Do these cutting macros look good?

[mikah]

So Ive been on a loooong lean mass building program and I really have put alot of lean mass on , considering I weigh 10 lbs more and still 'pretty much ' fit into the same pant size as before. They are a bit snug now after the past 2 weeks Ive had wayyyy too many cheats.

So I'm planning to cut now and I thought you all could critique my program?

female
I'm 5"3.5 and 128 lbs.
approx 19% BF


goals: 14% and maintaining with NO MORE lean mass please I'm starting to feel a bit blocky and unfeminine for my taste!

Cals- 1650 to 1800 a day with one day at 2100 which I'm thinking is close to maintenance maybe a bit over.
Cardio - 120 minutes per week
Weights - 4 days a week ( now do I lift "lighter" to avoid more lean mass?)
I was lifting 6 reps max.

Food choices - all clean stuff except the occasional SB diet protein bar or SB diet frozen pizza which Ill save for the high cal day.


here is the layout
MON/ lift
TUES/ lift
WED/ cardio
THURS/ lift + 20 min am cardio
FRI/ lift
SAT/ cardio
SUN / OFF

 

[XcelKrush]

Where are the macros????

But it seems like a good plan, you wont lose too much weight at a time which is a good thing. As for weights, unless your currently lifting 6-8 rep range and really heavy, dont cut back your weights. If your on a cutting diet, your not going to gain more lean mass so dont worry.

Looks good

 

[mikah]

oops sorry - forgot to add . I dont count macros TOO STRICTLY But.. they end up at about 45carbies/35/20 and this feels good to me. If I go lower in carbies I end up with higher cals because my carbs feel too low at that calorie level.

 

[Emma-Leigh]

Hey Mikah!

So Ive been on a loooong lean mass building program and I really have put alot of lean mass on , considering I weigh 10 lbs more and still 'pretty much ' fit into the same pant size as before.

female
I'm 5"3.5 and 128 lbs.
approx 19% BF
goals: 14%

Cals- 1650 to 1800 a day with one day at 2100 which I'm thinking is close to maintenance maybe a bit over.
Cardio - 120 minutes per week
Weights - 4 days a week

Right - well I think you are about right in terms of your maintainence value - I would think it would be about 2000-2100 cals (~103 pounds of lean mass, pretty active)...

I would start with something like 1800 cals on weights/active days with -
~200g carbs (2 x lean mass) [which, lucky for you, is 45%]
~155g protein (1.5 x lean mass) [35%]
~40g fat (0.4 x lean mass) [20%]
TOTAL = 1800 ish

And then decrease from there if/as needed.

On your rest days or cardio only days you could go down to 1650 cals (drop down your carbs a little) as well.

... now do I lift "lighter" to avoid more lean mass? I was lifting 6 reps max.
.... maintaining with NO MORE lean mass please I'm starting to feel a bit blocky and unfeminine for my taste!

Don't worry - it is very hard to gain mass on a cutting diet - so you really need not be concerned about this!!

When cutting you are best to still lift in the 5-8 rep max range for most of your lifts (assistance or small isolation type stuff can go up to 8-12 reps). This will provide the stimulus to help you keep your lean mass whilst cutting.

After cutting, if you don't want to 'grow' anymore then you can do a few things -
1. Stay in that rep range but don't progress with your loading. So don't add any more weights and don't increase your reps at all. The reason why your muscles grow is because they are responding to the requirement to adapt to increased stress. So if you don't increase the weight - you don't increase stress - and your body will not need to respond.

2. Drop your rep range into the VERY low range - that means down to less than 5 reps (meaning you are using loads that are greater than 80% your 1 rep max). This usually results in insufficient time under tension and you get little stimulus for growth. You will get good strength gains though! And it is LOTS of fun! But - it is highly taxing on your nervous system so you usually need to do cycles of maximal training (block training).

3. Start up a different method of training rather than 'BB/weight training' type stuff... eg: Do odd lifts/workouts that are much more about whole-body work and stabilisation... Or look into explosive/plyo type workouts... Or maybe strength endurance training??

4. You COULD drop weights back down.... But I would not suggest just doing that without changing anything else. To get no stimulus you would need to take them above the 12-15 rep (which is using weights lighter than your 70% 1 rep max) and I imagine it would get VERY boring...

here is the layout
MON/ lift
TUES/ lift
WED/ cardio
THURS/ lift + 20 min am cardio
FRI/ lift
SAT/ cardio
SUN / OFF

This looks good.

 

[mikah]

ok Emma! thanks - when should I have the maintenance day? or should I?
maybe on a weight training day...

 

[Emma-Leigh]

ok Emma! thanks - when should I have the maintenance day? or should I?
maybe on a weight training day...

Start by having one and see if you lose weight. If not - drop it out and see what happens.

You can always add it a high day back in later on when you get leaner if need be.

But I would put it on your heaviest weights day or on the day when you are most active (? thursday?). Or, you could put it on the weights day that targets the body part you most want to preserve in terms of lean mass.

 

[mikah]

OK thats what Ill do then... thanks again Emma - Im happy now!