The classic “I train so I can eat what I want” sentiment can only get you far.

I’m sure you’ve seen the calories in vs calories out the topic on social media over the last few years, so I want to come at this from a slightly different angle. 

If your overall focus is fat loss, you must create an energy deficit within your diet. Your training, can be whatever you want. Sticking to strength training to preserve muscle mass as you diet and lose weight/body fat would be wise. A rough estimate of .12.13 kcal per lb of body weight is.

If your overall focus is to add muscle, you have to acknowledge adding tissue requires energy. If you try and do this whilst “dieting”, it stands to reason you will do a piss poor job of it. You need to consume enough energy to build muscle. So eating at around maintenance calories (around 14-16 kcal per lb of body weight) is a good starting point. You can take your calories into a surplus but be warned, this might not be the smartest move.

The “BULK – CUT” cycle is taken from bodybuilding. Doing a bulk where you eat at an energy surplus (17-19kcal per lb of body weight) to gain as much muscle mass as possible, ensure no gains are left on the table and accept fat gain as a part of this phase. Then, follow this with a cut to strip body fat and try to preserve muscle mass to get ready to compete. This is fine for professional bodybuilders; however, for general fitness enthusiasts, it’s a dangerous cycle to get into. 

If you want to improve performance, focus on health, and maintain a stable body weight, then you can eat around energy maintenance. Note: if you have just come off the back of a diet and been successful, you have to appreciate a lighter frame human requires less energy at rest, so your new maintenance energy intake will be less than before you started your diet phase.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, where I share exercise techniques and show you how to maximise your training. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, if you have any questions, I host a weekly  Q&A session on my Instagram channel. Otherwise, please feel free to email me at andy@andyvincentpt.com. 

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