I am 5'10" 225 lbs. I am down from 260 from earlier in the year, but suppose most of that was water and mass loss. I want to do it right this time, and cut down to 180-190, but also gain muscle at the same time. I eat a very clean diet right now which consist of:

2200-2500 calories
240-260g protein
140-180g carbs
60-90g fat

Workouts consist of a 4 day split, all are 3-4 x10

Chest/triceps
flat
incline
decline
butterflies
dips
pushdowns
extensions
skull crushers
elevator press
seated press

Back/biceps:
close grip lat pulldown
lat pulldowns
cable rows
pull ups
good mornings
dead lift
bent B.B row
hammer curls
preacher curls
ez bar curls
wrist curls

Shoulder:
arm circles
arnold press
military press
shrugs
lat raises
front raises
low pulley row to neck
upright row

Legs:
squats
extensions
ham curls
calf raises
romanian deadlifts
leg press

abs I get in when I can, I have a power tower so do what I can. Also sit ups and crunches.

Are my macros set about right? I thought I may have been heavy trying to lose weight?

any help or critique would be appreciated.

Looks like you are doing a 40:30:30 calories wise, which is fine. At 225, I think 2500 calories is too much. If it were me I would shoot for 2000, unless you are offsetting the 2500 with a lot of cardio.

But, have you tried this yet? perhaps 2500 will be just fine. Try it for a few weeks, and if you get nowhere or stall than drop that down.

Set yourself a goal to drop a reasonable amount of weight in a certain time like 12 weeks. Track your progress weekly. Without an actual specific goal, it is difficult to maintain determination.
:gl:

I agree with gravity. I am 5'9", and I can cut at about 2000. At 2500, you are really at maintenance level, which leaves you very little room for any cheating. At 2000, if you have a cheat meal or two, you should still be running a calorie deficit and have a gradual, healthy weight loss.

appreciate the advice. The 2400 calorie days are just on workout days, with the pre and post shakes. Dont know if that makes a difference or not.

appreciate the advice. The 2400 calorie days are just on workout days, with the pre and post shakes. Dont know if that makes a difference or not.


I had to shoot up that high when I was really active, working out + biking 5 hours a day ect, now that I"m just going to the gym i'm down to about 1700 (off days) 2000 on workout days and still cutting.

Alright, I will take it down to about 2000 on workout days. Once again, I appreciate the replies.

My suggestion would be to not lower your calories under 2000 kcals per day (certainly not 1700) Especially with the volume you are doing. Your training is just too much, calories much too low, if gaining muscle and losing fat is a goal. Additionally, you've got too many overlapping exercises during the week, deadlifts, RDL's, squats, good mornings, much too much for shoulders.... this type routine is suited more so for the guy who is chemically enhanced. But even if he were, his total calories would need to be raised.

Start with 10-12x your bodyweight in calories and adjust your macro's to where your carbs are timed around your lifting.

Good luck... :)

My suggestion would be to not lower your calories under 2000 kcals per day (certainly not 1700) Especially with the volume you are doing. Your training is just too much, calories much too low, if gaining muscle and losing fat is a goal. Additionally, you've got too many overlapping exercises during the week, deadlifts, RDL's, squats, good mornings, much too much for shoulders.... this type routine is suited more so for the guy who is chemically enhanced. But even if he were, his total calories would need to be raised.

Start with 10-12x your bodyweight in calories and adjust your macro's to where your carbs are timed around your lifting.

Good luck... :)
I appreciate the reply. So I would be better off dropping some of my routine? I ask because through the week it dosent feel as if I am doing to much. But if you think that it is going to hinder my progress, it is something I would like to take a look at.

I appreciate the reply. So I would be better off dropping some of my routine? I ask because through the week it dosent feel as if I am doing to much. But if you think that it is going to hinder my progress, it is something I would like to take a look at.

If you don't feel you're doing too much with the routine you've listed, then you simply aren't putting forth the effort, IMO.

It's not how much you do, but how hard you do it.

I agree with gravity. I am 5'9", and I can cut at about 2000. At 2500, you are really at maintenance level, which leaves you very little room for any cheating. At 2000, if you have a cheat meal or two, you should still be running a calorie deficit and have a gradual, healthy weight loss.

appreciate the advice. The 2400 calorie days are just on workout days, with the pre and post shakes. Dont know if that makes a difference or not.Do you know what your TDEE is? If it's in the 3000 - 3300 range, I don't think 2400 on workout days is too high. That's still a pretty generous deficit.

Personally, I like to cut at calories that are very close to what my maintenance levels are, because then I feel like I don't need to cheat. The closer you are to eating at maintenance, the slower you'll lose the weight, but also the more likely you are to stay on plan and stick through it.

So you have to think about your personality. If you feel deprived at 2000 calories on workout day, better to bump it up and feel good about yourself than to keep it low and feel like crap. :tu:

If you cut too hard to fast, you'll find yourself having to bulk soon, and you might not find that all that much fun either. Up to you.

If you don't feel you're doing too much with the routine you've listed, then you simply aren't putting forth the effort, IMO.

It's not how much you do, but how hard you do it.
trust me, I am putting forth an effort. You dont have to feel like you are doing too much too put forth an effort. I cant move for a few days after each day, and still feel it going into the next weeks cycle.

trust me, I am putting forth an effort. You dont have to feel like you are doing too much too put forth an effort. I cant move for a few days after each day, and still feel it going into the next weeks cycle.

If this is true, then it appears you are severely overtraining and under eating. Your body is not receiving enough down time (or fuel) to recover from the muscle trauma you are inflicting. You are digging a deeper and deeper hole from which you will never submerge from.

BTW where did you get this routine from? If I were to do this amount of volume in one week, taking sets to failure, working with proper intensity, it would take me a couple of weeks before I could set foot in a gym again.

If this is true, then it appears you are severely overtraining and under eating. Your body is not receiving enough down time (or fuel) to recover from the muscle trauma you are inflicting. You are digging a deeper and deeper hole from which you will never submerge from.

BTW where did you get this routine from? If I were to do this amount of volume in one week, taking sets to failure, working with proper intensity, it would take me a couple of weeks before I could set foot in a gym again.
Obviously I need to listen to what you are saying. I will sit down in the next few days and see what I can change. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I just came up with the routine on my own, after sitting down one night and compiled a list as to what I thought would have been a good workout.

Obviously I need to listen to what you are saying. I will sit down in the next few days and see what I can change. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I just came up with the routine on my own, after sitting down one night and compiled a list as to what I thought would have been a good workout.

We all are under the mentality that "more is better". I overtrained the first 3 years of my career. So, I think I can pass on some advice for the better. Here is a link to a few workouts you might be interested in which is on my site:


http://www.mastover.com/articles.htm

You can start with any one of those routines and do it for 6-8 weeks. I can almost guarantee that if you train with any kind of enthusiasm and can tolerate a little pain during the workout, you'll see some very good results. On the 4x per week routines, if it is a little too much, you can drop a set or two from each day. Your success of course, is going to be dependent on how good your nutrition is...

Good luck. :)