My Cutting Plan (long post)

[9cyclops9]

As has been discussed in another thread, I'm getting fat. I've gained a decent amount of muscle since I started lifting in April, but I went crazy on calories and did very little cardio (didn't follow my own damn advice). To top it all off, I went home for a month so I had to eat "what mom cooked" during that time, plus taking my fiancée out as often as I could afford (this isn't the norm for us, but I rarely get to see her anymore). So I got fatter. [words=http://www.mattersofsize.com/join-now.html]PA[/words] and the franchise both pointed out that I was fatter than I claimed, and at first I disagreed with them (rather belligerently, and for that I apologize to both of you), but now I realize that I don't know how to use the damn fat calipers! lol

So here's my plan for the next couple months:

Diet:

I'm following the T-Dawg 2.0 diet from T-Nation.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=473067

Basically, it's this. Multiply your bodyweight by 15, and that's your caloric intake for the first week, then drop it by 500 calories the next week and stay there (I'm starting on week 2 since I'm not coming off a mass phase). Get 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight (note: NOT 1.5 per pound of LBathmate). On non-training days, eat no more than 70g of carbs. On training days, eat no more than 100g of carbs, to allow for PWO nutrition. Besides the PWO shake, eat most of your carbs at breakfast. Make up the rest of your calories with fats, emphasizing healthy fats such as olive oil, fish oil, flax oil, Udo's Choice, etc. Eat lots of veggies.

On the weekends, there are two options. Either have a healthy carb-up on Saturday and Sunday, or have one all-out cheat meal one of the two days. It's suggested that you take some form of anabolic support (legal or otherwise), so they reccommend pro-hormones, Methoxy-7, or HOT-ROX (Biotest's thermogenic, available at BB.com or you can get the maximum strength from T-Nation, which is very pricey). I bought regular strength HOT-ROX on Ebay for $15 per 72-count bottle. Not bad at all, and I've heard great reports from people who have used it (apparently many people are able to lose fat and build lean mass at the same time). Read about it here:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.d...hydra?id=515642

So for me, my daily intake is approximately 300g protein, 70-100g carbs, and 100g fat, for a total of around 2500 calories (give or take).



Training:

I mentioned wanting to try a hypertrophy routine. I know I'm on a "cutting" diet, but I feel like since I'm still a newbie, I might be able to gain a small amount of muscle even though I'm losing fat. Plus, if HOT-ROX works like people say it does, I should be fine. Anyway, who would the program be designed by but Chad Waterbury, who has written most of the routines I've tried so far. I've made the best gains on his routines (opposed to my own routines or others I've tried), so I have no doubt this one will be good. It's called "The Waterbury Method."

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.d...hydra?id=534922

I'll be doing it as written, only I'll be doing barbell RDLs instead of DBs (our DBs only go to 100), DB Militaries instead of BB, and Back Extensions instead of GHR/Leg Curls. So it looks like:

M

10x3 Back Squat
4x6 Dip/Bent Row (superset pairing, but with 60 seconds between each exercise)
4x6 Skull Crusher/BB Curl
4x6 Leg Raise

W

10x3 Flat Bench
4x6 RDL/DB Military Press
4x6 Standing Calf Raise/Upright Row
4x6 Triceps Pressdown

F

10x3 Pull-up
4x6 Decline Bench/Hammer Curl
4x6 Seated Calf Raise/Back Extension
4x6 Lunge or Step-up

Week 1: 80% 1RM
Week 2: 82.5%
Week 3: 85%
Week 4: 87.5%

On cardio days I'll be doing HIIT, Tabata, or perhaps the Crossfit WOD if it's cardio-oriented.



Supplements:

I use Higher Power whey for my breakfast shake. I figure after 8 hours, a faster protein is good first thing in the morning, and [words=https://officialhydromaxpump.com/?uid=6&oid=2&affid=98 ]HP[/words] is very affordable ($20 for 5 lbs). I use a blend of micellar casein, whey isolate, and milk isolate (40-30-30) for my pre-bed MRP, and a blend of whey isolate, dextrose, maltodextrin, and BCAA's (30-30-35-5) for PWO, both from www.proteinfactory.com. All other meals are whole food (frozen fruit is added to the breakfast shake and Udo's Choice oil is added to the pre-bed shake). I always use these 3 powders.

