I was not concerned about the “decrease” in my strength since I had begun training fasted and I was happy with the body I saw in the mirror. During this timeframe, my squat decreased by 20 lbs, bench decreased by 10 lbs, military decreased by 15 lbs, and deadlift did not change. The difference in this cut from my first cut was that I utilized fasted cardio, supplemented with yohimbine and HMB, and all my cheat meals were compensated for by removing food intake from other parts of my diet. My second cut lasted 2.5 months during which I lost 20 pounds. Since I was upset about having to cut my bulk short, I decided that I would go through this cut as quickly as possible and get back to bulking. I immediately increased my cardio back to 2 hours of HIIT cycling per week. Over my bulk, my bench increased 15 pounds, deadlift went down 10 pounds (I got stricter about my form and decreased weight because I realized I had been bouncing the weight off the floor), squat and military press both increased by 10 pounds. Next, I set out to cut back down to 170 lbs to compare to my previous 170 and see how much muscle I had gained. After 3 months of bulking I was at 190 lbs but I was feeling very unhappy with my weight and body image so I decided I would cut my bulk short of my original goal and start cutting again. When I noticed that I was steadily putting on weight I began a bulking phase, which I decided would end when I hit 195 lbs. Next, I began reverse dieting for the next 2 months and when I finished I was at 172 lbs, my bench, military press, and squat all increased by 10 pounds, and my deadlift increased by 30 pounds (granted I did start using straps when I started reverse dieting).During this time, I increased my calorie intake by ~1000 calories and decreased my cardio from 2 hours of HIIT sprints per week to 1 hour of LISS cycling per week.
I will also say that my deadlift and squat form improved tremendously over this time. At the end of my two-month trial period with Bigger Leaner Stronger, I had become a true believer in the Bigger Leaner Stronger program and decided I would stick it out for the rest of the one-year challenge. Over this cutting phase, I lost 13 pounds, my bench and military press did not increase, and my squat and deadlift both increased by 10 pounds. During this time, I was lifting fasted and doing HIIT sprints on a treadmill in a fed state.I did still indulge in a small cheat meal every week but nothing like an entire pizza, more like 1 or 2 slices.
I then continued to cut until I reached 169 lbs after being on the Bigger Leaner Stronger program for 2 months. Two months into my cut I had lost 7 lbs putting me at 182 lbs and wasn’t happy with my results, so that is when I started the Bigger Leaner Stronger program. My initial goal when I started cutting was to cut down from 189 lbs to 170 lbs and retain as much muscle as possible. How many months’ progress do your pictures represent? What were your stats for each picture?Įnd: Ap170 lbs 9% body fat What has happened so far on the program?