 250C 50F
Week 2 Transition 2600 Cal 260P 250C 60F
Week 3 Transition 2700 Cal 260P 275 C 60F
Week 4 Enter Lean Bulk 2900 Cal 260P 300C 65F

In my personal experience, the transition is the most important time to be strict on diet since the body is primed to gain weight/fat. I usually limit eating out/cheat meals during this period to keep a handle on calorie consumption.

For Longer cuts (8-12 weeks) I usually end will end up lower at 2100 cals, so the transition (reverse diet) will take longer. I generally do 100 cal per week (via carbs) increase up to maintenance (new maintenance cal). I have actually found that I continue to lean out during this slow transition and look my best at this time. I hold calories at maintenance for 2-3 weeks before increasing into a clean bulk at 200 cal surplus.

Layne Norton has some great videos on reverse dieting. I employed the above method before reading/watching his material, but can say from experience, it holds truth.

 

[ironlifter36]

Impressive log. Diet plan looks solid. Will be following.

Appreciate it bro

 

[ironlifter36]

Brief update:

Took an extra day of rest from lifting as Tuesday's Leg day absolutely taxed my CNS. Did light incline walking both Wed. and Thursday. Headed to the gym tonight to do my Pull Routine then it will be Push tomorrow.

Visiting with family Sunday..and will fed plentifully. Sunday is my high carb/reefed day nevertheless plan to employ a bit of IF and flexible dieting to keep things reasonable. Since the family dinner will most likely be composed of carbs and fats, I will modify Meal 1 and 2 to consist of Protein and veggies. This way I head into dinner with plenty of carbs and fats to spare in my diet. I will also drop 2 of my 6 meals for Sunday.

 

[BigBusiness]

Keep up the great work bro

PHARMACOM BOARD REP
please PM me for inquiries

 

[ironlifter36]

Week 2 Cut Update:

Yesterday marked the 14th day of my mini cut. To sum it up, I am down 6lbs and have lost 5mm in my skin folds. I attribute about 3lbs of my loss to water/glycogen. According to my skin fold chart, every 3mm equals about 1% of body fat. So I am roughly down 1.7% body fat. My 3 week goal was to drop 2% so I am on track. Plan to add in some additional cardio this week to increase energy expenditure. Below is my starting stats followed by my current stats as well as some pics. Forgive the pics as I am white as a ghost right now. Going to get my tan on this week which will help bring out the definition a little better.

Starting Stats:

5'10
177lbs
Skin Fold: Stomach 7mm Chest 8mm Legs 7mm Total 22mm

Current Stats:

5'10
171lbs
Skin Folds: Stomach 6mm Chest 6mm Leg's 5mm Total 17mm

 

[Joe S.]

Excellent man! Looking shredded and nailing those goals

 

[BigBusiness]

Week 2 Cut Update:

Yesterday marked the 14th day of my mini cut. To sum it up, I am down 6lbs and have lost 5mm in my skin folds. I attribute about 3lbs of my loss to water/glycogen. According to my skin fold chart, every 3mm equals about 1% of body fat. So I am roughly down 1.7% body fat. My 3 week goal was to drop 2% so I am on track. Plan to add in some additional cardio this week to increase energy expenditure. Below is my starting stats followed by my current stats as well as some pics. Forgive the pics as I am white as a ghost right now. Going to get my tan on this week which will help bring out the definition a little better.

Starting Stats:

5'10
177lbs
Skin Fold: Stomach 7mm Chest 8mm Legs 7mm Total 22mm

Current Stats:

5'10
171lbs
Skin Folds: Stomach 6mm Chest 6mm Leg's 5mm Total 17mm

View attachment 3609
View attachment 3610
View attachment 3611

Tearing it up brother!!

PHARMACOM BOARD REP
please PM me for inquiries

 

[billbobby]

Awesome. This is motivating!

 

[ironlifter36]

Yes he is. Nice work Iron!

Thanks RedMorkai, I appreciate the support

 

[ironlifter36]

Awesome. This is motivating!

Thanks Billbobby. Really looking forward to transitioning into my clean bulk.

 

[NarcissisticMach]

Looking lean and vascular man. Your progress is motivating me even more to shed off this pesky body fat lol

 

[ironlifter36]

Wednesday Update:

I was scheduled to do my Pull B Routine this evening, but do to a schedule conflict, I pushed it to tomorrow. Instead, I woke up at 4:30am and squeezed in 40 min of incline walking before heading to work.

Nutrition remains on point. Nothing else to report that's interesting. I am really looking forward to reverse dieting out of this deficit, back to maintenance and transitioning into a mild surplus. Will probably take a week off to rest/recover before going into my clean bulk. Will post my routines up tomorrow.

 

[Carmel cowboy]

Week 2 Cut Update:

Yesterday marked the 14th day of my mini cut. To sum it up, I am down 6lbs and have lost 5mm in my skin folds. I attribute about 3lbs of my loss to water/glycogen. According to my skin fold chart, every 3mm equals about 1% of body fat. So I am roughly down 1.7% body fat. My 3 week goal was to drop 2% so I am on track. Plan to add in some additional cardio this week to increase energy expenditure. Below is my starting stats followed by my current stats as well as some pics. Forgive the pics as I am white as a ghost right now. Going to get my tan on this week which will help bring out the definition a little better.

