Cutting is a period in training journey where the main goal is to lose body fat so our muscles become more visible.
Almost everyone who goes to a gym wants to show their progress and physique at some point in time.. cough.. summer.. cough.
But is that the only reason why we need to cut?
Purpose of cutting
We explained in article Bulking guide – Eat big to get big the importance of calorie surplus in muscle building and how our calorie intake needs to raise as our body weight goes up.
As time goes by and calorie intake raises, we come to a point when it is not possible to raise calorie intake.
There are multiple reasons why that can be the case such as overeating, mental burnout, plateau in performance, excess body fat etc.
When you come to that point, it’s time to take a step back and start with a cutting period.
During the cut, the goal is to progressively lower the calorie intake as our weight goes down and keep as much muscle as possible.
At the end of cutting period body weight is reduced, muscle is kept and visible, we are mentally prepared for the next bulking cycle and don’t need as much calories to start with muscle building.
Planning the cut
Cutting is a delicate period where all details matter so it is important to approach it diligently.
How much weight to lose?
First, it is important to establish the end goal of cut, so ask yourself a question “How much weight should i lose?”.
This chart demonstrates cutting decision making process when considering bulking approach.
Speed of cut
Cut should be as fast as possible but no faster than that.
What I mean by that is, there is a caloric deficit which allows your body to lose weight while maintaining your strength and muscle at the same time.
This deficit depends on your body weight and fat percentage.
If you did dirty bulk and you put on a huge amount of fat, you can cut faster than if you did clean bulk.
General rule of thumb is to lose around .5 – 1% of body weight per week, but it different people react differently to different cut speed.
Main goal is not to lose strength and muscle or keep that loss to minimum.
Strength and muscle retention
Training in cutting phase can be exhausting and hard to endure and it is no wonder why it is so.
Having less calories than you are used to certainly takes a tool on a lot of different areas such as performance, energy levels, recovery to name a few.
Nevertheless, training is of utmost importance for strength and muscle retention and should not be taken lightly.
“I’m cutting so my training needs to be easier.”, “It’s not a good idea to do compound movements.”, “I should lower number of sessions in a week”.
Remove all those limiting beliefs from your mind and grow a pair Swole bro.
There are multiple phases in every cutting period and with each comes different training approach:
- 10% calorie deficit: Train hard as if you are not cutting because you still got plenty of energy and you are eating decent amount of food.
- 20% calorie deficit: Adjust weights so your reps are in 8 – 14 range since the effects of cutting are felt and your recovery is not as effective as it used to be.
- 30% calorie deficit: Avoid heavy lifting by all means since you are more prone to injury and keep your reps in 12 – 20 range.
Of course, everybody reacts differently so feel free to experiment or even come up with your own phases and training approaches, but the main point is that your training should adjust with raising calorie deficit.
Diet
The only important decision regarding diet is: where to get calorie deficit from?
As we already covered in details in bulking article, most important macros for human body are protein and fat because we can not function without them and there is a minimum requirement for each.
There are three rules we need to follow for respectable diet in cutting phase:
- You need to get around 1g of protein per pound of body weight.
- 20% or more of daily calories need to come from fat.
- Human body prefers carbs for energy, meaning that carbs are very useful for muscle loss prevention.
I am sure I don’t need to remind you that human body is around 70% water and that water intake is crucial for your health and training.
If you take all those rules into consideration, you will be shredded Swole bro in no time.
Recovery
We have covered the importance of recovery multiple times throughout different articles, but it is never enough.
Recovery is the most important ingredient for bodybuilding in general, but with calorie deficit the importance raises exponentially.
Take your sleep and rest seriously because your body has enough problems recovering as is.
Don’t make it harder that it already is.
Cardio
I don’t consider cardio as a crucial part of every cut, but I do consider it crucial for healthy and long term human life.
It should always be part of your life, not just in cutting period.
Whether it is boxing, running, bike or football it doesn’t matter.. you need to have cardio in your life, period!
Monitoring and adjusting
Keep track of your weight at least on weekly basis and adjust your calories if you notice that your weight loss is either, rapid or stagnant.
As we already mentioned, try to keep your weight loss on 0.5 – 1% of your total body weight a week.
Common pitfalls
There are few mistakes that a lot of people become victim of:
- Overtraining
- Undereating
- Impatiance
- Cutting carbs drastically
- Not sticking to plan
Each one of those is completely understandable and even relatable.
We all want results to quickly and want to do everything to achieve that, but in life, everything beautiful and desirable takes time.
Whether it is instrument virtuosity, learning new language or skill, creating a sculpture or losing fat while maintaining muscle it makes no difference.
Getting something you want is not real happiness, it is a moment before wanting more happiness.
Real fulfilling happiness is enjoying the process getting something you truly want.
Take your time Swole bro!
Conclusion
Cutting is a period where the goal is to lose weight.
It should begin when bulking becomes unsustainable, your performance stagnates or you just become too tired of eating.
After cut, you should be few pounds lighter, refreshed from eating standpoint and ready to start new bulk period.
There are few important points for every cut:
- Weekly weight loss target (0.5 – 1% of body weight)
- You should continue with diligent training and adjust it as calorie deficit increases
- Insure sufficient protein, fat and water intake
- Prioritize sleep and rest to aid muscle recovery
- Monitor weekly progress
- Avoid overtraining, impatience and undereating
Remember, true happiness is not destination, but enjoying the journey!
Until next time!
