Ok I ended bulking today, now I'm supposed to start cutting , any good tips and stuff? , oh one thing should I change my lifiting routine when cutting or just lower calories and more cardio or does everything change?

Ok I ended bulking today, now I'm supposed to start cutting , any good tips and stuff? , oh one thing should I change my lifiting routine when cutting or just lower calories and more cardio or does everything change?

Yes, here are a few changes:
1. You want switch to a workout that is lower in reps, higher in weight, and higher in sets. A 5x5 workout, for example. The greater the weight, the more microtrauma in the muscles. This will help prevent muscle loss and may add to more strength gains. Make sure you use mostly compound lifts. Here is a good cutting workout (http://www.ruggedmag.com/index.php?type=Article&i=3&a=8).
2. Lower calories 300 below the level you eat at to maintain. You can go up to 500 under, but risk losing more muscle that way. Keep your protein amount at 1 gram per lb of weight per day.
3. Cardio is optional (the calorie change is the biggest factor), but keep cardio short and intense when you do it. Keep it around 25 minutes or less. Do HIIT cardio if you can. Studies have sown that HIIT burns more calories in a shorter amount of time. The shorter amount of time helps preserve muscle.
4. Be consistent and persistent. Hit your workouts hard, keep to your schedule, and make sure your diet is keyed in and accurate.

Good luck!

3. Cardio is optional (the calorie change is the biggest factor), but keep cardio short and intense when you do it. Keep it around 25 minutes or less. Do HIIT cardio if you can. Studies have sown that HIIT burns more calories in a shorter amount of time. The shorter amount of time helps preserve muscle.Good luck!

There are also studied which show that low to medium intensity cardio in a fasted state for long periods of time (45-60 minutes) with a regularity of six to seven times per week is the best way to cut and still maintain lean body mass. They also say that the cardio is not only not optional, but the greatest contributing factor in a cutting program.

They also say that the cardio is not only not optional, but the greatest contributing factor in a cutting program.

Well, whoever "they" refers to is quite incorrect. Cardio is definitely beneficial, however proper dieting and weight training are far more important in losing FAT. Should the person's goal be only weight loss, then cardio would rank higher than weight training, however we all know that weight is not what matters, body fat is. :nod:

Well, whoever "they" refers to is quite incorrect. Cardio is definitely beneficial, however proper dieting and weight training are far more important in losing FAT. Should the person's goal be only weight loss, then cardio would rank higher than weight training, however we all know that weight is not what matters, body fat is. :nod:

Really? I'm also trying to lose fat not weight but I was told by a gym instructor to go cardio for about 35 minutes. If I'm just trying to lose fat, should I just concentrate on weights?

Really? I'm also trying to lose fat not weight but I was told by a gym instructor to go cardio for about 35 minutes. If I'm just trying to lose fat, should I just concentrate on weights?


Wouldn't you lose weight when you lose fat? Anyway, I agree totally with what KarateTricker said.

I know that there is a specific bulk/cut process that a lot of people on this message board subscribe to.

But consider this: Why cut at all? For that matter, why bulk at all?

I know that amateur and professional body builders do the whole bulk/cut thing and it works for them. But why would a normal everyday Joe or Joann need to bulk and cut?

Why not instead find or create a workout that works for you and your specific goals?

I'm sorry but I don't think "looking good with my shirt off" is a good goal. Why? Because your basing your feelings on if other people think you look good with your shirt off or not. Wouldn't a better goal be to, run a marathon, or bench 300lbs, or bench your body weight 30 times, or to run a mile in less than 6 minutes, or if you want, to compete in a body building competition and countless others. As a side effect of whatever training you will probably eventually look good with your shirt off but it's not the main focus.

So what is the point of all this cutting and bulking?

So what is the point of all this cutting and bulking?
To look good with my shirt off. :p

thats exactly the goal of bulking and cutting, lets say your goal is competing in a bodybuilding competition, you need to bulk and cut to do this, or you want to bench 300lbs, once again you are gonna cut and buld to achieve this goal

To look good with my shirt off. :p

I can accept that.
:rolleyes:

thats exactly the goal of bulking and cutting, lets say your goal is competing in a bodybuilding competition, you need to bulk and cut to do this, or you want to bench 300lbs, once again you are gonna cut and buld to achieve this goal

I don't agree. I've read on this very board numerous times that people loose a certain amount of muscle and strength while cutting.

I can see going through a periodization workout plan to increase strength to get to a 300lb bench but it wouldn't include a cutting phase.

I can accept that.
:rolleyes:
What's with the roll eyes? Lighten up my man, it was a joke!

I know that there is a specific bulk/cut process that a lot of people on this message board subscribe to.

But consider this: Why cut at all? For that matter, why bulk at all?

