Originally Posted by
Mitchell Smith
I think basically taking the approach of bouncing back and forth between 15% and 20% (calorie surplus up to 20, then take a few weeks to diet back to 15) is really a great strategy for a lot of people POST NOVICE LP. There are a ton of reasons for this.
First, those short breaks from the caloric surplus (Mike Israetel PhD would call this a "Minicut") make muscle tissue more insulin sensitive, thus, when you introduce your surplus again, they are less resistant to growth.
Second, it keeps you looking and feeling decent (a big consideration that most people don't like to admit).
Third, 15-20% is a range most guys can maintain without having an eating disorder. It's a pretty normal range. Some guys will have to spend more time in surplus to stay here, and other guys (like me) will move from 15-20 quite quickly unless we are careful about calories.
Fourth, it's a range that doesn't take a ridiculous amount of time and effort to maintain. I think Mark would agree that going south of 15% regularly is going to take a lot of deliberate effort and time that will impede the process of getting stronger.
The reason I say post LP, is just simply because you need to be fully focused on 1 singular goal in LP. Just get it done. If you worry about cutting before doing LP you will have no muscle mass anyway is you won't look good and nothing matters. Just get strong first.