Calculating The Deficit – Take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply it by 15! This is your maintenance calories. This is how much you need to eat to maintain your current weight. We are going to cut this number by 400.
For example; lets say you weigh 180 lbs…
180 x 15 = 2700 calories (maintenance calories)
2700 – 400 = 2300 calories (cutting calories)
A 400 calorie deficit will enable you to lose about 3.4 lbs of fat per month! Now this may not sound like a lot, but this is the absolute best strategy when we are striving to get super lean (and reveal great muscle size too).
When cutting to single digit body fat, a bigger calorie deficit will cause hunger issues, drops in performance and muscle mass and hormonal output and metabolic function.
We must side step these issues altogether! So, that means we must take our time! But best of all, not only are you going to strip off fat each month, you will be increasing strength and lean body mass.
Now interestingly enough, once you are under 10% body fat, your body is very limited in how much body fat you can burn off each day. The 400 calorie deficit seems to be the upper limit. So if you eat at a larger deficit, the extra calories are burned typically through muscle. (So by going in a bigger deficit, you actually are getting no extra benefit, just a drawback).
Those that cut too hard when they want to get super lean, inevitably plateau really fast and never reach their goal of achieving and maintaining a perfectly chiseled physique.
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