@Tmcclone9119 It's normal to lose some strength while cutting. But if you continue strength training, get enough rest and keep your protein high like you did, then you can usually maintain a good amount. But you won't always maintain all of it. Especially if you are going low or no carbs, then you just might not have the energy to push the same weights that you used to.

Also make sure the deficit isn't too big, that could be a problem. If you were bulking on 3500 calories, that would mean maintenance is probably around 3000 calories. Which would mean 2500 calories would be more than enough for a deficit.

Should i start trying to eat in a caloric surplus right away. I lost about 13 to 14 pounds and my surplus shold not be as high as it was or should i eat my way up to it again. Also it shouldnt take very long to regain my old strength back correct. Since my legs are getting used to be trained now i wanted to do upper and lower splits 2 upper and 2 lower days.

@Tmcclone9119 If you are going back into a surplus, ease back into it slowly. Don't go straight from 2000 calories to 3000 or 3500 calories, for example. Start by going up to maybe 2200 or 2300 calories for 3 - 4 days. Then increase to 2500 - 2600 calories. If you notice you're gaining weight with those numbers for a while, stay there, and only increase again by another 200 - 300 calories when needed.

An upper / lower split sounds good! Have you thought about trying my Full Body program when I release that?

What will your full body program be. One thing i want to eat are rice cakes but i can never find them arent they healthy to eat for example like a pre workout snack i can not find them at wal mart where can you pick them up at or what aisle are they in. When i do an upper body workout how many back and bicep exercises should i do. I usually go anywhere from 6 to 12 reps but my issue is where i bend my arm at where my biceps start can get sore for a few days depending on what i do in the gym what is your advice on that issue to decrease discomfort in that area. One other thing when i trained with my trainer thru november and he had me severely cut back on my calories to lose belly fat where i got most of my carbs from fruit and veggies but he also has been training me to max out at the end od the month but i know i lost a little bit of strength. What could have went wrong scott he said i wasnt going to lose strength or muscle mass if i kept my protein high enough which i did. I ate veggies at every meal and about 2 bannannas a day and more other healthy foods. If i start increasing my calories slowly will i start gaining my lost strength back.

@Tmcclone9119 I will be releasing a bit of a sneak peak of my Full Body program this weekend, so you can check that out to see what it will be 😁 

Rice cakes should be easy to find man. If not Walmart, maybe in Super Value or another grocery store you have in your town / city? They're super popluar, someone must have them!

You only need 2 or 3 back and biceps exercises for a good workout, and just do more sets of them! Like 5 - 6 sets. If your biceps are getting sore, its probably that they are taking over your back movements. Try a hook grip without wrapping your thumb around on some back exercises.

And you will always lose some muscle when cutting, but you can minimize it with hard training, high protein and a calorie deficit that isn't too small. As long as you didn't lose much, I wouldn't worry about it. You can gain it back when you're back in a surplus! As for strength, the best way to keep strength while cutting is to still train for strength.

Im going to start bulking again. I have an app to track my macros called the mynetdiary app and i have my calorie surplus set at 3,397 calories to gain roughly 1 pound a week. Not everyday do i eat quite that much but i dont want to go any higher than that. My current weight is at 142.4 and my target weight is 153 and my plan is to gain 10 pounds in 76 days not i dont need that to be totally accurate but its good. Right now my macros are set at fat for 132g a day which makes up 35% of my total calories. My carbs are set at 382g which is 45% of my macros and protein is at 170g which is 20% of my total calories. Would you say my macros are correct or do they need to be adjusted. Im a pretty skinny person am ectomorph body type so i just want to make sure im eating right my type of body is 45% for carbs enough. Do i have too much fat. Also i need some more fat sources for calories i eat almonds cashews peanut butter eggs and lean meat but i need other fat sources i would like to eat avocados more often but i have a hard time trying to keep them fresh. I would like to use vegetable oil for fats but idk how i could possibly calculate how much of it im consuming without actually drinking it lol.

@Tmcclone9119 Those macros look good! I think 45% for your carbs is more than high enough. Your protein is hovering probably around 1.2g - 1.5g per pound of lean body weight so that's perfect too. Remember that as you gain weight increasing protein to keep up might not be a bad idea. For now, for your body weight, 170g should be enough.

Just cook a few of your foods in oil and track it as a teaspoon or two teaspoons. Most of it will cook into the food if you cook it long enough. Also don't forget oily fish like salmon and tuna are great sources of fat! Maybe even throw in some seeds too! Otherwise just eat more of the fat foods you have already.

