gaining strength while cutting?

J

jacketfan89

0
I've read that it is very difficult to build muscle and cut at the same time. Does this mean that as I workout 3 times a week, I should only use the same amount of weight each time; or should I try to increase the weight. Right now I'm doing full body workouts with two days of rest in between. It consists of about 10 exercises not including the abs. I'm doing 3 sets of 8 reps on each exercise. I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and I AM losing the weight, but I'm not getting any stronger. Of course losing the weight is my first priority, I just wanted to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong.

Thanks a ton,

Matt
 
10 exercises is too much. why dont you just do them 3 times a week? search for full body workout on this site and ull find info as well as sample routines you can try. If you can, then increase the weight, if you cant, then dont. I usually gain strenght on a cut, though its slow. Remember, strenght and muscle size is not the same thing.
 
Karky said:
10 exercises is too much. why dont you just do them 3 times a week?
Click to expand...

From first post:

Jacketfan89 said:
Right now I'm doing full body workouts with two days of rest in between.
Click to expand...

Two days of rest in between =
Sunday: Workout
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Workout

That IS only three days a week. The thing is if I workout on saturday I'm not going to workout again until Tuesday. Its not a weekly rotation so I am always getting two days of rest in between workouts.

As for the 10 exercises, I do:

Chest: bench press
Front Deltoids: Behind-head press
Back: Bent-over rows
Side Delts: cleans
Triceps: dips
biceps: curls
Legs:
Lunges
Good Mornings

So really I'm only doing 8 exercises 3x8. Then I have a separate program for my abs.
 
its not 3 times a week, its 3 times a week some weeks, but the week after that it would only be 2 times. its better to do M W F
 
jacketfan89 said:
From first post:



Two days of rest in between =
Sunday: Workout
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Workout
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Workout
Click to expand...
Yeah, but after that it'll be 2 times a week so it'll be
Sun: Rest
Mon: Rest
Tue: Workout
Wed: Rest
Thu: Rest
Fri: workout

then the cycle repeats at monday. So one week you'll do it 3 times, and one week you'll do it 2 times.

jacketfan89 said:
As for the 10 exercises, I do:

Chest: bench press
Front Deltoids: Behind-head press
Back: Bent-over rows
Side Delts: cleans
Triceps: dips
biceps: curls
Legs:
Lunges
Good Mornings

So really I'm only doing 8 exercises 3x8. Then I have a separate program for my abs.
Click to expand...

You need to do squats, and deadlifts. Instead of curls, you should do pullups. You don't need to do behind-head press same day as bench press. Lunges are alright and you should switch them up with squats (which you need to do) I would do Deadlift in place of good mornings, only because I think good mornings are dangerous though.

When you say you heari ts difficult to build msucle and cut on the same time, that's like saying its difficult to bulk and cut at the same time. Which it is, you can't do it.
 
I agree with some and disagree with some. Squats and deadlifts are essential moves for any routine, whether you want to grow or strengthen, or even lose weight because they are huge power movements that require a lot of energy. However, behind-the head press is likely one of the worst exercises you can perform. I would never suggest anyone push or pull behind their head, it hyper-closes the shoulder joint, placing it in an awkward and dangerous position.

Good mornings, I agree with Dave. You're better off with deadlifts, SLDL, and hyperextensions for your lower back.

Just a general critique, while fullbody workouts are great I would recommend you do FBO for 4 weeks, then switch to upper/lower split. You really need some more variety in your exercises. There's no reason to do flat bench every workout. Why not incline? Pushups? Don't forget rows, jumping movements. There are so many exercises out there for every body part that will challenge you in a variety of ways. As long as your pushing and pulling in every workout you're all set.
 
executive perfectly, nothing. But take a look around and you'll see perfect execution is rare. Goodmornings put you at a greater risk of injury than do other lower back movements.
 
well, its true for all exercises that you must have good form. Aslong as you dont bend your back on GMs they probobly wont hurt you.
 
I've read on this board that it is not safe to workout without giving your muscles 48 hours of rest in between.

