cutting october 12th, QUESTION!

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Proteinboy

2
i know that it is best to "lift heavy" when cutting, but i have a few questions that will go into a bit more detail.

1. lets say i usually do 10x3 for an exercise for bulking. i use 120 lbs. now, for cutting, i want to maintain the strength, however i do not want to overload the muscle because it will not have the nutrients to recover(cutting). so would 5x3 with 120lbs be a good path to choose?
is it safe to say, "when cutting, lift heavy and cut volume"?

2. what kind of intensity&frequency is appropriate for cutting to maintain strength?

3. should i take all the higher set/rep protocals out of my workouts such as 3x12 or 3x10 or 3xx8? i dont want to lose the higher rep strength i have achieved.

4. anyone have any other tips for cutting? i would appreciate it very much!
 
Go for progression while you're cutting; you can get stronger on a cut!
Sometimes people have to cut some parts out of their workouts when they cut, sometimes they don't. It really depends on how much energy they feel they got, how much volume and intensity they had in their workout before and how much unnecessary stuff they had there from before. You're really just gonna have to wait and see how it goes, but I'd try to keep the work outs the same. The thing is, your body is now used to what you are doing and has adapted to that, but if you cut back on the training, the body will adapt to that too (detrain).

If push comes to shove, though, I'd rather cut volume than load. I'm not 100% sure, but I think intensity (the load) is the most important thing to keep up there. I know for example with aerobic training that if you want to just maintain, what you cut is volume, the minute you cut intensity, your VO2 max will drop.. not sure if its the same with strength and size, but I'm guessing it is.

Also, while cutting, protein intake is important! Keep it up high and you'll prevent muscle loss.
 
Karky pretty much hit it. Keep the protein up and always keep the intensity up. You can change the volume and the load but never decrease intensity. Some people do better with high weight low reps when cutting, which I actually think might be a good idea. You gotta work muscle to keep it.

10x3 is made for a fat loss program. However, that being said, there really is no such thing as a fat loss workout, per say. Fat loss = diet, and that's the bottom line. You can gain muscle doing supersets and you can lose fat doing 3x5, provided you eat right.

Take home: Adequate protein intake, eat right, lift hard.
 
as above both posts
if you want to maintane what you have (you wont gain) you need to be lifting around the same weight,but things like isos etc can be dropped IMO
 
This is pretty interesting and enlightening to me. I would of assumed for a cutting phase (in regards to training only) after bulking, abundant cardio accompanied with high reps and low(er) weight for toning would be ideal. But, lower reps with higher weight is a better alternative than the before mentioned?

I'm just curious because I am cutting as well before too long.
 
Toning is largely a myth. When you're cutting you want to get more defined, so you want to lose the fat while keeping as much of the muscle as you can. You won't lose more fat on your chest by doing high rep bench press than doing low rep bench press as long as your energy balance is the same.
 
TekToN said:
This is pretty interesting and enlightening to me. I would of assumed for a cutting phase (in regards to training only) after bulking, abundant cardio accompanied with high reps and low(er) weight for toning would be ideal. But, lower reps with higher weight is a better alternative than the before mentioned?

I'm just curious because I am cutting as well before too long.
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I also questioned the higher reps and lower weight with abundant cardio aswell and a slight diet change. I considered my first 3 years of training a cut due to the fact that I was way overweight and had success with the high reps and low weight and heavy cardio. But, my goal was only losing the fat at first and I wasnt too concerned with anything else.
Heres my question if anyone can answer out of their own experiences, I have never cut after a bulk before because I just finished my first bulk, it was successful but I find im wanting to drop about 10 lbs for my own personal reasons.
What impact does a cut have on your overall strenght if any, say somebody weighed 170 and could bench 250, then cut to 155. Is it safe to say that they will still maintain the strength to lift that 250, or will it decrease ? Im new to the cutting after a bulk and am curious about this. Im not questioning muscle maintenance, just strenght levels.
Thanks
 
In my experience, my strength goes up on a cut. Not by as much as on a bulk, but it does go up. Your bench might go down if you do a PL style bench where you lower the bar to your stomach, this simply because your stomach gets smaller when you lose weight, so you'll get a larger ROM.

This is very individual, though, but as long as you don't cut too fast, you shouldn't have a problem keeping your strength up.
 
Karky said:
In my experience, my strength goes up on a cut. Not by as much as on a bulk, but it does go up. Your bench might go down if you do a PL style bench where you lower the bar to your stomach, this simply because your stomach gets smaller when you lose weight, so you'll get a larger ROM.

This is very individual, though, but as long as you don't cut too fast, you shouldn't have a problem keeping your strength up.
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Thanks Kark, i didnt mean to hijack this thread but i figured since we were on the subject id squeeze in. This will be interesting for me to see how this plays out. Tanx again.
 
Karky said:
Toning is largely a myth. When you're cutting you want to get more defined, so you want to lose the fat while keeping as much of the muscle as you can. You won't lose more fat on your chest by doing high rep bench press than doing low rep bench press as long as your energy balance is the same.
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Ah I see. But should I really be concerned with fat around my chest when I will be cutting from about 160-165ish weight with a BF around 13-15%? It's not like my pecs are big as is....
 
it was just an example to illustrate that high reps won't cause any fat loss from the muscles you work.

Some people also claim that high reps will give you "long, lean muscles" which is a bunch of bull. Hypertrophy is hypertrophy and you can't change the shape or the basic architecture of your muscles by using high reps.
 
Karky said:
it was just an example to illustrate that high reps won't cause any fat loss from the muscles you work.

Some people also claim that high reps will give you "long, lean muscles" which is a bunch of bull. Hypertrophy is hypertrophy and you can't change the shape or the basic architecture of your muscles by using high reps.
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Alright, I understand. In your personal preference Karky, would you say that bulking for only 4 months and then cutting isn't enough time to sufficiently bulk or ?
 
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