UNIVERSITY Offseason Fat Loss Phase Planning and Decision Making Lesson Overview • • • • • • • • • What is the Fat Loss Phase Initial Nutrition Set Up Initial Cardio and Training Set Up Initial PED Set Up Decision Making How Much to Adjust Calories When to Adjust Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats Sample Fat Loss Phase Monitoring and Adjustments When and How to End the Fat Loss Phase The Fat Loss Phase Fat Loss Phase “mini cut”: Brief fat loss phase during extended off season Not full-on contest prep Goal: drop body fat and hold muscle tissue • Nutrition is progressively decreased • Training Stimulus must be held high to maintain tissue • Cardio/NEAT may increase from offseason baseline or step count increased • If Enhanced, PED usage is elevated to hold tissue • Fat Loss Phase can last 4-8 weeks The Fat Loss Phase Why implement a minicut in the offseason? Muscle gain will come with fat gain (this is individual for timing) Restore health variables Decreasing body fat improves insulin sensitivity and lowers inflammation Lower aromatization from high body fat GI given “rest” less food and improved appetite Psychological break from Push Phase The Fat Loss Phase When to implement? End of a holding phase or beginning of push up phase NOT to be used within months of post show for fat gain triage Not to be used during times of high life stress and lack of recovery variables (sleep, nutrition, PED) Mid push phase is less than ideal for muscle retention Might need a fat loss phase prior to a Comp Prep diet The Fat Loss Phase Physique expectations and assessment • Holding new muscle or recomp if using PEDS • Decreased body fat down to lower end of recommended ranges to extend offseason (Males 8-12%; Females 18-22%) • Initial weight loss can be from GI weight (food volume decrease, Muscle glycogen decrease) Rate first week can be >1.5% body weight • If PEDs increasing may see no change or increase in weight from water retention • Plan will be adjusted based on subjective and objective data • Idea is get in and get out of fat loss without any detriments in training performance • This is not a contest prep phase, we want to cut this phase off prior to reaching a point of high metabolic adaption and need for hard fat loss digging (No sleep disturbance, libido change, performance drops, menstrual changes, digestion changes, etc) Fat loss rate Goals: From a high body fat a high rate of fat loss is possible and preserving muscle tissue is much easier than in a lean state This should be “easy” fat loss before hard stalls happen We don’t want to take too much time away from offseason Rate: 0.5-1.5% weight loss per week Variable Tracking Tools to Track: Weekly Pictures Waist Circumference largest caliper sites Body weight Fasting Blood Glucose Weekly Blood Pressure Daily Step Count Gym Performance Biofeedback Lets look at each variable set up… (Nutrition, cardio, training, PEDs) Nutrition Fat Loss Phase Set Up Coming off a holding phase • Food intake has been close to maintenance level or slight surplus • Should have adequate protein, carbs and fat to initiate • Training volume will be brought up to hold lean tissue, this will drive a slight increase in expenditure • Food will need to be reduced 20-30% in calories • This reduction initially should be a removal of offseason “non tracked meals” “cheat meals” “junk food” • Calorie reduction should come from carbs and/or fats from non periworkout meals • Some of this can come from cardio increase • PED introduction can enhance the fat loss effect on a smaller deficit • Pull calories from meals that are not around training as a starting point • Carbs and fats can be reduced individual or together depending on starting point and preference Weekly weight Weekly Nutrition Recommendations Cutting Energy Protein Fat 20-30% below maintenance 1.0-1.5 g/lb/day 0.30.7g/lb /day Carbohydrate change novice/interme diate 1.0-3.0+ g/lb/day 0.5-1.5% per week weight change advanced 0.5-1.5% per week Training and Cardio/NEAT Fat Loss Phase Set Up Resistance Training: • Train within your recovery capacity PED introduction can allow for