help with cutting

[kunozilla]

Alright so i think its about time I start cutting, and I just wanted a good deal of advice. Just some info on me, im 18, short 5'7'' and im at 145 lbs right now. Ive bulked over the summer and atarted at like 138. I am a hard gainer, i had to try real hard just to gain those 7 lbs. The problem i have is that im kinda middle ground, im not extremely bulky, but im not that cut either. I'd say i have a good deal of mass mostly in my chest and arms. I just dont feel i have that "hard" look yet and that is what I am going for. I would say I have a fast metabolism, since its real hard for me to put on weight. I have a body fat percetage around 7-8%. Ive never had real abs before, i just have distinctino between the upper and lower regions, It just seems to me that most of the fat in my body resides in my abs/obliques.

What I was gonna do for cutting, is do cardio every other day in the morning. I know that your metabolism is highest right when u wake up, but i was wondering whether i should eat nething b4 i go do cardio or if i should do it on an empty stomach. And weight train later on in the afternoon. I was looking for suggestions on how i should continue to weight train i.e. more reps, circuit train, etc. Also wut i was going to try and eat every day was

Protein Shake, 10 almonds and a bannana for breakfast.

And some combination of an apple, soy nuts, non-fat fruit yogurt, steamed broccoli and sqash and some sort of chicken for the rest of the day.

I appreciate any knowledge anyone would like to pass on. If you have any questions about my current physique feel free to ask if you think it would help me out. I plan on cutting for about a month and a half, which is basically when I enter into my fresHydromaxan year of college, and of course I want to look as good as I can when I enter college. I will try and get a pic up soon since I think it would help show everyone what I was trying to explain about my body.

P.S. I have neglected my forearms and it shows since my arms have gotten bigger, so if anyone could help me slap some mass on my forearms i would appreciate that as well. Thanks alot.

 

[Rod Buster]

Have you been on a bulking diet?

 

[9cyclops9]

If you're only 145 lbs and 7-8% bodyfat, why are you cutting? You're a toothpick. I don't mean any offense, but you need to be bulking SERIOUSLY. Don't worry about your abs, you don't have enough muscle on your frame in the first place. Put some more mass on (a lot more) and then you can cut, so you'll actually have some muscle to cut down to.

You say you're a "hardgainer," but what kind of calories are you getting daily? If you're eating right and lifting right, you should have no problem putting on mass. Eat 6 meals a day, get 1-2g of protein per lb of body weight, 30-35% of your calories from fat (equal parts saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated), and the rest from complex carbs. Shoot for 18-20 times your body weight in calories, or even more if you can.

So what's your diet and lifting like?

 

[thefranchise]

Cyc I'm sorry bro, but there's no reason to make the dude feel bad. 145 at 5'7 isnt toothpick. I'm 5'7 and my body type sounds just like his. I never really had shredded abs and always sport a soft look. No trouble gaining mass? I had and have to eat constantly pulling in around 3000 calories of decent shit a day plus lift hard. It's not easy to do especially when you full fast. Takes lots of time and is a hassle to get the foods that you need. But I do agree he needs to do more bulking first before he worries about cutting. Realize Kuno even if you did drop a few more% of body fat. You cant stay shredded all the time, unless you want to be way smaller than you could be. Also you're not gonna be able to do cardio and bulk so forget about that. My advice. Shoot up to 160-170, then start cutting. It will probably take you a year to get to 160-170, but trust me youll be getting tons of your huge compliments. I went from 135 to 160 . I'm pretty much bigger than most all of my friends at least in the muscle department. I am a bit soft though unless im flexing, but who cares.

 

[9cyclops9]

I wasn't trying to make him "feel bad," and if you read my post you'd see that I said I didn't mean any offense.

3000 calories is not enough if you're bulking. No wonder you're a "hardgainer," you don't eat enough. It's as easy as adding a gallon of milk per day. It doesn't fill you up too much, and if it's whole milk that's nearly 2500 extra calories right there. Skim milk obviously would be much less. I'd be willing to guess your fat intake isn't high enough, and healthy fat is a fantastic way to boost your calories. Throw a couple tablespoons of flax oil or olive oil into your MRPs, take fish oil or EPA/DHA supplements, etc. Snack on beef jerky and nuts between meals, etc. And hit big lifts, especially squats, very hard. Squats cause the body to produce more growth hormone than any other exercise, so add that to tons of calories and get ready to grow. I've gained 5 lbs in the last two weeks, with minimal fat gains, by adding 20 rep squats and 1/2 gallon to a whole gallon of milk per day. Gaining weight is not hard if you do it right. Even for so-called "hardgainers."