I know that amateur and professional body builders do the whole bulk/cut thing and it works for them. But why would a normal everyday Joe or Joann need to bulk and cut?

Why not instead find or create a workout that works for you and your specific goals?

I'm sorry but I don't think "looking good with my shirt off" is a good goal. Why? Because your basing your feelings on if other people think you look good with your shirt off or not. Wouldn't a better goal be to, run a marathon, or bench 300lbs, or bench your body weight 30 times, or to run a mile in less than 6 minutes, or if you want, to compete in a body building competition and countless others. As a side effect of whatever training you will probably eventually look good with your shirt off but it's not the main focus.

So what is the point of all this cutting and bulking?

AMR, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what point you're trying to get across here?!

Why do people want to "look good with their shirt off"? It helps raise self-esteem and confidence and allows you to feel good about yourself. Why do we do anything in life that "betters" us as people? Perhaps you would be fine not being nice and toned walking around the beach, but to roll your eyes at John and others who wish to be able to walk around shirtless proudly is absurd. It's a personal goal, which IMO, is far better than many of the ones you suggested. Who the hell cares if you can bench press 300 lbs?

What's with the roll eyes? Lighten up my man, it was a joke!

I know, I know. You gave me the silly face so I rolled my eyes. Just joking back at cha. ;)

Really? I'm also trying to lose fat not weight but I was told by a gym instructor to go cardio for about 35 minutes. If I'm just trying to lose fat, should I just concentrate on weights?

Your gym instructor did not offer you poor advice. Cardio is a great tool to help when cutting. All I said is that it should not be considered of higher importance than weight training. Ideally, you want to combine both in your plan, however, if I had to choose one, it'd be weight training.

I know, I know. You gave me the silly face so I rolled my eyes. Just joking back at cha. ;)
Learn your emoticons. For the record:

silly face == joking
roll eyes == sarcasm

My point is, looking good with your shirt off is a decent goal. BUT I think there should be something more. I completely understand what you're saying about self esteem and all and I agree BUT what would make you feel better? Thinking that you look good with your shirt off or being able to hike to the top of a mountain, riding your bike a hundred miles, or completing an IRONMAN triathlon? Or going to the beach and not only taking your shirt off but being able to run and play frisbee, and go body surfing all day.

So my point is shouldn't the goal to be to enrich your life and do the things that you enjoy and not worry so much if you look good with your shirt off.

As far as benching 300lbs goes. I don't really care either. It was just something I threw out.

AMR, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what point you're trying to get across here?!

Why do people want to "look good with their shirt off"? It helps raise self-esteem and confidence and allows you to feel good about yourself. Why do we do anything in life that "betters" us as people? Perhaps you would be fine not being nice and toned walking around the beach, but to roll your eyes at John and others who wish to be able to walk around shirtless proudly is absurd. It's a personal goal, which IMO, is far better than many of the ones you suggested. Who the hell cares if you can bench press 300 lbs?

My point is, looking good with your shirt off is a decent goal. BUT I think there should be something more. I completely understand what you're saying about self esteem and all and I agree BUT what would make you feel better? Thinking that you look good with your shirt off or being able to hike to the top of a mountain, riding your bike a hundred miles, or completing an IRONMAN triathlon? Or going to the beach and not only taking your shirt off but being able to run and play frisbee, and go body surfing all day.

So my point is shouldn't the goal to be to enrich your life and do the things that you enjoy and not worry so much if you look good with your shirt off.

i think looking good without your shirt on is a great goal same as having a body good enough to have the confidence to talk to/pick up that hot chick

most people don't wan't to run a marathon or climb a mountain, they are tired of the way they look and would like to look good, thus walking around the beach with no shirt on and attracting stares from everyone.

but even more important a goal should be personal, you shouldn't base a goal on what someone else thinks are good goals. a goal is something that you believe you can achieve and something that you wan't to achieve, thus it motivates you.

your goal is your goal, whether it be running a marathon or looking good without a shirt on. its just whatever flicks your switch.

~v

i would definitely say a 500 calorie deficit is fine. cardio shouldn't really be optional since if you do it fasted for 45 minutes at 65-75% heart rate, you'll cut down fast.

Personally, you know, if the ladies think I'm hot, I think that will enrich my life a lot... know what I mean?

So what is the point of all this cutting and bulking?

At 62, it is the same as it was at 14. I want to look good with my shirt off and legs showing. the last things on the face of this earth would be to lift xxx amount of weight or to run anywhere. I want everyone to admire my body.

Well I can see that a lot of people either don't agree with or don't understand my line of thinking.

What I'm saying is how you look with your shirt off is very subjective and not concrete. But a goal of climbing a mountain, or running a 6 minute mile, or surfing the pipeline in Hawaii or any activity that you can measure is concrete and thus a true goal.

rtestes: (I'm only addressing you because you have a few more years under your belt then the rest) But when you look back at your life what are the things that stand out? The fact that you look good with your shirt off or are there events or happenings that you've done that stand out more? These events or happenings are the things that define you as a person. These are the kinds of goals worth having.

