Training & Diet Guidance Post-Layoff

[NEB92]

Hey coaches,

I wasn't sure who to direct this question to, but I feel like I'm at kind of a crossroads and need some direction regarding my training and diet.

About me: 25 year old male. 6'1" // 205-210 lbs // bf% currently somewhere in the high teens based on the eyeball test.

I was doing the Texas Method (with some minor modifications) and making some decent progress before I took about a month off from training. During this period, I was pretty sedentary. When I got back in the gym last week, I was honestly shocked at the amount of muscle atrophy and strength loss I experienced - my 5RM is down about 20-25% in my main lifts, and while my overall body weight hasn't changed much, I have definitely lost some muscle mass. It's a pretty frustrating reality after all the hard work I put in before the layoff.

Goals: I hope to get my squat & DL 5RM to 405+ and my bench 5RM to 295+ on the TM while not getting too "fluffy" in doing so. I know I will have to gain some weight to achieve these goals, but I ideally want to keep my body fat below the 20% range. After I reach my strength goals, I will probably switch to a more long term program with which I can try to maintain some of my strength while incorporating some hypertrophy work and getting a little leaner.

Basically, what's the better strategy here considering my goals? 1. Focus on cutting down body fat/weight now since I've already lost a bunch of strength, and then slowly regain strength/muscle mass while having some wiggle room to gain fat in the process. 2. Focus on gaining my strength back, while obviously gaining some residual body fat, and worrying about trimming down after I've reached my strength goals. Or, 3. Something else entirely.

In the meantime, I have reset my loads a decent amount and am running the Advanced Novice program to try to get my numbers back to a respectable level, though I am obviously ready to adjust my training given your advice. I know that I will have to gain weight at some point to reach my goals, I just ideally would not like to get too "fluffy" in doing so.

Sorry if this is a lot of moving parts for one post, I'm just a little lost and frustrated. I will understand if my goals are not realistic and need to be adjusted.

[Tom Campitelli]

Do a brief linear progression until it becomes necessary to switch to something weekly. You can still put on some weight yet at 6'1" tall. If you don't want to go nuts with food, make your jumps on an intermediate program a little less aggressive. Train hard, eat well, and make small adjustments instead of making large dietary changes. Once you are in intermediate territory, add a day or two of light conditioning. I predict you will probably be happy with the progress you make in the next four to six months.

[NEB92]

Thanks for your response! I'll keep running the LP for now like you suggested. I know I can afford to gain some weight (I actually intend to get up around 220-225 to accomplish my training goals) but didn't want to do it too quickly and put on superfluous amounts of body fat just for the sake of consistently adding weight to the bar. I know that I'll probably look back at this post six months from now and laugh at myself for being so anxious and frustrated.

Once I get back to intermediate programming, do you have any advice on how to make the progression less aggressive? I really liked the flexibility and structure of the Texas Method, but it seems to be a pretty aggressive program by nature. I worry that +5 lbs squat/DL and +2.5 lbs bench/press every intensity day won't be sustainable for very long if I'm technically not recovering optimally due to being in a smaller caloric surplus than I maybe ought to be. Would you recommend adjusting the TM (microloading intensity day, lowering the volume on volume day, etc.), switching to a program like 5/3/1 with slower progression, or something else entirely?

[Tom Campitelli]

I would just use smaller jumps for the TM when that becomes necessary. You can go up by 2.5 lbs on the squats and deads, or cycle your rep ranges, which has the same effect and may even be slower, depending upon how you do it. You may also find that 4x5 squats are enough to keep you going. Calculate your volume day off of your intensity day every time and round down for volume. If you can, increase the spread between volume and intensity slowly over time.