4 Week Cutting Plan

For training, I will be following Thib’s War Room strategies.

Height 5ft 11
Weight 190lbs
Bench 225 x 8
Squat 275 x 8
Deads 275 x 7 (anterior pelvic thrust)

Aiming to lose as much fat as possible in this 4 weeks and maintain the above lifts, possibly even increasing legs, as I took 6 weeks off leg training and have lifted higher in the past.

Diet:
8am: protein shake (casein, egg, whey) with added flax seed + digestive enzymes (might add 5g Psyllium Husks). 100g berries. 5ml fish oil, 2 HOT-ROX.

11am: Protein bar (28g protein, 20g carbs) alternated with 50g beef jerky

1-2pm: 200g lean red meat/ chicken breast / eggs with green veg + bellpepper 2 HOT-ROX

3-5pm: turkey bacon jerky/ Shugart/Berardi’s breakfast Quiches/ handful of mixed nuts

7-8pm: 200g lean red meat/ chicken breast / eggs with green veg + bellpepper

Pre workout: depending on hunger - whey shake

Post workout: 15g Casein Hydrolysate, 7-8g Leucine, 30-60g dextrose (depending on session)

I will also be taking ZMA/Z-12 pre-bed, beta alanine 3x per day, Rhodiola Rosea (exam time) and a Noo-Tropic stack (exams)

Any criticisms?

More specifically:
a) Should I take creatine as well?
b) Would any carb up days be appropriate? And if so how many g and what type of carbs?

Thanks in advance

Good stuff here, I too am looking to drop weight quickly —any reason for the bellpepper?

Tastes nice. I like to eat them like apples!

Definitely going to be following this thread. You and I share similar stats in size (5’10, 195, 13-15% BF) and in lifts. I also plan to cut down yet gain size in the lower body. I just finished my first week of War Room Strategies and am loving it so far.

Good luck with the plan!

I’ve actually adjusted war room strategies, so that the alactic days are complexes instead.

From an equipment point of view its easier and should be as least as effective from a training point of view.

I can understand that. I work out at the university rec center at 7:30am so using complexes doesnt present a problem. Have you started the program yet or will you be starting this week?

The only adjustments I made were to the strength days. I am applying Thibs’ perfect rep autoregulation principles to the A1/A2 exercises.

Here’s a workout Thibs recommended for someone on an article discussion last year. Might give you additional ideas.

DAY 1
SECTION A - STRENGTH PORTION - CHEST & BICEPS
3 exercises for each; one in the 2-5 reps range, one in the 6-8 reps range and one for higher reps or a special technique.
Combine one exercise for each muscle and go back and forth between them…

SECTION B - METABOLIC PORTION (AFTER STRENGTH PORTION)
1 metabolic pairing of 3 exercises, 3-4 sets

SECTION C - LOW INTENSITY CARDIO (AFTER METABOLIC)
20-30 min

DAY 2
SECTION A - STRENGTH PORTION - LOWER BODY
3 exercises for quads and hams; one in the 2-5 reps range, one in the 6-8 reps range and one for higher reps or a special technique.
Combine one exercise for each muscle and go back and forth between them…

SECTION B - INTERVALS
15 sec intense - 45 sec relax x 10-12

SECTION C - LOW INTENSITY CARDIO (AFTER INTERVALS)
20-30 min

DAY 3
SECTION A - STRENGTH PORTION - BACK & TRICEPS
3 exercises for each; one in the 2-5 reps range, one in the 6-8 reps range and one for higher reps or a special technique.
Combine one exercise for each muscle and go back and forth between them…

SECTION B - METABOLIC PORTION (AFTER STRENGTH PORTION)
1 metabolic pairing of 3 exercises, 3-4 sets

SECTION C - LOW INTENSITY CARDIO (AFTER METABOLIC)
20-30 min

30-45 minutes of cardio on non-workout days

Going to try the first workout today, but may tweak as I go along as I think the principles of heavy lifting, lactate work, alactic training and SSC are more important than the routine he’s subscribed.

Diet is going fine, although after dinner I am likely to be working 8-12 and am concerned about hunger in this period - any thoughts?

What time of day will you be working out?

I usually have my meals set up like yours + one more before bed which is usually 10-11pm. If I am out doing something on the weekend or staying at a friends, I’ll usually make that meal about 35-40g of low carb whey and a handful of walnuts.

Normally between the 4th and 5th feedings, as a student I can train whenever though.

Today’s breakdown was 2000 kcal, 200g protein, 120g carbs, 50g fat. (including 30p and 50c para workout)

I went with 5g leucine + 1.5g Beta alanine pre/during and the aforementioned for post.

Training wise, I’ve decided to stick to CTs principles, but do my own workouts for strength:

5 ramp sets on bench to 102.5kg x 5
5 x 6 lat pull down - 70kg
4 x 5 db shoulder press 26kg
supersetted with
4 x 5 1 arm row 42.5kg
3 x 12 ez bar curls 38kg
supersetted with
3 x 12 cable pulldowns 12 plates (unsure of weight)

Not bad at all. However, I do feel like, unless you are used to minimal calories, the circuits might whip your ass. I’m taking in roughly 2600 calories not including green veggies on my workout days with any carbs coming peri-workout. Can’t wait to hear how you work those out.

How did you feel after the sprints?

Waiting for my HOT-ROX to arrive and currently taking 24mg eph + 120mg+ of caff twice a day and am struggling to eat more than this.

Some days I will be eating lean red meat and/or eggs which will provide more calories than chicken, I may also add a whey shake pre-workout if I feel necessary.

Will report back on circuits tonight.

How are things going with the diet toby?

Diet is going really well, stuck to it completely, and the HOT-ROX is FINALLY here. I had a carb up day on day 13, felt sluggish all day so going to do things a little differently next time.

Weight/reps are improving on the strength workouts and reps/intensity (and weight today) is increasing on my complexes.

Bodyweight is 180, and feeling pretty good, I imagine I will end up somewhere between 170-175 by Feb 2nd (day of my last exam)

I’m studying pretty hard 8.30am-4pm and 6-10pm every day, and green tea has been a huge help in preventing me from going crazy in the library cafe, I make up a 1L thermos flask each day with 2 tea bags.

How is your diet/training going?

My program is going really well. I’ve only lost about 3 lbs but can see much more of a difference in the mirror. Just as you said, my weights are going up on strength days, and on the circuits, i’ve increased my beginning reps from 12 to 16. However, this morning I increased the weight and lowered the reps back to 12. My third set of the second circuit was actually spent losing my breakfast in the locker room - called it a day early, yet I was satisfied.

I know what you mean about studying and low carb diets driving you nuts. I’m in engineering and two days of low carbs during exams and I knew that wasn’t going to work - the reason I pushed my diet back until now.

Continue the good work. I’ll try and get some pictures on here soon - you should do the same.

J

Glad to hear its going well.

BW is down to 176 and my bottom abs are starting to show through. Bench peaked at 230x5 and has now dropped to 200 x 6!! but weirdly everything else is up, for example I DL’d 315 for 6 reps and am doing bent over rows with a 100lb DB, which is frankly, easy!

I’ve also upped the weight on complexes and added some pressups/pullups after, a bit like the “Bubba” pressup challenge, but i do 1 press up, 1 pull up, 2 press ups etc, to failure, i got to 5 of each after 6 sets of complexes.

Also adding 2 more fasted cardio sessions in the morning - incline walking + house music = good.

I may throw some photos in here in a week or so, I’m too small for RMP!

Good Luck