My first cutting cycle on HST

Bulldog

Bulldog

Active Member
I just finished my second cycle of HST and have realized that I need to do a cutting cycle. The years of being a lazy ass and now slow bulking have made me fatter than I want to be.

In the past I have utilized a CKD to accomplish cutting but I find that I have a fast rebound affect to adding carbs back into my diet so I though I would try something different. Plus I'm one of those hopeless carb addicts so sticking with a CKD is hard for me.

So this is what I'm thinking of doing starting December 18th after I SD for the next week.

I normally don't do any cardio. I usually walk on a treadmill for 5 min. before and after my workouts for warm up and cool down but nothing else.

My plan was to start my normal HST cycle in the 15's and work into the 10's while using HIIT cardio 2 or 3 times per week in the mornings on off days to accomplish the caloric deficit. Then I thought I would stay in the 10's until I have reached the body fat level I'm shooting for. Then if I feel up to it, move into the 5's to finish the cycle. If I don't feel up to the 5's then I will SD and then start a slow bulk for my next cycle. Does this sound ok or should I approach the training differently?

I have never done cardio in the mornings so I'm not sure how to handle the morning nutrition on cardio days. Should I have a whey/dextrose (or maybe just whey?) shake 15 min. or so before I start cardio to fend off catabolism and then eat my normal breakfast after the cardio? As I said I plan on eating what would normally be a maintenance diet and use HIIT to achieve the caloric deficit.

Any suggestions or adjustments to what I have proposed above would be appreciated.
 
No comments or suggestions?
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how much are you looking to lose?

I could see extending the 10's maybe one week as well as the 5's. But ususally for me I am ready for a break by the end of a normal cycle.

Cardio in the morning or whenever man there is a ton of debate on this. Some say empty stomach, some say not to, etc etc etc.

For me, I can't do cardio on an empty stomach. I will drink half a shake with a little fruit before. Otherwise my stomach gets nauseous and the workout sucks. Cardio is bad enough as it is. LOL!
 
I am going on a modified velocity diet over christmas break. I will create a thread when I start the diet and keep people posted on fat loss/strength loss or gain. I might gain since I will be taking Hot-Rox extreme which has carbolin 19+carbonate(good combo).

I will also possibly add in 6-OXO/Oxybolin/Novadex XT(one of the three). Basically an insurance policy saying i wont lose any muscle mass.

Plenty of success stories. I will not be going by the calculations for calories however.

I will be taking in around 2000 calories since i am a teenager and lower calories if i lose less than 2lbs a week.

I am going to start it halfway through my 10s but i doubt it will have an effect on it. One question though. Should I do another week of 15s and calculate my 10RMs after i start the diet so i am not over exerting myself due the low amount of carb intake?
 
I dont think doing morning fasted morning cardio is going to make much of a difference between cardio done fueled apart from being more catabolic and much harder to do. In the end a calorie deficit is a calorie deficit, your body always finds some way in which to maintain homeostatis. Sprinters dont do their exercise fasted or at a low intensity to burn higher percentages of fat and they have no problems.

If your going to do it always have atleast a protein shake maybe 10 mins beforehand. This has been shown to have no effect on fat oxidization & you need atleast some form of fuel in replace of glycogen so your body doesnt start breaking down muscle.

Another great tip i read on this recently was it being a bad idea to go from 0 cardio to doing it most days like i think most of us do. If you've been bulking and doing no cardio for a long while your body needs time to adapt again to using more fat again as a source of fuel. Again to much cardio to quickly without the normal supply of glycogen for fuel and your body is going to start breaking down muscle to provide it.

This is what bryan does:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Eat above maintenance for a week or so, then start adding in cardio while still above maintenance. Drop back to maintenance while increasing cardio. Drop below maintenance (through slight carb reduction) while maintaining increased cardio.</div>

So its a gradual process rather than from nothing to everything.
 
I'm looking to lose about 10 pounds of BF.

I'm only planning on doing the cardio in the morning for convenience not because I wan't to do it on an empty stomach.  Which is why I asked about the shake in the morning.  Should I add the dextrose or use just whey?

I will ease into the cardio.  Since I haven't done any in such a long time I really have no choice anyhow or I would end up killing myself!  So I will ease into it and plan on being full on by the 10's doing 20 min. HIIT sessions with 5 min. warm up and cool down.
 
