How to cut?

M

markobenin

New Member
Hey guys,

So I just finished my 3rd bulk cycle of HST and was 222lbs last time I checked. I'm about to take an 11 day SD and then start on a "cutting" cycle to shred any fat I may have put on since I started HST. Since I have never done a cut before in my life, I was wondering if some of you can offer some guidance.

A few questions I have include:

1) Do I keep the RM's the same as this last bulk cycle I just finished, or do I increase them by 10-15lbs as before?

2) Do I just eat 800-1000cal less than I do now 7 days a week, or do I vary my diet (i.e. eating more on some days vs. others)?

3) What composition of protein/carbs/fat should I am for? Now I'm doing a rough 30%/50%/20% protein/carbs/fat composition.

4) How much cardio should I add to my workouts, and can I do this cardio on off days?

5) Can I keep the same HST routine as now, or do I have to change up exercises, reps/sets, etc.?

Thanks and I hope to get some of these questions cleared up soon!

-Marko
 
1) Always try to increase your RM's... why not test them first?
2) There is a lot of flexibility here, check out the Diet & Nutrition forum
3) Whatever works best for you, people worry about the macros too much, just make sure you aren't eating too many calories
4) Cardio on off days is great... cardio before and after a workout can be beneficial, just don't overdo it or you will end up in catabolism
5) Keep it
 
#3 I woudlnt worry so much about macros, but make sure you get at least 1g protein/lb LBM. Adequate protein is even more important during cutting than bulking because protein is the most protein sparing nutrient. The rest is pretty much making sure your calories are low enough to induce weight loss. There is a minimum amount of fat that should be consumed, but it is extremely difficult to remove all fat from your diet. If you are taking 6g fish oil/day then you more than likely have enough fat to live off of.

#4 Depends on your calorie deficit. A massive calorie deficit is better serverd by not doing cardio because it will more than likely jsut aid in crashing your energy levels and boosting catabolism. With a sane calorie deficit cardio can help. Just make sure you get plenty of sleep and an ocassional rest day.

#5 Keep it as is. If your energy levels are getting trashed when the weights get heavy, its better to reduce volume than reduce weight.
 
Don't worry about 15s. Go straight to 10s and then string the 5s out as long as possible. If you need to reset, jump back to 10s and build up again. It is just possible that you will improve some of your RMs but don't be disappointed if you don't.

Also, as your cut progresses you may find that your energy levels drop off faster than they usually would once you start a set (eg. you might start a set of 10 reps and feel great only to find you start to stall out quickly once you hit 5 or 6 reps). That might well be a sign that you need to pick up carbs a bit on training days or before training.
 
What's the reasoning behind eliminating the 15s Lol? I was actually thinking of doing them since I skipped them this last bulk cycle I just finished...but if you don't think they're beneficial in a cut, then I guess I'll skip them again.

I've been eating around 4000-4500cal a day during bulks, so I'll probably start at 3500cal for this cut and see how that goes. Ideally I would gain some muscle while shredding away all the fat...but I don't know how likely that is.

Also I'll continue eating plenty of protein and fill the gaps that remain with carbs and good fats. However even if I continue drinking the 3-4 protein shakes as I do now, that's plenty of protein for my body but only 1000-1400cal, so I would still have about 2000-2500cal worth of food to eat, so it's mostly that 2k cal composition I'm concerned about.

As far as cardio, I think I'll throw basketball back into my schedule, I can't run on a treadmill or around on a track cuz that would just bore me to death!
 
An interesting discussion went on in the research forum, info coming from Coach Hale's book, so I looked it up and eEUuWoW...waddayaknow...after your protein intake is supplied, the other macros mean just about diddly squat.
I mean, the lowcarb dieters are getting no different results than the lowfat dieters than the keto dieters than the...on it goes (and Atkins DID use flawed studies to back himself up) until you realize that only one thing really matters.
Calories. Tot was right.
 
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(quadancer @ Feb. 15 2008,16:22)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">after your protein intake is supplied, the other macros mean just about diddly squat.</div>
Does Quad have a way with words, or what...?
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Figure 1g protein and 10 calories per pound of body weight and you'll be about right. Try lowfat or no fat cottage cheese (mixed with fruit it is actually palatable), chicken breasts, lean beef, and tuna. Take your fish oil and a multivitamin, and be done.

If you're gonna cut, cut!
 
<div>
(markobenin @ Feb. 15 2008,16:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What's the reasoning behind eliminating the 15s Lol? I was actually thinking of doing them since I skipped them this last bulk cycle I just finished...but if you don't think they're beneficial in a cut, then I guess I'll skip them again.</div>
15s should never be done alone during a cut, not unless you are lifting heavy a couple other times during the week.

Lighter weights as you would be using during the 15s are not muscle sparing in comparison to heavier loads. If you did 15s while on a significant calorie deficit, it's likely you'd lose muscle mass.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Feb. 16 2008,00:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(markobenin @ Feb. 15 2008,16:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What's the reasoning behind eliminating the 15s Lol? I was actually thinking of doing them since I skipped them this last bulk cycle I just finished...but if you don't think they're beneficial in a cut, then I guess I'll skip them again.</div>
15s should never be done alone during a cut, not unless you are lifting heavy a couple other times during the week.

Lighter weights as you would be using during the 15s are not muscle sparing in comparison to heavier loads.  If you did 15s while on a significant calorie deficit, it's likely you'd lose muscle mass.</div>
Yeah, your body needs a good reason to hold onto muscle once you start cutting calories back. Granted, you wouldn't lose much in the space of a few weeks but there's no sense in making it a possibility if lifting heavier will prevent it happening to a greater degree.

Another thing to add is that you could skip SD altogether and go right into 10s but if you need a break be sure to keep your calories at maintenance until you get back to the gym.
 
Alrite sounds good, I might dive straight into my cut next week then, we'll see...and I'll skip the 15s as suggested. Thanks for all the help guys, I think that should be all the info I need to do this cut cycle unless anyone wants to add further suggestions...
 
diet will determine how much wgt you lose.
what and how you lift will determine how much muscle you can maintain.........or lose.
as far as the 15s go it really depends on how important they are to you.

if you feel you &quot;need&quot; them for whatever reason..........ease back from an SD, joint health issues or just plain prefer it that way then by all means include them ..........just eat at maint. instead of at a deficit. once you hit the 10s and below you can move into a deficit with &quot;less&quot; risk of compromising muscle.

if 15s arent that much of a concern and you feel comfortable going from an SD to 10s (some are, some arent) or you just want to get to cutting then by all means go that route.

bottom line is keeping the wgts heavier when cutting will preserve muscle better but you can still adjust your diet back to maint. for things like SD, 15s, diet breaks etc etc. if you want or need them.

good luck
 
Getting to 10% bf is pretty straightforward but after that it takes a lot more discipline and attention to detail. Not sure how far you want to take your cut? If you are planning on reaching around 5% bf you will want to head on over to Lyle's site and read a lot of the info on offer there (or do a search here). That should help you find the good stuff.
smile.gif
 
Well I'm going to take an 11 day SD now, and then I was thinking of bulking for another ~3 weeks and then jumping into a 5-6 week cutting phase. Can I do this or do I have to separate the two phases with an SD period?
 
<div>
(markobenin @ Feb. 17 2008,23:28)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well I'm going to take an 11 day SD now, and then I was thinking of bulking for another ~3 weeks and then jumping into a 5-6 week cutting phase. Can I do this or do I have to separate the two phases with an SD period?</div>
When transitioning to a cut, the SD is not really needed. You may also split cuts and bulks within a longer HST cycle if you wish. Others have tried this with success, most notably etothepii
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