How long does everyone stay on a calorie deficit

[awoods88]

I’m currently 4 months on a calorie deficit and planning on going into my 5th month where I will stop the calorie deficit and go on maintenance for July and August before my bulk September

Calorie deficit trying to be 500 calorie deficit with margin error of +/-200 calories some days

Went from 187 to 172 within the 4 months with a goal weight of 168 by the end of June

It was very long never had a calorie deficit going for this long but I’d like to see everyone’s thoughts.

Weirdly enough last year I tried to stay 500 calorie surplus for my bulk but it seems it takes about the same time to reach the body fat I want. Maybe this time ima go even lower on baseline @ 168 and only gain 10 lbs over the next bulk so I don’t have to waste a month burning 7 pounds from 187. Guess my body fat wasn’t low enough last year to let me recomp on the bulk

 

[sisi]

@awoods88 I’m very much a believer in staying in a surplus for as long as you can and using cuts to get back to a point of getting back into a surplus. Muscle building takes a lot of time, especially for a natural, and muscle building occurs optimally in a caloric surplus.

My last cut was 6 weeks long. I dropped 13 pounds and would estimate that around 9-10 of that was actual tissue with the rest being water/glycogen. It was a steep deficit but it was short enough to not have a major impact on anything and it allowed me to reverse back to maintenance and then get right back into a surplus quicker. For bulks, I like to gain around 0.5-0.6 lbs per week. I can progress very well, put on size, and avoid excessive fat gain.

 

[awoods88]

@sisi I guess each their own and everyone’s goals are different.
I spent my years from 16 years old to 23 years old bulking with no cut. I have went from 140 lbs to 240 lbs and became fat sure but those were my golden years of muscle building. These couple of years I have finally cut down to 170lbs with visible abs and look very lean. Problem is it takes a while to cut. I don’t like to go aggressive and if I’m going to cut then I would want to cut body fat not water weight which takes significantly a lot longer than 6 weeks when done slowly.

I don’t think I’d want to spend majority of my time bulking anymore since I never really felt good at a certain body fat.

Goal is to find that body fat where I feel great and maintain it as much as possible which means I can’t always stay on a surplus.

It’s weird but 10lbs of fat is my absolute max cut off on a bulk which I have found takes about 2-3 months and I’m right up there 1lb of fat a week. I have done also .5 lbs a week which is a lot smarter move but the problem with that is I don’t really feel the diet change as much and still feels like a cut (always hungry still) but I did gain weight still. So a 1lb a week surplus was my sweet spot to feel full and energized (I also noticed more strength at the gym from it)

If I reach that then I need to spend another 2-3 months to slowly lose it again. I can go more aggressive to get right back at my cut weight but neither of which have a good quality of life.

What I’m saying is I invested my childhood golden years building the muscle I have and now is the time to liquidate my investment from here on out

 

[wen56der]

@awoods88 You can lose fat much faster than that if you want

 

[sisi]

@alexander3 I was in an approximate 800 kcal deficit. I used to be an endurance athlete so could never afford to do any real bulking phases although I still loved to lift. I made ok progress but never anything that great, even though I was super consistent. It’s crazy how big of a difference being in a sustained surplus can make! “Maingaining” is cool and all, but I am definitely in the camp of if you want to make substantial progress and gains, you’ve got to get yourself into a surplus.

 

[everythingpink]

@sisi I thought "maingaining" WAS being in a surplus, just a minor one, like 200-300 calories.

 

[sisi]

@everythingpink Different people have different definitions of “maingaining.” Some basically use it in place of recomping (which in itself is very ineffective compared to cut/bulk cycles) and others use it to define being in a VERY slight surplus to attempt to maintain the same bodyfat percentage while slowly gaining muscle.

What you are describing would just be a lean bulk. A 300 kcal per week surplus is going to have you gaining at a little over 0.5 lbs per week. That’s honestly right around the rate where I like to gain at. But this rate of gain WILL still lead to fat gain, which is expected and ok. That’s what the cutting portion of the cycle is for. Maingaining would be like trying to be in a 50-100 kcal surplus. It’s not practical because the surplus is too small to account for variances in activity levels from day-to-day, thermic effect of food, metabolism shifts, etc. It will likely just lead to stalled progress and heavy spinning of wheels.

 

[kvolm]

@awoods88 In most situations, if your goal is to grow muscle, your cuts should be as short as possible. Calorie deficit should be as large as you can tolerate without drastically reducing training performance and losing muscle. Refeeds/diet breaks can and should be used strategically when doing this to support training and mitigate metabolic downregulation.

 

[send2bassem]

@kvolm Having refeed days is underrated. Helps me break my plateau.

 

[awoods88]

@kvolm I agree they should be short as possible but mentally it’s draining to be on an aggressive cut that would take me to the body fat I want in a short amount of time.

I decided to make it a slow deficit which allows me to be sane for the most part. With sanity comes consequences and that’s being in a state of 1:1 on the bulk/cut time periods

 

[mayduavongts]

@awoods88 I’ve been in a cut since new years, with a couple 2 week resets. I’ve let myself get too fat and want to get lean and maintain it.

I bulk easily and struggle to trim down. I’ve made a pact with myself I’m cutting until I see my abs

 

[kmfqs]

@awoods88 Your cut should last however long it needs to last in order to get you to around 12% body fat where you abs are visible in good lighting. By doing that you are making sure you will allow yourself for bulking till as long as possible (preferably till 15% body fat) so you don't have to worry about excessive fat gain and looking decently lean at the end of your next bulk.

 

[olasoji]

@kmfqs is it even worth training on the cut to 12% bodyfat?

i mean for ne this will take like a full year

 

[shahriar]

@olasoji You will keep very little muscle if you don't use it

 

[kmfqs]

@olasoji It's totally worth it if a lean and Mascular physique is your ultimate goal

 

[olasoji]

@kmfqs so gaining mass on a calorix deficit is still worth it?

 

[kmfqs]

@olasoji You might only build a little muscle while cutting.

 

[horation]

@olasoji Yes, if you don't train during a cut you will lose a lot of muscle, which could've been fat lost. Also if you aren't an advanced trainee and especially if you are a beginner and/or high bf% you can gain muscle during a cut.

 

[mistdodger]

@horation Okay here’s my issue. I’m having trouble figuring whether I should “cut, recomp or bulk.” I’m not a novice but also not advanced lifter. I’d say, somewhere in between. My biggest issue is, if I try to eat in a “deficit” while lifting more than 2x a week, my body just cannot recover and CNS is fried, leading to binging.

 

[horation]

@mistdodger How big is your deficit? How many sets do you do per workout and at what intensities?

All I can think of is that either your diet is shit or your training is.

How's your stress and sleep?