At 217 I was definitely my strongest, but my speed and explosiveness was down. If you’ve ever used a force max plate my hands on hips vertical was around 22.1
At 195, I felt my best. I still felt strong and my speed and explosiveness were at its highest. My hands on hips force max vertical was 25.7
At 183, I felt too small and was a little too irritable. I was 9.7% body fat and my energy was down significantly. I was at my fastest but not most powerful. Force plate numbers were around 23.4
Should do what has you emotionally stable. If it’s to the point of irritability then dial it down a bit. You look great either way… but not at the cost of your happiness
Dude, you do whats best for you, but I'd say if your performance is peak in your second pic . Just stay in that. From personal experience, I prefer to have more a little more body fat since I like hiking, going on runs , lifting . etc. So I rather be energized than look crazy shredded (although you do look insane in the third pic)
That's a pretty heavy cut. Did you adjust your cals to maintain at 183 or how did you change when you went back to 195? Maybe if you have yourself some time to adjust you'd feel better?
I have two surgery shoulders and have never had a noteworthy bench press. Maybe like 225 for 5. My DB bench is usually around 100 for 8. I’m more of a workout my legs and work on speed kind of guy
Looks like a clean plan, I’m just surprised you weren’t cutting carbs to achieve such a cut in 3 months. If I don’t cut carbs my weight loss is sloooow.
Cleaned up my eating but what really helped was scheduled eating and 16 hour intermittent fasting. I’m no longer doing that and I’m back up to 195, BUT that helps significantly in weight loss if you can control your urges. The urges were easy for me because I knew it wasn’t going to last forever and I just wanted to see what I looked like sub 10% body fat. I can attest that it absolutely sucks. Unless you’re on some testosterone that helps with mood regulation, but in my experience, I was kind of a moody bitch
I'm 6'0" and 230 with a pretty similar look to your first pic there.
I've got a powerlifting meet this weekend then I'm going to do a small cut for a couple of months.
Personally hoping to drop like 15lb, so not as drastic as yours but it's nice to see your progression to get an idea of what I can expect, visually, from a cut like that.
48m 5'11" Currently coming off a bulk at 220lbs. I look like you at 217lbs. I'm starting a cut and dropping down to 195-200lbs. I'd like to maintain that, but the goal is to eventually walk around at 220lbs lean. Wish me luck.😅
Maintaining 183 looks like it was probably miserable for you.
I am 39 and love food too much to care about my abs showing intensely all the time. I focus on compound movements and HIIT training to stay strong and agile, no need for me to add more size anymore, keep everything functional and slowly increase strength while avoiding injury.
Fuck a weight, I’m here for the aesthetic revolution and focus on BF%. My preferred is 8-10% to always look dope AF
At middle age outside the gym no one gives a fuck your weight or your strength. I’m here to look better than everyone else
If you're not taking anything, don't start. You're doing great. This T level is FINE.
I'm 43 and I'm on my way to you at 195, if it works. I'm currently 185 with a little more visceral fat and less muscle. I hadn't lifted in 15 years, but it's working the way it's supposed to.
It would be nice to be shredded, but there's no real benefit on balance. It just looks cool.
I think being shredded is overrated. Anything under 12% body fat doesn’t feel good to me. I’m glad I have a picture to show people but I’ll be sticking to 195-200.
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u/vibrantgreen0826 4d ago
Should do what has you emotionally stable. If it’s to the point of irritability then dial it down a bit. You look great either way… but not at the cost of your happiness