Sovi have a few other questions and keep in mind im an ectomorph body type.

1. Is hitting your muscle groups twice a week good enough for growth. How many exercises would you recommend for each muscle group for your chest back quads shoulders and arms

2. I dont like to spend too much time in the gym anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes at the most. How can i make the most of it. Should i altetnate between push and pull exercises. For example if i wanted to do 10 reps of of barbell bench and then instead of of doing nothing on my rest time do a pull exercise such barbell rows or seated row machine or would that fatigue me too much for the bench press. I ususlly altetnate between biceps and triceps.

3. For my chicken brest i do sauteed is that healthy to sauteed chicken breast in olive oil. I usually put olive oil in a medium size skillet and i sauteed my chicken breast for 5 to 7 minutes on medium heat. Is that enough to get oil into my chicken

4. What is a good bed time snack besides caesin protein. What time of the day would it be best to eat your protein carbs and fats.

@Tmcclone9119

1. Yes hitting everything twice a week is perfect! Maybe even 3 times per week for lagging body parts. Generally aim for around 20 - 25 sets for your bigger muscle groups and 12 - 16 sets for smaller muscle groups (both per week). Check out my programs as an example! https://muscularstrength.com/Full-Workout-Programs

2. Unless you're circuit training, I suggest having some kind of rest period. So you can do supersets like that chest and back example, but then take a 60 second rest period after you've done BOTH movements before doing your next set of the superset.

3. Yes that's fine! Nothing wrong with that as long as the chicken and oil fits into your overall macros!

4. Greek yoghurt is great before bed! And you can generally eat your macros any time of the day. It's good to try and time your carbs around training though, in your pre- and post-workout meals. And you definitely want some protein in your meal after training!

So far i do two upper and two lower body days monday is upper i try to do hypertrophy bench ans then for the lower body on tuesday i do squats then wednesday is an off day then thursday i do bench for strength and friday i deadlifts. That is how i structured my big lifts. On thursday when i do back exercises on thursday is it ok to deadlifts ob friday since that hits your whole back and also can that be counted for my total working sets for my back that week.

@Tmcclone9119 Yes you can do deadlifts on Friday, but deadlifts are not really a back workout my friend. They're more leg dominant! It's a bit of a misconception that they are for your back.

Scott you been helpful. I have some more questions if you dont mind.

1. For a post workout protein shake do you mix 1 or 2 scoops of protein powder. Id like to use 2 but then i feel like i have too much protein that day of eating and i usually like to keep it around 170 to 180 grams. Would you think a home made mass gainer mixed with protein powder bannana eggs oatmeal and 400 ml milk. would it be good for a pre or post workout shake when i go to the gym.

2. I been having such a difficult time seeing progress in the gym. Everytime i get ahead i always end up falling back then having difficulty getting ahead again. Im having a difficult time choosing what workout split would be best for me. The trainer i had would not recommend full body workouts but yet scott it seems you enjoy it alot and its worked for you. He recommended upper and lower splits to me but im only in the gym training a certain muscle 2 times a week and especially when its upper body day i cant fit in all the volume i want to for each of my muscle groups and im spending a little bit longer than i want. I never tried this but since now my body is probably used to working out now I thought i might try a 5 day split with a chest back legs shoulders and arms. My trainer said this would not be the best split for me but i think it is. To fit in all the exercises i can for one muscle group in about an hour and have 1 whole week to recover which would be plenty of time except could i still progress on the barbell bench especially if i do it once a week and how would i structure a work out like this for each individual muscle group.

For example would these be good workouts

Chest

Barbell bench press. 5x5

Incline barbell press. 4x8

Dumbell bench press. 4x10

Cross cable flys. 4x12

Chest dips. 3x burnout

Push ups 2xburnout

Back

Barbell bent over row 5x8

Tbar row .4x8

One arm dumbell row. 4x8-10

Seated cable row. 4x10

Assisted pull ups 4x10

Seated row machine. 3xburnout.

@Tmcclone9119

1. Well if you don't need two scoops in order to hit your protein goal for the day, just stick to one scoop. If you get to the point where you need more protein and can't get it from whole food, then there's nothing wrong with adding another scoop. And your idea for a homemade mass gainer is great! It depends when you go to the gym - with all the natural sugar and protein in there, it will be great post workout if you can have some kind of other meal as a pre-workout meal. But if you train in the morning and want something quick and easy, it will work well as a pre-workout meal too.

