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Hey Everyone
I feel like since I joined EliteFitness.com, I respond to at least two posts per day asking for diet critique, cutting advice, cardio advice, and the like. Based on this, I thought I would just make a new post with my tips. These tips are what work for me, and what I recommend to anyone whom I might be training at the time.
1) Cardio
Ok first off, lets cover the cardio area. I realize that no one likes to do cardio, its boring as hell, and you get all sweaty and nasty and such, but on the other hand, its an essential part of any successful cutting cycle. Some guys I know try to cut without cardio, but the bottom line is that if you are to maintain a healthy diet, and your base maintenance isn't around 4000kCal/day, then cardio is essential to be a successful member of the cutting community. I like to do between 150 and 200 minutes per week or hard cardio. When you're on the bike, treadmill, or whatever, you want your heart rate to be between 135 and 160bpm. Basically, you want to be in "the zone" whereby if someone were to walk up to you and try to have a conversation, you'd be too short of breath to chat. Try for at least 20 mins/day, and always aim to make your weekly totals. I always like doing cardio first thing in the morning, before breakfast. This way, your body is burning off fat stores instead of the carbs and what not you ingest at breakfast or during the day.
2) Chemicals
For chemical supplementation while cutting, I would recommend the use of a thermogenic to raise your heart rate, increase BMR and generally, with the help of cardio, help burn the fat faster. We all see these advertised in magazines and what not, but I would recommend a good 'ol EC stack as the most effective and proven of them all. basically, you want to ingest 20mg Ephedrine and 200mg Caffeine, two to three times daily. If you do cardio in the afternoon, aim to take one stack 3.5 -4 Hours prior to your cardio session, and another about 30 mins prior to your cardio session. If you're doing cardio first thing in the morning, take your EC as soon as you wake up. Put the pills and a cup of water beside your bed at night, and make a habit of swatting your alarm, then taking your pills immediately. Be sure to consult with your doctor before you start on EC though, you want to be sure your heart and general CNS system can handle the extra stress.
3) Diet
For diet, I've found that you have to find what your maintenance requirements are, then design a specific diet to initiate a daily caloric defecit. be sure to keep it clean. have a good quality carb (such as oatmeal) first thing in the morning, and again post workout.
Ideally, you want to keep your protein intake to at least 1g/pound/day (preferrably higher), and your carb intake at or under 100g/day. Keep your fats low, but make sure that you are still ingesting the essential fatty acids, ie Omega series fatty acids (you can get these from various oils and oily fish)
heres a sample of my cutting diet....
Meal 1)
5 eggs, 1 whole and 4 only white cooked in 1tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup oatmeal (plain)
1 cup milk
2-4 cups water
Meal 2)
MRP shake (I use 1/2 pouch Mesotech strawberry or chocolate, and 500ml skim milk)
Meal 3)
1 or 2 Chicken Breast
1 cup veggies
3 cups water
1 slice whole grain bread and 1tbsp natty PB
Meal 4)
2 cans tuna, prepared according to your taste
1/2 cup veggies (I like raw carrot sticks with tuna)
cheese
3 cups water
Meals 5 and 6
Protein shakes with two, or preferrably three scoops of a good quality whey protein, flax seed oil, and skim milk. Other ingredients to taste, ie fruit, etc.
Either meal 5 or 6 can be your post workout shake. make sure that the post workout shake contains three scoops whey, a scoop of glutamine and a scoop of dextrose to provide a carbohydrate. The remaining shake can contain whatever you want, as long as it maintains your carb and calorie count, and has at least two scoops of a good quality whey.
the post workout carbs are essential to muscle growth, so make sure you get them!
You can mix and match the meals posted here, add or delete quantities depending on your weight, etc etc etc..... as long as the carb count remains low, protein is high, fats are still present, and the total calories are still somewhere below your maintenance.......
Hope this helps some of ya out......
ciao
Shane
ps. any suggestions or comments are welcome.