higher training volume, volume should be higher than a holding phase to hold tissue in a deficit, but less than peak push phase • Only straight sets, remove (drop sets, rest pause sets, beyond failure sets) manage fatigue • Add back in the training day removed during the holding phase: EX: Pull Push Off Legs Off then to Pull Push Legs Off • Continue normal load rep progressions like any other phase Cardio/NEAT: Increase in cardio if needing to keep food high Ideally manipulate one variable first (decrease food or increase cardio, then monitor response Step count can be a focus of this phase, we are simply trying to increase energy output I would try not to let direct cardio workouts exceed the number of resistance training sessions you have per week PEDs Fat Loss Phase Set Up AAS: Move from TRT into a Blast Can set up based on minimal needed for tissue holding Can set up more aggressive to grow as well, base on previous cycle and rate of progress GH: Can hold GH 2-3 IU or move upwards to 4-8IU Time one dosage of 2IU pre fasted cardio Insulin: Not used during this phase SERMS/Aromatase Inhibitors Removed during this phase Health Support Compounds: Metformin ARB/Telmisartan Fat Loss Agents Clenbuterol and T3 should be reserved for contest prep Short duration low dose clenbuterol might be a consideration Fat Loss Decision Tree Fa t Loss Stall No change to plan, address adherence NO Adherence high >7-14 days YES Vi s ually l ook l eaner and decrease i n scale and/or caliper s ites? YES Fa t l oss within range of 0.5-1.5% wei ght l oss per week? NO YES YES No change to plan Is Ca lorie i ntake high enough a nd expenditure l ow enough to a l low for for further deficit? NO Consider ending minicut and start holding phase NO Is tra ining performance i mproving or a t l east maintaining? YES 1st Consider decrease kcal when food is high enough to so and hunger is managed NO Consider adjusting training volume down or ending minicut NO Other fa ctors involved bl urri ng fat loss? Di gestion Intact PED cha nges Mens trual cycl e Food Volume i ncrease/decrease Poor Sl eep Stres s Wa ter retention from tra i ning Cha nge i n fluids Cha nge i n daily routine Cha nge i n check in time of da y YES No change to plan 2nd Consider increasing energy expenditure if calorie intake is low and further decrease goes below minimum targets and curret cardio is not highly fatiguing 3rd consideration we will limit implementation of PED and fat loss agents in a minicut as a tool and save that for contest prep Adjusting Energy Intake General Rules: Make one change at a time Changes made should be reactive not proactive after initial set up Maintaining performance is paramount as this is not a contest prep and we will not allow performance drops Calorie adjustment after initial set up: Option : 10% decrease in total kcal intake (2000kcal diet = 200kcal reduction) Assess next week and adjust accordingly Which macros to adjust? Adjusting Macronutrients Protein Stay within 1-1.5g/lb of body weight, in a deficit protein needs will be higher than in a holding or push phase Hunger is also higher so protein with have the highest satiety index Hunger strategies: Swap liquid shakes for solid protein sources Switch from fish and egg whites to turkey and chicken, more solid protein sources Adjusting Carbohydrates and Fats CARBOHYDRATES In fat loss phase an increase in training volume and cardio means an increase in glucose utilization, but also fatty acid oxidation Coming from a push or holding phase carbohydrates should be relatively high and can be the first macronutrient to adjust downward Uphold pre, intra and post workout carbohydrates for as long as possible to fuel performance and recovery Switch to carb sources that have more fiber like oats over cream of rice to help manage hunger Utilize veggies more in this phase to manage hunger also FATS However, look at fats as well High carb or high fat can be just as effective in fat loss as one another So, preference and gym performance should be weighed into the decision of carb or fat reduction Lowering fats may further increase hunger, which should be noted