Phase 2: Cutting Fat Without Losing Size at 53

July 21, 2026 · Muscle Factory, Pattaya

On June 28 I stood on the Mr. Universe Thailand stage in Pattaya and took 4th place in Master's Bodybuilding. I was the biggest man up there. The judges rewarded condition. Message received.

Phase 2 started the Monday after the show. Three weeks in, the rhythm is set and the protocol is locked, so this is the full write-up. The goal is simple to say and hard to do: keep every pound of the size that got me noticed, and strip off the fat that kept me out of the top three. That is body recomposition over 50. At 53, with a heart attack in my history and 308 pounds on my frame, I don't get to do it the sloppy way a 25-year-old can.

Here is exactly what I'm running.

What Phase 2 Actually Is: Body Recomposition Over 50

Phase 1 was the build. A documented prep took me from a comeback project to a Mr. Universe stage, and it settled one argument for good: the size was never the question. Phase 2 answers the question the judges asked instead. Can I show up sharp?

So Phase 2 is not a crash diet. A crash diet at my age spends muscle to buy scale weight, and muscle is the most expensive thing a 53-year-old owns. It takes months to build and one stupid month of starving to lose. Phase 2 is a slow, controlled recomposition: small deficit, heavy training, protein high, recovery protected. Fat leaves. Size stays.

My coaches Jordan and Kelly built the structure. My doctor supervises it, with bloodwork every 8 weeks. Tony Huge checks the logic. I do the work. That's the whole org chart.

The Calorie Math: 4,000 Down to 3,650

Phase 1 ran at roughly 4,000 calories a day. High enough to recomp without shutting anything down. Phase 2 drops that to 3,650.

That's a 350-calorie cut. Not a thousand. People hear "cutting" and think starvation, and that thinking is exactly what costs older lifters their size. A deficit in the 300 to 400 range moves fat while leaving strength, hormones, and sleep alone. Bigger deficits feel productive for two weeks. Then the lifts drop, the sleep breaks, and the muscle starts leaving with the fat.

Every one of those 350 calories comes out of carbs in non-training windows. Carbs around training stay untouched, because they fuel the work and refill what the work drains. What got trimmed were the carbs that were just sitting there: the evening rice on rest days, the extra portion at breakfast on mornings with no cardio. Fat intake doesn't move. Protein definitely doesn't move.

The full day of eating, meal by meal, is on my meal plan page if you want to see how 3,650 calories actually lands on a plate.

Protein Stays Locked at 250

1 to 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight. At 308 pounds, that's about 250 grams of protein a day, and it's the one number in Phase 2 that never changes.

In a deficit, protein matters more, not less. After 50 the body gets worse at turning food into muscle, so the signal has to be louder. Cut calories and cut protein at the same time and you've built a machine for losing muscle. I broke down the numbers, the timing, and how I actually spread 250 grams across a day in my piece on protein intake over 50.

Training: Double PPL, Six Days On, One Full Rest

Phase 2 training is a double Push/Pull/Legs split. Six training days, one full rest day, every muscle hit twice a week.

The weight on the bar is the message. When calories drop, your body starts asking which tissue it can afford to lose. Heavy, frequent training answers: not this. So I'm not switching to light weights and high reps because I'm "cutting". Same lifts, same loads, same rep ranges, same Muscle Factory floor. The diet changes. The training defends.

The one concession to 53 is the seventh day. Full rest means full rest. Nothing gets trained, and that day is a big part of why the other six can stay heavy.

Cardio: Steady State, Fasted, Boring on Purpose

Fat-loss cardio in Phase 2 is steady-state and fasted, done early before the gym fills up. Incline, steady heart rate, nothing heroic.

I had a heart attack at 33 weighing 340 pounds. Twenty years later, that history still gets a vote. Steady-state work burns fat with low stress on the heart and almost zero recovery cost, which means it steals nothing from the six lifting days. My doctor signed off on this exact setup and watches the numbers with me.

Could I burn more calories in less time with sprints? Sure. But recovery is the currency I'm poorest in at 53, and HIIT is expensive. I'd rather spend it under a bar.

Refeeds Every 7 to 10 Days

Every 7 to 10 days I take a refeed: a planned higher-carb day back up around maintenance. Carbs come up, fat stays moderate, protein stays at 250.

The refeed does three jobs. Glycogen gets refilled, so the next block of training is strong instead of flat. The hormones that regulate hunger and metabolism get reminded that food is not scarce, which keeps the body willing to give up fat. And a long cut with a planned break built into it is one a man can actually finish.

A refeed is not a cheat day. It's written into the plan before the week starts, with numbers attached. The difference between a refeed and a binge is a plan.

The Part Nobody Films: Sleep

Eight to nine hours, every night. That was the rule in Phase 1 and it does not loosen now that calories are down. A deficit raises the price of a bad night: recovery is already tighter, so a short sleep costs more than it used to, and the bill gets paid in muscle. I've said before that sleep is the most underrated recovery tool a lifter over 50 has. Phase 2 is where that stops being a nice idea and starts showing up in the mirror.

One Raw Reel a Day

The accountability structure for Phase 2 is public. One raw reel every day on Instagram, filmed between sets, no polish, no production. Whatever the day looked like, that's what goes up.

I do it because the camera doesn't negotiate. If the condition is coming in, you'll see it. If I'm getting soft on the cardio, you'll see that too. I made this comeback public from day one because public is the only kind of accountability I've found that still works at five in the morning when nobody would know if I skipped.

If You're Over 50 and Want Both

You can drop fat and keep your size after 50. But you have to pick the slow tool. Small deficit, 300 to 400 calories, taken from carbs you weren't using anyway. Protein locked at 1 gram per pound minimum. Training heavy enough that your body has a reason to keep the muscle. Steady cardio that doesn't tax your recovery or your heart. Sleep treated like part of the program, because it is. A refeed on schedule. Then months of patience, not weeks.

If you want the plan built around your numbers instead of mine, my coaching runs three tiers: Foundation at $49 a month, Transformation at $149, Elite at $499. Message me on Instagram @xfactoradonis and tell me where you're starting from.

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