I feel like since I joined EliteFitness.com, I respond to at least two posts per day asking for diet critique, cutting advice, cardio advice, and the like. Based on this, I thought I would just make a new post with my tips. These tips are what work for me, and what I recommend to anyone whom I might be training at the time.
1) Cardio
Ok first off, lets cover the cardio area. I realize that no one likes to do cardio, its boring as hell, and you get all sweaty and nasty and such, but on the other hand, its an essential part of any successful cutting cycle. Some guys I know try to cut without cardio, but the bottom line is that if you are to maintain a healthy diet, and your base maintenance isn't around 4000kCal/day, then cardio is essential to be a successful member of the cutting community. I like to do between 150 and 200 minutes per week or hard cardio. When you're on the bike, treadmill, or whatever, you want your heart rate to be between 135 and 160bpm. Basically, you want to be in "the zone" whereby if someone were to walk up to you and try to have a conversation, you'd be too short of breath to chat. Try for at least 20 mins/day, and always aim to make your weekly totals. I always like doing cardio first thing in the morning, before breakfast. This way, your body is burning off fat stores instead of the carbs and what not you ingest at breakfast or during the day.
2) Chemicals
For chemical supplementation while cutting, I would recommend the use of a thermogenic to raise your heart rate, increase BMR and generally, with the help of cardio, help burn the fat faster. We all see these advertised in magazines and what not, but I would recommend a good 'ol EC stack as the most effective and proven of them all. basically, you want to ingest 20mg Ephedrine and 200mg Caffeine, two to three times daily. If you do cardio in the afternoon, aim to take one stack 3.5 -4 Hours prior to your cardio session, and another about 30 mins prior to your cardio session. If you're doing cardio first thing in the morning, take your EC as soon as you wake up. Put the pills and a cup of water beside your bed at night, and make a habit of swatting your alarm, then taking your pills immediately. Be sure to consult with your doctor before you start on EC though, you want to be sure your heart and general CNS system can handle the extra stress.
3) Diet
For diet, I've found that you have to find what your maintenance requirements are, then design a specific diet to initiate a daily caloric defecit. be sure to keep it clean. have a good quality carb (such as oatmeal) first thing in the morning, and again post workout.
Ideally, you want to keep your protein intake to at least 1g/pound/day (preferrably higher), and your carb intake at or under 100g/day. Keep your fats low, but make sure that you are still ingesting the essential fatty acids, ie Omega series fatty acids (you can get these from various oils and oily fish)
heres a sample of my cutting diet....
Meal 1)
5 eggs, 1 whole and 4 only white cooked in 1tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup oatmeal (plain)
1 cup milk
2-4 cups water
Meal 2)
MRP shake (I use 1/2 pouch Mesotech strawberry or chocolate, and 500ml skim milk)
Meal 3)
1 or 2 Chicken Breast
1 cup veggies
3 cups water
1 slice whole grain bread and 1tbsp natty PB
Meal 4)
2 cans tuna, prepared according to your taste
1/2 cup veggies (I like raw carrot sticks with tuna)
cheese
3 cups water
Meals 5 and 6
Protein shakes with two, or preferrably three scoops of a good quality whey protein, flax seed oil, and skim milk. Other ingredients to taste, ie fruit, etc.
Either meal 5 or 6 can be your post workout shake. make sure that the post workout shake contains three scoops whey, a scoop of glutamine and a scoop of dextrose to provide a carbohydrate. The remaining shake can contain whatever you want, as long as it maintains your carb and calorie count, and has at least two scoops of a good quality whey.
the post workout carbs are essential to muscle growth, so make sure you get them!
You can mix and match the meals posted here, add or delete quantities depending on your weight, etc etc etc..... as long as the carb count remains low, protein is high, fats are still present, and the total calories are still somewhere below your maintenance.......
Hope this helps some of ya out......
ciao
Shane
ps. any suggestions or comments are welcome.
