Cutting Routine, Critique Please!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hello all! I’ve been a long time reader, just never posted until now :slight_smile:

This board/site has a plethora of information. I’ve been through almost all of the training/diet programs and supps articles.

I’ve came up with a plan of attack for cutting through the rest of the summer, up until novemberish, when I’ll start a nice, slow clean bulk so I can monitor my carb sensitivity closely.

Right now I stand 6’1", 200lbs. I have not got bf% tested. I’ll lay my diet out first since its the most important aspect of any training routine. I will be following the T-Dawg 2.0 (have been since June 1). I keep a food log, but haven’t really added all the calories up. I did a couple times and it’s roughly 2200 everyday.

Sample diet from training day:

10:00am: 3 whole eggs, 7 whites. 2 cups coffee w/heavy cream + equal sweetner. I measure the cream w/tbsp.

1pm: 3 cups brocolli, 10oz chicken, diet soda.

4pm: 3 cups brocolli, 10oz chicken

7pm: 1 cup brocolli, 2 hard boiled eggs, 8 oz chicken

10pm: PWO shake 40g protein 70g dextrose + creatine.

Bed by 11… I love sleep!

I eat the same things pretty much everyday. Some Franks Hot sauce makes everything tasty, and its easier to adjust the diet if I know what im taking in. On non-lifting days, the PWO shake is subbed with Natural PB + whey shake.

Training is a combo of CW’s set/rep bible and ABBH 1.
I try to hit the desired amount of “bible” reps with a challenging heavy weight, then increase 2.5% every week, if possible, or add another rep.

I do a two day on, 1 day off schedule.
day 1:
AM energy training, 20 mins HIIT including 5 min warmup.

PM weights
flat dumbell bench, rest 60 sec
underhand grip barbell row, rest 60 sec
rinse, repeat until “bible” reps completed.
weighted dips, barbell curls…same scenario, 60 sec rests, badda bing badda bam!

day 2:
AM energy training, 20 mins HIIT w/ 5 min warmup.

PM weights
barbell hack squats, 60 sec rests for “bible” reps
weighted standing calf raises, same as above.
Hanging pikes, 5 sets of as many as I can do (not many lol)

day 3 rest day! sleep and let CNS recover!!

day 4:
AM HIIT as above
PM weights:
Weighted pull ups underhand, 60 sec rest, Inclinde DB bench. Rinse, repeat for “bible” reps.
Decline Dumbell skull crushers, 60 sec rest, Incline Dumbell hammer curls. Rinse, repeat for “bible” reps.

day 5:
AM HIIT as above
PM weights:
barbell deadlifts, 60 sec rests for “bible” reps
weighted standing calf raises, same as above.
core plank holds, all 3 variations. You know, the ones where you hold yourself, plank thingy’s lol.

day 6 sleep and recover

day 7 I may start training over again, or HIIT and no weights if im sore or beat up.

I apologize for the long post, I just wanted to lay everything out for the more educated guys to pick apart.

Diet improvements? Training too much?
So far its been working and I dont want to stop! :slight_smile:

Supplements are just good clean food, protein powder (solid muscle inc), dextrose, creatine, some multi’s and tribulus.

2

Congrats on getting “into the game”. Since you are posting on the beginner forum I’ll answer it as such:

First: I must give you credit because it does trully appear that you have gone to great lengths and effort to formulate a plan.

Second: I know you were posting a “sample” of meals, but if all you eat for the majority of your meals every day is chicken and broccoli, there is a very good chance you will burn out pretty quickly. I know I would.

Third: Personally, as a beginner at 6’1" and 200, I wouldn’t be worrying much about cutting. Consider following a similar, clean diet but up the calories. You’ll find that not only will you grow, but you will likely shed some fat at the same time.

Finally: I think that as a beginner you are spending a little too much time on supplemental lifts. If I could go back and start over again I would squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press. Spend the bulk of your time doing these things. Don’t be afraid to start every workout with a squat variation before you do everything else. You’ll see great results.

Good luck!

3

One quick thing that jumped out to me on your diet (beside the really low amount of carbs) is that it is totally lacking in heathy fats. Add some nuts, olive oil, fish oil, flax oil of some kind in there.

4

Thanks for the info roofus! Quick question on your comment about ‘burning out’. Do you mean from a training point of view, or burn out from getting sick of eating the same food (ie, more likely to binge/cheat)?

Thanks!
-Aspen

5

Would adding a handful of almonds to the chicken/broccoli meals suffice for the EFA’s? Or should I just grab a tablespoon of flax oil and down at at 2 meals?

6

I agree with Roofus. I had great results when I started up again by just cleaning up my diet and using full body routines to build a base of strength. Just do a push, pull, squat, and posterior exercise every workout. Throw in some accessory stuff like face pulls and abs at the end. Best of luck.

7

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
Thanks for the info roofus! Quick question on your comment about ‘burning out’. Do you mean from a training point of view, or burn out from getting sick of eating the same food (ie, more likely to binge/cheat)?

Thanks!
-Aspen[/quote]

I was mostly referring to burning out on the diet, being more likely to give up/cheat. However, getting into a rut with life in general (doing the same things over and over) can also lead to overall burn out as well.

I also agree with above, you definitely need to add in some healthy fats.

8

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
Would adding a handful of almonds to the chicken/broccoli meals suffice for the EFA’s? Or should I just grab a tablespoon of flax oil and down at at 2 meals?[/quote]

Both of those would help,but I would also add some fish oil caps to the mix, I take mine at bedtime. You can also find a 3-6-9 capsule that has flax, borage, and fish oil mixed. I just bought and started taking the new flameout. I usually end up taking 8-12 grams of oil a day, but I’m also not much of a fish eater.

9

I agree with above that it is definitely more important for you and your development to bulk rather than cut at the moment. 6’0 and 200 lbs is not so heavy or fat that it is time to cut right now. By employing your mass building compounds, you will begin building quality muscle and burn the body fat in the process.

Your calories are a little low even for cutting at the moment. By my estimation your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is about 2200. Your body is running in starvation mode.

10

Thanks for the info guys! Exactly what I was looking (hopeing) for. I went out and bought some refrigerated flax oil w/lignan. Im going to take a protein shake w/ a tablespoon of this before bed every night. I also bought more natty pb and almonds (tamari roasted mmmmm, to add a serving to my chicken/broccoli meals. I do want to continue to try to lose BF%, but not at the risk of starvation mode. Im upping the calories a bit, and gonna up to around 2500 for the next 2 weeks, get my BF% tested, and monitor closely. My strength seem to be going up a bit. I find myself fairly sensitive to carbs, so im going to limit them to PWO dex and veggies through the day.

11

Try CW’s 10x3 for Fatloss,I dropped 2-4lbs a week,I loved it.