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Cutting after bulking without losing muscle

SpelunkingTheMind

SpelunkingTheMind

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Joined
Oct 18, 2008
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124
Ok, so I've been bulking up since late February, and I'm planning to end in about a week. I'll have gone from about 165 to about 200 putting on mostly muscle but obviously a bit of fat too. I want to cut for a bit and hopefully lose some/most of this fat (almost beach time after all %)), but I want to lose as little muscle as possible (losing none or even continuing to gain a bit of muscle mass would obviously be ideal, but I realize perhaps not feasible).

Losing weight generally won't be a problem, as 165 lbs is generally my 'normal' weight - i.e., what I tend to weigh when I don't go to the gym and eat what/how much I want. I anticipate it being much more difficult to not lose more weight (in muscle) than I want.

I'm going to be going from 4,500-6,000 cal/day to probably around 2,000-3,000 (too low?). I'll be continuing the same workout schedule, going to the gym three times a week, doing lots of compound lifts. I haven't been doing much (read: almost no) cardio (other than walking a lot) during my bulking period.

So: any particular things I should/shouldn't do to try to lose fat without losing muscle?

I plan to add in some cardio throughout the week. Any advice on that? I've heard cardio in the morning forces you to burn fat for fuel since you have no glycogen to burn - is that true/would that be a good plan?

If I'm eating fewer calories than I'm burning, will my body metabolize fat or muscle first, or both?

Any and all tips appreciated :)
 
dropsets + 21s.

(may have to slightly increase the caloric intake, and be very very selective about those calories)

i have an abnormally high metabolism so this may not work for everyone, but when i was bulking, to maintain my "cut," id just do repeat dropsets and 21s of whatever group i was doing that day until failure, after the normal resistance training.
 
Cardio sounds good, An Eliptical.. Something that makes your whole body work.
Just dont run, with experience running distance, I found that my leg muscles got built and my chest and arms lost sooo much muscle very quickly.
 
It depends on your body type and how easily you lose fat.

Personally I can lose a good amount of weight by adding in 1 or 2 cardio exercises a week and changing my diet. This may not work for everybody. I have lost muscle, which I can tell in the gym when I go to lift. I think a little muscle loss is going to be expected if you're trying to get down into the single digits BF% wise.

Slowly losing the weight seems to be key. 1 pound a week was my goal, although in the beginning it was slightly quicker. More food and more cardio vs less food less cardio would be ideal for not losing muscle.

You don't need to drop that many cals at first. Try dropping 300-500 and see how it goes, no need to rush it. Make sure you have a constant supply of protein throughout the day. Small meals with light carbs from green veggies and a good portion of lean protein. Obviously stay away from simple carbs, refined sugars, unhealthy fats, and empty calories.

Good luck and God bless. D

p.s. Don't get too obsessed with it. Its easy to become way way way to wrapped up in your body and lose sight of things that are way more important.
 
Adjust your calories and/or cardio so that you lose 1 lb per week. Continue lifting as usual. Not exactly rocket science, but I'd say where most people (myself included) tend to fuck up is losing too quickly.
 
when you do aerobic exercise, cortisol is released and causes the catabolysis that burns fat and muscle. glutamine counteracts cortisol's catabolic effects on muscles, so if you supplement with that the fat will get burned away while the muscle stays. the more muscle you have the more you'll need to take. this is the stuff i take myself, it's the only supplement i take for muscle growth and it's pretty damn effective.

my muscles were pretty weak from a high-stress lifestyle (stress triggers cortisol) and whenever i tried bulking up i always called it quits after a few weeks because of poor results and morale. but since taking glutamine in the mornings and after a workout i'm not only able to hang onto the muscle but lift more with each passing week, it's what keeps me focused on the goal.
 
Thanks for the responses!

rm-rf - when you say be careful where calories come from, do you mean staying away from junk food and trying to eat healthy, or a more specific breakdown between carbs/proteins/fats? I've been eating way more carbs than I normally would so I'm planning on cutting down a lot there; I'd probably get most calories from fat, then maybe a split between protein and carbs.

deadhead - I'll probably work in some rowing as well as some outdoor-running. The running probably won't be too detrimental (I hope) because I won't be going very far at all, maybe 1-2 miles a couple times a week, and I'll still be working out the upper body. I'll keep that in mind though and switch things up if I seem to be losing a lot in chest/arms.

doesntmatter/BA - I'll try to cut calories down a bit less to slow my loss down to around 1lb/wk, thanks for the advice. I've been drinking almost 3000 calories in whole milk alone per day and was planning on just cutting that out entirely, but maybe I'll keep drinking a bit throughout the day (or just eat more meals). Haha and yea thanks for the tip on ego/getting out of hand DM - at this point I'm more trying to get to where my being out of shape/scrawny doesn't weigh on my mind too much. Duly noted though ;)

thujone - interesting idea; just looked up a bit into it online and there does seem to be evidence supporting that. Has anyone else tried this? I tend to stay away from supplements other than a multivitamin, creatine, and l-arginine (I'm not sure if the last does a whole lot for working out, but it gives me REALLY vivid dreams which I enjoy, so either way getting my money's worth), but maybe I'll give glutamine a try and see how it goes.

Bluehairman - I tend to stay away from supps like that, I always feel like I'm either getting ripped off or am probably putting something into my body I shouldn't be. Any idea what's in that/what it does specifically? I tried to look up info (albeit not very intensively) and couldn't find any specifics.

Thanks again for the advice everyone :)
 
^ Haha well that's pretty damning on l-arginine.. must admit, I've had my doubts as to how good for strength-training it was, but frankly I'm almost certain it did affect my dreams, which I've read is a side effect. Gives me SUPER vivid dreams which I remember MUCH more upon waking. I wasn't really expecting it and didn't like it at first, so I'm inclined to say it's (at least mostly) not placebo. Don't know if it's worth the money if all I'm getting are intense dreams, though, (even though I get generic stuff rather than the absurdly hyped/marketed super-muscle brands) so probably won't restock after I run out. Thanks for the debunking!
 
Cutting sugars (and as many carbs as you can bear) from your diet, upping your omega oil intake, ensuring you keep protein intake high are all good pointers. Cardio in the AM before breakfast is also well worth doing if you can fit it in. Eating small meals many times a day will help speed your meatbolism. Do some interval training stuff- circuits. Try and add some supersets into your lifting (2 exercises back to back working different muscles done without rest).
 
I weigh 82 kg's and have been eating about 2500 cals a day for the past ten weeks. I'm down from 86 so that's about .4 kg's a week. I have been doing 5x strength and about three hours of cardio a week though.

Were you doing a cycle? Because I you weren't the whole bulking/cutting thing isn't necessary at all. I don't do it.
 
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