Starting Stats:

5'10
177lbs
Skin Fold: Stomach 7mm Chest 8mm Legs 7mm Total 22mm

Current Stats:

5'10
171lbs
Skin Folds: Stomach 6mm Chest 6mm Leg's 5mm Total 17mm

View attachment 3609
View attachment 3610
View attachment 3611

Looking good brother!!! Great job so far! What your plan for when you reverse diet into the lean bulk?

 

[ironlifter36]

Looking good brother!!! Great job so far! What your plan for when you reverse diet into the lean bulk?

Well, considering this was only a 3 week mini-cut, I plan to slowly increase my calories from 2300 back to maintenance (2650) over a 3 week period. The longer the cut, the slower I transition or vice versa. I also intend on taking a week off during this time. Usually I do a deload week, but really feel a week off completely is in order. Well, I may do some incline walking, but no lifting. Need to rest/recover before entering this surplus where I plan to really push my limits, hit PR's and put my body through some abuse. I will probably hang out at maintenance until I begin my blast at which time I will enter a surplus. I usually start my surplus at 300cal over maintenance, so around 2900-3000cal. I have learned from experience that my metabolism adapts quickly, so I plan to keep increasing calories quickly from there.

I usually cap my protein at 280g, keep fats at 70g and fill the rest in with carbs. Have you found eating additional protein to be helpful? What does your nutrition look like in a surplus?

 

[ironlifter36]

Update:

Had pre-cycle bloods drawn yesterday, got results today. Everything is in range and good to go. Estrogen is a little low, need to ease up on the AI.

 

[Carmel cowboy]

Well, considering this was only a 3 week mini-cut, I plan to slowly increase my calories from 2300 back to maintenance (2650) over a 3 week period. The longer the cut, the slower I transition or vice versa. I also intend on taking a week off during this time. Usually I do a deload week, but really feel a week off completely is in order. Well, I may do some incline walking, but no lifting. Need to rest/recover before entering this surplus where I plan to really push my limits, hit PR's and put my body through some abuse. I will probably hang out at maintenance until I begin my blast at which time I will enter a surplus. I usually start my surplus at 300cal over maintenance, so around 2900-3000cal. I have learned from experience that my metabolism adapts quickly, so I plan to keep increasing calories quickly from there.

I usually cap my protein at 280g, keep fats at 70g and fill the rest in with carbs. Have you found eating additional protein to be helpful? What does your nutrition look like in a surplus?

Your plan looks solid to me!! i use a very similar plan to your but the only difference for me is that I stagger my carb intake. For example on a lean bulk I will have 4 of the 7 days of the week be at a surplus of 500 calories the other 3 days will be at maintainence. Those extra calories I get from adding more carbs. My protein stays at 1g per lb of whatever I want to weigh in a surplus. So if I want to add 10lbs I add the extra 10 grams of protein to get 1 gram per pound. I have noticed a benefit to more protein but only after I started using sarms and aas. My metabolism is naturally fast but on cycle it really picks up and can't imagine with tren and it's nutrient partitioning benefits. Getting back to the lean bulk I always go off how my body is responding and will do a week or two at 3 days of a surplus, 3 days at maintenance and 1 day at a slight deficit. Helps control water rentention as well as getting sloppy!

 

[ironlifter36]

Your plan looks solid to me!! i use a very similar plan to your but the only difference for me is that I stagger my carb intake. For example on a lean bulk I will have 4 of the 7 days of the week be at a surplus of 500 calories the other 3 days will be at maintainence. Those extra calories I get from adding more carbs. My protein stays at 1g per lb of whatever I want to weigh in a surplus. So if I want to add 10lbs I add the extra 10 grams of protein to get 1 gram per pound. I have noticed a benefit to more protein but only after I started using sarms and aas. My metabolism is naturally fast but on cycle it really picks up and can't imagine with tren and it's nutrient partitioning benefits. Getting back to the lean bulk I always go off how my body is responding and will do a week or two at 3 days of a surplus, 3 days at maintenance and 1 day at a slight deficit. Helps control water rentention as well as getting sloppy!

I have experimented with the calorie/carb cycling before, similar to what you described. Worked well though on cycle, I didn't really gain the size I wanted. Probably cause my metabolism increased causing me to low ball my maintenance calories.

 

[Carmel cowboy]

I have experimented with the calorie/carb cycling before, similar to what you described. Worked well though on cycle, I didn't really gain the size I wanted. Probably cause my metabolism increased causing me to low ball my maintenance calories.

Could be! I make adjustments to make sure I end at what I set out for a goal. Mabe start at 350 or 400 for a surplus! How many days of cardio do you do on a lean bulk?

 

[BigBusiness]

You may be eating to much protein. 280g is a lot for your wieght. For me I've found that balance between my carbs and protein to make gainz....the right carbs and timing of those cards are crucial

PHARMACOM BOARD REP
PM for any questions
BigB15 for 15% off all orders

 

[ironlifter36]

Could be! I make adjustments to make sure I end at what I set out for a goal. Mabe start at 350 or 400 for a surplus! How many days of cardio do you do on a lean bulk?

My adjustment in increasing calories was probably not aggressive enough to stay ahead of the metabolism adaptation. Perhaps a larger surplus coming out the gate would be better. Cardio during a clean bulk...2 30min sessions of incline walking per week...basically as active recovery to get the blood circulating on rest days.