Don't get me wrong, looking good is important but I can think of a lot more what I consider to be worth while goals.

Have fun bulking and cutting.

Don't get me wrong, looking good is important but I can think of a lot more what I consider to be worth while goals.


This pretty pointless "debate" can be put to an end quite easily. Please note the bolded word in the quote above.

:tu:

rtestes: (I'm only addressing you because you have a few more years under your belt then the rest) But when you look back at your life what are the things that stand out? The fact that you look good with your shirt off or are there events or happenings that you've done that stand out more? These events or happenings are the things that define you as a person. These are the kinds of goals worth having.



For a large portion of my life, a good body opened doors to relationships that produced my children and grandchildern, and closeness with women that have been so much a part of my life. In many ways, my body played a part in my careers.

The "good" body was also a healthy body that allowed me to enjoy life. It has kept me out of hospitals except for tonsils and appendicitis as a child.

So give me the body that looks good, it will help with anything else I want or need.

This pretty pointless "debate" can be put to an end quite easily. Please note the bolded word in the quote above.

:tu:

This hasn't been pointless at all.

I've discovered that most people on this board see fitness as an end. While I see fitness as a means to an end.

Good luck getting to that magic number in body fat. Once you get there maybe you can look real good washing your car or something I guess. :rolleyes: <--- sarcasm, thanks John!

This hasn't been pointless at all.Perhaps not, but none of it belongs in this thread. You should have started your own thread and not derailed this one. The person who started this thread was not asking for views on why we cut and bulk, and your post was pretty much a textbook example of a thread crap - particularly since you've shown obvious distain for those who don't share your point of view. I'd expect better from a member who has been here as long as you have.

:rolleyes: <--- sarcasm, thanks John!Yeah, AMR - we all know what it means, just as I'm sure you did when you posted to me originally. Being rude and sarcastic to those who disagree with you doesn't make your point any more palatable, it just makes you look like an asshole.

Your thread derailing ends now. Your "debate" can be continued in another thread or taken up via PM if you wish. Any future posts to this thread that don't address the original poster's question will be deleted without warning.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've fought my weight my entire life. I've lost weight using diet alone. I've lost weight using diet and cardio. I've lost weight using diet and weight training. I've lost (and subsequently regained) over 30 lbs using each of those combinations.

I didn't have any real success until I combined diet, cardio, and weight training. This time around, I've lost over 60 lbs and I've kept it off for over a year. More importantly, I can see a real physical change in my body. Those pesky love handles are virtually gone. I was never able to achieve that using only two of the three.

Will I eventually regain the weight this time? Yes, but only if I fall off the wagon and quit my diet, cardio, and weight training routines.

Ok I ended bulking today, now I'm supposed to start cutting , any good tips and stuff? , oh one thing should I change my lifiting routine when cutting or just lower calories and more cardio or does everything change?

(Adhering to John's rules....and it's hard not to chime in!)

DMS2425: I would do just like you said! Lower your calories, and maybe do a little more cardio.

IMO Weight Training should not change at all when going from bulking to cutting. You lift weight to make muscles bigger, increase metabolism, etc. So, what do you want to not have big muscles when you're ripped? The same rules apply. If you successfully gained muscle during your bulk, don't change your weight lifting routine. Maybe change the exercise order or change some exercises for others, but as far as sets/reps/etc. I'd leave it alone if it worked for you. Just eat differently and do some cardio.

You better change your nick name "Puddy" :p :lol:

k, just started cutting 3 days ago , thx for the tips every1 :D

Hey, I'll try to add something that has nothing to do with how good I look with my shirt off. :lol: Only hubby, me & the doc get to see such, however. ;)

When going from bulking to cutting, do it gradually. I've notice suggestions for how many calories by which you should reduce your diet. I'd say reduce your calories by small amounts weekly, rather than just drastically cutting the calories. Try 50 calories per week and bring them down that way. Once you get as low as you need to go calorie wise doing that, you could start calorie cycling. A few days of lower calories & then a high calorie day. When that stops working, switch to carb cycling -- same thing, a few days lower carb, then a refeed day. You don't need to begin cutting by taking away tons of calories because you won't have any eggs left in your basket when you plateau & you will hit plateaus when cutting.

Also, gradually increase cardio. I'm not sure what you were already accustomed to doing, but I do an incremental increasing of cardio -- for example, start with 20 minutes 3X a week, add 5 minutes per session per week until you're doing 30 minutes 3X a week. Then, add another day of cardio the next week -- 30 mins X 4. After that week, 30 mins X 5. Then add 5 minutes weekly to each session until you're doing 45 minutes 5 to 6 times a week. I switch up between HIIT cardio and longer duration. I don't do HIIT for more than 30 minutes however at any given time, so when I get beyond the 30 minute mark I do steady state.

