Advanced Training Strategies When Cutting
When it comes to gaining muscle mass, there is so much conflicting advice on the optimal way to train, let alone how to effectively do so on a cut. Here is what my experience over the past decade has taught me so far.
Gains on a Cut
It’s possible, though not probable. The likelihood of this occurring increases under the following circumstances:
You are new to training.
You are cutting from being overweight/obese.
You take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)
You are returning from a long training break.
Accepting this reality is crucial so we don’t screw up our cut by not trying so hard to gain muscle mass in vain that we cause recovery issues. That said, we can still improve our training performance during this time, which may lead to increased muscle mass. The critical word here is may. I just wouldn’t bank on it.
Managing Fatigue
Fatigue is the silent killer of adherence to any fitness and nutrition plan. As already discussed, a cut is not going to be a particularly anabolic window of our training, so it is crucial that we adjust our training to take this into account. If not, we run into recovery issues. Once fatigue sets in, it is like adding a thousand screaming voices telling you to eat more.
In fact, if you’ve just come from a bulk, you’ll often eat more as a strategy to aid in recovery when you’ve failed a certain lift repeatedly or you feel overtrained. There is a saying, “There is no such thing as overtraining, just under eating” which is popular in many of the strength and powerlifting circles. You need to work this saying backwards and understand that if you overtrain on your cut, you will naturally have the urge to eat more food than you should.
That said, I would reduce the volume to 2/3s of what you were previously doing in your bulk by knocking off some “nice to have” exercises you had in your bulk. However, if the training on your bulk took a minimalist approach with the number of exercises, instead reduce the weight across your exercises by an increment at the beginning of your cut and train just shy of failure to about 2 Reps in Reserve (RIR).
In terms of frequency, four times per week is optimal, with three times per week being just fine as well. During bulks, where I really ramp up weekly volume, I like to train 4-5 times per week, maybe even 6 if I am really feeling up to it.
Though not necessarily training-related, another way to manage fatigue is to take a diet break every three weeks, where we take a weekend and intentionally eat at maintenance to replace glycogen stores. Assuming you are already eating at a deficit of approximately 10%, this won’t affect your weight-loss but will help to preserve muscle mass and manage fatigue.
Progression
Though I advocate for a reduction in training volume and intensity during a cut, I don’t think it is ever a wise idea to approach a training block with the intention of maintenance. We tend to have two gears: either decline or progress. A continued focus on progressive overload is imperative to avoid declination. Since we have already reduced volume and intensity, we are essentially taking one step back to take two forward.
Strength Training on a Cut?
In recent years, popular influencers have advocated for strength training during a cut to make progress and maintain muscle mass. The hypothesis is that training volume should be the priority in a gaining phase, which I agree with, and that improving or maintaining strength can be used as a proxy to ensure maintaining muscle mass on a cut. This last part I disagree with. Though strength and hypertrophy are related, they are by no means the same, nor are they interchangeable. When a muscle becomes larger through training, it will become stronger, but the reverse is not always true.
Additionally, aiming for weight on the bar PRs, will inevitably result in recovery issues at best and injuries at worst.
However, it is possible, and even advisable, to include some strength training, say, the 4-8 rep range during a cut. More on that below.
Recommendations
To Summarize, we are looking for a reduction in volume and intensity at the start of our training block, and to continue looking for progressive overload as the block develops. We are looking to include some strength training but certainly not to overdo it. Daily undulating periodization is an approach I like, which satisfies these requirements, where for example, we train four times per week on a push-pull split. Push A would have more of a strength focus, with Push B having more of a volume focus, and the same pattern being true for our pull days. We are looking for 10 - 15 quality sets per week per body part, going slightly shy of failure initially, and aiming to add 1-2 reps in total per exercise, spread across our sets.
Push A
Bench Press | 3x4-6
Squat | 3x4-6
Incline DB Press | 3 x 6x10
Leg Extension | 3 x 6x10
Calf Raise | 4x 10-15
Tricep Rope Pushdown | 3 x 8-15
Weighted Crunch / Decline sit-up | 3x8-15
Pull B
Dumbbell Row | 4x 6 -12
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press | 4x 6 -12
Lat Pulldown | 4x 6-12
Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 4x 6-12
Bicep Curl | 3x 8-12
Chest Supported Row | 3x 8-12
Seated Hamstring Curl | 4 x 6-12
Reverse Crunch / Hanging Leg Raise | 3 x 8-15
Push B
Bench Press | 4 x 6-12
Squat | 4 x 6-12
Incline DB Press | 4 x 6-12
Leg Extension | 4 x 6-12
Calf Raise | 4x 10-15
Tricep Rope Pushdown | 3 x 8-15
Weighted Crunch / Decline sit-up | 3x8-15
Pull A
Dumbbell Row | 3 x 4-6
Standing Barbell Overhead Press | 3 x 4-6
Lat Pulldown | 3x 6-10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3x 6-10
Bicep Curl | 3x 8-12
Chest Supported Row | 3x 8-12
Seated Hamstring Curl | 4 x 6-12
Reverse Crunch / Hanging Leg Raise | 3 x 8-15