Originally Posted by
Matt James
Just wanted to update this.
I've been tracking my macros daily, been aiming for 200g of protein and over 300g of low-glycemic carbs. Averaging a little over 2600 calories per day.
In a month and a half I've lost about 12 lbs and about 2.5" off my waist. Crazy thing is that my lifts got a lot less grindy once I started getting adequate carbs.
Programming has changed slightly: I'm now taking two days between workouts, and have added a light squat day, all based on Practical Programming. I've also switched to triples for now on my press/bench press, also per PP. Lifts are still progressing (with the exception of a couple missed workouts due to outside circumstances).
My sense is that the additional recovery day is probably driven by my caloric deficit, whereas the pressing change is due to where I'm at in the program. I anticipate having to switch to Nick's intermediate upper body programming sooner than later but I am going to try to keep progressing on squats and DL as long as I can.
So, thank you for the advice. It's working.
Question: at what point do I go back to maintenance or surplus? Should that be dictated by programming needs or by waist circumference (currently 36.5" at 195 lbs or less)?