Anyhoo, just some suggestions. :)

thx :)

hi, i'm reading all this stuff about cutting..now i'm wondering if girls "cut" if so how?!
lindsay

hi, i'm reading all this stuff about cutting..now i'm wondering if girls "cut" if so how?!
lindsay
Of course they do, they do it just like men. The results only differ by gender differences. Nearly anything you read here can be used by females.

hi, i'm reading all this stuff about cutting..now i'm wondering if girls "cut" if so how?!
lindsay

Girls cut in the same way that guys cut. The term "cutting" simply means reducing body fat, or "cutting" body fat.

So a girl would cut by having a clean diet and excersizing, just like all the boys out there.

One of first things I changed when cutting calories was switching to Corona light beer from regular Corona beer. From there it’s been a gradual change for the better and the healthier. I know me and if I do a total radical change it won’t last. Good luck!

One of first things I changed when cutting calories was switching to Corona light beer from regular Corona beer.

Well, you obviously know what rule #1 is.

Make sure you drink lots of water!

:d_wink:

Rule # 1 for me is to enjoy life. There’s nothing better to me than a cold beer while grilling on the Weber. I have been able to slowly move towards my goals without sacrificing all the small pleasures in my life. :nod:

did everyone just miss the comment about "light weight/high reps" made by the first poster? This is the fastest way to lose your lean mass

Really? I'm also trying to lose fat not weight but I was told by a gym instructor to go cardio for about 35 minutes. If I'm just trying to lose fat, should I just concentrate on weights?

It is far easier for the gym instructor to tell you to jump on a bike or treadmill for 35 minutes then to assist you in a weights workout. Next time, tell the instructor that you want a resistance program. :db:

Rule # 1 for me is to enjoy life. There’s nothing better to me than a cold beer while grilling on the Weber. I have been able to slowly move towards my goals without sacrificing all the small pleasures in my life. :nod:

Amen to that!

did everyone just miss the comment about "light weight/high reps" made by the first poster? This is the fastest way to lose your lean mass
That poster actually recommended high weight/low reps during cutting, not the other way around. The theory being that if you aren't getting adequate calories to gain mass, you need to increase the load on each set to give you the best chance of holding onto mass.

I would assume that if you switch from eating 3,000 calories/day to 2,000 calories/day then you won't be able to put in the same effort in the weight room without overtraining. Whether you do cardio or not is a function of how important keeping your lean muscle is. If you desperately want to hang on to your muscle, I would go with a diet-induced cut with some HIT cardio. If you're really gung ho about cutting fat ASAP I would eat slightly more and do HIT cardio 5x/week.

The trainer who said to do 35 minutes of cardio wasn't necessarily wrong or being lazy. It's perfectly legit advice but they may not know anything about HIT :read: so they're giving the same advice they'd give to the average couch potato who hasn't exercised in years. The old-school way to lose weight has always been aerobic exercise at moderate intensity, but that school of thought is giving way to the concept of high intensity interval training over a shorter period of time(to avoid burning muscle). It's one thing to want to lose weight, quite another to want to burn fat while maintaining muscle mass.

I've never bulked or cut but I'm realizing now that it's very hard to add mass without adding some fat and it's very hard to lose fat without losing some mass, so the people who take the job of bodysculpting most seriously separate the tasks into bulking and cutting. After watching John successfully bulk I am now a believer in the theory that your caloric intake plays the largest role in whether you add mass. He had already demonstrated an insane dedication to cutting so I knew he was capable of that.

As to AMR's comments, I think everyone has different goals, and perhaps vanity is more shallow to you than speed in the mile or mountain climbing ability, but they're all legitimate goals. What's wrong with wanting your body to look as good as it can from a purely asthetic point of view i.e. the Greek ideal? If you look at my goals I'd like to be able to increase speed and endurance as well as lift more and be more fit, but I wouldn't say my running goals are more noble than my physique goals and it's somewhat insulting to those who are pure bodybuilders. It comes off as a holier-than-thou attitude-like somehow endurance athletes are superior to people who want to improve their physique.

I say it's all based on the individual-just don't pursue a goal that is someone else's projected onto yourself and you will be gratified with your achievements.

Didnt we already have this discussion in the beach thread? Your priorities all depend on where you are in life. At this point looking good "with my shirt off" is important, but its not the only reason I run and workout. The main reason I do it is that it lifts me up and helps me forget about all the BS of daily life. I dont have a problem with people who workout only for appearances sake. Whatever makes them feel good. Wasnt this thread supposed to be about cutting? :rolleyes: