General critique on diet and workout

[katatak]

Hey just looking to get some critique on my diet and workout.

5'3 F currently 137 lb looking to cut. I was lean a few months back but with finals, work, relationship troubles, etc got off track.

Want to get back to where I was at with a few extra pounds of muscle.

Current diet:

C:95 F:45 P:135

I was considering doing carb cycling or keto in the extreme case. Any suggestions or advice since I've never tried either?

Current workout:

I do an upper and lower body split 5 days a week. 15 reps, 3 sets for most exercises. Also doing fasted cardio 5 days a week for about 30 mins, sometimes HIIT for 15 mins mid cardio.

Lower: (not in that order)

Cable kickbacks.
Leg extensions.
Squats. I try to go for 4 or 5 sets of 10-12.
Front squats.
Goblet squats.
Lunges.
Calf raises.
Hanging leg raises.
Hyperextensions and sides with weight.

Upper: (not in that order)

Body weight dips.
Attempted body weight ups. Then finish off with pull downs.
DB bench press.
Cable sides.
Deadlifts. I try to go for 4 or 5 sets of 10-12.
One leg deadlifts.
Tricep pull downs.
OHP.
Barbell rows.
Hanging leg raises.


Any advice? What to add or remove in the workout? Different splits?
Or what to change up with the macros or general diet?
Much appreciated! Any more questions feel free to ask!

[nojennyno]

I am also trying to gain muscle. I think your diet is great for protein intake, although my trainer told me that you can only absorb about 30g of protein per meal, so I hope you're dividing 135g protein evenly throughout the day.

I was told not to do fasted cardio because it reduces muscle. So lots of weight training, HIIT, crossfit, short cardio on high intensity. This way I gained about 1kg of muscle in one month.

[oregonchick76]

my trainer told me that you can only absorb about 30g of protein per meal, .

Not True.

[nojennyno]

Not True.

Can you explain???

[kimm4]

Hey just looking to get some critique on my diet and workout.

5'3 F currently 137 lb looking to cut. I was lean a few months back but with finals, work, relationship troubles, etc got off track.

Want to get back to where I was at with a few extra pounds of muscle.

Current diet:

C:95 F:45 P:135

I was considering doing carb cycling or keto in the extreme case. Any suggestions or advice since I've never tried either?

Current workout:

I do an upper and lower body split 5 days a week. 15 reps, 3 sets for most exercises. Also doing fasted cardio 5 days a week for about 30 mins, sometimes HIIT for 15 mins mid cardio.

Lower: (not in that order)

Cable kickbacks.
Leg extensions.
Squats. I try to go for 4 or 5 sets of 10-12.
Front squats.
Goblet squats.
Lunges.
Calf raises.
Hanging leg raises.
Hyperextensions and sides with weight.

Upper: (not in that order)

Body weight dips.
Attempted body weight ups. Then finish off with pull downs.
DB bench press.
Cable sides.
Deadlifts. I try to go for 4 or 5 sets of 10-12.
One leg deadlifts.
Tricep pull downs.
OHP.
Barbell rows.
Hanging leg raises.


Any advice? What to add or remove in the workout? Different splits?
Or what to change up with the macros or general diet?
Much appreciated! Any more questions feel free to ask!

If you're new to lifting you can make some newbie gains, but it's nothing drastic because you're eating in a deficit. When you're dieting down to lose fat, you work to preserve the muscle you have now.

You don't need to be that low in calories. Set yourself closer to 1500 and you shouldn't have any problems with steady loss. No need for carb cycling at this point, just stick to your daily defict. It's normally used by people who have been dieting for long periods of time, sitting at lower body fat. It helps to prevent stalling/plateaus. Keto is a personal choice and I've never been a fan. I personally like my carbs and have no problem with fat loss when eating them.

Did you make up your workout routine? As for the fasted cardio, it's not needed and doesn't make a difference in the end result.

[catskills]

I agree with Kimm. I would try cutting without doing keto or carb cycling first. If your body fat is distributed fairly evenly you'll have great results. When you get down to a lower body fat, and have some really stubborn areas that are completely hiding the muscle, then you could try keto or carb cycling to get the fat off, but you can't tell until you get there if that will be the direction you need to go in. I think you're on the right track, so bump up the cals like Kimm suggested and see how it goes. Be patient though, it takes a long time to reduce BF levels.

[katatak]

Thanks for all the advice I'll stick to the general dieting and up the cals without going into keto or carb cycling then.

Also I was considering trying different splits since the one I have is self induced from time spent experimenting in the gym. I was thinking of a three day split repeated twice a week with a rest day. Would you have any suggestions as to what else I should include or take out from the split that I am already using?

Thanks!