Finishing fat-loss program for summer, now what?

I've been doing bulking and cutting cycles for a while now, and I'm
just getting all that fat cut off for summer. I've been doing your
standard calorie deficit, heavy weights, sprint-training approach with
good success. I'd like to maintain my form (or at least close to it)
for summer. Usually after finishing a cutting cycle I've gone back
into a mass-building phase, with added calories and less cardio. As
you can imagine, I tend to pack on some fat along with the muscle,
which I'd rather not do during the summer time. On the flip side, I
know it is bad to have cut calories for too long of a time, as this is
better for reaching peak form. Does anyone have a reccommendation on
level of calorie intake/cardio/weights that would be good for a
maintainance program for the rest of summer? I've found lots of info
on fat loss and mass building, but not a lot on the middle ground.

Thanks,
Matt Troxel

tratt DeleteThis @everestkc.net wrote:

>I've been doing bulking and cutting cycles for a while now, and I'm
>just getting all that fat cut off for summer. I've been doing your
>standard calorie deficit, heavy weights, sprint-training approach with
>good success. I'd like to maintain my form (or at least close to it)
>for summer. Usually after finishing a cutting cycle I've gone back
>into a mass-building phase, with added calories and less cardio. As
>you can imagine, I tend to pack on some fat along with the muscle,
>which I'd rather not do during the summer time. On the flip side, I
>know it is bad to have cut calories for too long of a time, as this is
>better for reaching peak form. Does anyone have a reccommendation on
>level of calorie intake/cardio/weights that would be good for a
>maintainance program for the rest of summer? I've found lots of info
>on fat loss and mass building, but not a lot on the middle ground.

Then don't look for middle ground. Use a zig-zag approach, which is
what Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatfield was preaching here a decade ago. Work
on muscular hypertrophy for a while, eating consistently with that
phase, then go into lighter training and a hypocaloric diet for a
while. In my experience, this switch can be made every two or three
weeks. It you don't gain too much fat during the muscular hypertrophy
phase, you can probably use a protein-sparing modified fast and trim
off the body fat in a couple of weeks without losing too much muscle.

If your plan is to maintain single-digit bodyfat percentages without
losing an ounce of muscle by using a specific diet and training plan,
you had better have extraordinary genes; otherwise, it just ain't
gonna happen.