I ran four days TM method for the upper body and HLM for the lower body for four months after finishing LP. At the end of this phase, I was approaching 39" waist at 84 kg body weight. I decided its time for a cut. So I followed Santan's advice to keep the volume up at 65% of 1RM while cutting. I got down my waste to 35" at 77 kg body weight during last three months.
My number before I started the fat loss:
Age, height, body weight, waist: 31, 5.7", 84 kg, 39" (2" below navel)
Squat: 140 kg for 3x5 and 165kg for 1 RM.
Deadlift: 155 kg for 1x5
Bench: 92.5 kg for 5x5 and 102kg for 2x2
Press: 72.5 kg for 5x5 and 84kg for 5 singles.
I have been doing these throughout the fat loss period.
Bodyweight, waist: 77 kg, 35"
Squat: 100 kg for 3 sets of 10 rep.
Deadlift: 105 kg for 1 set of 10 rep.
Bench: 70 kg for 3x10 sets x reps
Press: 55 kg for 3x10
How do I approach programming to get back to the previous level of strength? Should I rerun the LP to get there?
I just want to be clear in stating that percentages are useful to determine ballparks and estimated 1RM is bullshit. I hope you didn't stay at 65% of some estimated 1RM for the duration of your cut. You should still be trying to add something each week. To answer your question, if you have restored your calories then you need to hop on a LP and run that up. You are likely to surpass where you left off.
Last edited by Robert Santana; 10-24-2021 at 06:21 PM.
thanks Rippetoe for sharing the article. I made the mistake of not adjusting the calories based on my progress.
Coach Santana. I didn't add weight on the bar each week during the cut. Thanks for the valuable advise.
You should always try to add, there just comes a point where you can’t, and cutting and starting too heavy gets you to that point faster. It still sucks to grind 10s in a deficit but it can be done more effectively with a lesser risk of injury then doing the stupid thing of attempting a heavy 5 or triple on low calories.
On press and bench, I started with 60 kg and 80 kg. But finishing the last few reps of 10s became difficult after 2nd week. so I dropped 2.5kg in both the lift. I calibrated the lifts such that I can complete the 10th rep. Someways 100 on squat felt easy so I loaded 105 and some days I felt 100 is not happening so I loaded 95. The above numbers are just what I normally ended up doing during the cut.
Why are you training? What is your purpose under the bar?
I want to get strong and big. For now, I want to be able to press 100 kg and squat at least 200 kg. It's a satisfying thing to know that I am capable of doing it.
I was skinny before LP at 64 kg. I gained about 15kg body weight at the End of LP. I didn't get fat during the LP. I got fat after finishing the LP. I thought if eat more, I will get strong quicker and worry about the waist later. I did very stupid things like drinking 7 whole eggs twice a day and eating half tandoori chicken a day plus the other food.
But this time, I will keep more close look at how much I eat.
Sorry for the poor English.