*Doesn't know why you would want to spike your insulin levels with protein consumption.*

A better alternative would be to use flax seeds, ground oats, or rolled oats mixed in. I would see justification of adding dextrose in with your shake if you add creatine.
 
If your just doing normal cardio in the morning you can have whatever you want really. Dextrose, oatmeal, fruit etc just get a good amount of carbs in your system so that your body has the energy it needs whilst doing HIIT.
The effect of insulin doesnt mean much, if you burn less fat during the cardio you'll simply burn a greater % of it following the exercise as your glycogen stores are lower so it always balances itself out. Generally always about the calorie deficit.

I think for cutting it may be a good idea to just carry on with the loads you were using during the 5's maybe rather than reducing it back down to the 15's. We dont know if SD actually deconditions the muscles enough to make the 15's realistically effective for growth as far as im aware...so after a sd its more likely starting with the 10's or 5's would be better at maintaining lean mass.
 
Thanx Jonny, you just answered something I was trying to make up my mind about. I'm cutting, coming off deload, planning a 5x5 cycle, but want to start with some introductory sets...so I'll probably do a week of tens to get these old bones moving for it.
 
<div>
(JonnyH @ Dec. 13 2006,09:09)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If your just doing normal cardio in the morning you can have whatever you want really. Dextrose, oatmeal, fruit etc just get a good amount of carbs in your system so that your body has the energy it needs whilst doing HIIT.
The effect of insulin doesnt mean much, if you burn less fat during the cardio you'll simply burn a greater % of it following the exercise as your glycogen stores are lower so it always balances itself out. Generally always about the calorie deficit.

I think for cutting it may be a good idea to just carry on with the loads you were using during the 5's maybe rather than reducing it back down to the 15's. We dont know if SD actually deconditions the muscles enough to make the 15's realistically effective for growth as far as im aware...so after a sd its more likely starting with the 10's or 5's would be better at maintaining lean mass.</div>
I think you are probably right about the SD not necessarily being enough time to make the 15's effective for growth. But my joints always hurt after 4 weeks of 5's and the 15's really seem to help them out after the SD so I think I need to do them. I think I would really be hurting by the second week of 5's if I don't start out with the 15's. And as I said my cardio won't be real intense until the 10's anyhow so I'm not too concerned with catabolism during the 15's.
 
Yeah makes sense to increase the cardio/intensity of cardio as you get onto the heavier reps aswell, thats another way of doing it. Sounds good to me  
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I think the main problems come when people combine to big a deficit + reduced load or to much cardio at once.
 
Yeah, the last two weeks of 5's in my last cycle I didn't gain or lose any weight (was trying to gain 1 lb per week). So that's probably a good sign that it is right around maintenance for me at this weight. So I'll eat the same and just slowly add the cardio untl I start dropping the amount of weight I want to drop per week (I'm shooting for 1 lb per week). Then keep the everything the same until I drop about 10 pounds total.
 
I have been reading the posts here regarding Tabata. Would a 4 min. Tabata session at the end of my workouts be as affective as 20 min. of HIIT on off days? If so that would work better for my busy schedule. Plus I'm not really a morning person!
 
I can't say much as to effectiveness...but Tabata kicks my ass...

The first time I did it my wife laughed harder than she had in years (she was my time keeper)

I did the squat / dumbell press and my shoulders burned like hell. Don't know if you could handle it after a workout due to the intensity.

Why not just switch up between HIIT on your first off day and Tabata on your next day off...might help to keep it from getting boring.
 
Truth be told.....I'm looking for an excuse not to get my lazy butt out of bed at 5:30 am to do the HIIT.  
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I'm not a morning person and I don't really have time on my off days in the early evening to do the HIIT like I do for my regular workouts.  So I'm looking for an alternative that I could do on my regular workout days that wouldn't be too much.

I guess I should just suck it up and get my lazy but out of bed in the mornings and just get it done.  In the long run if I can get used to getting up early that would be a better time to do my regular workouts as well instead of taking time in the evenings to do it.  I just don't normally feel up to much as far as working out until I have been awake for at least an hour or two.  And my strength levels are always higher in the early evening than they are in the morning so I figured that was the best time for me to be working out.
 
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