Thread: 15 year old first time really cutting please help

it looks great & props on starting early, you seem very educated for a kid your age.

But if I were you, I'd lower your calories around 500 calories under your maintenance. but do it gradually. 2500-3000 is way over your maintenance & all you'll be doing is slow bulking. Lift heavy & maintain most if not all your strength to preserve muscle. High protein, moderate fats & carbs ONLY before & after workouts. other than that you seem like you know what your doing. Good luck on your cut brah

Thanks, how much weight should I expect to lose over six weeks without losing mass.

Originally Posted by buddhaluv

it looks great & props on starting early, you seem very educated for a kid your age.

But if I were you, I'd lower your calories around 500 calories under your maintenance. but do it gradually. 2500-3000 is way over your maintenance & all you'll be doing is slow bulking. Lift heavy & maintain most if not all your strength to preserve muscle. High protein, moderate fats & carbs ONLY before & after workouts. other than that you seem like you know what your doing. Good luck on your cut brah

Don't see how 2500-3000 is way over maintenance. Kid is 190 pounds and fairly lean already at 12%, if his estimation is correct. In any case, I do think working to cut bodyfat over time is a good way to go. I have to say that at your age, I'd focus on gaining muscle unless weight is a real issue. Seems to me that you are pretty lean already, and you can always cut under 10% in a few years. I know at your age I was focused on getting big and strong. Got to built a base first.

jdm, first I applaud you on your efforts.
However, I'm curious and a bit concerned as to why you think you need this volume and why have you picked these rep numbers without mention of sets? Also, who created this diet and routine? Why would you need 7 meals a day? Who determined your caloric intake numbers?

To maintain this bodyweight, you only need 2850 calories.
-To drop some fat, to get to 10%, and your lean mass is currently 167lbs, you'd weigh in at around 180-182. This is a good start for a good bulk.
To get to this weight:
-Your caloric structure would need to be 2756 calories daily.
I multiplied 1.25g x lean mass. You need 210g of protein.
-Keep fats higher at 0.6 x lean mass for satiety's sake = 100g fat.
-The rest can be your carbs at 240-250g.

Then on your off days, drop your carbs-simply because you arent using it and bring fat up higher. About 20g additionally for fat, and lower carbs about 40g. This would only occur on your non-lifting days.

These calculations are by no means completely accurate, but they're pretty close to ballpark figures as you're going to get.

Can you spell out your routine exactly?

I will be doing rep ranges of 15.12.10. I follow a 5 day split.
Chest

Bench
Incline
Decline
Flies
Upper Rows

Back
Lower Rows
Upper Rows
Lat Pull Down
Regular Rows

Legs
Squat
Extentions Ham and Quad
Calve Raises

Arms/Shoulders
Press
Raises
Curls
Pulldowns

Off day.

I repair really fast and I typically do more than what I said. Whatever I can fit in for an hour. I do severall different variations of this because I like to change things up frequently but It follows this basic outline.

For cutting, these rep ranges are not appropriate. Cutting is a game of muscle-retention while slightly starving. You want to be lifting heavy, in low rep-ranges, with your volume dropping as your cut progresses. Emphasize heavy compound lifts - squats, deadlifts, bench, cleans, chins. Minimize cardio; a little is good, but you don't need more than 20-30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio after you lift, or perhaps in the AM. You can build this to include some interval work as you lean out.

BTW props for having such focus at such a young age.

Looking at your workout - I'd ditch the accessory work, and you certainly won't want an arm-day while cutting - not unless you want your bis to disappear.

I'd pick push, pull, legs for each of two rotating workouts for a cut.

For example,

WO 1
squats 5x5
leg press 3x8
bench 5x5
dumbbell bench 3x8
t-bars 5x5
dumbbell rows 3x8

WO2
deads 5x5
RDLs OR GMs 3x8
Clean and Jerk 5x5
Olympic bar corner press 3x8 each side
weighted chins 5x5
lat pulldowns 3x8

As your cut progresses, drop the 5x5 down to 4x5, then 3x5, then drop the 3x8 down to 2x8.

Rotate between these workouts at least three and at most four days a week.

Read homework 1 for info on how to set up your diet.

Good call MA.

So just for clarification I would be doing as followed. Monday Workout 1, Tuesday workout 2, wednesday workout 1, etc. Then one off day.

Monday workout 1
Wednesday workout 2
Friday workout 1

Monday workout 2
Wednesday workout 1
Friday workout 2

and so on.

It's impressive that youmare that educated on lifting at such an early age. If I woulda known half of what you know, I'd be a whole different person today. My only advice to you is make sure to me super conscious of your rest time. Your body can get way out of growth rhythm if you aren't careful. I look forward to seeing more from you.