General/Advanced Questions For Your Average Lurker

[AlacrityH]

Hey guys. I've been lurking these forums for about the past 6 or so months and have been answering my questions via just reading off of threads but I am unable to find the answer for a couple of them. So I decided to make an account

My questions are specifically about my experiences but they may help others since they may not have been able to have them answered like me. Here's a little bit of my background. I've been working out 3x a week for 8 months. I started cutting last month. My diet is very clean and healthy. I don't do cheat days. I do not drink soda or anything at all besides water and the occasional almond milk. I consume 1g protein/lb of body weight a day and sometimes more. I take gold standard whey after every workout. I use c4 extreme preworkout blend before workouts, for the past 3 weeks. I go to the gym 5x a week now since I began cutting (cardio days inbetween weight days). I do HIIT cardio on the treadmill on cardio days so 2x a week. Moderate intensity bike for 30 minutes after workouts. I take a multivitamin and fish oil every morning.

Anyways I'll just get to the point.

1) When I ended up my 8 month bulking phase, I was 150 lbs. and 17.7% body fat. It has been 5/6 weeks and I am now 147-149. 147 being the absolute lowest but lately it just fluctuates inbetween them. Yet I'm down to 12.2% body fat. I own a body fat monitor and check daily. Is it normal to lose so much bodyfat in such a small amount of time but not lose weight at all? Does this mean I'm building muscle? From my knowledge you cannot do both consistently at the same time. My body fat% drops even though my body weight may increase 0.5lbs and whatnot.

2)I'm at 12.2% bodyfat yet still have a pretty sorry excuse for a 4pack. A solid 2 pack, but a sorry excuse for a 4pack. I am on creatine nitrate however. Once I cycle off, will my abs be less or more visible? Since I will be losing water retention.

3) I'm very strict about my diet but I enjoy being strict. Since I am cutting, I try to stay at a caloric deficit while getting enough protein. I eat greek yogurt every night to replace my casein supplement. I eat a lot of vegetables but for some reason naturally cut out fruits due to the sugar. I know I'm not supposed to spike my insulin levels after workouts so I tend to stay away from the occasional kiwi, banana, and apple. And I know you're not supposed to eat fruits late at night which is when I occasionally wanna snack on something. Is my knowledge wrong? When is the optimal time to consume fruits?

4) Once I started cutting, I started increasing the amount of strength exercises I would do. As in bench, deadlift, and squat being the staples, but increasing the amount of push ups and pullups and general body weight exercises in an attempt to gain strength while on a cut. Is this optimal?

5) What are your expert opinions on isometric exercises? Is there a clear benefit over flat out repetitions?

6) I'm inflexible when it comes to my lower back. When I first started squatting, I could barely go below 45 degrees lifting heavy with proper form. I'm down to around 75/80 degrees now and was told that if I want to increase flexibility, I should hold the squat position with weights for a second before coming back up. Apparently this stretches the muscle or whatever more and more and breaks down my inflexibility sooner, but I do walk off the squat rack feeling exhausted with my legs shaking kinda. Is this just broscience?

Thanks again I appreciate any kind of feedback and for your read.

[AlacrityH]

bump

[LiftCore]

1. Yes that is possible. Either that or you aren't measuring correctly/consistently.
2. Creatine doesn't effect your body in that way. Take creatine mono, it's the best form. There's no need to cycle off creatine.
3.Caloric Deficit = Good. At least 1g Protein/lb BW (or more) = good. Now, read this carefully. Meal frequency has no effect on your BMR or body composition. There is no optimal time to eat anything. You can eat anything, any time, as frequently as you want. None of this 6 meals BS, none of this every 2-3 hour BS. No. It is not backed up by science. Sugar is just a carb. The sugar you get from fruit, is the same as the sugar you get from soda, and that is the same as the sugar you get from sweet potatoes and brown rice, in terms of body composition. Read the stickies on this forum. Google Alan Aragon, Layne Norton, Lyle McDonald. Youtube 3DMJ, Ian McCarthy, Matt Ogus, Eric Kanevsky. These are the people you should be listening to. You don't have to spike insulin levels any time of the day, but it doesn't matter if you do.
4. You should be cutting and bulking on the same routine. Find a Push/Pull/Legs routine or an Upper/Lower routine and stick with it. You should be training each body part 2-3x a week. For cuts, you would merely lower volume and attempt to maintain strength (and increase it if you can).
5. Can't comment on this.
6. If you have flexibility issues, use light weight to hit your form correctly, and possibly do some flexibility/rehab workouts. Youtube them.

[AlacrityH]

1. Yes that is possible. Either that or you aren't measuring correctly/consistently.
2. Creatine doesn't effect your body in that way. Take creatine mono, it's the best form. There's no need to cycle off creatine.
3.Caloric Deficit = Good. At least 1g Protein/lb BW (or more) = good. Now, read this carefully. Meal frequency has no effect on your BMR or body composition. There is no optimal time to eat anything. You can eat anything, any time, as frequently as you want. None of this 6 meals BS, none of this every 2-3 hour BS. No. It is not backed up by science. Sugar is just a carb. The sugar you get from fruit, is the same as the sugar you get from soda, and that is the same as the sugar you get from sweet potatoes and brown rice, in terms of body composition. Read the stickies on this forum. Google Alan Aragon, Layne Norton, Lyle McDonald. Youtube 3DMJ, Ian McCarthy, Matt Ogus, Eric Kanevsky. These are the people you should be listening to. You don't have to spike insulin levels any time of the day, but it doesn't matter if you do.
4. You should be cutting and bulking on the same routine. Find a Push/Pull/Legs routine or an Upper/Lower routine and stick with it. You should be training each body part 2-3x a week. For cuts, you would merely lower volume and attempt to maintain strength (and increase it if you can).
5. Can't comment on this.
6. If you have flexibility issues, use light weight to hit your form correctly, and possibly do some flexibility/rehab workouts. Youtube them.

Thanks I appreciate the feedback. If I do not cycle off creatine, won't my body become tolerant?

[LiftCore]

Thanks I appreciate the feedback. If I do not cycle off creatine, won't my body become tolerant?

No, you can't build a tolerance to creatine, it isn't a stimulant or an ergogenic substance, and it is not foreign to the body either.