Will be starting my first-ever cutting cycle

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imported_etothepii

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Well, I've made great gains this cycle, but on of them has been my waist.
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I went from 32.5" to 34 or 34.5"All the eating has been fun, but it's time to get serious again.

From other threads, I've heard that I can skip SD, even skip the 15s. Then, increase frequency. I will be charting calories on fitday.com. here's my thoughts:

Maintain about 2300 calories per day.

Do an A/B core workout on Sat, Mon, and Wed, and Iso's and HIIT cardio on Sun, Tues, Thurs. Perhaps Tabata on Thursday instead of HIIT.

Here's a brainstorm workout plan. Not nearly finalized:
Workout A:
Dips
Squats
Bent Over Row
Military Press

Workout B:
Bench Press
Dead Lift
Pull Ups
Military Press

Iso Workout:
Curls
Skull Crushers
Sit Ups
Calf Raises
Lateral Raises
Shrugs

Seems like there should be more on core days, less on iso days???

I could do cardio every day after lifting, unless that is a bad idea.
 
no need for sd, but i like the 15s (your choice). try 6x a week first. that should be enough to lose weight. eventually you will stop losing weight. then you must lower cals further OR add cardio OR do more than 6x week.
 
I would cut back on the iso's. You aren't going to grow, so there is no reason for a huge routine. Just stick to the basics. What you want to focus on is maintaining your strength in the big lifts. If you can maintain your strength, chances are that you will lose very little lean mass.

I just cut and went from a 34 to a 32 inch waist, and ended up at 200 lbs and around 9% bodyfat, without much lean mass loss at all. I only lost a bit of strength in bench and that came back as soon as I went back to maintenance. What I did was stuck to something very like a 5x5 routine. It worked great, so maybe it would work for you. You could do cardio on the offdays, but I would keep it to two or three times a week. More than that could wear you out. If you do HIIT then only do that once a week. You should be squatting twice a week at least, so any more HIIT than that could burn you out. Do intervals one day a week and steady state cardio the other cardio days. That should keep you from dying.

Also, if you start feeling burned out, cut back volume. If it gets real bad, you could cut down to only two days a week of lifting and fill in the other day with cardio.

How are you going with diet? I think it's worth increasing protein a bit while dieting. I like 1.5 grams per lb during a cut. The calories you cut out should come from carbs and fat, though try to keep fats around 25% of your total calories taken in. Obviously cleaner food would be better, since it would keep you feeling full longer, but if you don't mind being hungry all day then "clean" dieting won't really matter. Just keep protein high and calories low.


Some suggestions: To battle hunger, try getting sugar free jello. I ate massive amounts of that while I was cutting. Also, water will get real boring, so if you like tea, get a bunch of ice and some splenda, it's good for a change of pace. Fish is a great source of protein with minimal fats, so try eating a lot of fish. Another good meal while cutting is to stir fry some chicken using calorie free cooking spray. Add a dash of salt for flavor.
If you can, try finding some ephedrine. That should help with any lethargy, and would help boost your metabolism. You should be able to find it at any pharmacy, though you'll have to show ID to buy it, since people use it to make meth. Along with that, get some caffeine pills, like No-Doz or some other brand. Stack that with the ephedrine and the fat should burn off like mad.

If you decide to chart your weight daily, only take it in the morning after you use the bathroom, and just keep track of the weekly average change. It can fluctuate a lot at first while dieting.
 
From June of 1995 until January of this year, I went from 197 lbs to 148 lbs by counting calories and doing cardio about 6 -8 times per week. I've learned to deal with hunger. High protein and high fiber being the best tools for fullness and slow digestion. Five to six meals per day and fruit in between helps too. Fruit, beans, tuna, chicken ... they all help. I got to a point where eating over 1700 calories made me feel too full, and if I didn't force myself, I would eat below 1500!!!

Lots of guys advocate high frequency, but I'm not sure how to accomplish that without the isos. I don't think I can do big lifts five or six times per week.

If frequency isn't all that important, maybe I'll do an A/B routine like this:

Workout A:
Dips
Squats
Bent Over Row
Military Press
Shrugs
Curls
Skull Crushers

Workout B:
Bench Press
Dead Lift (With integrated shrugs)
Pull Ups
Military Press
Curls
Bench Dips (Tricep Isos)

Workout A will be on Saturday and Wednesday, Workout B on Monday. The other days will be abs and Cardio.

I may also do a week of 15s, just repeating the second week from my last cycle. If I wait a minute or less between sets, I might get a cardio effect from it.

About caffeine and ephedrine ... is caffeine alone worth anything ... if I can't find ephedrine?
 
I don't think high frequency during a cut is necessarily a good idea either. If you really want to, you could try it, but if you can lift 2 to 3 times a week and fill in the other days with cardio then you'll do fine.

Looks like you have a great grasp on the diet angle. That's good, since as you know, the diet is what makes or breaks your cut.
Your routine looks good too. I'd just do it twice a week on Mon and Weds, then if you feel up to it, maybe on Saturday, otherwise just do more cardio that day. If you do 15s, keep it to one week and don't cut calories too much that week. Alternatively, you could skip the 15s, do your normal routine but set aside one of those three days to do 15s instead if you really wanted to.

Caffeine... I wouldn't do a cut without that. If that's all you can get, then that's fine. Caffeine is insanely easy to find. Ephedrine would be nice too though. To find Ephedrine, you'll have to look to asthma medicatios. They keep them behind the counter now, so you'll probably have to ask. No biggie, as long as you don't mind. It would probably help you out a lot if you had it though.

it sounds like you'll do great. Don't forget to tell us how it goes. I'd like to see how you fare through the cut.
 
