Cameron Thomas
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I think the ‘term’ cruise has got a little lost in translation recently because I think now there are almost two meanings to the word, mainly depending on what the actual goal of the ‘cruise’ is…
For a seasoned bodybuilder, more often than not a cruise is simply a period of reduced dosages that will allow them to sustain their supraphysiological level of lean tissue whilst re-aligning potentially skewed health markers.. which often leads to dosages that yield supraphysiological hormone levels. This is why there is now a debate of whether or not this is actually a cruise!?
Then there are the people who believe a cruise means a duration spent replicating physiological hormone levels but administering these exogenously. This would simply be achieved by ensuring the dose we administer has T levels within a normal average range. Again, the goal here would be to spend time bringing health markers to baseline but I feel this also opens up the opportunity for us to ‘solidify’ tissue as such, at lower testosterone levels.. almost resetting our responsiveness to periods of higher dosages by forcing our body to maintain tissue in a much less anabolic environment.
Don’t quote me on the biology or pharmacology of whether that reasoning is justified, but that is my take on things and I personally like to adopt a cruise for the second reasoning I’ve mentioned.
This year my cruise dose was 100mg Test E per week which yielded a T level of 14.7 mmol/l
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Progress incoming!
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I can tell you want more food haha!
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UPDATE – 11th November
Post copied from my Instagram physique update, pictures attached below!
PHYSIQUE UPDATE ⬇️
8 weeks post-show & 3 days into a complete week off of training. Bodyweight has been in a constant flux these past 2 weeks, dependant entirely on whether or not I’ve actually been able to eat. Today I woke at 214.6lbs, a 3lb drop since my last update.
WHY the drop & WHY the rest!? ????
If you’ve been following along on here or through my log, you would’ve seen I’ve been struggling with what are presumingly some gut-related issues that have been seriously impairing my ability to eat (& generally function for that matter, when symptoms are at their worst)To no surprise, conventional medicine providing no real diagnosis or treatment here… but I‘m sure what I’m suffering from is due to-expecting far too much of my body straight out the back of being in a potentially compromised state health/nervous system/immune function wise post-prep.
In retrospect, I was very naive in some of the decisions I made with regards to programming & nutrition… & even more so stubborn to think I wouldn’t have to eventually pay the price if I ignored the obvious signs for long enough.
BUT… physique wise things aren’t looking terrible considering???????? I do expect body composition to take a slight turn for the worse this week given the very low expenditure, as by no means do I plan on starving myself during this period…Whilst I’ll be very closely monitoring my intake to determine what sets off my IBS symptoms, I won’t hold back on feeding up as and when my body allows.
For now it’s time to ’nurture my autonomic nervous system & immune system’ in the words of @luke_themusclementors, in all ways we know how… to minimise the amount of time this hinders my ability to make progress but most importantly to re-establish a baseline level of perceived gut health.
6-7 weeks before my the end of this rebound phase & the start of my scheduled cruise/maintenance and I PRAY that I can spend at-least another 4-5 of those making progress. ????????
Every day counts.
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Genuinely is no one more deserving to achieve this prestigious title… Congratulations Corinne!
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Agree with Stephen here, there never is a perfect answer to calorie adjustments despite many thinking it’s an exact science.
You change things, you monitor the feedback markers, you determine whether they moved in the right direction and make your next adjustment depending on the answer to that question!
That is pretty much the process a coach would go through if you we’re their client, apply the same principles to yourself 🙂
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UPDATE – 10th November
Well, slight change of plan as of today… after a conversation with @kuba_cielen I’ve decided to bite the bullet and do what I probably should have done before all of these symptoms started taking a turn for the worse, take a week off!
I really do think that what I’ve been suffering with is as a result of expecting far too much of my body straight out the bat of being in more than likely a compromised state of health post-show (regardless of whether bloodwork suggested otherwise).
My foot has been pedal to the metal for 25+ weeks now without taking a step back, and I think I’m paying for it as a result.
After a chat with Luke over at The Muscle Mentors, he’s provided me with his educated opinion on some interventions he feels may be of benefit to aid in re-establishing optimal gut function whilst also managing the autonomic nervous system to the best of my ability, knowing that gut problems are often multi-faceted.
