Hello All,
I'm 13 weeks out, starting my diet on monday and i was wondering how long i should keep my 5 scoops MM as my post w/o shake or if i should keep it in at all, i'm @ ~8-9% right now and still want to gain some muscle as i gradually dercrease my kcals. I don't want to drop down too fast, I was thinking until six weeks out (only during my gaining week on training days), Also, i'm juggling w/ using Mass Aminos during training, I'm ~175 lbs, how many? how often?
Thnaks MIkeZ

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <MikeZ>,

Mike,

I was told by Jon Abrams that I should use Mass Maker for a two week period of time during a gaining phase. This could be specific to my diet and goals though. As far as the Mass Aminos go...I take about 20 during training. I have found that this works for me.

Good luck!!

Tom

Mike,
If you're not working directly with a Beverly advisor and "winging"it, then you still have a good window of opportunity open to put on additional lean muscle, even as your calories begin to drop. (Yes, this is possible with Beverly, contrary to what you may have heard or read elsewhere!).
With your present situation and stats I'd recommend 2 scoops Muscle Provider and 3 scoops Mass Maker post workout.
The Mass Amino's are fine. About 25 per workout, or on your leg and back days should do the job. Another option with them would be to take 10-12 Mass pre-workout, 2-3 scoops Glutamine Select during training, and 10-12 Mass post workout.
As your carbs and calories begin to drop, around the 5-6 week point go with 3 scoops Muscle Provider post and Muscle Mass Bcaa's during.
Too much emphasis is put on body fat stats. I would gauge my progress more so with the mirror.
Am I getting more cut? Tighter? Harder?
At the 3 week marker, the 2x weekly carb meal should really help dial you in.

Let us know how everything progresses Mike.
Aram

Not sure that I'm in 100% agreement with Aram this time. (Gosh - first time ever Aram?) It is difficult to know if you are really at 8-9%bf without seeing pics. If you are, and your goal is to get to the below 5% range, with 13 weeks you can go slow on the calorie drops. If you are really higher than 8-9% you may have a hard time getting lean enough if you keep the mass maker in.

I do think that you can retain LBM on a cutting diet and also beleive that you can add muscle and decrease bf levels while weight remains stable. I don't think that it is possible to be losing weight and also gaining muscle. To build muscle you need to be taking in more calories than you are using in the course of a day, to lose fat you need to be taking in less calories than you are using. So the staying at the same weight while changing your body composition to more LBM and less bf is possible - but a difficult balance.

Try it for two weeks and see if you think that you are still getting leaner, or at least not adding any bf. While we would all like to be as big/muscular as possible on contest day in the end it is conditioning and presention that will allow you do do well. The person with less muscle but the better conditioning and presentation will almost always beat out the bigger but less conditioned competitor.