OK i have looked all over and keep getting conflicting answers. I understand how calorie deficits work although some say you can run say a 500 long term others say every 3-5 days bump the calories back up to normal then repeat. .
Typically when a natural bodybuilder diets what percentage of the weight loss is fat muscle say 10lbs. Some for someone not doing all the crap the pros do but say 200mg of test and 200mg of deca per week as an idea.
Thanks any help is appreciated.
Assuming running a 500 calorie deficit long term.
What is long term? 12 weeks? 24? 36? 52?
"Typically when a natural bodybuilder diets what percentage of weight loss is fat / muscle, say 10lbs.?"
If one is natty it is more dependent on genetics and age than anything with regard to muscle loss per fat loss in pounds over a duration of time, plus conditioning and history with your body. How many extreme deficits were run? Any? It's a complex answer. There's no real good one without specifically gaining some information about your history. Athelete? Age? How high was your body fat ever?
"So, for someone not doing all the crap the pros do but say adding 200mg of test and 200mg of deca per week as an idea."
Transitioning fro natty to non-natty, the answer will (with effort) be, the non-natty will preserve more muscle and even gain muscle in a deficit at the cost of fat loss or benefit of fat loss. AAS will preserve muscle in a deficit.
You'll probably need to share more specifics in order to get some answers in more detail.
Age:
Weight:
Body Fat:
Goal:
Experience lifting:
Athletic History:
Any past cycles: (Compounds)
Diet:
This will help some others in here gain a better foothold to answer your questions regarding your expectations.
For example:
If you are 34yo, 5'10 185 at 15% bodyfat and have been a trained athlete (Wrestling); no history of cycling, then I'd make the strong suggestion to remain natty and find a great program.
What you are alluding to is, how can you convince yourself that taking AAS will improve your chances of losing fat while gaining or maintaining muscle, and it's already been answered.
Nobody is going to be able to tell you where you'll end up if they don't know your starting point, or where you've been. It isn't as easy as you'll gain 1 pound of muscle and lose 4 pounds of fat in 8 weeks based on no information.
You want a formula.
Just get out there and do it; start a log; and adjust as time progresses.
Maybe get a coach. I'd stay natty based on the limited information you've provided.