PCT and starting to diet

[peteefs]

Just fininshed an 8 week bulking course and currently first week into a 4 week PCT.
6 foot tall. 205lb. 12.7% bodyfat on calipers.

my plan is to start to cut my bodyfat
performing extra early morning cardio whilst carb/calorie cycling my diet

when should i start this?
should i wait for the PCT to fininsh?
would my body turn to catabolic if i started half way into PCT?

Any help and advice welcome

 

[muscleup]

I would wait another 4 weeks just to make sure your body has reached homeostasis, otherwise your Hormonal levels maybe hypogonadal and you will lose more muscle and less fat.

Having Normal/High hormone levels is condusive to the dieting process, and will aid in muscle preservation, and an overall better outcome.

 

[Nelson Montana]

I would wait another 4 weeks just to make sure your body has reached homeostasis, otherwise your Hormonal levels maybe hypogonadal and you will lose more muscle and less fat.

Having Normal/High hormone levels is condusive to the dieting process, and will aid in muscle preservation, and an overall better outcome.

Agreed, PCT is a time for extra rest and though I'm not a fan of HIT training, some heavy low volume training works well at that point. Don't get sloppy with the diet in the meantime and you can start reducing calories and increasing cardio in 4-6 weeks or so if PCT is correct.

 

[jimmy04]

I never diet on pct or natty for that matter, id wait till my next cycle and do a cutter.

 

[GUARDIAN]

wait until well after pct is finished.

 

[smtimelevi]

Dont diet on pct. Keep the carbs and protien high as you were on cycle but cut any junk. You will be more likely to maintain your growth.
I have personally tried both and from personal experience you will be pissed when the strength and size start slippin away. Save the diet for when you are recovered or during a cutting cycle. Alot of guys get amazing rezults with cutting cycles. Just use the right gear.

 

[timtim]

wow, some really bad opinions here. dont diet unless on cycle? must not know what we are really doing then.

i would start the diet but dont increase your cardio simultaneously. start with the carb/calorie cycling and let it do its job. go with 2 high carb days. 1 250 to 300 gram day and 1 huge day, up to 700.

you may be able to get by for awhile without adding in any cardio. i would keep at 30 minutes 4 times a week and dont do HIIT. it works but if you are natural and in a caloric deficit its hard to figure out how many calories you need without dropping lean body mass.

make sure your efa's and total fats are high on low carb days. this is the key. shoot for 35 to 40 grams a day from omega 3 fats. i use udo's choice blend and omega 3 fish capsules to get the high omega 3 count. you should see little drop in strength (coming off cycle you will lose alittle from the hormones balancing out again but if your diet is tight you will not lose strength - anyone who says opposite is wrong - if you were getting into competition form, maybe a drop in strength would occur in the final few weeks but just cutting, diet will hold your strength, if its dropping, something isnt calculated right).

i would wait 2 more weeks before starting this. let the pct settle in and get moving.

 

[Lift Chief]

Wait to start several weeks after PCT... it's certainly possible for some suppression to remain even when PCT is done, so you want to give your body as much time as possible to get natural test and estrogen levels back to normal

 

[muscleup]

Nobody said don't diet unless your on cycle...We said let your body recover and reach homeostasis before dieting...Dropping caloric consumption while going through a hormonal deficiency is not condusive for maintaining the most muscle mass while dieting.

Thats what was said.

wow, some really bad opinions here. dont diet unless on cycle? must not know what we are really doing then.

i would start the diet but dont increase your cardio simultaneously. start with the carb/calorie cycling and let it do its job. go with 2 high carb days. 1 250 to 300 gram day and 1 huge day, up to 700.

you may be able to get by for awhile without adding in any cardio. i would keep at 30 minutes 4 times a week and dont do HIIT. it works but if you are natural and in a caloric deficit its hard to figure out how many calories you need without dropping lean body mass.

make sure your efa's and total fats are high on low carb days. this is the key. shoot for 35 to 40 grams a day from omega 3 fats. i use udo's choice blend and omega 3 fish capsules to get the high omega 3 count. you should see little drop in strength (coming off cycle you will lose alittle from the hormones balancing out again but if your diet is tight you will not lose strength - anyone who says opposite is wrong - if you were getting into competition form, maybe a drop in strength would occur in the final few weeks but just cutting, diet will hold your strength, if its dropping, something isnt calculated right).

i would wait 2 more weeks before starting this. let the pct settle in and get moving.

 

[timtim]

Nobody said don't diet unless your on cycle...We said let your body recover and reach homeostasis before dieting...Dropping caloric consumption while going through a hormonal deficiency is not condusive for maintaining the most muscle mass while dieting.

Thats what was said.

wasnt talking to you. look at post 4. sorry for the confusion.

 

[peteefs]

Hiya Guys only just been able to get back to my computer

Cheers for the advice, the PCT has started and i am cleaning an already cleanish diet.
Keeping the evening as in after 5pm low carbs (i train at 12noon) and eating carbs the rest of the day. This should set me up so in 3ish weeks when i start dieting, its not as much of a shock to the system.

Since monday i have added in some gentle cardio 35 minutes twice a week, walking to walk 30 minutes 3 days per week, nothing extreme. Weights session 3 per week splitting the body, less sets but keep some sets heavy to increase maximum stimulation whilst trying not to overtrain.

Included a shed load of supplments to push me in my workouts and recovery.
Creatine, glutamins, L-arginine, caffeine etc upping the dosage. Feeling good, so alround happy.

thanks again guys.
My plan is to perform a 10 week slow diet starting in 3-4 weeks. upping cardio, carb cycling and using some ECA's. i am only 12.7% at the moment so shouldn't be that hard to drop 4% in 10 weeks, then once that is done its all about the Bulk and another course.