FOLLOW THIS GUIDE and stay on this guide. I promise you that you will get the body you want!
1. Forget all the stuff you read in the magazines.. it's usually wrong and it'll only confuse you.
2. Cutting, like bulking, is simple mathematics.. calories below maintenance = fat loss.
2b. A GOOD CUTTING PROGRAM WILL TAKE AT LEAST 8 WEEKS, MORE IF YOU'RE FATTER. THIS WILL ENSURE THAT YOU WILL RETAIN AS MUCH MASS AS POSSIBLE AND NOT END UP LOOKING LIKE A SKINNY RUNT.
ANY OF YOU NEWBIES THAT THINK CUTTING IS EASY. WAKE UP. BULKING UP IS THE EASY PART.
2c. A CUTTING CYCLE SHOULD LAST NO LONGER THAN 12-16 WEEKS (if you're really fat).. ANYTHING MORE IS TOO MUCH STRESS ON THE BODY.
IT'S BETTER TO UP YOUR CALS GRADUALLY BACK UP TO MAINTENANCE FOR ABOUT A MONTH, TO REPLENISH YOUR BODY, BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANOTHER CUTTING CYCLE.
3. Cardio is overrated.
The only use for cardio for cutting purposes is to insure a negative calorie balance. However, too much cardio eats up all your muscle.
4. NEVER GO BELOW 1600 calories.
That's what cardio is for. Start at your baseline, then progressive cut 200 calories each week til you hit somewhere close to 1600. Once in that 1600 range you start to add cardio.
5. Long, steady-state cardio is bullshyt.
No cardio session should last more than 20 minutes. High intensity cardio of at least 10 but not more than 20 minutes is the key. (by intense I mean, wind sprint level effort). Start at 2 - 3 sessions per week, and continue to add as needed.
6. Low-carb diets are bullshyt, unless you are on the juice (specifically the cutting drugs) .
They leave you flat, and your workouts/strength will suffer... The carbs to avoid like the plague are the starchy carbs like pasta, white rice, and potatoes
7. Most of your carbs should come from fat free dairy, green vegetables and moderate portions of brown rice and potatoes. Only green veggie carbs after 8PM.
8. Suggested macro nutrient ratios:
Carbs: 1-1.2g / # body weight
Protein: 2g./ # body weight
Fat : as little as possible, take one tablespoon of flaxseed oil with protein and no carbs before bed.
most of your daily carbs should come in the three hour window following your weight workout. (see GUIDE TO BULKING for more info)
9. Supplementation
Vitamin C, B, E, CLA, herbal fat burner, creatine, and glutamine (although optional)
10. About training: YOU TRAIN EXACTLY THE SAME AS IF YOU WERE BULKING.
I.E. CONTINUE TO LIFT HEAVY, this stimulation will keep the muscles overloaded and will retain as much mass as possible while the negative calorie balance takes off the fat. Also, it will keep the muscles hard and full..
11. higher reps while cutting is absolute garbage.
The people that advocate that are the jokers in the magazines who are all juiced, so what they do or don't do is irrelevant, the amount of drugs they are on insures success either way.
For the natural lifter, it's a one way ticket to losing big time mass....
To recap: cutting is negative calorie balance while continuing to lift heavy to keep as much of the mass you have on you.
good luck, and tell me how it WENT!!!!