These being:
– Stay with the low FODMAP approach
– Increase fibre intake (gauge roughly where it’s at and aim to increase by 5g weekly from both fruits and veggies).
– start chewing outrageously well (if you don’t already)
– start noting down any foods that are causing discomfort (we can work out any correlations at a later date)
– VSL#3 probiotic (it’s the only probiotic I like, probably the most research-backed, and seems to work well when recovering from the microbiome from antibiotic use) – 2 sachets/day, one morning, one evening
– Curcumin phytosome, 3g/day. Spread throughout, away from the training window (incredible anti-inflammatory agent, but particularly good at calming mast cells and mitigating excessive histamine release – most likely the cause of the rash)
– Quercetin, 25mg/kg of bodyweight per day. Spread throughout (will also help calm mast cells and moderate histamine release)
– Chaga or reishi mushroom (from Four Sigmatic) – both are unreal immune system supporters
– CBD oil – again, calming systemic inflammation, ensuring optimal sleep, and helping with the anxiety that will inevitably be building up due to all this shitSo.. project recovery begins.
I can’t be more frustrated with myself for letting it get to this point, because mentally I’m in such a motivated position to PUSH.. but if I can’t eat or recover, then I simply can’t justify doing so (nor will my body allow me for that matter).
And yes.. I need a coach! LOL
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I feel like this is definitely one to watch…
Next year I see you blowing this year out the water considering the new approach supplement wise.
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Probiotics and digestive enzymes are not going to fix a screwed up gut (probiotics may play a role in repopulation yes, but addressing root cause I’d argue is your first port of call)
I’m suffering with severe issues myself that’s leading to a lot of discomfort.
Gut issues can really be a multi-faceted problem which is what makes interventions very difficult, lot’s of things to consider… nervous system, immune function etc etc
An elimination diet is a good starting point as I’ve been assured by a few people clued up on gut health, low FODMAP preferably and keeping a food diary is helpful here.
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Awesome man, I can relate with the big appetite… just not so much at the moment as you know! I’m envious right now lol
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Stupid question Kuba, what are timings like with getting in 7 meals a day? Even when running 6 I find myself having to wake up to get one in before going back to sleep! You feeling hungry between meals? I’ve always found compounding meals less than 2.5-3 hours apart there’s no hunger whatsoever (which I know at some point deep into off-season is likely to be inevitable)
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Where are calories likely to come from assuming at some point during off-season they’ll be increased? Seems like you’d be maxed out protein/fat right?
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UPDATE – 9th Nov
So, after digging a little bit deeper into the potential benefits of fasting (AND also a slight stomach episode last night that pretty much solidified my decision).. I’ve decided to run with a 16 hour fast today. My good friend Alistair has also been utilising these on his non-training days and we had a conversation about being particularly mindful of how these may affect performance the following day, so that is something I’ll be keen to observe moving forward!
As of course it really puts a limit on the number of calories that can be consumed (productively at least), within that small eating window.Final meal was finished at midnight, so that leaves me fasting until 16:00 today. I plan on breaking the fast with three protein/fat meals.
I’ve pretty much solidified the initial nutrition set-up I’ll be running with for this first week, after taking a look at Ryan Petford’s approach nutrition wise for his upcoming off-season I’ve been inclined to opt for a lower carb/higher fat approach… as in the past I have felt that taking carbohydrates excessively high doesn’t necessarily correlate with increased performance and is potentially only placing a larger stress on my digestive tract which at this point is what I am trying to minimise. Protein will also begin relatively low, something that I hope to be able to increase moving forward in order to progress overall caloric intake without digestive disrupt and again without having to play around with carbohydrates too much very early on.
Will post up tomorrow! For now, it’s keeping busy to keep my mind off damn food!
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Great to see you on here Jose!
Keep this updated, I’ll be keen to follow along with your journey my man
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Ahh as always Louis I really appreciate your feedback! That’s a huge compliment 🙂
I strive to invest as much time in documenting my journey across all of the platforms I’m active on, at the end of the day I want to be able to progress towards becoming the best coach I can be and a lot of that development will come from using myself as a test subject!
Exciting times mate and I’m glad your along for the ride.
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