Cutting program question

[luigisacs]

All,

I have read a lot on these boards the different types of programs (HST, 5x5, WSB, etc). These are all great mass building programs which involved a large caloric intake. I also understand that one requires a caloric deficit to lose BF. My questions are as follows -

a. Which program is better while on a caloric deficit. Ie. . I do not want to overtrain and stress my body when I don't have as many calories.

b. Which would be better on the above programs . . 1. Cutting calories via food intake or 2. Mainatining food intake and using cardio to provide caloric deficit.

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[DaveTSI]

there is no such thing as a "cutting program" imho, though i wouldnt go near something like wsb on a low cal diet.

5x5 would be good to help maintain muscle mass while losing fat. but i am biased toward power/strength type routines. i would cut cals to lose the weight but be sure you dont overtrain(lower your intensity/volume). if you do 5x5, dont think you will add 5lbs every week, because you wont. make sure you get plenty of rest and take easy days if your feeling beat up. if you do cardio you will surely lose alot more muscle mass than just cutting calories.

 

[Cheeseburger Eddy]

yeah, there isnt really a best cutting program. try alternating lower and upper body exercises during a workout, supersetting them, etc. ex. would be a set of squats with a bent over row. you can get away without changing anything, maybe slightly drop volume if youre adding in alot of cardio.

 

[Sim882]

One advantage of doing compound movements such as in 5x5 in a cut is that it burns far more calories than a once per week style bodybuilding programme, given your focussing on the more taxing exercises. If you have a heart rate monitor/calorie counter machine, this can be confirmed. Your HR should raise considerably on squats/deadlifts/cleans in particular

 

[DaveTSI]

^very true good advice

 

[luigisacs]

Thanks all. It is very difficult to determine where to start in terms of a cut. I dont want to lose any of my strength gains, but I must lose the fat I have. I read one of the sticky posts in which someone lost fat on an HST. Maybe I'll give that a go.

 

[DSnow6]

I don't post on here very often anymore but I'll give you my two sense. I have a dual degree in exercise science and exercise biology, so I'm on a different wave length than some tradition information out there. But here goes nothing...

From a biological standpoint, it would take special genetics to be able to gain muscle AND lose fat at the same time. It's not as "rare" as people make it out to be, there are variables that make it possible. Your thyroid is the key to it all in that sense. If you have a faster than normal thyroid, your not going to get fat no matter what you do. We all knew someone in college who could eat pizza and wings all day while downing Guinness and never put on an ounce. And having a fast thyroid isn't going to prevent you from putting on muscle size either because the caloiries, protein, and carbs are being digested, just at a faster pace.

You can put on lean muscle and lose fat at the same time over a longer period of time. Your not going to be able to "bulk" and "cut" at the same time in the sense that a bodybuilder does. But over the course of 6 months, you can put on 10 pounds of natural muscle and lose bf% at the same time without question.

But again, the majority of us don't have accelerated thyroids. Which leads to supplementation. Nature's genetics don't let all of us consume a ton of calories without consequence. But thas why we have supplements. With supplements, we can take in 300 grams of protein and stay under 2,500 calories in a day, which would be somewhat impossible without powders. Also, tyroid/metabolic enhancers like Cytomel (t3) or Synthroid (t4) can boost our metabolisms two fold. Can you put on 30 pounds of muscle in 16 weeks and lose fat? Probably not. But you can certainly put in 10 pounds of muscle in that time and do it.

On July 1st I was 240 with 15% body fat. That gives me approx 36 pounds of fat and 204 pounds of muscle, bone and tissue.

Today, Oct 15th, I'm 236 with 11%bf. That gives me 26 pounds of bf and 210 pounds of muscle, bone, tissue.

So statistically speaking, I lose 10 pounds of fat, and gained 6 pounds of muscle, with my weight only changing a matter of 4 pounds total. May not seem significant, but it really is. The reason why mopst people, natural or juiced, say you can't do this is ebcause whent hey talk about muscle gaine, they're talking about 30 pounds of muscle gain. And they say fat loss, they're saying 18% down to 5%. Those are extremes.

There's absoultely no evidence to support that you can't put on muscle and lose fat over a period of 3-4 months at the same time.

Lastly... most people when they talk abotu losing fat, they say "You have to burn more calories than you take in." Yes, but no. Calorie defecit is one way to lose fat, but its not the only way. Interval training and training with no carbs burns fat straight up. If you do cardio on an empty you will burn fat tissue straigt up, regardless of your calorie situation.

If your talking about putting on 30 pounds of muscle, sure you need to eat hella food. But if your talking about putting on a little bit of muscle while losing a few %'s of fat, you can do that without putting yourself in a calorie defecit.