3 Month Cut Finished - did I cut too far?

[Christiandadrum]

I feel like I've lost a lot of size. Quite depressing really, glad I got quite lean for my holiday but it just feels a bit like I've taken 3 steps back, lost a lot of strength and lost a total of 28lbs. This was my second cut. I think I'm going to go on a straight bulk for 1-2 years now though. Here're the results

Bulk



End of cut


Holiday pics
[IMG]http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w607/Christian_Nicholls/********/Fuerteventura%202013/1052579_10152897789640394_2054465105_o.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w607/Christian_Nicholls/********/Fuerteventura%202013/1001165_10152892731170394_2130348533_n.jpg[/IMG]

[Land_Down_Under]

Shoulda kept bulking. Can understand being cut for holidays but yeah

[Christiandadrum]

Shoulda kept bulking. Can understand being cut for holidays but yeah

agree. feel like ive wasted time a bit just for the sake of being lean on hol lol.

[map84]

You look good, and you won't have to worry about cutting again for ages now.

[Bodybuilding191]

Strong forearms/chest haha, you should continue bulking op forget about cutting

[noughttosixty]

You didnt really have much fat before the cut, just enjoy the long bulk now!

[BrandG]

Forearms, chest, traps. Hit em.






























































































































Good job though, OP.

[Christiandadrum]

yeah guys i'm too fkin light, i weigh 11 stone right now for christ sake lol i dont know what i've done, i'm like a female weight over here!! i'll bulk for at least 1 year solid now, most likely through next summer too. pretty confident with macro tracking now as it worked for this cut, so will just stack on some size i hope

[Christiandadrum]

BTW does anyone have any tips for chest? I've been training 2 and a half years now but it seems the hardest for me to grow? I touch the bar with my chest, about nipple level, elbows about 45 degrees and usually train 5x5 the past 4 or 5 months....anyone recommend anything different? Same goes for traps tbh but I think i know the issue there, i've been using dumbbells when recently I found out should be using a bar and stacking on much heavier weight than dumbbells allow

[Bodybuilding191]

yeah guys i'm too fkin light, i weigh 11 stone right now for christ sake lol i dont know what i've done, i'm like a female weight over here!! i'll bulk for at least 1 year solid now, most likely through next summer too. pretty confident with macro tracking now as it worked for this cut, so will just stack on some size i hope

Where you from UK?

[Christiandadrum]

Where you from UK?

yes mate birmingham uk
sorry 11 stone = 154lbs (i'm about 159 atm) and at the start i was around 182

[Bodybuilding191]

yes mate birmingham uk
sorry 11 stone = 154lbs (i'm about 159 atm) and at the start i was around 182

Why you cutting for?! Email me at FitnessWithMoe@gmail.com so I can send a few links to you

[LionRiver]

dam i think u lost weight too fast because you were lean already...

Gonna give a down to earth answer, straight up blunt

From just looking at the pictures, you definitely lost some mass but it'll come back quick from muscle memory and muscles just being filled with glycogen.

Next time, raise your calories a lot more on the cut because you should have only needed to lose about 10-12 lb to get as lean as you look now.

Good job regardless, but you know what you need to do next time.

[Christiandadrum]

dam i think u lost weight too fast because you were lean already...

Gonna give a down to earth answer, straight up blunt

From just looking at the pictures, you definitely lost some mass but it'll come back quick from muscle memory and muscles just being filled with glycogen.

Next time, raise your calories a lot more on the cut because you should have only needed to lose about 10-12 lb to get as lean as you look now.

Good job regardless, but you know what you need to do next time.

yeah thanks m8 i think that's the best advice. there was one point where i was as low as 1900 calories(didnt do any cardio so thought i might have to cut low)...dunno wtf i was thinking to be honest, i shouldn't have gone below about 2200/2300, so lesson learnt. i look forward to putting size back on in the coming months i feel & look like a skinny wimp lol

you guys think 2650 cals is an ok start for the bulk? i'm 159 lbs right now...159 x 15 = 2358 (maintenance) + 20% = 2623 cals. i'd just measure my weight every 2 weeks and up my cals each time my weight goes up

[Broscientist88]

BTW does anyone have any tips for chest? I've been training 2 and a half years now but it seems the hardest for me to grow? I touch the bar with my chest, about nipple level, elbows about 45 degrees and usually train 5x5 the past 4 or 5 months....anyone recommend anything different? Same goes for traps tbh but I think i know the issue there, i've been using dumbbells when recently I found out should be using a bar and stacking on much heavier weight than dumbbells allow

Try flat dumbell bench, never fails to help me break through a stall on my bench, go very low and feel the stretch.

