What does a cut involve?

spacetreemonkey

When you cut, do you have to eat perfectly healthy and a certain amount of protein, or do you eat what you would usually eat, but less? do you stay the same weight when you build muscle?

sollyn23l2

You eat fewer calories, but the same amount of protein. You will not likely build muscle on a cut, unless you are very, very overweight.

cwolfman13

spacetreemonkey wrote: »

When you cut, do you have to eat perfectly healthy and a certain amount of protein, or do you eat what you would usually eat, but less? do you stay the same weight when you build muscle?

Cutting is just losing weight (fat). Bodybuilders bulk (calorie surplus) to put on muscle, but when you do that you also put on fat so when they get to a certain level of BF% they cut. I know a few bodybuilders as well as a few fitness and bikini competitors and every single one of them is pretty on point and very strict with their cutting protocol. For one, they have to keep that calorie deficit small, otherwise they risk losing the muscle gains they've been working towards for months.

According to those that I know who do this, it's just easier to be really strict with nutrition and basically eat the same stuff day in and day out. Our good friend who is a bikini competitor is like a robot with her diet when she's in a cut. Egg whites and oatmeal everyday for breakfast. Cod or talapia with rice and broccoli for lunch, chicken breast on a big salad for dinner...every single friggin' day. I don't know that the average Joe/Jane would need to be this strict, but they are very particular about preserving their gains and they also compete.

These folks aren't putting on any muscle while they are cutting...they are just preserving the gains they've spent months making. The only people really putting on any muscle while dieting are those who are obese and have a lot of stored energy, and are new to lifting. Even then, it's short lived "noob" gains. People who do this on the regular are well beyond "noob" and they're just cutting for aesthetics, not because they are overly fat.

williamsonmj1

spacetreemonkey wrote: »

When you cut, do you have to eat perfectly healthy and a certain amount of protein, or do you eat what you would usually eat, but less? do you stay the same weight when you build muscle?

So in theory you can eat whatever you want as long as you hit your macros.

In practice it is not that easy because you need to hit your protein target on a fairly low number of calories for you. If you eat too much carb, too much fatty protein (like fatty cuts of beef), or too much fatty food in general you will your calorie target very quickly and be nowhere close to your protein target.

For moderate deficits it's fairly manageable but if you are on a big deficit you basically end up eating only the leanest protein sources (like chicken breasts), carbs that fill you up well like rice and oats, and vegetables with low carbs like broccoli.

sollyn23l2

williamsonmj1 wrote: »

spacetreemonkey wrote: »

When you cut, do you have to eat perfectly healthy and a certain amount of protein, or do you eat what you would usually eat, but less? do you stay the same weight when you build muscle?

So in theory you can eat whatever you want as long as you hit your macros.

In practice it is not that easy because you need to hit your protein target on a fairly low number of calories for you. If you eat too much carb, too much fatty protein (like fatty cuts of beef), or too much fatty food in general you will your calorie target very quickly and be nowhere close to your protein target.

For moderate deficits it's fairly manageable but if you are on a big deficit you basically end up eating only the leanest protein sources (like chicken breasts), carbs that fill you up well like rice and oats, and vegetables with low carbs like broccoli.

Yep. Spot on.

ninerbuff

I used to compete and cutting meant a stricter dieting regimen because I wanted to keep muscle and be razor sharp for a contest. Usually 12-16 weeks for it. If you're just trying to lean out, you don't have to be as strict, however you need to make sure you're still hitting your macros. Once you do and if you still have calories left over, then use common sense to fulfill them.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

saraesh94

Let's remove the word perfect from the vocabulary to start because that's setting yourself up for failure. Think of your body as a well oiled machine.. It's only going to optimize performance by what you feed it (mentally tell it physically fuel it ) muscle is built on rest and recovery days just as much as bulk and stamina and endurance days nutrients is 100% of optimal performance. If you take a car drain the oil and the gasoline and then run it on bald tires at 100 mph what will happen to the engine how will the car perform? How soon will it crash? Remember abs are made in the kitchen not the gym so if you want lean carved cut as they call it it's not bulk its cut it's lean its endurance its protein it's endurance Iron-rich foods clean eating and give yourself a cheat day or meal and 2 days a week of active deliberate rest because the training is intense and the nutrition plan is disciplined