My supplies are limited. I have a bench press, an olympic, 210 pounds of weight, and a few dumbbells. If I thought it was safe I would workout more than 3 days a week. Since you say it is okay to workout Mon Wed and Fri...Is it safe to do upper body monday wednesday and friday and then lower body tuesday thursday and saturday? If so, which day would I work my abs?...upper body is what I'm guessing.

Also someone mentioned a variety of exercises. Should I do like one set of bench press, one set of pushups, and one set of decline pushups, or should I do bench one day pushups another day and something else the other day?

Sorry I'm so new at this. Please feel free to critique my workout. My main goal right now is definition and maybe a tad of mass, if possible. I know it takes a while to get it down pat and part of your daily routine. What are some better exercises for my front delts?
 
jacketfan89 said:
I've read on this board that it is not safe to workout without giving your muscles 48 hours of rest in between.

My supplies are limited. I have a bench press, an olympic, 210 pounds of weight, and a few dumbbells. If I thought it was safe I would workout more than 3 days a week. Since you say it is okay to workout Mon Wed and Fri...Is it safe to do upper body monday wednesday and friday and then lower body tuesday thursday and saturday? If so, which day would I work my abs?...upper body is what I'm guessing.

Also someone mentioned a variety of exercises. Should I do like one set of bench press, one set of pushups, and one set of decline pushups, or should I do bench one day pushups another day and something else the other day?

Sorry I'm so new at this. Please feel free to critique my workout. My main goal right now is definition and maybe a tad of mass, if possible. I know it takes a while to get it down pat and part of your daily routine. What are some better exercises for my front delts?
Click to expand...

You can work your core all the time. If you do do a split I would do a push pull split. But I hear that upper lower is alright.

As for variety, I would do bench one week or two, chest press another week or two, etc.

If you do a fbw, bench or incline bench or whatever already will work your front deltoids. Of course you can do lateral front raises, but you don't need to.

Definition is just loss of fat that makes your muscles stand out a bit more. I tihnk it is generally agreed upon on this forum at least that "toning" with high reps and low weight is a myth.
 
I've found a 3 day workout plan which seems doable to me, plus it gives each muscle group 48 hours to recover.

3 Day Split Workout: Chest & Back / Legs / Shoulders & Arms

Day 1: Chest & Back (A)
Day 2: Legs (B)
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms(C)

That way I can do something like:

ABCABCX and still have one day off during the week.

If I use a variety of exercises would this work. Also since I am only targeting two muscle groups per day, should I do more than one exercise. For instance, I could do decline pushups, bench press and flies on Day 1?
 
jacketfan89 said:
I've found a 3 day workout plan which seems doable to me, plus it gives each muscle group 48 hours to recover.

3 Day Split Workout: Chest & Back / Legs / Shoulders & Arms

Day 1: Chest & Back (A)
Day 2: Legs (B)
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms(C)

That way I can do something like:

ABCABCX and still have one day off during the week.

If I use a variety of exercises would this work. Also since I am only targeting two muscle groups per day, should I do more than one exercise. For instance, I could do decline pushups, bench press and flies on Day 1?
Click to expand...

THe whole body part split isn't a good idea. If you really want to go to the gym everyday, do a push pull split 6x a week. If you follow it, you'll get 48 hours break. Lets take it this way
Monday, 2 p.m. push workout
24 hours later
Tuesday 2p.m. pull workout
24 hours later
Wednsday 2p.m. push workout
Total 48 hours later.
Take a break sunday and repeat.

Theoritically (how I see it, tihs is the same as 3 FBWs a week. THey way you have your 3 way split, you have onyl 2 fbws a week and 72 hours break inbetween. Do you want help with a push pull split?
 
do full body, push pull or upper lower.

train on Monday, then train on wendsday at the same time, that will be 48 hours later (if you do full body)
 
I've read on this board that it is not safe to workout without giving your muscles 48 hours of rest in between.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify, 48 hours is not 2 days between workouts.

Example:

Workout on Monday at 8:00 am, Tuesday @ 8:00 am is 24 hours, Wednesday at 8:00 am is 48 hours. So you would train on Monday and Wednesday to have 48 hours between workouts.

If you have 2 day off between workouts it is 72 hours.

Hope this helps. :)
 
48 hours is two days, a day is pretty much set in stone as 24 hours. He hever said 'leave two days between work outs', and meant every other day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top