On cycle, can you still lose muscle while cutting?

[buddhaluv]

I am 5'10 210 Lbs 16% Bodyfat. Front loaded for 4 weeks of Test E @ 750MG & bulked up for the first 4 weeks just to gain a bit of mass. Well, I'm starting my cut today, which is going to be a period of 8 weeks of Test E @ 400MG. I plan on losing 16-20 pounds of fat during this 8 week span while holding most if not ALL of my muscle. Aiming to lose 2-3 Lbs of fat a week. I am also using 12.5 MG of aromasin ED to keep the bloat down.


well..I just wanted to ask...

1) is 20lbs an attainable goal during an 8 week span??
2) Is it still possible to go catabolic on AAS while cutting?
3) & lastly, how much fat would I need to lose to get down to 9% BF? I really suck @ my math >.<


& I have my diet/training spot on, so no worries here.

 

[Digitalash]

Yes you can most definitely lose muscle while cutting on AAS, the faster you cut the more muscle you will lose. I've heard on tren people will often gain a bit of muscle even while cutting, but I'd imagine if it were too extreme you would still go catabolic. That much test will give you much better results than cutting natty though

 

[SloppyJ]

It'll be hard to keep that muscle you gained if you're not eating perfect. Plus with the muscle being so new and only 4 weeks of a calorie surplus I imagine it will vanish. Muscle needs time to mature.

 

[buddhaluv]

yeah i thought so. i guess i should aim to lose 2lbs a week than instead of 3.

& one more thing. how does pct work on a cutting cycle? am I likely to lose a bit of mass during a cutting PCT??

 

[buddhaluv]

It'll be hard to keep that muscle you gained if you're not eating perfect. Plus with the muscle being so new and only 4 weeks of a calorie surplus I imagine it will vanish. Muscle needs time to mature.

yeah i'm not so worried about that, i only gained 5 pounds during the first 4 weeks anyways. I've been bulking eversince i was introduced to bodybuilding (4 years), so my main focus is to first shed all this unwanted fat. + i've never really seen my abs, & i'm just so eager to know how my ab genetics look like lol


& i'm not going to jump into a calorie deficit right away, i'm going to eat a few calories over maintenance & work my way down little by little.

 

[Calves of Steel]

You can gain weight and lose fat at the same time, and you can lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. How efficient you are with it is a combo of proper diet/training/genetics. Think of the juice as a temporary boost in genetics. Gaining muscle on 1500 calories a day would take more juice than gaining the same amount of muscle on 2500 cals per day. Keeping muscle on 1000 cals per day would take more juice than keeping the same amount on 2000 cals per day. In the end though there's always a limit, and juice just raises it. I'd say 2lbs/week is reasonable on 400mg t, you may notice a little strength loss just from lack of cals/energy, but with 3/w you'll lose mass.

And don't forget that muscle is marbled and some of the fat loss will be intramuscular, so you may think you're losing muscle, but it's really just becoming denser.

 

[eire]

yes you can loose muscle on aas, just dont cut your calories too low and you will be fine

 

[Digitalash]

And don't forget that muscle is marbled and some of the fat loss will be intramuscular, so you may think you're losing muscle, but it's really just becoming denser.

Good point, I always forget this. Probably why I've always disliked cutting, also never done it on gear though

 

[performance1978]

You'll lose a lot more muscle cutting without test than on it. Like was said it all has to do with the rate of weight loss.

Its your diet, if you are to stay in a caloric deficit, but eat enough complex carbs and fiber (among healthy fats and proteins) to keep blood glucose levels optimal and to not make your body burn muscle as fuel, you minimize muscle loss.

Increase cardio to the point of losing 1 pound per week (3500 kcal) and decrease daily calories by 500 of maintenance and you can hit 2 pounds per week safely. Or eat normally, do a ton of cadio and lose 1 pound per week.

 

[malfeasance]

I am 5'10 210 Lbs 16% Bodyfat. . . . how much fat would I need to lose to get down to 9% BF? I really suck @ my math

Well, at 210 pounds and 16%, you are carrying 33.6 pounds of fat around.

If you stayed the same weight (you won't), you would need to lose 14.7 pounds of fat to meet your goal.

I would expect that losing 20-25 pounds is going to bring you very close to 9%, but I would not expect to do it all at once in such a short period of time.

& I have my diet/training spot on, so no worries here.

It better be to meet such an ambitious goal.

 

[malfeasance]

You really need to post in the diet section to doublecheck whether your diet is as "spot on" as you would like to believe.