For an idea of caloric requirements, read this article:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459429

I guarantee you need much more food than you think you do in order to see growth.

 

[goldmember]

If you're 7-8% bodyfat (I doubt it, cuz I just had a DXA scan which said I was 11.7% and I'm pretty ripped right now, but you could very well be 7-8%) then I would say fuck cutting. Make sure your diet is good before you claim to be a hard-gainer. Eat plenty of fat, carbs and protein every day. The three hour feeding bullshit is a myth. I gain better with three large meals. I try to get around 150 grams of protein a day (more than that IS a waste unless on roids), about 450 grams of carbs, and about 110 grams of fat. Get ready to gain. Avoid soy. And train extremely hard too. Check out "Dinosaur Training" to learn how to train hard.

Try the "super-gripper" from Ivanko for those forearms.

-Gold

 

[9cyclops9]

If you're 7-8% bodyfat (I doubt it, cuz I just had a DXA scan which said I was 11.7% and I'm pretty ripped right now, but you could very well be 7-8%) then I would say fuck cutting. Make sure your diet is good before you claim to be a hard-gainer. Eat plenty of fat, carbs and protein every day. The three hour feeding bullshit is a myth. I gain better with three large meals. I try to get around 150 grams of protein a day (more than that IS a waste unless on roids), about 450 grams of carbs, and about 110 grams of fat. Get ready to gain. Avoid soy. And train extremely hard too. Check out "Dinosaur Training" to learn how to train hard.

Try the "super-gripper" from Ivanko for those forearms.

-Gold

Good stuff. I personally do better on 6 meals but everyone is different. I'll have to disagree with the 150g of protein thing though. There's no scientific proof that there's any limit to the amount of protein you can digest.

Dinosaur Training is a FANTASTIC book. I highly recommend it.

 

[Rod Buster]

For forearms I do reverse curls and wrist curls

 

[goldmember]

Good stuff. I personally do better on 6 meals but everyone is different. I'll have to disagree with the 150g of protein thing though. There's no scientific proof that there's any limit to the amount of protein you can digest.

Dinosaur Training is a FANTASTIC book. I highly recommend it.

Yeah, it is a fantastic book. The thing about the protein is that I have to say eating THREE meals with about 50 grams of prtein has given me better gains than SIX meals with about 50 grams of protein. Same total amount of carbs and fat too. I think the larger feedings stimulate protein synthesis better than six smaller feeedings, even if you have more protein. I agree that you CAN digest large quantities (300 grams) of protein per day, but your body can only use a certain amount. Try getting some NitroStrips from a chemical supplier: Eat 150 grams of protein in a day and you may find a trace amount of amino acids in your urine. Increase the amount to 300 grams and you will see that your urine is flooded with aminos. I tried this very experiment in a physiology course where i knew my lab had nitrostrips. I went even further and had a 24-hour urine sample sent out to Quest-Diagnostics after a month of eating 300 grams of protein daily and a nephrologist wanted to see me because my kidney function was way down! After a month on 150 grams of protein, the numbers came right back down (not quite to normal until a few months later). Nevertheless it proved my point, but gave me a little scare. I kept all my muscle on 150 grams and continue to make gains on 150 grams in three meals; I would say even moreso than I did on 300 grams at 6 meals per day. Also, you will get a better GH boost during the larger meal gap, which helps to keep the fat off while still putting on muscle. For essential oils, get Udo's Oil by Flora USA. The BEST EFA product out there, bar none. Don't drink two gallons of water per day either as this also stresses the kidneys. Drink about 2-4 glasses more than you would if you were to drink just enough to stave off thirst. This is about twelve 8oz. glasses for me each day during the winter. During the summer (construction season) I drink a little bit more, like twenty 8oz. glasses. You can try what I suggest, or continue what you do...whichever you feel works best for you is the most important.

-Gold