I would not lower fats in this mini cut lower than 0.3g/lb of body weight Save the trace fat diet for later stages of a contest prep Hunger can also be managed by switch to fat sources with more fiber like avocado and nuts over using oils Adjusting Carbohydrates and Fats General guidelines for picking a macro for adjustment: Decrease carbs if: Carbs > 1g/lb and Fat is 1.3g/lb, CarbsBike>Stairmaster Perform cardio during times that are far from training and don’t impeded sleep duration If cardio must be performed around training, it after not pre You can adjust duration, intensity and frequency to program cardio Sessions longer than 20-30 can be split to manage fatigue Keep intensity low to moderate intensity as HIIT can cause too much interference effect Option 2: 10% increase in total daily expenditure (2000kcal diet= 200kcal cardio or step increase; ~10-15 minute cardio addition; 2k-4k steps per day) Hypothetical Male Bodybuilder Fat Loss Phase Progression week weight caliper arm quad waist BP BG rate of gain Calories Macros Cardio NEAT Training PEDS pics 10,12,12 week 222 9,11,12 18.3 28.4 34.4 112/80 325/335/70 3x20 week 222.2 9,10,11 18.2 28.2 34.2 115/77 85 0.17 3270 8,10,10 18.3 28.4 34 112/70 83 1.4 2600 255/335/60 4x20 week 221 18.3 28.4 33.8 114/75 82 0.09 2600 255/335/60 4x20 219 8,9,10 18.2 28.3 33.5 112/67 80 0.5 2600 255/335/60 4x20 82 2600 255/335/60 5x30 5500 5500 5500 7500 7500 PPoffALoff PPALoff PPALoff PPALoff PPALoff test 200; GH 2IU, Metformin Test 300, Masteron Test 300, Masteron Test 300, Masteron Test 300, Masteron 300, NPP 200, 500, telmisartan 20 300, NPP 200, GH 300, NPP 200, GH 300, NPP 200, GH GH 4IU, Metformin 500, 4IU, Metformin 500, 4IU, Metformin 500, 4IU, Metformin 500, Telmisartan 20 Telmisartan 20 Telmisartan 20 Telmisartan 20 softer waist smaller, tighter and fuller, tighter tighter, at good body fat to keep tighter start of PED gaining in push phase Diet/hunger hunger decrease Strength maintain PRS Changes week 225.4 hunger increase maintain Start Fat Loss Phase; 20% kcal decrease, add cardio Hold diet same session, Start PED blast hunger increased increasing hunger same increasing 10 same increasing 10 diet same, increase cardio by 10min and move to holding phase for one increase steps 2000 add one session week, increase food 20% kcal Ending the Fat Loss Phase Time to end the Fat Loss Phase? Is body composition at a leanness to move back to a push phase? Was this a fat loss diet prior to contest prep? Mentally feel fresh? Next week can be a move to a holding phase then into a push or comp prep diet Training: Move to a deload week during the holding phase Then training will move back up in volume based on the next phase you enter Nutrition Increase food to maintenance moving into holding phase Cardio Reduce cardio to offseason maintenance level If cardio level was high taper down over a few weeks PEDS If fat loss phase was start of a blast then continue PEDs and incrementally increase as needed to continue to grow If fat loss phase was at the tail end of cruise dosage, you will move into a blast period and increase PEDs Summary Fat loss phase is to drop body fat levels back to a level for improved growth or prepping the body for a contest prep The decision process in a fat loss phase should be based on around scale weight rate of change, visuals and subjective feedback During a fat loss phase muscle retention and maintained gym performance is essential This is not comp prep, so we don’t want to sacrifice muscle tissue in this phase  ... Carbohydrates, and Fats Sample Fat Loss Phase Monitoring and Adjustments When and How to End the Fat Loss Phase The Fat Loss Phase Fat Loss Phase “mini cut”: Brief fat loss phase during extended off... usage is elevated to hold tissue • Fat Loss Phase can last 4-8 weeks The Fat Loss Phase Why implement a minicut in the offseason? Muscle gain will come with fat gain (this is individual for timing)... variables (sleep, nutrition, PED) Mid push phase is less than ideal for muscle retention Might need a fat loss phase prior to a Comp Prep diet The Fat Loss Phase Physique expectations and assessment