How To Decrease Bulkiness

Is there a way to just increase strength and no more size?

 

These are maintenance macros on a normal day to day basis.  I tone it right down if I stay at my mums where I'm mostly sedentary.  Day to day I work on my laptop and I am constantly walking around town from place to place.

 

height:     5"10.5

weight:    195lbs ( pretty dry due to fairly low carb a good few days before I weighed in)

BF%:       13-14% ( estimate - I can see abs now but still have love handles)

 

2500 - 4500kcal/day depending on calories burned through walking ( I don't own a car and some days the miles rack up if I have to be around in different places.  The gym and back is about 750kcal alone)

 

e.g 2700kcal:

 

270g Protein        (I want to be 180lbs and I do 1.5*BW)   1080kcal

90g Fat                (I go for 30-40% of cals)                          810kcal

200g Carbs         (The rest)                                                  800kcal

 

I don't like too high carbs as it makes me feel too big and full like I am going to burst is how I can describe it

and I just don't feel good mentally - not as sharp.  I don't worry about fibre grams, just make sure I eat veggies to match the size of the meat I eat in terms of physical space - not by weight although I do weigh them afterwards to key into MyFitnessPal.

 

I calculated these macros from bits on bodyrecomposition.com a while ago but eating like this plus GST is too effective.  Even in a 500kcal deficit I put on muscle while losing fat and the further I progress through foundation I am getting bigger and bigger.

 

Now when I work out I get a pump and I just look huge to the point where people think I'm on steroids.  I really really don't want any more gains in size - just in strength.  I am losing weight currently at the rate of 1/2lb to 1lb a week however my body fat seems to be going lower quicker than this indicating I am gaining muscle.

 

I wonder though as well if I reach my goal of 180lbs at sub 10% whether I won't look/feel as bulky with this amount of muscle as 180lbs is 180lbs isn't it - can't look overly big at that weight surely.

 

I am on TRT every two weeks due to a pituitary issue I got when I was 18 - completely benign thank God.  Could this have something to do with it?  My test levels are only on the high end of normal range however.

 

I've had to throw loads of clothes away this past six months lol and I am ok with how I look as I am now (not when I've got a pump or when I'm full of glycogen though).

 

It's not just the aesthetics though really its because I was thinking - is the muscle I am carrying as functional as it could be?  Could I be as strong as I am now but with less hypertrophy is what I think to myself.

 

Some possible things I was thinking as solutions:

 

I remember Josh saying a while ago to reduce my protein however I am worried that this will also reduce my strength gains... I also have a rather remarkable penchant for whole chickens, rib eyes and mounds of ricotta and cottage cheese with sweetener that deters me from lowering it.

 

I was thinking about cardio however it just bores me so I was thinking maybe I could do Foundation One PE1s but fast tempo as like HIIT after I do my main work sets or maybe start trampolining in the mornings or do extra skill work for a couple hours like circles on a mushroom.  

 

I was also thinking about trying fasting 1-2 days a week.  Is that a stupid idea?

 

As well I am almost past a lot of the high volume stuff in foundation and nearly onto the 10s holds - do you think the reduced TUT will allow me to move towards a more wirey, less bodybuildish physique?  Still got much of H1 to work through though...

 

I think I've been worrying about this because I heard someone say "he's definitely on gear" the other day when I was in the changing room.  Maybe I'm being too self conscious but I just don't wanna look unnatural I guess - but I was watching gymnastics on TV the other day and some of the guys look absolutely huge so I dunno maybe I should just forget about it and carry on haha any thoughts?

 

Judging by your stats and profile picture, I'd say starting a cutting cycle would be the best way to go. You can lose enough fat to the point where your relative strength will increase a fair amount.

 

I fast once a week (Mondays) and that certainly prevents me from going into the 188lbs area. Many philosophers and Ancient Greek athletes advocated the 5:2 eating-fasting split. Preliminary research indicates that it's good for performance and lifespan, too.

 

I'd say you're a bit higher than 14% body fat. That underestimation might be what's throwing you off. Either way, you're genetically gifted for hypertrophy. Nothing wrong with that; you'll just get big before you get really strong. Your muscle growth should taper off eventually, but your strength will continue to increase (mostly through neuromuscular adaptation). 

 

To my knowledge, high volume, TUT, and training to failure are supposedly best for hypertrophy, so keeping the intensity high, and therefore the volume and TUT low, your rate of hypertrophy should decrease.

 

At the end of the day, some guys would kill for your hypertrophy/hyperplasia abilities, so just focus on getting stronger. Aesthetics should be secondary. By getting leaner, you will actually look more muscular (just an illusion), but you'll feel lighter and take up less space, and as you move onto the more advanced Foundation work, your physical gains will start to slow down. It happened to me early, because I have lupus, but I was also initially worried about the extra mass (and the background comments about steroids, even though I'm small enough to be eaten whole by a bodybuilder). After a while, you start to wish you could build mass that quickly again 

Generally I agree with Mercury here; however in particular relation to your sport.... I don't know what you play but if the season has started, is that not leaving it a bit late?

Granted my experience with sport/weight is weigh ins for matches, which gives me at least 8 weeks to be where i need to be at weigh in....