How to train during a cut?
In a cutting phase training is pretty important right? You want to maintain muscle mass at the very least or in some scenarios build muscle, which seems to be something people are quite confused with. How the hell can you build muscle in a deficit? Whilst it’s not optimal, it can definitely happen, generally in the beginner stages of your career. You’ve probably heard the term “newbie gains”, somebody who’s just started training and they’re doing a little bit of body recomposition (building muscle & losing fat) so therefore they can build muscle in a deficit. The more advanced you get the likelihood of that happening is probably a little bit less, not to say it can’t happen but it’s definitely not ideal.
So how do you train during a cut? To put it simply, the way you train during a cut is the same way you train all the time. The way you train if you have any particular goals is to maximise strength and muscle gain right? So the idea that you need to change that during a cutting phase is a knee jerk reaction. We know in literature and in practice that the things you did to get to where you are, are generally the things you need to continue to do to maintain or build. It’s a common misconception that when people start dieting they chase the pump, they go light and keep everything in that higher rep range. As you commence your dieting phase you should already have some sort of periodised strategy in place and that wouldn’t necessarily need to change.
During times of reduced calories we know that stress goes up and recovery can be hampered so it makes sense to perhaps lighten the load or use different rep ranges that allow for different intensities therefore would cause less systemic stress and overall fatigue allowing you to progress over the long haul. There’s definitely merit to heavy lifting in terms of body composition and physique contests but I also think there is a far greater need to do that traditional bro type training or bodybuilding. There can be a million different ways to do something and the way I do stuff may be different to the way other people may do stuff and that doesn’t mean that either of those ways are wrong, it just means that the way we interpret information or things that we’ve practised in the past is different and that’s cool because that’s an area that people can learn from.
How would I periodise a 12 week fat loss phase in terms of training? I would look at it in 3 phases. Let’s say we’ve got 12 weeks to build or maintain muscle and lose as much body fat as possible. In the first 4 week phase when the diet is just starting out, we still have as good amount of available energy hanging around because the food is still kind of high and you’ll only be in a slight deficit (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, obviously that comes down to the individual) let’s say for arguments sake you’re starting at a 10% deficit, you’ve still got plenty of energy, you’re still eating a decent amount of food, you’re not super tired and your recovery isn’t hampered too much you can allow for heavier training. I would call it the “functional hypertrophy range” for lack of a better term. Your goal is to build muscle and get stronger as a by product so you’re not necessarily looking for any big neurological adaptations.
Phase 1 I might have anywhere between 6–10reps and that would be the rep spread for most of the workouts. Getting a bit of heavy stuff in around that 6 rep range, getting some moderate stuff in around that 8 rep range and then a little bit higher in the 10 rep range.
As you move on to phase 2 you might be in a slightly bigger deficit let’s say 20%. You’re doing more cardio, steps have increased and you’re starting to feel the pinch of the diet now. You’re starting to feel a little bit tired, a little bit more fatigued, training is beating you up a little bit more. It probably makes sense to avoid getting injured so perhaps shying away from that heavier stuff might be a good idea. My recommendation and I’ll call this the “golden hypertrophy zone” is that 8–12rep range across the training week. I like doing undulating sessions so at the start of the week you might be doing 8–10reps and at the end of the week you might be doing 10–12reps.
Phase 3, the final 4 weeks, let’s say you’re in a 30% deficit. You’re definitely feeling more fatigued, training is a lot harder, recovery isn’t great because calories are low, you’re doing more cardio, steps are high and general stress is quite high. It really doesn’t make sense to be training super super heavy during this phase so I think the rep spread and intensity targets need to reflect that. On paper that might look like anywhere from 12–15reps or 12–20reps. I’ll call this phase the “metabolite phase”. We want to avoid really heavy lifting in particular heavy deadlifting, heavy squatting and heavy bench pressing because you’re not training for a powerlifting competition, you’re training for fat loss or a bodybuilding contest so it makes sense to get lots of time under tension and focus on exercises that use a full range of motion and that really use the intended muscle groups. I guess you could call this phase the “sculpting phase” and this is where you can really take advantage of the higher end of the rep spread for hypertrophy and this is where you might chase the pump a little bit.
Phase 1–6–10 rep range, functional hypertrophy range, mostly compound exercises, heavier.
Phase 2–8–12 rep range, golden hypertrophy zone, enough intensity and enough volume but not too heavy or too light.
Phase 3–12–20 reps, the metabolite phase, lighter weight, looking to sculpt and chase the pump to avoid injury and to hang on to muscle whilst being at your most fatigued.
