My tips would be:
- Do not start eating a caloric deficit while on SD. No liftiing plus a caloric deficit aint good for holding onto your muscle.
- From things I've read over on Lyle's board, I think the key when cutting is to reduce Volume (sets) but keep the same Intensity (weight on the bar). For this reason I dont think HST is ideal for cutting.
For instance, I was recently doing a fairly harsh 1000 calorie deficit PSMF diet, and I reduced my Bench Press volume from 3 sets to 1 set of 8. But kept the same weight. I was able to keep hitting those 8 reps every workout (twice a week). And after I came out the other side of the diet, and started to eat normal again I was able add back in the extra sets with no issues at all. So in my humble opinion, I'm not sure a typical HST program is best for cutting, too much time with submaximal weights (yes I know SD is designed to offset this). I'd rather just keep hitting say your 5RM two/maybe three times a week, erring cautiously on less frequent the greater your daily caloric deficit (ie greater deficit = less recovery = less frequency).
Edit - I should add, the greater the deficit, the greater the chance for muscle loss. So given that, and the body's diminished recovery on a larger deficit, trying to run too big a deficit for too long will either see injury (trying to train too often) or too much muscle loss creep in.....
Oh, and one more tip....
- increase protein intake/keep it high