Over the years I have read a lot of bodybuilders' cutting diets and the numbers never make sense to me.
This topic has been discussed a lot and different people need different levels of caloric intake, of course. However it is not at all unusual for a 230-240 lbs guy cut on let's say 3,700 calories. These levels of caloric intake are just ridiculous to the eyes of someone like me, who worked with clients that were regular dudes and gals as opposed to bodybuilders.
How can a person lose fat on 3,700 kcal per day? That is just insanity. So help me understand what is going on here.
I know... a bodybuilder carries more muscle than a regular Joe and hence has a higher resting metabolic rate. OK... But just how much more? A 230-240 lbs bodybuilder has, let's say 70 lbs more muscle than a typical white collar guy who comes to me for training and diet advice. My guy -even if he expands calories through exercise- cannot lose weight until he goes down to or below 2,000 calories (and definitely even lower for many guys). Yes it varies from person to person and there is always that one individual out there who has a very fast metabolism. But the vast vast vast majority of people suit the description above.
Let's take a bodybuilder now. He loses bodyfat while taking 1,700 calories more (3,700 compared to 2,000). How the fuck is that possible? The additional 70 lbs of muscle burns around 6*70 = 420 calories a day. We can argue all day long how much more calories you will burn per additional pound of muscle, but I guarantee you it is not 10 calories per pound per day. I discussed this to death over the years. Some trainers I saw throw around stupid numbers to motivate their clients like "we can have you burn 500 calories a day more by putting muscle on your frame". Bullshit.
OK but bodybuilders do cardio, so that explains the numbers right? I don't think so. Yes a few dedicated guys do like two 45 minute sessions a day on a cut, but I really doubt this is the norm. Been around bodybuilders a lot and IMO very few do excess cardio. I don't even think most people can handle 90 minutes a day while on a cut. So you burn let's say another 430 calories a day through carido (I picked a number that both makes sense to me while also resulting in a nice, round figure) ... The 420 extra calories you burn through additional muscle mass + 430 from cardio = 850. This explains exactly half of the 1,700 additional calories you can take in compared to my white collar, pencil pusher. So what is going on?
For me there is no way to explain these observations other than to say that the high dose AAS cycles bodybuilders do on a cut burn extra calories.
Now don't get too hung up on the exact numbers above. No way for anyone to conduct a study on bodybuilders and come up with exact figures. But overall I do not think the figures above are too far off.
Big Guys, especially Luki... Am I off base?
This topic has been discussed a lot and different people need different levels of caloric intake, of course. However it is not at all unusual for a 230-240 lbs guy cut on let's say 3,700 calories. These levels of caloric intake are just ridiculous to the eyes of someone like me, who worked with clients that were regular dudes and gals as opposed to bodybuilders.
How can a person lose fat on 3,700 kcal per day? That is just insanity. So help me understand what is going on here.
I know... a bodybuilder carries more muscle than a regular Joe and hence has a higher resting metabolic rate. OK... But just how much more? A 230-240 lbs bodybuilder has, let's say 70 lbs more muscle than a typical white collar guy who comes to me for training and diet advice. My guy -even if he expands calories through exercise- cannot lose weight until he goes down to or below 2,000 calories (and definitely even lower for many guys). Yes it varies from person to person and there is always that one individual out there who has a very fast metabolism. But the vast vast vast majority of people suit the description above.
Let's take a bodybuilder now. He loses bodyfat while taking 1,700 calories more (3,700 compared to 2,000). How the fuck is that possible? The additional 70 lbs of muscle burns around 6*70 = 420 calories a day. We can argue all day long how much more calories you will burn per additional pound of muscle, but I guarantee you it is not 10 calories per pound per day. I discussed this to death over the years. Some trainers I saw throw around stupid numbers to motivate their clients like "we can have you burn 500 calories a day more by putting muscle on your frame". Bullshit.
OK but bodybuilders do cardio, so that explains the numbers right? I don't think so. Yes a few dedicated guys do like two 45 minute sessions a day on a cut, but I really doubt this is the norm. Been around bodybuilders a lot and IMO very few do excess cardio. I don't even think most people can handle 90 minutes a day while on a cut. So you burn let's say another 430 calories a day through carido (I picked a number that both makes sense to me while also resulting in a nice, round figure) ... The 420 extra calories you burn through additional muscle mass + 430 from cardio = 850. This explains exactly half of the 1,700 additional calories you can take in compared to my white collar, pencil pusher. So what is going on?
For me there is no way to explain these observations other than to say that the high dose AAS cycles bodybuilders do on a cut burn extra calories.
Now don't get too hung up on the exact numbers above. No way for anyone to conduct a study on bodybuilders and come up with exact figures. But overall I do not think the figures above are too far off.
Big Guys, especially Luki... Am I off base?