10 week cut results (34/M) on ~900 calorie deficit- 180 to 159 lbs

10 week cut results (34/M) on ~900 calorie deficit- 180 to 159 lbsJust wanted to post my experiences with a deep caloric deficit of somewhere around 900 calories over a 10 week cut. I'm a 5'10" 34yo male, with just over 1.5 years of consistent training. I started at 180.4 lbs, with an estimated TDEE somewhere in the range of 2400-2500, but I have never really confirmed this number. I had totally botched a bulk between last August and January, going from 153 to 180, thinking that 5 pounds a month was decent enough to keep fat gain down. I was hella wrong -- I'm guessing like 85%+ of that was fat. I'm guessing I was putting on like 1-1.5 pounds of muscle a month, max. From here on in, I'm just never going to "BULK" like that again, opting for slow bulks. Anyways, I started the cut on Jan 24, and ended April 3 -- 10 weeks exactly. My goal was to stay between the range of 1550-1700 calories a day. I train every 2nd or 3rd day, depending on schedule, with 2 full body routines, alternating each exercise between a 3x5 rep target and a 3x10 rep target. I rest for 3-4 minutes between each working set, taking each one to the rep before total failure (last set until total failure other than squats and deads). Day One (alternating workout in brackets if different): Bench 3x10 (3x5) OHP 3x10 (3x5) EZBar Curls 3x10 (3x5) Deadlift 3x5 (3x10) Dragonflags 1 set to failure Day Two: Bent over rows: 3x10 (3x5) Weighted Chinups: 3x10 (3x5) Shrugs 2x15 Squats: 3x5 (3x10) EZbar pullovers: 3x12 Using Strength Standards, I translated my workouts before the cut and at the end of the cut into 1 Rep Max's over the 3 workout sets to figure out my strength difference (using the higher rep versions). Strength Progress (Average of 3 work set 1RMs): Bench 221 -> 213 OHP 110 -> 111 Rows 222 -> 238 Chins 246 -> 246 Curls 116 -> 113 I suffered a back injury in January (yanking a heavy Deadlift), so Deads and Squats wouldn't make sense in this comparison as I backed them off in January and have slowly built them back up concentrating on form. For reference, my most recent 3x5 working weight for Squat was at 242 lbs, and for Deadlift was 363 lbs. I'm a much stronger puller than presser, obviously :). For diet, I did leangains, splitting approximately 1600 over two meals (800 calories each). Meal one would be at noon, meal two would be between 5:30 and 7:30, depending on schedule. I targeted 40/30/30 carb/fat/protein, with an average consumption of about 118g of protein over that period (tried for higher, but very tough to keep this up with only 1600 calories without eating tuna all day -- I like actual meals). I drank coffee in the mornings, and getting to noon is actually not too bad. The best part of leangains IMO is dealing with hunger (paradoxically). Two bigger meals means I'm satiated for almost the entire day, after that morning stretch is over with. When I have 4 meals of 400 calories, I'm basically hungry all day. Progress Pics are at: http://imgur.com/a/vQHwZ I can't guarantee if I was or wasn't flexing in the priors, as I can't remember. I'm guessing I went from something like 17% bodyfat to about 10% bodyfat, but anyone's opinion on that would be appreciated. At this bodyfat I keep stubborn fat in lower abs and lower back -- guessing I'd need to lose another 5 lbs of fat to really look lean. Lessons learned: I felt totally fine during workouts. Caffeine about 30 mins beforehand, and I'm good to go. I think creatine has helped for this. I wouldn't want to keep this up for longer than 10 weeks. Last two were pretty huge battles to keep discipline. Testosterone probably crashed, as expected. (libido, etc) I would have one night a week with a horrible sleep, just staring at the ceiling. Pretty rare usually, but this was a thing. I would make up for it, but thought that was weird. If I ever need to cut in the future, I would do this again. Why take twice as long to cut, when you don't lose that much strength (and muscle) if you have discipline? TL;DR Lost 21 pounds in 10 weeks eating 1600 calories a day, thought it was awesome, loved the results, though I didn't love my life. submitted by /u/parkertexasranger [link] [comments]

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