Best Workout for Cutting

[indesertum]

i liked lyle mcdonald's clarification of "tabata" read here

I cut quite a bit on his rapid fat loss handbook. If I had money I would try the stubborn fat solution, but the protocol 1.0 is on teh net if you google it.

 

[greg_atlanta]

Exercise makes you hungry. Cut back on exercise and food. Eliminate all empty calories -- esp alcohol.

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by CorneliusP

How about continue with progressive barbell loading, ala Starting Strength
If you can continue progressing weight on a caloric deficit, then I don't think it's time to be cutting. Last spring I was on a bulking diet. I hit the Starting Strength newbie plateau and switched to a cutting diet and the Hypertrophy-Specific Training program. I lost some fat and some muscle but never got down to my body fat goal. Eventually I gave up because the caloric deficit was making me crazy. I'm on an intermediate Starting Strength program and a bulking diet right now. I'd like to try cutting again in the spring. I'm thinking of giving up the weights entirely and taking up power yoga or boxing. It's too demotivating to go to the gym every week and watch myself lose strength (even if I'm losing more fat).

 

[db_ggmm]

I feel you might be a little too stuck on an idea that "I can only gain or maintain strength on a bulk". I'm sure 'why' or kunk can provide another word or two on this from different perspectives, but maybe your cutting phase is just too low if you are losing strength on it.

 

[ersatzmoe]

I've been training using a system called Dogg Crapp

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n26979199/

Involves extreme stretching and high weights low reps.

 

[aeglus]

Originally Posted by Cognacad

Cutting is done in the kitchen, not at the gym.

thread should have ended here

 

[gamblor]

I'm in the same spot as OP. Finished 5 months of SS (made it to 250 DL and 100 Press which seems average?)

Started to cut with a 500ish daily calorie deficit (checked with a digital scale and fitday). I'm 5.11 and after 2 months of cutting have lost 7 pounds (down to 154) so the math seems to checkout.

I was doing HIIT and SS but feel like I can't recover from that much so I have changed to:

A workout
off
HIIT
off
B workout
weekend

I never cheat on diet and want to lose another 1.5in on the waist to 31. Any criticism welcome.

 

[Scrumhalf]

What BF% are you at?

If you are around 12% or so and want to get to sub-10, Lyle McDonald's Ultimate Diet 2.0 worked very well for me - got me down to about 7%. If you are in the mid to upper teens, the Rapid Fat Loss program might be something you would want to consider.

I have been meaning to pick up the Stubborn Fat Solution - might have to give myself an early Christmas present..

 

[gamblor]

I don't know my bodyfat % but getting all the way to a flat stomach is the goal (12% maybe?)

Would not 7% be just be super sliced and cut up, maybe striations? Did you get dunked?

 

[the shah]

the better your bmi score the better your metabolism works. proper dieting is important in this. start there
Fat: 9Cal/gm
Alcohol: 7Cal/gm
Carbohydrates: 4Cal/gm
Protein: 4Cal/gm

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by gamblor

I don't know my bodyfat % but getting all the way to a flat stomach is the goal (12% maybe?)

Would not 7% be just be super sliced and cut up, maybe striations? Did you get dunked?

Getting to 12% or so is fairly straightforward - just run a caloric deficit with high enough protein to not lose any LBM. Supplement with weight training and cardio and you will get there. The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook might be worth getting - even if you don't follow the protocols, there is a wealth of information there about the metabolic processes in your body. You can probably find RFL on some torrent sites - let your conscience be your guide on this.

Getting below 10% is a lot harder and you will generally need to do some more advanced stuff like carb cycling. The body hangs on to fat like grim death when you get in the single digits. Plus, it is not pleasant - you tend to be hungry a lot and you have to be really strict with your diets and workouts. It was particularly hard with my job as I have to meet with a lot of visiting scientists and vendors for lunch, dinner, etc. I just did it to prove to myself that I could - I prefer to cruise at about 10-11% these days. It is a lot more manageable - still clearly defined abs but a day or two of dinners in restaurants is not going to ruin everything.

7% will get you crazy vascularity throughout your body, easily visible sixpack, etc. You won't get the kinds of striations you see on bodybuilders on show day - I think that requires a lot less BF% plus dehydration and a bunch of other crazy stuff that I care to not mess with as I am not competing or need to have super low BF as a model or anything like that.

 

[enginerd917]

Originally Posted by gamblor

I'm in the same spot as OP. Finished 5 months of SS (made it to 250 DL and 100 Press which seems average?)

Started to cut with a 500ish daily calorie deficit (checked with a digital scale and fitday). I'm 5.11 and after 2 months of cutting have lost 7 pounds (down to 154) so the math seems to checkout.

I was doing HIIT and SS but feel like I can't recover from that much so I have changed to:

A workout
off
HIIT
off
B workout
weekend

I never cheat on diet and want to lose another 1.5in on the waist to 31. Any criticism welcome.

Long story short, your no where near ready for a "cut". You don't have nearly enough muscle mass.

At 5'7" I was sub 10% BF at 150lbs with a deadlift of 315, bench 225, squat ~275. I was tiny by most standards.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by enginerd917

You don't have nearly enough muscle mass.

 

[db_ggmm]

I'm not sure what to think about this. SS / Stronglifts people are going to say what the previous poster said - you're relatively tiny, it's just what you have isn't the right kind of mass. It's more logical and healthy to get stronger than it is to attempt to diet an inch off your belly as a relative light weight. I'm just guessing, but from your wording, I have a sense that you aren't going for gains on your A and B workouts, which is probably more of a cop out than reality.

 

[javyn]

For some reason my feet really stink today