Recomp/Fat loss on four days split

[Francois.L]

Dear Robert,

After my LP, I started an HLM and then a 4 days split routine that you can see here if needed. I was planning to cut some fat accumulated during my LP.

My height is 1m80 and I was around 85 kg at the end of my LP (end of December) with a waist size around 89 cm.

At the end of my LP, daily calories intake was:
3500 kcal
Protein: 230 g (170 g from good sources)
Carbs: 390 g
Fat: 110 g
Fibre: 56 g (without counting the ones from vegetable)

For my cut, the plan was to cut by steps around 200 kcal and see what the effect on the scale and waist size is.

I started to cut in the fat to about 90 g a day now.

Now, my daily intake is:
2800 kcal
Protein: 230 g (190 g from good sources)
Carbs: 280 g
Fat: 90 g
Fibre: 40 g (without counting the ones from vegetable)

Most carbs (240 g) are taken around training.

So far, after about 1 month, my weight is about 82 kg and waist about 86 cm. Training seems to not suffer. So it obviously goes in the right direction. However, you might have advices on some macro tweaking. Also, I was wondering if you think that I could go more aggressively without too much impact on training or if I should just keep going like that.
Finally, during the first half hour of my training, I drink about about 10 g of BCAA and 40 g of maltodextrin. The next time I plan to reduce my calorie intake, I plan to remove the maltodextrin. Does it seems to be a proper tweak to you?

Side note: I rounded the numbers so macro nutriments values might not fit the calories.

Thanks for reading my not native speaker english.

[Robert Santana]

Dear Robert,

After my LP, I started an HLM and then a 4 days split routine that you can see here if needed. I was planning to cut some fat accumulated during my LP.

My height is 1m80 and I was around 85 kg at the end of my LP (end of December) with a waist size around 89 cm.

At the end of my LP, daily calories intake was:
3500 kcal
Protein: 230 g (170 g from good sources)
Carbs: 390 g
Fat: 110 g
Fibre: 56 g (without counting the ones from vegetable)

For my cut, the plan was to cut by steps around 200 kcal and see what the effect on the scale and waist size is.

I started to cut in the fat to about 90 g a day now.

Now, my daily intake is:
2800 kcal
Protein: 230 g (190 g from good sources)
Carbs: 280 g
Fat: 90 g
Fibre: 40 g (without counting the ones from vegetable)

Most carbs (240 g) are taken around training.

So far, after about 1 month, my weight is about 82 kg and waist about 86 cm. Training seems to not suffer. So it obviously goes in the right direction. However, you might have advices on some macro tweaking. Also, I was wondering if you think that I could go more aggressively without too much impact on training or if I should just keep going like that.
Finally, during the first half hour of my training, I drink about about 10 g of BCAA and 40 g of maltodextrin. The next time I plan to reduce my calorie intake, I plan to remove the maltodextrin. Does it seems to be a proper tweak to you?

You

Side note: I rounded the numbers so macro nutriments values might not fit the calories.

Thanks for reading my not native speaker english.

Thanks for reaching out buddy! Glad to be of assistance.

4 day HLM split is my go to when in a negative energy balance so great job there. Cutting the fats was a solid first move as well. I’d advise against dropping the maltodextrin and suggest cutting your fat further to keep the carbs up as high as possible for as long as possible to keep as much weight on the bar as possible. Does this make sense?

[Francois.L]

Dear Robert,

Thanks for the feedback. I would have a few comments.

I am actually not doing and 4 days HLM split. I was doing an HLM and then moved for a 4 days split which doesn't really have the medium component. That shouldn't matter much but that was just to clarify.
On Saturday, since it is my Heavy Bench day, followed by the Heavy Squat day on Sunday, I don't reduce my calorie intake which is then still around 3500 kcal. This was following some advice in ones of Andy Baker's video (I think).
For the maltodextrin, I actually seached about it on the board and saw that Jordan always suggested to drop it due to its lack of micronutriment since it is only sugar.

Regards,
François.

[Robert Santana]

Dear Robert,

Thanks for the feedback. I would have a few comments.

I am actually not doing and 4 days HLM split. I was doing an HLM and then moved for a 4 days split which doesn't really have the medium component. That shouldn't matter much but that was just to clarify.
On Saturday, since it is my Heavy Bench day, followed by the Heavy Squat day on Sunday, I don't reduce my calorie intake which is then still around 3500 kcal. This was following some advice in ones of Andy Baker's video (I think).
For the maltodextrin, I actually seached about it on the board and saw that Jordan always suggested to drop it due to its lack of micronutriment since it is only sugar.

Regards,
François.

10-4 on the split. Still looks pretty good and should work well. There is a fine balance of volume and intensity here and thats what really matters when you are cutting. You just don't want to run into a situation where you are hitting intensity without volume (i.e. peaking for a PL meet) or hitting volume without intensity (i.e. high reps, lower loads).

As far as maltodextrin goes, it is only sugar but you are taking during a time where you can rapidly use it (during your workout/after your workout) so it is by no means wasted calories. You are always going to feel a carb reduction in the gym much more than a fat reduction and a fat reduction can reduce your total caloric intake with a smaller change in food volume (because 1 gram of fat has more than double the calories of 1 gram of carb) so you end up fueling yourself sufficiently while still getting a decent amount of food in.

In short, fat loss is driven by a negative energy balance. Assuming you are just looking at the energy in side of the equation (the food that you eat), then calories must come down to induce fat loss. If you want to minimize performance decrements and muscle loss then you must prioritize where you want to restrict those calories. Protein > Carb > Fat. So fat first, then carbs, then if it comes down to it protein last. This is because fat doesn't directly contribute to training performance and muscle preservation so it's the most logical first choice. That and you can remove a large number of calories by removing a smaller quantity of food versus the opposite (lowering carbs and keeping fat high). Does this make sense?

[Francois.L]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Last thing, what do you think about the second comment:
On Saturday, since it is my Heavy Bench day, followed by the Heavy Squat day on Sunday, I don't reduce my calorie intake which is then still around 3500 kcal. This was following some advice in ones of Andy Baker's video (I think).
So having one day keeping high calorie intake.

[Robert Santana]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Last thing, what do you think about the second comment:
On Saturday, since it is my Heavy Bench day, followed by the Heavy Squat day on Sunday, I don't reduce my calorie intake which is then still around 3500 kcal. This was following some advice in ones of Andy Baker's video (I think).
So having one day keeping high calorie intake.

I agree with this recommendation. Anytime you squat or deadlift heavy you will need more calories than otherwise.

[Francois.L]

Perfect, then I will keep going like that.

Finally, if at one point, waist size and weight are stalling so I have to cut down more calories. Would you usually recommend to:
-cut only on off days and keep them higher on training days.
-or just cut each day except the one where I have two training day in a row as I am currently doing.
?

[Robert Santana]

Perfect, then I will keep going like that.

Finally, if at one point, waist size and weight are stalling so I have to cut down more calories. Would you usually recommend to:
-cut only on off days and keep them higher on training days.
-or just cut each day except the one where I have two training day in a row as I am currently doing.
?

Depends how many calories you have to play with. I'd say start by cutting the off days only. If you start getting to the lower limit of what you can realistically adhere to then you will have to cut your training days as well. If you get lean enough, eventually it will all get low and your macros will be the same everyday.

[Francois.L]

Thanks a lot for all the good inputs.

[Robert Santana]

Thanks a lot for all the good inputs.

You are very welcome!