I take Power Drive, a CNS stimulant by Biotest, before each workout, and per Chad Waterbury's suggestion, I'll also use it after the workout for the second two weeks of the program. You guys wouldn't believe how much of a difference this stuff will make in your workouts! I highly reccomend it, and for $17 per 31 servings (10 week supply on a 3-day per week routine), it's a must-have IMO. I saw a few guys at the Massachusetts Strongman State Championship with Power Drive in their bags. Again, I always use this, no matter what.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.d...hydra?id=459249

I take ZMA every night before bed. For most people I wouldn't consider this an essential, but for me it makes such a difference in my sleep that I'm pretty much addicted. I usually have trouble sleeping, but I sleep very deeply when I'm taking ZMA regularly. It's only $9 for a month's supply (again, through T-Nation), so I always keep some on hand.

I'm trying HOT-ROX, although I don't have any experience with it so far. Like I said earlier in this post, I've heard great reports. It's a thermogenic, but unlike ephedra, it doesn't down-regulate after extended use, nor does it cause an elevated heart rate. This is the only supplement I've added to my normal intake, and I did this to combat the possible muscle loss people usually experience while cutting.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.d...hydra?id=515642


I don't mean to sound like an advertisement for Biotest/T-Nation, but I've found the training methods commonly promoted there have been working for me, better than other things I've tried. For right now anyway. And of the 3 Biotest products I'm using, 2 of them I consider indispensable (PD and ZMA), and the other I'm just trying out for now to see if it helps. Their ZMA is the most affordable I've found, and Power Drive works so well for me I don't really want to try something else.

So that's my plan of attack for the next 1-2 months. I'm not aiming for a certain BF%, but going by what the mirror shows me. Once I'm satified with my BF levels, I'll go on another mass phase, probably until the spring, when I'll begin to cut for my wedding in June. I want to get pretty ripped for that, and I'm hoping for 200-215 lbs, shredded on my wedding day. I'm 205 right now, so I think it's do-able if I bulk hard (maybe a 20 rep squats program?). For right now though, I'm not really trying to get ripped, just getting my BF% down to a more manageable level so I can bulk without getting way too fat.

Sorry for the novel-length post, I just wanted to get it laid out so everyone could know what I'm up to (if you felt like taking the time to read the whole thing!). Wish me luck!

 

[prince Albert]

Good luck with the diet 9c9,carbs seem excessively low to me but it should be interesting to see how you get on,be prepared dropping your carbs that low you will feel tired and probably quite irritable at times you might find it hard to get yourself motivated to train and i think you will struggle to get through those workouts,strength will defo drop.

How tall are you 200-215 ripped is setting you sights a bit high.

all the best for the upcoming wedding

 

[9cyclops9]

We'll see. I'm sure my strength will drop some but hopefully it won't be too bad.

I'm 5'10". I think if I do hit my goal by my wedding date it will be closer to 200 rather than 215.

Thanks man.

 

[9cyclops9]

Also, I'm not being super strict with carbs. For example, I don't count fibrous veggies such as spinach or broccoli. Even still, I went over by a few grams yesterday, which isn't such a big deal IMO. However, I didn't get enough protein (I was 40g off) or fats (30g off, surprisingly). So today I'm focusing on getting those two macros right. I think after a few days I'll have the hang of it pretty easily.

One thing about being sluggish on such a low-carb diet. Normall this would be true but while I was home I was on such a high carb diet (and lots of high-GI foods) that I was very sluggish and tired a lot. So now, even though I've drastically reduced my carbs, I feel more energetic. Not up to usual standards but better than I've been in general for the last month. So for now it's ok, although I'm sure later in the diet I'll be wishing I had some rice or something. Hopefully the weekend carb-ups will help some (I'm planning on doing the healthy carb-up rather than cheat meals, most of the time anyway).

 

[KiTTie8695]

wedding? omg i wanna go you lucky man you
oh yeah, and ur buddy alert scares me every time i'm online because i always have music on loud. punk.

anyway, good luckers with this whole thingy ^__^

 

[philadelph]

Even though you don't seem like you have too high of body fat now, you will be surprised how much weight and fat will come off during cutting. When I was cutting down from 200 lbs, I ended up at around 175 ripped. 200 lbs ripped at 5' 10 is nearly at a pro level.