Tot, tell me if I'm crazy, but isn't Ephedrine the same thing as Ephedra?
The reason I ask is that, while I've had a bad heart (and I'm on a pacer) if anything is BAD for it, I tend to know right away, because it would send me into arrythmias. And Ephedra was one of the worst.
Incidentally, my favorite thermo choices: Guarana or Yohimbe. They didn't mess with me.
 
Ephedra is the herbal extract of Ma Huang. There are many alkaloids in the herbal extract which include ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Ephedrine would be the single alkaloid purified or synthesized. Its not exactly the same thing but their effects will be very similar.
 
That explains why large units of Ma Huang gave me trouble too. Thanx for the clarification. I didn't mean to hijack it into a supplement thread. Sorry Tot.

Incidentally, I find that doing thermos every day loses their effectiveness, and I usually just use them for a workout when I feel flat and drained from working all day. I also find that fruit gives me energy from the small amounts of fructose, but if I eat too much, I get the upset stomach.
 
Ephedrine becomes more effective over time. You may lose the stimulatory feel from it, but that doesn't mean it isn't doing what it is supposed to be doing - boosting metabolism.
 
As some of the other guys said...I would stick to compounds only.

Or even try Chad Waterburys routine 10x3 for fat loss.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What you want to focus on is maintaining your strength in the big lifts.</div>
I agree with Totentanz. 3 times a week full body routine and cardio on off days, coupled with a sane diet should do the trick. Chances are that you will not be gaining any muscle, try to maintain what you already have.

Regards,
Dimitris
 
I am almost finished with a cutting cycle and I have done pretty good doing the big lifts MWF and also doing olympic lifting Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sat. I hate cardio so I'd do the full olympic lifts, some pulls and rack jerks and then about 10 minutes of HIIT.
 
My Leige. Uh, that sounds like something that would wear my butt out! Heh, anyway, my work schedule sounds like I won't have time for extra cardio for cutting, except sporadically, so today I started adding a third set to my main lifts to increase the workload, without lowering my maintenance cals. I've started this cycle with the tens. Will this be a good track to keep and/or gain strength, and save muscle while slimming down the fat a little? I thought it couldn't hurt, anyway.
I did about a total of 5 extra sets today. Could have done more, but I didn't work much today either.
 
New question, as I prepare:

No need for SD, since SD primes us for new growth, and growth is not an issue in a cuttin cycle, right? Then why follow a progressive load schedule of lifting? Without the SD to &quot;reset&quot; the muscles, progressive load accomplishes nothing at all, right?

My only thought is that starting with lighter loads is a form of &quot;deloading&quot; which is a concept I have not read much about...

Any clarity out there for me?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">No need for SD, since SD primes us for new growth, and growth is not an issue in a cuttin cycle, right? Then why follow a progressive load schedule of lifting? Without the SD to &quot;reset&quot; the muscles, progressive load accomplishes nothing at all, right?</div>
Your main concerns during a cut are to preserve as much muscle as possible while losing fat and to maintain your strength. The load you use to preserve muscle should ensure maximal fiber recruitment. It has been suggested that something like your 7-8RM does the trick, i.e. it is enough to recruit all the fibers of the muscle being worked. So, you could use a weight that is somewhat lighter than your 5RM and keep at it until you are happy with the results.

Nevertheless, normal weight progression is recommended because in the long run it works better for strength (this way you go all the way up to your 5RM and beyond). Plus the lighter loads of the 10's should be enough to give your joints a break before you go heavy again (assuming that you do not SD before a cutting cycle and that you skip the 15's).

Hope this helps,
Dimitris
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Aug. 02 2006,22:40)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My Leige. Uh, that sounds like something that would wear my butt out! Heh, anyway, my work schedule sounds like I won't have time for extra cardio for cutting, except sporadically, so today I started adding a third set to my main lifts to increase the workload, without lowering my maintenance cals. I've started this cycle with the tens. Will this be a good track to keep and/or gain strength, and save muscle while slimming down the fat a little? I thought it couldn't hurt, anyway.
I did about a total of 5 extra sets today. Could have done more, but I didn't work much today either.</div>
It takes some getting used to, but doing the olympic lifts gets the heart going big time, are more fun than cardio, and the loads help maintain muscle.

Adding a few extra sets should help, though it depends on how fast/slow you want to cut.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Aug. 01 2006,16:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I just cut and went from a 34 to a 32 inch waist, and ended up at 200 lbs and around 9% bodyfat, without much lean mass loss at all.  I only lost a bit of strength in bench and that came back as soon as I went back to maintenance.  What I did was stuck to something very like a 5x5 routine.  </div>
Sounds like a great cutting cycle. How long was the cycle, and how much weight did you lose in pounds? Did you shoot for a particular amount of weight loss per week?

As for ephedrine, what asthma product did you use (I notice some come with expectorants)?
 
I get ephedrine online. Vasapro is a decent brand. I don't use it all that often though. I did try out Yohimbine this cut cycle but it didn't seem to do much. I don't remember exactly how long I was cutting, probably a few months. I started out around 220-225 at the end of my bulk, had to stay at maintenance for a while due to a medical problem, then started cutting down. I did a sort of 5x5 routine and managed to maintain strength on everything. I lost a bit of strength on bench, but once I did a refeed and started eating at maintenance again, I gained the strength back immediately.

If you can find a good brand of ephedrine, you may want to stock up on it now. Who knows, it may be a black market drug soon if the laws get any tighter.
 
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