I had a thought the other day. At the moment I am probably doing 50/50 weights and cardio. I was thinking of cutting one week and bulking the next. So one week cardio and low cal diet. The next week 50% cardio and 50% weights and not so low cal diet.

My theory is the body will be continuously shocked, from cutting to bulking. And my muscles will have time to recover during the cutting week. Obviously I will consume plenty of lean protein during a cutting week to maintain muscle mass. It's either that or go on an all out cutting phase until May (I have a bit of weight to lose). And then begin bulking. But I am worried I will lose the muscle I have already gained. Maybe I will just have to sacrifice it :confused:

Any ideas?

I am currently 23% fat. I would like to get that down to around 10-15% by the summer time.

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/abcde/v58_abc1.asp

Check out this article. This program is similar and it comes from early Muscle Media for all you Bill Phillips fans.

You could cut until that time, and keep lifting with reduced weight. Keep your protein intake high and see if you can burn that fat.

Some people say you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. I believe that you can although it's a compromise. You won't make the gains as fast, nor lose the weight as fast. Try it out for a little while, then you can always cut if it's not working.

That said, if it's all or nothing, I would cut first, because you'll be happier seeing the muscle you have, rather than gaining more under the fat, I would think...

Maybe someone with more experience will chime in.

I've also wondered the same thing. Look at Mariuz Pudjanowski, he's HUGE and does alot of cardio too. Usually when I mention that somewhere people just say he has genetics of a freak and leave it at that. And he still maintains his mass and remains cut with all the cardio he does, but I'm not really too sure if I would want to take the risk. I don't want my workouts to kinda cancel each other out if that makes any sense :/.

I've also wondered the same thing. Look at Mariuz Pudjanowski, he's HUGE and does alot of cardio too. Usually when I mention that somewhere people just say he has genetics of a freak and leave it at that. And he still maintains his mass and remains cut with all the cardio he does, but I'm not really too sure if I would want to take the risk. I don't want my workouts to kinda cancel each other out if that makes any sense :/.

Makes perfect sense.

John himself has done a ton of cardio with the weight training and made muscle gains too. He also said his strength went up, but he won't give us the numbers on it. :) That's like saying you took your car to the dragstrip and then witholding the time you ran. :D

OK, I think I will give that idea a miss. I would should go in to a strict cuting phase, but I will miss the pump and general good feeling that lifting weights gives to me. I'll plod along doing both at the same time. :bb:

Carry on doing what you're doing now but change your diet.

Don't lift lighter or you will lose muscle, lifting light is pointless.

Cut your diet down to cutting levels but maintain your ratio's and definatly maintain your lifting at the same levels and intensity you do now and you'll lose muscle and keep gaining strength, albeit at a reduced rate.