TacticalBarbell.com

Hi,

In the Mass Protocol book there's a different macro formula for people who start "chubby". It calls for less fat and half the carbs of the standard formula. Supposing one decides they're chubby and want to lose some fat before adding mass (e.g. go from 18-19% BF to say 14-15%) - does anybody have thoughts on whether Alpha or Bravo would be better?

J

J, if the goal is fat loss, why use either Specialization?

Apologies; I misworded my question. What I meant to ask was whether General or Specificity would be more appropriate (for losing weight/with nutrition formula #2).

J, if trying for fat loss, I'd think General would be safer. You aren't going to lose the fat as a result of the lifting, and if you are in a caloric deficit you aren't going to be growing much of anything. With General you are less likely to overdo things and lose muscle or strength, or just get run down.

Hi TBPenguin,

Thanks for your reply. I had also been wondering about overdoing it, but thought I would be at a greater risk of doing that with General (i.e. with more heavy lifting while in carb-restricted caloric deficit - esp. w/ "Mass Template", w/ 3 days of squatting and another day of deadlifting).

If number of days available to train weren't a factor, do you think any General template would be better than any other for this goal?

J

J, I don't think the heavy lifting is as hard on a calorie deficit as volume is. I'll bet you find the week 3 easier than the week 1 with any of these templates. If anything I would be inclined to use one of the strength focused TB templates (not from Mass Protocol) for the fat loss time, and then move into a Mass Protocol template. The strength templates would be easier to run while carb restricted, and that way the Mass template would provide a more novel (stronger) stimulus for growing meat.

So which Mass Protocol template? This is not the voice of experience, as I have not tried any of them for losing fat. But speculating...

Of the Mass Protocol templates, Fighter will offer the easiest recovery - allow you to do more conditioning work if you want. I think Grey Man would be OK if 1) you limited the add on (S1, S2) to one upper back exercise per day (pulldowns, machine or DB rows) and used a training max for the big lifts. That would probably be my choice for me, which doesn't make it best for you. The other two would be fine as well. I don't think which one you choose is going to make or break your progress, especially over a 3 week block. If you are undecided, try Grey Man as described for 3 weeks and then if you think something is not best for you, raise the discussion again?

Hi TBP,

Thanks for your input. I actually don't have the main TB - I might go ahead a pick that up (or maybe see if it comes a bundle with the endurance book).

Failing that, I think I'll take your advice to do one of the general programs with a training max for a cycle. See how it goes...