2. Well, I think sticking with an Upper / Lower split, or doing a Full Body split or PPL split would be best. That way you are getting more frequency. So while you're not doing as many exercises / sets per workout, you can still get the same overall volume over multiple workouts during the week. Plus you make the most of the anabolic window which lasts about 24 - 48 hours (meaning after about 2 days your muscles are generally ready to be trained again).

So with what you have now, if you did full body 3 times per week, you could do 2 exercises per workout per muscle group, or even one exercise with 6 sets (18 sets total across the entire week). If you stick to doing an upper / lower split (4 days of training per week), you could do 2 exercises per muscle group per session (5 sets per exercise, making 10 sets per session and 20 sets total for the entire week).

So you can still do those exercises you have lined up for chest and back for example, you'd just be spreading them out more.

Like i said i dont lime to spend a massive amount of time in the gym maybe about 60 to 75 minutes. When its upper body day its hard to hit all my muscles and to give them enough volume to grow between chest back shoulders biceps and triceps. Here is and example of a workouts.

1. Barbell bench press 5x5

Barbell bent over row 5x8-10

2.Incline barbell bench5x8

Assisted pull up or lat pull downs 5x8-10

3. Dumbell shoulder press 5x8

Dumbell curls 5x8-10

4. Arnold press 8 to 10 reps or cable curl 10-12

Triceps dips 4 to 5 sets til failure.

8 exercises which 2 vertical pushes 2 horizontal pushes 1 vertical row with 1 horizontal row with some biceps and triceps.

One thing i like to add if i find it too hard or spending too much time in the gym to is it ok to cut out the arm exercises and mix it in with lower body day that way i could throw in another chest or back exercise on those days. Is 2 exercises enough to get my muscles stimulated enough to even grow especially bigger ones. How can i get bigger arms.

@Tmcclone9119 Supersetting like that works well to cut down on time in the gym! If you're doing that twice per week that is probably a good amount of sets. You could increase the sets further if you needed to when you hit a plateau.

And yes you can cut out the arm exercises from your upper body day and mix them with legs if you really want to. Just keep in mind there is a possibility they will be slightly fatigued from your upper body session the day before.

If your arms are really lagging then you might benefit from a separate arm day twice per week to give them more attention.

So tomorrow is an upper body day. Im going to start with these exercises

1st set

Barbell bench press. 5x8

Wide grip lateral pull downs. 4 to 5x 8 to 10

2nd set

Flatdumbell bench 4x8 to 10after last set can i drop the weight but like 1/3 and rep to failure.

Barbell rows 4x8 to 10 reps

3rd set

Dumbell shoulder press 4x8 to 10

Cable curls 4x8 to 10 reps

After the last set is it ok to drop the weight on both exercises and rep out more reps.

4th set

Shoulder flies 3sets 8 to reps

Skull crushers with ez bar 4sets 8 to 10reps.

Let me know what you think. Is my workout structured properly. In an upper lower split can i see growth in my chest and back with only 2 exercises per workout. Considering my biceps and tricep get hit in all my push and pull exercises if my bench or my rows are getting stronger will my arms naturally get bigger and stronger from doing that. Ive heard that you dont need an arm day to get them to grow cause they are small muscles. I know on your full body workouts it seems lime you hit each muscle just once but you have gotten some decent results it seems. I have my lower back abs quads glutes hamstrings and calves to workout on my lower days so i guess id rather keep my arms for my upper body days. But is 1 or 2 exerciese for my shoulders and or my arms going to be enough to get them to grow and get stronger.

Do you also think it is a good idea to have my other upper body say for strength where i workout with lower reps such as 1 to 6 or 7 reps.

When it comes to lower body day how many leg exercises should i do. I know the calf muscles get hit good on squats and leg presses what are some good isolation exercises for calfs. How many ab exercises do i need in a workouts and how many sets and reps do you think is good. What exercises would you recommend for your obliques upper and lower abs.

 Finished my workout and ran into some problems. During the end of my workout my fingers were real sore from the bottom half of my fingers to my knuckles were hurting me. How can i fix this problem. About 45 minutes into my workout i already felt fatigued. I ate some eggs oatmeal with who milk and a bananna and worked out an hour later how can i prevent this also so i can get thru the rest of my workout easier.