"Cutting" advice without sacrificing weights.

KaleiAlanaSmith

Hello! I'm looking for advice for how to "cut" and shed a couple of pounds.

I have been weight lifting for a year after ditching cardio and went from 134 to 140 pounds, also gained a great amount of muscle and have become toned, but obviously am carrying some trouble areas of fat. I'm super happy with my body and muscle but want some advice for how to cut fat without implementing too much cardio and sacrificing weight lifting? I ask this because I hate cardio and HIIT. I've tried the past 3 weeks to incorporate it into my routine but can't seem to make myself do it. I love weight lifting too much, and my current routine is push, legs, pull, legs, full body, off.

Do any of you have recommendations for how to cut without ditching too much weight lifting? I'm about to start focusing on MFP again for calorie counting, but is that enough? Should I suck it up and just do the HIIT? I'm only a year and a half into working out so I'm still a novice in the cutting world.

Thanks for the advice,
Kalei

middlehaitch

No need to do cardio.
Continue lifting and eat a 250 cal deficit (0.5 lbs a week) to lose those few lbs at a safe reasonable rate.

Once goal weight is reached switch to recomp.

Cheers, h.

sardelsa

While cardio is great for cardiovascular health and adding to your deficit, it is not necessary for weight loss or cutting. You definitely do not have to do HIIT if you don't want to. I don't typically do it since I find it interferes with my lifting performance. I also don't overdo the cardio, once or twice a week plus an active lifestyle is enough for me.

In order to cut effectively and retain as much muscle as possible when you lose:

Eat in a not too steep deficit, get adequate protein (0.8-1g per lb goalweight minimum), continue to follow a progressive lifting program. Add some cardio in if you want but no need to overdo it.

Keto_Vampire

Would suggest keeping weight lifting whilst cutting. Cardio is optional/not mandatory.
You can't out exercise a bad diet or don't want to create a viscous cycle of excess activity demanding more fuel/food/kcals (don't use/rely on cardio alone to create a deficit). Slow and steady deficit wins the race long term (1+ month(s))

Justin_7272

Ditto on the min .8-1g protein per GW min (I've also heard 1g per LBM, which generally aligns with .8 GW). Keeping protein up during cutting is key to reduce muscle loss v fat loss.

You should continue to lift, hopefully without a reduction in weight, reps, etc. This will also help minimalize muscle loss.

Good luck - keep us posted!

monaraehill2

I'm just the opposite, I LOVE cardio and HATE weight lifting. I found that the tabata/zumba routines were really FUN as well as hard enough work to put me in an aerobic/anaerobic one to one, pattern. Kiera (sp?) Leshae (team Leshae) Dance Move Werk is great for this! I had to scroll through YouTube to find a bunch that would work, though! It's where I stumbled upon her....plus I found a 50 minute compilation of Zumba. Not sure if it's hard enough for you, but thought I'd put it out there!

Maxxitt

Keep lifting. Eat at a slight deficit but maintain current protein amount. https://bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-2.html/

mmapags

Slight deficit and keep lifting. Any cardio can be LISS. You'll lean out nicely but don't get impatient. Leaning out takes time.

sijomial

KaleiAlanaSmith wrote: »

Hello! I'm looking for advice for how to "cut" and shed a couple of pounds.

Eat a bit less.
That's the ONLY part of your routine you need to change for a while.

You don't have to change your lifting routine.

You don't have to add cardio (for weight loss).

For health and fitness you should perhaps try and find some cardio exercise that is at least not hateful, HIIT is a really bad choice with your lifting routine and HIIT is supposed to be absolutely hateful so you shouldn't be surprised that you hate it. Don't feel that cardio has to be done in the gym.

xxzenabxx

Follow the advice as above so follow a 250 calorie deficit. I just wanted to add if you hate hiit then don’t it! Maybe try upping your steps? That’s what I do. I aim for a minimum of 10000 steps a day. Basically walking could be a good addition to your routine. You can also do yoga/Pilates on your rest days.