Cutting on Texas Method Based Program

So I have recently switched from doing Starting Strength to doing Texas Method volume/light/intensity weekly programming. I’d like some input by more experienced lifters on how viable my current plan is.

I had been struggling to increase the weights for deadlifts and squats on SS for quite a while… with the deadlifts stalling first and having no success in increasing the amount. With squats, the last few weeks have had slow progress with the squats, with multiple resets.

Now, due to goofing up my wrist while being an egotistical idiot with power cleans, I had went a while without doing press or bench press, hence I’ve been able to still increase bench numbers, (though press keeps stalling, haha) and I was reluctant to move on while still making regular increases in that lift. I wanted to milk it out.

However, I’ve gone from my scale reading about 18% BF when I began, to it reading 22% … and my weight had stopped increasing ( I was up to 193 lbs.) And being that summer is around the corner, I figured I would use the opportunity to trim down and show what I have acquired… but I still want to be making some gains in strength, nevermind going on such a drastic or lengthy cut that I am lifting anyless.

So I figured I could periodize both “bulking” and “cutting” into the week. With a caloric surplus on volume day and the next (Mondays and Tuesdays), and deficits on the rest.

Anyways, is this kind of thinking nuts? I still want to make progress, and doing a volume day with a deficit seems like a bad idea, and doing a heavy, low rep day can help hold on to strength while in a deficit? Also, shouldn’t having a surplus some days help prevent my metabolism from adjusting to a lower caloric intake?

You can carb cycle which is what your describing but ultimately you still need to be in a calorie deficit for fat loss and it is next to impossible to add muscle in a calorie deficit. Though I have made decent strength gains in calorie deficit so while you won’t make muscle gains your strength gains should continue though at a much slower pace. If fat loss is your goal then focus for a fixed period of time minimum 4 weeks, maximum 16 weeks on just that. You should be lifting heavy weights with a focus on maintaining or improving your strength but it should be at a low volume so you can recover since your in a calorie deficit and let conditioning (jumps, throws, sprints, HIIT) assist in burning calories. CT’s Athlete Lean Athlete Strong program on here is an excellent example of how to structure such a workout for fat loss. Based on my experience strength programs with the volume of the Texas Method are best done on a calorie surplus. My 2 cents…Good luck.

No, it just isn’t very helpful. I’d suggest:

  • training days eat as normal, plenty of carbs and calories
  • rest days limit carbs to 100-150 grams, but keep up the calories
  • do some conditioning on rest days. I’ve been playing with sprints for a little and they’re pretty cool.