Thread: Cutting work out

Do you train differently when you are cutting? I still find myself stuck in the 1 warm up set followed by 3 sets in my 8-12 rep range and I seem to be getting bigger but I want to cut. I know I need to work on my diet some, but Im fine with that. It's just the training part I'm not 100% on.

I train very basic and do what feels right for me, constantly changing things around. At this stage of my development I spend most of my time prioritizing lagging bodyparts while slowly adding lean muscle every year. When I say basic I don't overtrain... once I am warmed up I will peform 2 sets to failure with 2 forced reps at the end of those sets on every exercise I am doing... this has worked great for me over the years. Now, one thing I change is my rep range. Right now I just finished training for a show, and mentally I needed some time off... so when my diet is not condusive to proper recovery I will keep my reps a bit higher and train less frequently while also shortening the # of sets I do per bodypart. The whole goal is to recover and grow from training, so when my mind isn't into it (2009 was a great year and I needed 4-6 weeks off to just relax) I don't want to get injured or set things up for failure.

When my offseason diet starts things will change... at that time I will set up my split to prioritize week bodyparts and try to see how much food I can work up to taking down the hatch every day. As the show gets closer, the more I cut carbs and possibly increase cardio the more protein I will consume. This method has proved itself for me over the years because it allows me to continue to train at 100% intensity while dropping the bodyfat... and my recovery stays fairly strong and fast right up until those last few weeks before the show. Everyone is different, but in general if you can train hard and heavy without injury that is the best method.

When things do reach a plateau, I do all sorts of wild stuff. This is where we have some fun.... from drop sets, to 10 sets of 10 of squats, deads, etc.... super high rep sets... during the offseasons once every 6 weeks we take a week and just try all sorts of stuff. If I feel like having a cheat meal I will usually do it an hour or so before attempting a long, crazy, plateau busting workout.

Hope this helps. More than anything else your training intensity, selecting exercises that work for you (not for someone else), and more than anything ensuring that your diet and training split allow for recovery are the most important factors.. regardless of your goals. What works for Ronnie Coleman, Branch Warren, or the big guy in your gym might not work for you! Even if you trained for marathons, recovery would still be your goal so you can improve, improve, and improve over time.

Good luck man... train hard you will be good to go!!!