SD Length while Cutting

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XFatMan

New Member
I have just completed a pretty brutal strength training cycle and maxed out on each exercise on Monday. Although I have increased my calorie intake for my off week, I continue with two short but intense daily cardio sessions. I jump rope for 5 rounds of 2 minutes at about 140 – 160 rpm followed by 1 minute rest. Is it OK to return next Monday – after only 6 days rest or is it too short no matter what?

My thinking behind this is that because I’m cutting, I will obviously lose strength and mass pretty quickly. That’s why I would start my new program, which is far less brutal, at a lower intensity to allow further recovery. I’d appreciate any opinions on that.
 
I would instead deload if you could while cutting. SD doesn't serve too much of a point when going into a cut or between cuts.
 
Either that or bump up calories closer to maintenance during an SD. I agree though, a deload would be a better option. I'd still probably bump up the calories a bit during the deload until you get heavy again.
 
You also have to realize that you aren't very fat anymore, and back then you could have gotten away with some time off while on a calorie deficit without losing much strength or mass. But now that you are leaner, your chances of losing strength and mass are much greater, especially if you are not lifting relatively heavy.
 
Thanks for the opinions. I started to increase my calorie intake near the end of the program so that I’m currently a good edge above maintenance. I’m doing the cardio sessions to avoid too much fat gain although I’m pretty sure I’ll gain a bit. But that shouldn’t be a big deal. I'm pretty beat from the program and feel that not taking a couple of days off could leave me exhausted throughout the next program. Does the additional information change anything?
 
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(XFatMan @ Mar. 19 2008,15:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Thanks for the opinions. I started to increase my calorie intake near the end of the program so that I’m currently a good edge above maintenance. I’m doing the cardio sessions to avoid too much fat gain although I’m pretty sure I’ll gain a bit. But that shouldn’t be a big deal. I'm pretty beat from the program and feel that not taking a couple of days off could leave me exhausted throughout the next program. Does the additional information change anything?</div>
If you are beat up from heavy weights, then don't cut right now. Do an SD while eating at least maintenance. Your body will need the calories and especially protein to heal up and you may even get some hypertrophy while you are resting up. After you feel you've recovered some, you can start a new training program and start your cutting diet at that point.
 
scientific muscle · Posted on Mar. 19 2008,14:53
Never SD during a cut!!! All you need to do is lift heavy at low volume during a cut to maintain muscle tissue.

Sci,
in your opinion, what would be the best volume for a cut? would doing a 5x5 routine work starting around week 4 to get into heavier loads? or keep with hst and do maybe 2x10 or 2x8 ??
 
Either one. What really matters is that you continue to overload the tissue so your body makes it a priority to maintain muscle mass during weight-loss.

Just doing 2-3 sets of 5 with a near-max load is plenty of volume.
 
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(SoxFan @ Mar. 19 2008,06:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">scientific muscle · Posted on Mar. 19 2008,14:53
Never SD during a cut!!!  All you need to do is lift heavy at low volume during a cut to maintain muscle tissue.

Sci,
in your opinion, what would be the best volume for a cut?  would doing a 5x5 routine work starting around week 4 to get into heavier loads?  or keep with hst and do maybe 2x10 or 2x8 ??</div>
The least amount of volume possible.

1 to 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps for maximum MU recruitment should be enough 1 to 2 a week to maintain each muscle group.

Get .7 grams of protien per LBM.

And lower your calories and crank up the cardio!
 
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(scientific muscle @ Mar. 19 2008,18:15)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Either one. What really matters is that you continue to overload the tissue so your body makes it a priority to maintain muscle mass during weight-loss.

Just doing 2-3 sets of 5 with a near-max load is plenty of volume.</div>
Keep your consistency and you will beat me and everyone else to 10% body fat!
 
Im curious Joe.Muscle, but why is low volume the best for a cut? wouldn't doing more sets burn more calories?

and the 1-2 sets of 6-8 reps, can this still be done HST style or should i stay at the heavier weight for longer period of time, like keep the same weight for a week and increase it the next week?
 
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(SoxFan @ Mar. 20 2008,09:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Im curious Joe.Muscle, but why is low volume the best for a cut? wouldn't doing more sets burn more calories?

and the 1-2 sets of 6-8 reps, can this still be done HST style or should i stay at the heavier weight for longer period of time, like keep the same weight for a week and increase it the next week?</div>
The point of lifting weights during a cut is not to burn calories, it is to increase protein synthesis which should result in losing primarily fat rather than muscle mass. I would not rely on weights for calorie burning. If you want to burn calories, you should do cardio. Let your calorie deficit and your cardio activity do that for you and when it comes to weights, just focus on maintaining your strength in all the lifts you do.

Doing HST during a cut is fine, but I would skip the 15s. Preferrably, you'd want to stay within the 5s. Progressing is still fine, so go ahead and start out at 70-80% and progress up to your RMs. You can still do the 10s, it won't kill you, but I personally prefer to stay closer to my 5 RMs when cutting. Like I said though, you do not want to do the 15s at all.

Keeping the weight the same for a whole week and increasing it only once a week is actually a good idea, especially for a longer cut because then you can draw it out longer before you hit your RMs.
 
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(Totentanz @ Mar. 20 2008,09:28)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
The point of lifting weights during a cut is not to burn calories, it is to increase protein synthesis which should result in losing primarily fat rather than muscle mass.  I would not rely on weights for calorie burning.  If you want to burn calories, you should do cardio.  Let your calorie deficit and your cardio activity do that for you and when it comes to weights, just focus on maintaining your strength in all the lifts you do.

Doing HST during a cut is fine, but I would skip the 15s.  Preferrably, you'd want to stay within the 5s.  Progressing is still fine, so go ahead and start out at 70-80% and progress up to your RMs.  You can still do the 10s, it won't kill you, but I personally prefer to stay closer to my 5 RMs when cutting.  Like I said though, you do not want to do the 15s at all.

Keeping the weight the same for a whole week and increasing it only once a week is actually a good idea, especially for a longer cut because then you can draw it out longer before you hit your RMs.</div>
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Point of clarification.  If HST's purpose is to promote/maximize hypertrophy, and progressive load is a key factor of of HST, then wouldn't HST be the optimal strategy to preserve LBM during a cut?   The consensus here seems to be to lift heavy with low volume, but this is assuming you can continue to progress the load, correct?
 
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(omega99 @ Mar. 21 2008,23:48)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Point of clarification.  If HST's purpose is to promote/maximize hypertrophy, and progressive load is a key factor of of HST, then wouldn't HST be the optimal strategy to preserve LBM during a cut?   The consensus here seems to be to lift heavy with low volume, but this is assuming you can continue to progress the load, correct?</div>
You are correct. Bryan talks about this in HST FAQ. According to him, do regular HST during a cut. Some of us just prefer to keep the loads heavier throughout a cut so we know the muscles get the signal to maintain strength and size.
Hypertrophy isn't going to happen with a caloric deficit, just do whatever it takes to maintain muscle mass.
 
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