I got injured in my last month of bulking

[VtaperXO]

Hey, I'm glad to be in this forum I am going to tell you a bit about me. First of all I have been bulking since january, therefore this would be my last month of bulking but it turned out I got injured and I will be out for 2-3 weeks( My lower back). Untill now I have been eating by maintenance (abt 2700kcal), so what should I do? I had plans to start cutting by january, Should I keep bulking When I'm back for a few weeks and then start cutting or just star cutting right away although maybe I lost strength and a little bit of muscle due to those off weeks. I hope you understand what I mean, sorry about any grammar mistake.

 

[Potbelly]

You bulk for a year?

 

[VtaperXO]

You bulk for a year?

Yep, I have been doing since january with a surplus of 200kcal.

 

[KvanH]

These could be helpful

 

[VtaperXO]

These could be helpful

Thanks for the content.
Well to sum it up, in my case I am 20% body fat, sure I know I need to cut, however in this case I got injured which can lead to some loss muscle or strength so that is what got me thinking, on the other hand as far as I know you are not gonna be able to gain strength while cutting.In a nutshell Idk If keep bulking to recover some muscle or star cutting

 

[Drolball]

usually, it will take more than 2-3 weeks to lose muscle. You may look smaller but that will most likely be loss of water and glycogen in the muscle. If I were you, I would stay at your new maintenance throughout healing, continue maintenance for 2-3 weeks once you're back in the gym and then start a slow cut and progressively drop calories accordingly.

Maybe try some exercises at home that don't bother your back only if it doesn't prolong the healing process. Are you running gear or plan to for the cut?

 

[Smont]

You bulk for a year?

I'm more concerned that after a year of bulking he's only eating 2400 calories for maintenance.

But to op, I would eat maintenance and train light for whatever I could till I'm healthy enough to train hard and then start my diet. I would think if you started cutting without much stimulus to the muscle it will just waste away faster

 

[VtaperXO]

usually, it will take more than 2-3 weeks to lose muscle. You may look smaller but that will most likely be loss of water and glycogen in the muscle. If I were you, I would stay at your new maintenance throughout healing, continue maintenance for 2-3 weeks once you're back in the gym and then start a slow cut and progressively drop calories accordingly.

Maybe try some exercises at home that don't bother your back only if it doesn't prolong the healing process. Are you running gear or plan to for the cut?

Hey, I understand and what about strength? I wanted to tap into bulking as much as possible in terms of strength because as far as I am concerned, it is almost impossible getting stronger while cutting. But as you mentioned above that is what I will do when I'm back, btw I'm not into gear so far bro. Thanks for the answer dude!

 

[VtaperXO]

I'm more concerned that after a year of bulking he's only eating 2400 calories for maintenance.

But to op, I would eat maintenance and train light for whatever I could till I'm healthy enough to train hard and then start my diet. I would think if you started cutting without much stimulus to the muscle it will just waste away faster

Hey, sure I'm wrong I wanted to say 2700*, 2400kcal would be my caloric deficit -300. I have never been in a cutting before, I went too far with bulking but I would not like to loss much strength or muscle, even though one year of bulking was too much I was consuming about 2900-3000kcal(1g protein per pound) and it was enough to gain weight. Thanks for your answer

 

[Drolball]

Hey, I understand and what about strength? I wanted to tap into bulking as much as possible in terms of strength because as far as I am concerned, it is almost impossible getting stronger while cutting. But as you mentioned above that is what I will do when I'm back, btw I'm not into gear so far bro. Thanks for the answer dude!

You shouldn't lose much strength in that time period either, if any. Hell, I've gone back to the gym after a 2 week break stronger. Your body will be fully recovered. Just make sure to hit the calories and protein during injury recovery.

Correct, it is nearly impossible to gain strength while cutting without gear. Even then it can be hard depending on the deficit and gear used. Just try to maintain the strength you're at while on the cut. Some people lower their workout volume while cutting, but I like to keep my routine the same no matter what phase I'm in.

 

[VtaperXO]

You shouldn't lose much strength in that time period either, if any. Hell, I've gone back to the gym after a 2 week break stronger. Your body will be fully recovered. Just make sure to hit the calories and protein during injury recovery.

Correct, it is nearly impossible to gain strength while cutting without gear. Even then it can be hard depending on the deficit and gear used. Just try to maintain the strength you're at while on the cut. Some people lower their workout volume while cutting, but I like to keep my routine the same no matter what phase I'm in.

alright, with that being said Im gonna try to maintain my strength as much as I can, as for the workout I was thinking the same, keeping the routine the same even the amount of volume unless I feel some recovery issues due to the deficit, about cardio I was thinking some HIT, What do you think? It's better High intensity or Low intensity ? Or better, is it mandatory to do cardio during this period?

 

[Drolball]

alright, with that being said Im gonna try to maintain my strength as much as I can, as for the workout I was thinking the same, keeping the routine the same even the amount of volume unless I feel some recovery issues due to the deficit, about cardio I was thinking some HIT, What do you think? It's better High intensity or Low intensity ? Or better, is it mandatory to do cardio during this period?

I use cardio as a tool to put myself in further deficit if maintaining the calories gets difficult. TBH, I don't do much cardio outside my hobbies: snowboarding, surfing, and mountain biking. With that said, if I do, I prefer LISS like incline walking or using the bike for 20-30mins after a weights session. I don't think its mandatory for cutting unless you're not losing fat anymore and dropping calories lower isn't feasible.

 

[VtaperXO]

I use cardio as a tool to put myself in further deficit if maintaining the calories gets difficult. TBH, I don't do much cardio outside my hobbies: snowboarding, surfing, and mountain biking. With that said, if I do, I prefer LISS like incline walking or using the bike for 20-30mins after a weights session. I don't think its mandatory for cutting unless you're not losing fat anymore and dropping calories lower isn't feasible.

I got it, now I am aware about what I'm going to do these days. Thanks for the info bro. Cheers

 

[Resolve10]

You can honestly approach this in a ton of ways and I am not sure it will necessarily matter a ton.

I'd agree with the sentiment to probably just maintain while off, then maybe a 2-3 week period at maintenance as you get back into training. You can use that to determine if you really are at maintenance and you may find your weight fluctuates as you get back into the swing of it.

Then you can just go from there based on how you feel. I wouldn't worry a ton about losing strength after the lay off or cutting, with a proper plan you can still make some gains here and there or maintain pretty well (and it may pop up a bit with the return from lay off anyways).

 

[VtaperXO]

You can honestly approach this in a ton of ways and I am not sure it will necessarily matter a ton.

I'd agree with the sentiment to probably just maintain while off, then maybe a 2-3 week period at maintenance as you get back into training. You can use that to determine if you really are at maintenance and you may find your weight fluctuates as you get back into the swing of it.

Then you can just go from there based on how you feel. I wouldn't worry a ton about losing strength after the lay off or cutting, with a proper plan you can still make some gains here and there or maintain pretty well (and it may pop up a bit with the return from lay off anyways).

I totally agree, I think I'm worrying too much about it, as for the cutting it's because I haven't done one before but I'm overcomplicating a bit haha. I'll do it friend . Thanks for your words