[siimng1979]

Should've bulked more IMO.
Saw the before pic and thought, woah, going on a cut?
Great cut BTW - but should've been a lot more bulkier to start.
All good experience though and well done.

[Broscientist88]

Meh personally i think you had a choice to be cut or be a bit bigger and you went for the first, dont see anything wrong with setting your threshold for BF low so you stay lean always, you could argue its less productive but id take that to have abs year round

[samson_419]

Solid as fuk, go on a nice long bulk. You'll be good.

[TigerBulk]

That's lean breh. Awesome.

Have fun bulking

[ruicosta]

yeah thanks m8 i think that's the best advice. there was one point where i was as low as 1900 calories(didnt do any cardio so thought i might have to cut low)...dunno wtf i was thinking to be honest, i shouldn't have gone below about 2200/2300, so lesson learnt. i look forward to putting size back on in the coming months i feel & look like a skinny wimp lol

you guys think 2650 cals is an ok start for the bulk? i'm 159 lbs right now...159 x 15 = 2358 (maintenance) + 20% = 2623 cals. i'd just measure my weight every 2 weeks and up my cals each time my weight goes up

What does your dialy diet look like breakfast, lunch, etc


goodjob

[LionRiver]

yeah thanks m8 i think that's the best advice. there was one point where i was as low as 1900 calories(didnt do any cardio so thought i might have to cut low)...dunno wtf i was thinking to be honest, i shouldn't have gone below about 2200/2300, so lesson learnt. i look forward to putting size back on in the coming months i feel & look like a skinny wimp lol

you guys think 2650 cals is an ok start for the bulk? i'm 159 lbs right now...159 x 15 = 2358 (maintenance) + 20% = 2623 cals. i'd just measure my weight every 2 weeks and up my cals each time my weight goes up

yeah bro... I been cutting from 178-180 lb down to 165 for the last 8 weeks at 2400 calories PLUS refeeds.
But I ended my bulk at around 3200 calories to gain 2lb per month... so cutting 800 calories out really made my body go "what the **** whered the food go?" lol.
I am not as lean as you were though. And my muscle base isn't as developed as yours either. I'm probably almost as lean as your "before" picture to be honest.


And do NOT jump back up to 2650 so quickly if you're coming back from 1900.

I'd say go to 2200 for a week or two
2400 for a week or two
2600 for a week or two
Don't worry TOO much about weight gain during this time

And then at 2800+... try to figure out what gets you to gain 1 to 2lb per month!

Those are just example numbers... you MIGHT need to eat more to gain weight... but definitely go slow to stay lean! focus on them strength gains and increasing overall volume in the gym.

[Christiandadrum]

@lion,
Yep!! I already gained 6lbs just by going on holiday alone, enjoyer myself though lol! Had a bit of a binge but I was on hol so phuck it, I'm on 2450 right now and just like you said I was going to stay on that for 2 weeks to watch and monitor weight gain and see what happens, then to 2650, then I was going to go further toward a 20% surplus more toward 2900 in about a month or so, all dependant on how my weight looks and body develops, I already feel much fuller on 2450 and feeling a bit more 'normal' again which is great, really looking forward to gaining some strength back because there were some major losses, ESP in the deadlifts, my max was 190KG while bulking but went down to about 160 which was depressing...hoping to hit 5 plates this year, want to get up to 195lbs by the end of the bulk

[selffirst]

I see a long term bulk in yo future.....

[Christiandadrum]

What does your dialy diet look like breakfast, lunch, etc


goodjob

Don't really have a daily diet mate, I weigh all my food and hit my macros and calories, but foods I really love eating are for breakfast I love minimax..dunno if you have in the US, basically frosted shredded wheat and in chocolate flavour, delicious lol, and I very frequently have egg and bacon sandwiches for lunch, rest of the day I eat whatever, just make sure I hit the macros

[AtomicDoom]

Honestly, you looked much better before you started cutting. You should have kept bulking. The summer holidays don't mean much to me (I rarely feel like going out) so I can bulk with no problems

[Christiandadrum]

Honestly, you looked much better before you started cutting. You should have kept bulking. The summer holidays don't mean much to me (I rarely feel like going out) so I can bulk with no problems

Lol was just me being a vain kunt! Wanted some good summer pics, but I'm gonna do exactly that and most likely bulk from now until not next summer but the one after, need to make some gains now