Anavar and dietary changes...

[Miss Molly]

Just after some advice re: diet if anyone can help!!!

I have a 16 week lean bulk planned during which I will be running anavar. I intend to take my bodyweight up to 60kg (from 54.6kg now) and then maintain it at 60kg as I will then be commencing a strength based phase. However, over the last ten weeks I've gradually upped my calories by approx. 100kcals every two weeks but I am still maintaining!!! I'm currently on between 2100 - 2500kcals depending on whether it is a training or non training day. My protein varies between 196g - 252g per day.

How much should I be looking to up my kcals to maximise my gains from the var but keep the fat gain in check? I cannot up my protein on training days as anything above 252g has an ahem 'adverse' effect on my stomach! Should I raise my kcals to 2500 everyday?

Just for background...I train 4 days per week with weights and do cardio on the remaining days or if I feel I need it, I will take one day off per week.

I really want to make the most of this var cycle and don't want diet to be my downfall so any help or input would be appreciated!!! x

[sassy69]

Just going with general guidance for "gaining", set up your total cals at at least 20x your bodywt - so your weight currently is 120 lb = 54.6 kg, and you want to gain another 12 lb or so. So 20x that is 2400. So I think you're fine if you stay on the upper side of your current diet. I don't think you need to up protein anymore, but you didn't mention how much fat & carb. Carbs are what fuel your exercise to utilize the protein to gain. If you need a dimension to increase your overall cals, you can do something like higher carbs on your heavier lifting days, and a little lower on non-lifting / cardio / light lifting days when you aren't going to need more carbs to fuel the work. That variation will help you get the carbs when you need them, but not add extra when you're not needing them.

The biggest gain you'll get from the anavar is better recovery, so use that to your advantage. Train like crazy and get the most out of the cycle.

[Suzanne]

Reduce or nix the cardio completely

agree you can up carbs on training days

[Miss Molly]

Thanks for the reply sassy69! (and Suzanne...you snuck in whilst I was typing!)

I've just done a little breakdown of my diet so you can get an idea of carbs and fat. Both are pretty high!!!

Monday (Weights) P: 245 C: 223 F: 54 Kcal: 2389
Tuesday (Cardio) P: 196 C: 131 F: 94 Kcal: 2170
Wednesday (Weights) P: 228 C: 220 F: 66 Kcal: 2419
Thursday (Weights and yoga) P: 252 C: 227 F: 60 Kcal: 2500
Friday (Cardio and yoga) P: 199 C: 138 F: 81 Kcal: 2080
Saturday (Weights) P: 228 C: 220 F: 66 Kcal: 2419
Sunday (Cardio or off) P: 212 C: 131 F: 88 Kcal: 2195

So would you up non training days to 2400Kcal too? My usual strategy is higher carb, lower fat on training days and lower carb, high fat on non training days. On cardio days I have 5 meals, 2 of which have carbs and on training days four out of six meals have carbs.

I'm just a little stuck as to what to alter as I am just maintaining on these macros and calories.

Training wise, I've gone for a combination of heavy and volume over four days. I follow 5/3/1 so it will be based on the mass gain phase recommended in the program. x

[sassy69]

It looks like what you're doing is sufficient. I'm with Suzanne on the cardio - its a toss-up because you're trying to make gains, but the cardio can actually be cutting into your gains.

If you want to do a serious mass gainer, I'd lay off the cardio & just stick w/ the yoga. I don't think you need to increase carbs on off days.

Overall how are you feeling after a heavy training day? Do you feel depleted or are you hitting any walls on quality of lift / lift increases? I would use that as a guideance to make any additional increases in calories. There you can play w/ adding another carb meal or not and see if it makes a difference.

[Miss Molly]

Hi sassy...

I'm not feeling depleted on heavy training days however my lifts have all stalled hence wanting to push my bodyweight and muscle mass up. I do tend to feel really hungry the morning after cardio and by Sunday I am feeling not physically but mentally exhausted. Like I know my body could cope with cardio but mentally I can't face it.

I think I will cut the cardio down however I would struggle to cut it out completely. It's just that as soon as I do my appetite drops and my sleep patterns go haywire and I end up a right mess!

[sassy69]

Hi sassy...

I'm not feeling depleted on heavy training days however my lifts have all stalled hence wanting to push my bodyweight and muscle mass up. I do tend to feel really hungry the morning after cardio and by Sunday I am feeling not physically but mentally exhausted. Like I know my body could cope with cardio but mentally I can't face it.

I think I will cut the cardio down however I would struggle to cut it out completely. It's just that as soon as I do my appetite drops and my sleep patterns go haywire and I end up a right mess!

For as much work as it is to cut, it is also a lot of work to grow as it means you have to accept some bodyfat & probably pound more food than you're used to. But if you measure "progress" by what you are trying to do - i.e. GAIN, then the costs of that are less of the issue. If your lifts are stalled, I'd suggest upping your intake and just play w/ finding the sweet spot. You're in the ballpark, but now its sort of up to you to make the finetuned tweaks based on how you feel.