Updated Thoughts on Refeeds, Push/Pull Splits, and More…

7:30 – I am finishing up a 12 week cut on July 8. I will be on vacation from July 8-20 without access to my normal foods and I’d like to take a break from tracking. What is the best way to go about the process for my reverse?

11:50 – If you are designing a posterior/anterior split program, where would you fit in medial delt work? What are your thoughts on leg recovery here – by that I mean, doing quads on anterior day and glutes/hams on posterior day, but you are using both quads and hams in a lot of leg work (squats and lunges for examples) so how does this effect recovery?

20:05 – I’m trying to lean bulk right now and really enjoy lifting right after I wake up, before work. However, this is at 430 am lol.. so.. its fasted. I do have a high protein (30g) and high carb (50-60g) meal right afterwards. And i higher carb and protein meal right before bed the night before. Is this okay? I want to maximize muscle gain but its so hard to think of eating something that early

27:45 – If I follow the 5:2 day split, should my macros 5 days of the week be at a lower deficit to make up for the 1-2 days at maintenance so I still end up at a weekly deficit of 3500?

38:50 – Is there a difference in calculating macros for petite / small females? F.e. general rule is about 0.3-0.4g of fat per lb – if someone is only 110lb or less that’s only 33-44g (which is pretty low for a female?) Same with protein?

41:15 – I’ve been on a cutting phase since mid January, with a 2 week diet break at the beginning of April. My intent was to go another 4-6 weeks and then go to maintenance for summer but with Covid and stress which led to messing up on weekends, I just kept going. I’ve been back on track since the gyms opened back the end of May. I’m up at about a weekly average of 1550 cals/ week (1450 sun-thurs and higher 1750-1800 friday and saturday to help replenish carbs for powerlifting on Saturday mornings). But the scale isn’t budging, actually going up a couple pounds. I did switch programming from a lighter weight/band, high intensity garage workouts to a more heavy powerlifting based program and have been a little sore here and there. My question is should I drop cals more to get to my goal, which is still another 5lbs to be comfortable in my summer clothes, or should I take a couple week diet break? If so, how long? Or should I reverse for a while? I’m 5’7, 167lbs, workout 6 days a week. Have lost 100lbs in the last years and trying to lose this last 10lbs.