Cutting and reps..

M

Mcknight

0
So ive been lifting weights for about 1.8yrs now(however my first year was pretty bad) But anyways I figured I should cut some weight now for the summer months and bulk back up starting in stepmber.

I'm about 5'10 1/2, 185lbs at about 17% BF

I wanted to get down to about 165-170 befor the end of augest... and my question is.. Ive almost always lifted in low reps of 5-8 reps... But from what ive been reading if im cutting weight I should be lifitn lighter with heavier reps...why because it will tone more? Also can anyone reccomend me any full body cut routines.. If it's relvent at all my top lifts are...

Bench-225
Squat-275
Deadlift-295

-Thanks in advance for any tips.
 
A lot of people believe that higher reps 'tone' better, but I think that's a load of crap. The best way to tone is to lower your bodyfat percentage so your muscles aren't covered in a layer of fat. A proper diet is the key to that.

That being said, I've noticed myself that after using a certain set/rep range for a while, my body adapts and progress slows. Changing things up a bit every now and again should help to avoid plateus. So, changing to a 3 sets of 10 reps might not be a bad idea.

Same goes for a 'FBW cut routine.' I don't think any specific routine is best for cutting. It's more a function of diet than anything else. However, because you'll burn fat by burning more calories than you're taking in, I guess that a routine which burns more calories would be best. Adding some cardio into your routine should help.
 
I second that... lighter weights (metabolic work) can be best for losing fat if you have a lot of it. But if you're closer to a normal body fat level, whatever that might be, ditching the heavy stuff (4-8 reps) isn't a good idea IMO.

You want to send enough 'signaling' to your body to preserve the good stuff while ditching the bad stuff. Lifting light isn't going to provide your body that signal.
 
You can choose to go lighter with higher reps or heavier with fewer reps, it doesn't matter.

Having a proper calorie deficit is the only thing that will reduce body fat. (eat less)

The thing is that when you diet, you are in a calorie deficit which makes your body go into catabolism (it will mainly break down muscles down to feed itself for your activities). In order to counter this effect you must give muscles a reason to stay and make your body feed itself off of other tissue (like body fat) instead of muscle for your activities. You do this by maintaining your muscles through weight training.

Basically, lifting heavy while having a proper calorie deficit will get you what you want without losing any muscle mass. In fact - you will gain muscle mass and lose body fat at the same time.

I'll write up a sample routine later tonight...

Good luck!
 
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hi all, i am also thinking about going into a cutting phase at the end of jan and was wondering the same thing about rep/load...if you say it doesnt matter if you still lift low reps but heavy weight on a cut how do you feed your muscles enough if you have cut your calories? thanks
 
jamie1 said:
hi all, i am also thinking about going into a cutting phase at the end of jan and was wondering the same thing about rep/load...if you say it doesnt matter if you still lift low reps but heavy weight on a cut how do you feed your muscles enough if you have cut your calories? thanks
Click to expand...

see, that's the trick :)

there's lots of ideas behind 'how to cut'. this is mine:

1. you lift heavy and lower reps. why? because this doesn't produce as much hypertrophy as the 8-12 rep range. less muscle damage means less recovery required. and lifting heavy gives the body a reason to retain muscle mass.

2. less carbs, more protein and fat - shifting your macros away from carbs means less energy. that's good for cardio because your body will use fat for energy. its less good for weight training since you can't use fat energy for explosive resistance training...

3. so even though you're on fewer carbs, its good to time your carbs to fuel your weight routines (i.e. before and after training) and avoid starchy/sugary carbs the rest of the day. you can take this a step further by cycling carb intake: low low carbs on cardio days, low/moderate carbs on weight training days, timed around training.

4. fasted cardio - moderate intensity cardio first thing in the morning is a good way to burn fat. you've been 'starving' for 8 hours while asleep, so fat is likely going to be needed for energy. this is NOT the time for HIIT. I'd keep the heartrate under, oh say 140bpm, and no more than 40 mins of cardio.


these are the strategies I've employed in the past to melt fat.
 
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