Cutting help desparately needed.

[Maverick1964]

First, a thanks in advance to anyone who can give me guidance with cutting and NOT losing muscle. My background...I am the classic ectomorph...putting on muscle is extremely hard for me...in high school I wrestled at 105 with a walking around weight of about 110...at my same height today of 5'10"! About 15 years ago I started lifting hard core and before I stopped lifting 7 years ago I was at 175 lbs at about 10% body fat. Every time I tried to cut down from there, I lost little fat and ALOT of my muscle...I finally told myself that I will just have to live with the mid section fat...then I stopped lifting. Started back last June and have gained back prolly about 70% of my muscle mass...the problem is, in the 7 year lay off I have increased my body fat % to about 16-18% (best guess) with the majority being on my stomach and hips. I want to cut down starting in April, but desperately want to hang on to my muscle. In the past I would eat about 500 kcals under maintenance, eat 50-60% protein, 20% carbs, 20% fat...do treadmill walking and occasionally HIT. Where was I going wrong? I am 5'10 and 190 lbs now. How much weight should I look to lose a week?
Supplement wise I am looking at:
CEL M-Test
Thermogenesis (can't really tolerate stims)
supplement with additional KSM-66
Olympus Labs Tr1umph (using now too)

I am seriously giving thought to a low dose Ostarine cycle also. ( have done a few PH cycles in the past). I am 52 years old. I appreciate any thoughts.

 

[john.patterson]

If you're an ectomorph, I wouldn't start dieting at such a large deficit. I would eat 200 calories under maintenance, or maybe only eat under maintenance 4-5 days per week. The slower you go, the more muscle you'll keep. Also, your macros seem a little skewed. Keeping protein high is beneficial, but you don't need 60% of calories from protein. Especially if you're an ectomorph.

I would make sure you're getting 1-1.2g of protein per pound of body weight, which typically ends up being 35-40% of total calories. You don't need to pound protein to keep muscle. I would then increase your carb intake a bit. If you're an ectomorph I'm assuming you handle carbs well, and carbs can be very helpful for sparing muscle while dieting. They can also help you to maintain strength and feel better during a cut.

As far as supplementation goes, I would keep it simple. Don't add too many supplements to your stack, and focus on your nutrition and monitoring weight loss. If you're looking to take a natural anabolic product for your cut, and you also want to use Ashwagandha (KSM-66), I would suggest taking a look at Alphamax XT. It's a great all in one product that can help increase natural test levels and limit cortisol and estrogen. It also contains forskolin which can help improve body composition, as well as Ashwagandha for reduced stress and improved recovery. It's a solid product with a great profile for a cut/recomp

 

[LeanEngineer]

I think john.patterson has you pretty much covered if you take his advice and run with it. Like he said make sure you put a lot of your effort and focus on nutrition as that is what will drive your results.

 

[Maverick1964]

Thanks guys!

 

[john.patterson]

Thanks guys!

You got it man. Let us know if you have any other questions.