# Why drop to maintenance cals during PCT?



## Mitch. (Jul 26, 2011)

Was just reading around and wondered why people drop to maintenance calories during PCT?

I never thought of this.


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## varn01 (Jul 3, 2008)

Im intrested in finding this out too. I thought id have to eat more during pct?


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## C.Hill (Nov 21, 2010)

I eat more!! I Just clean it up a bit


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## -AC- (Jul 9, 2011)

i would imagine it is due to the fact that you will have more estrogen, less test and more cortisol floating around your system so you are more likely to add fat. in my opinion you should lower your training load to allow for the fact that your protein synthesis wont be a high and therefore with the lower training load the excess of calories isnt required as greatly.

however im no expert on steroids so that is just a common sense guess lol


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## Mitch. (Jul 26, 2011)

varn01 said:


> Im intrested in finding this out too. I thought id have to eat more during pct?


What I thought. Confused now.


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## Hardlabour2010 (Nov 30, 2010)

My style is to train extra F*ckin hard when off the gear to keep the gains alive and kickin!!!!


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## expletive (Sep 12, 2011)

The following is from here http://www.predatornutrition.com/optmising_prohormones.cfm

the articles focus is on PH's rather than Steroids but its a good explanation a to why you should drop to maintenance

During the PCT stage it is important to remember the following:

1. The body is setup to gain fat

2. The body is primed to lose muscle

What can we do with our diet to combat these two problems?

The first thing to note is that although PCT supplements such as Lean Xtremeand Endoamp Max will help prevent fat gain by combating the cortisol rise that occurs during post cycle therapy, the body is nevertheless going to add body fat quickly if we carry on eating as if we were trying to pack on muscle fast as we would during the actual prohormone cycle itself.

Instead, calories should be cut to maintenance or slightly above - not so low that we put our body in a state where it loses muscle, but at the same time not eating so far above maintenance that we gain a large amount of body fat. Eating at around maintenance or just above, with the addition of appropriate PCT supplements should help to ensure we are consuming enough calories to prevent muscle breakdown while limiting the prospect for fat gain.

As for the actual makeup of what to eat post cycle, protein intake can be reduced back to more normal ranges as excess protein in the PCT stage will just be excreted or converted to glucose. Assuming our main goal is to keep muscle mass while avoiding fat gain, a diet higher in fats post cycle but relatively low in carbohydrates (around 100-150g of carbs daily only), will help to protect muscles from wasting away. The reasoning behind this is that the higher fat/lowered carb intake creates an environment of insulin resistance which helps to prevent muscle from being broken down.


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## Mitch. (Jul 26, 2011)

stedebs24 said:


> I assumed you just carried on as normal, both diet and training.


I have read, and planned to drop my training down to 3 days of heavy compounds each week but wasn't sure on the diet.


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## JANIKvonD (Jul 7, 2011)

never drop ur cals during pct....and atleast 8 weeks after imo


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## QuadFather94 (Jul 26, 2010)

You are prone to gain fat during pct so maintainance cals are your best bet imo.


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## Jack92 (Aug 23, 2010)

JS72 said:


> The following is from here http://www.predatornutrition.com/optmising_prohormones.cfm
> 
> the articles focus is on PH's rather than Steroids but its a good explanation a to why you should drop to maintenance
> 
> ...


very helpful


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

i think theres no set plan for one person, if you easily put on fat, then maintenance would suffice, if you are a 'hard gainer' and struggle to keep the muscle on then slam that food down u like no tomorrow


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## JANIKvonD (Jul 7, 2011)

diixxy said:


> You are prone to gain fat during pct so maintainance cals are your best bet imo.


suppose its a case of whats more important to ya- muscle loss or fat gain. i know what 1 id rather


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/?q=articles/victor-lasato/new-approaches-to-pct-nutrition

There are a host of hormonal imbalances during PCT that reduce the calories you burn, including - but not limited to - low test, high cortisol, high estrogen, and lower thyroid levels (even if you don't use T3). Depending on phenotype, LBM, and body fat, 1800 or 2000 calories would be more reasonable. This variance is also why some choose the 40/40/20 ratio, as it allows for more protein with less overall calories. For ectomorphs, I would highly advise eating a slightly hyper-caloric (10-15% above maintenance) 40/40/30 ratio. The reason being, in case you ectomorphs hadn't noticed by now, ectos should be more concerned with retaining LBM than putting on fat. Mesomorphs obviously fall in the middle, and your nutritional approach should reflect that middle ground.

basically what i said:rolleye:


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## barsnack (Mar 12, 2011)

i would never lower calories, simply cause i run a cutting diet 6weeks after cycle so will get rid of fat then


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## expletive (Sep 12, 2011)

barsnack said:


> i would never lower calories, simply cause i run a cutting diet 6weeks after cycle so will get rid of fat then


Makes sense!


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## Andy Dee (Jun 1, 2008)

Not really sure, i just keep everything the same including cals.

Why would I wanna eat less in the time I have the highest chance of losing hard earned muscle.


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## QuadFather94 (Jul 26, 2010)

JS72 said:


> Makes sense!


Not really as you will not be on aas so if you start cutting you have a higher chance of loosin your hard earned muscle, best to maintain, and not go through the hastle of cutting imo


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## expletive (Sep 12, 2011)

diixxy said:


> Not really as you will not be on aas so if you start cutting you have a higher chance of loosin your hard earned muscle, best to maintain, and not go through the hastle of cutting imo


Not sure I understand your logic there Dixxy, are you saying not to cut at all?


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## QuadFather94 (Jul 26, 2010)

JS72 said:


> Not sure I understand your logic there Dixxy, are you saying not to cut at all?


No im just saying why would you get fat when you could avoid it, maintain your muscle. Instead of getting fat on pct, doing a cut without AAS and loosing muscle. Imo your likely to lose more if you do a cut off cycle than you are if you run maintainence during pct.


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## expletive (Sep 12, 2011)

diixxy said:


> No im just saying why would you get fat when you could avoid it, maintain your muscle. Instead of getting fat on pct, doing a cut without AAS and loosing muscle. Imo your likely to lose more if you do a cut off cycle than you are if you run maintainence during pct.


Ah see what you mean, Im going to follow the advice on the link posted earlier, makes sound sense


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