Hi! Just sharing my mini-cut experience. I took a break from bulking and did a two-week minicut. I had gained mass over a few months of bulking before starting my minicut. I was 185 lbs (my height is 5’7” btw) then. For my mini-cut, I reduced my calories to about 2,133. Was it drastic, as required during a minicut? That’s the goal the minicut calculator told me to try to achieve. And it should be drastic enough because my bulking calorie intake was more or less triple that. Honestly, it didn’t feel like a drastic cut because I never felt hungry and often times I felt like it was a normal eating routine (except I was mindful of my fat intake).
The surprising thing is that despite that and the fact that I went with the two-week minimum, I lost about 10lbs in 2 weeks! I also felt like I lost a bit of definition It took me 2 weeks to get back to 185. Had I done the more common 4-week mini cut, I’d probably have had a harder time getting back to 185.
What do you think of my mini-cut experience? Is it normal to lose that much even though it didn’t feel like an drastic/intense/aggressive cut, as how it should feel? Lots of water, perhaps?
Ok. Maybe less than 10lbs, but definitely at least 6 lbs (weight loss). I’d say I gain weight pretty slow (like 1-2 lbs per week after increasing my calories?).
I’m two weeks into my cut, down 10lbs. One big meal and some beverages to soak it up and I’m back 8lbs by the next day. Point being it’s not fat or tissue loss in two weeks. Not 80% of it anyway. If you’re not morbidly obese you will likely lose a true 1-2lbs per weeks if cutting correctly.
What is the expectation of a mini-cut in a long term strategy of improved body composition?
It had always been my strategy to stay at what I would guess is about 15% body fat, when trying to put on muscle. If I started to lose basic major muscle group separation, I would just clean up my diet a little tighter. (I don’t have the propensity to carry fat in the unsightly locations. The fat seemed to distribute equally throughout my body.)
This is ridiculously precise number, especially to be preceded with “about.” Estimating a daily caloric intake to greater than two significant digits is getting beyond the precision that can be done. 2,100 calories would have seemed more reasonable.
I get that you probably calculated the 2,133 calories from your bulk calories of 6,400.
It should be stated that 6,400 calories a day is really putting away some food. It would be difficult to take in that many “clean” calories.
IMO, anyone interested in a good body composition must have the vast amount of their diet as clean food year round. All processed foods should be only present for an occasional treat.
You mean, in terms of strength? That’s hard to tell because I switched program when I started bulking again. I would say “MAYBE” a lost a bit of strength
Also, if it matters, the first week of my 2-week mini-cut was a break from the gym
I’m blasting currently so strength has been improving regardless of my 1500cal daily deficit, but my recovery period between sets and ability to handle volume are in the shitter.
These are all things to pay attention to; performance is a primary indicator of progress.