Good luck man.

I just have been back at the gym for 2 weeks now and I am loving it.

 

[9cyclops9]

Thanks, Grandma.

So far I haven't noticed any decrease in strength, or any sluggishness, mental fogginess, etc. I have, however, noticed a HUGE amount of fat and water loss. I wasn't expecting this much, even in the first week of a low-carb diet, but I've lost 8 lbs. In the first post I said I weighted 205, that wasn't true. I weighed 203. I'm now down to 195. Obviously this won't continue for long, but it was very cool to step on the scale today and see that kind of progress in under a week (started this last Friday, although I didn't post it until Sunday).

I'm running low on my protein powders. So I sat down and crunched some numbers and decided not to buy from The Protein Factory anymore. This month, I'm switching back to Low-Carb Grow! and Surge instead of the custom stuff. I figured out that if I buy 2 months worth of Biotest supps at one time, it's only a couple bucks more. Orders over 150 get free shipping, so the money I'd save from not having to get supps shipped from 2 different places will make up for it. Sweet deal. Two months for me looks like:

4 Low-Carb Grow! (2 lbs each)
2-3 Surge (2 lbs each)
1 Power Drive (8.1 oz)
2 ZMA (90 caps each)

Which adds up to $169-190 (depending on Surge), or $84.50-95 per month. Not bad for top of the line supplements, if you ask me. Better than these kids who pay $40 for 2.5 lbs of Muscle Milk twice a month, on top of Cell Tech, Pump Tech, whatever other Tech there is, not to grow a single pound of muscle because their whole nutritional intake is powdered.

I thought my PWO concoction was similar to Surge, but then found out that Surge has a whopping 11g BCAA per serving, and 14g whey hydrolysate. Mine was mostly whey isolate (inferior to hydrolysate, but I knew that), and only contained about 5g of BCAA. I haven't found anything else like Surge (nutritionally) that doesn't taste like total ass. I was VERY happy when I found out I could get this stuff for only a few dollars more than I was paying per month (like $5 a month more).

So the stuff should be in by Saturday at the very latest. My mouth is watering.

EDIT: Again, sorry for sounding like an ad for Biotest (I know there are many who don't like Biotest and T-Nation), but out of all the stuff I've tried and read about, their stuff is the best by far, both nutritionally and taste-wise. And you really can't beat the price for what you get. Show me something better and I'll use it, but I doubt such a thing exists.

 

[9cyclops9]

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of eating 6 whole-food meals per day. If I did, I wouldn't use the MRPs (except pre-bed). I'm in college, and I'm a working musician and composer, in addition to the day job I'll be starting soon. This leaves little time for cooking, so I'm glad when I get 3 whole-food meals. It isn't optimal, but it's what I can manage. I've used the EAS protein, and while it isn't bad, it goes straight through me and I'm hungry an hour later, no matter what I put with it. Low-Carb Grow! digests very slowly, so it works much better for me. Throw in some milled flax seeds and eat some mixed nuts and I'm set for a quick meal between classes. When I'm not so busy I focus more on whole food.

As far as Power Drive and ZMA, I don't know if you've tried them, but I'd recommend it. One container of Power Drive will last you 2 months or so. $17 for 2 months of increased CNS stimulation and recovery is a steal, IMO. ZMA gives me the deepest sleep I've had in years. I've had trouble sleeping for as long as I can remember, and it's all but ceased now. Those are two supplements I plan on keeping handy for a long time.

Thanks for your input, I know I should focus more on whole food, but unfortunately that option isn't available to me.

 

[sikdogg]

Good luck bro... your diet looks like a tweek of the CKD diet.

 

[prince Albert]

Saw this posted elsewere thought it might be of use.

http://www.rustyiron.net/formmale.htm
http://www.rustyiron.net/formmal7.htm

 

[9cyclops9]

Sweet! That helps very much. Looks like I'm just barely over 16% right now. I've got some work to do. I think 10-12 more pounds will get me to 10% if I don't lose any muscle mass.