Cutting for Competition

jsimpson3221

Is there anyone in this community that can help me properly cut? I would like to one day compete in physique competitions but can’t figure out why I am plateauing. If you have any information I would be grateful.

AnnPT77

The "Goal: Gaining Weight and Bodybuilding" part of the Community is where people talk about cutting and competitions.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/goal-gaining-weight

There's a thread there about cutting after a bulk:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10320115/cutting-techniques-post-bulk/p1

If you're having trouble losing weight, i.e., stalling more than briefly or many-week plateauing, probably many experienced people here could help you. Weight loss is the common pursuit around here, and you're trying to lose weight, right? What differs with your competition goal is your lifting program and perhaps some increased focus on nutrition vs. an average weight-loser, but the reasons a person stalls tend to be common across everyone trying to lose weight.

If you post more specifics here, maybe people could help. Examples: What is your height, weight, activity level & exercise, calorie goal? How long has your weight stalled, and has it shifted at all (maybe just slower than you'd like)? Are you willing to open your diary so that other MFP-ers could check for logging issues, no diss intended because that's something that's common for most of us especially at first.

Generic answer: Sometimes people think they've plateaued if they haven't lost for a couple of weeks, but that can just be water weight weirdness. It takes a month or more of no loss to establish that there's actually a possible real plateau. If weight loss truly stopped, honestly that's almost always some kind of issue with either calorie goal or calorie counting (food and/or exercise calorie counting), or maybe cutting too far and letting fatigue drag down daily life activity thus reduce calorie burn below what's expected. (The latter won't stop loss, but it can potentially slow it down surprisingly much.)

nossmf

There are a handful of people on site who have done bodybuilding competitions, including all the prep work. One good resource willing to talk about his experience is @ninerbuff. He's a certified personal trainer and a former stage presence.