Current cutting workout

[drizzt3117]

For those interested, this might be a decent workout for cutting/fat loss phases.

For my cutting phase, I decided to switch from a hypertrophy specific workout to a two-day split of 5x5s. This should be good for muscle size maintainance while building strength. I've been doing this workout for two weeks and while it's definitely tough, it seems pretty manageable. All routines are 5 sets of 5 reps. All lifts barbell unless otherwise specified.

Lift Routine 1:

Bench Press @ 70% of 1RM (245)
Wide Grip Bench Press (machine) @ 80% of 1RM (360)
Incline Dumbell Bench Press @ 75 lb
Row Machine @ 70% of 1RM (270)
Bar Dips (5x5, no weight for now)
Plate Loaded Shrug Machine @ 75% of 1RM (360)

Cardio:
About 25 minutes of HIIT consisting of 4 400m intervals at 2 minutes separated by walking 400m 4 minutes

Lift Routine 2:

Squat @ 70% of 1RM (275)
Deadlift @ 70% of 1RM (275)
Plate Loaded Dips @ 70% of 1RM (270)
Plate Loaded Super Horizontal Calf @ 70% of 1RM (360)
Dumbbell Bicep curls @ 75% of 1RM (55)
Dumbell Shoulder Press @ 70
Dumbell Bench Press @ 85

My usual weekly routine is basically lifting alternated daily with cardio, with one day of rest per week. I have decreased calories to maintanance - 1000 (which is about 2300 per day) so hopefully I will get good results from this regimen.

 

[TheIdler]

That's interesting, thanks for posting.

A few questions, just out of curiosity: Why a machine for the wide grips? And why the dumbbell BP on the 2nd day? Thanks and good luck!

 

[smw356]

not sure if its intentional or not but upperbody push/pull ratio seems really out of whack with 7 pushes 1 pull

 

[odoreater]

drizzt, how are you finding that HIIT is working for you? I'm thinking about doing a HIIT type of thing instead of regular jogging for fat loss. Also, how is your diet other than restricting calories? Are you doing anything with the ratio of protein/carb/fat, or just straight up calorie reduction?

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by odoreater

drizzt, how are you finding that HIIT is working for you? I'm thinking about doing a HIIT type of thing instead of regular jogging for fat loss. Also, how is your diet other than restricting calories? Are you doing anything with the ratio of protein/carb/fat, or just straight up calorie reduction?

I'm ready to bet he still consumes upward of 180g Protein a day.

IMO you should definitely look into HIIT. I have been rotating between that and straight-up running/elliptical for a while; at the very least it makes the routine a lot less boring.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by TheIdler

That's interesting, thanks for posting.

A few questions, just out of curiosity: Why a machine for the wide grips? And why the dumbbell BP on the 2nd day? Thanks and good luck!

Mainly because it's easy and because I like the machine and the results I get from it. As far as dumbbell BP, I don't like stacking all of my chest/tri stuff on one day and like to hit those muscle groups every lift, and because it has nice effects on stabilizers.

Originally Posted by smw356

not sure if its intentional or not but upperbody push/pull ratio seems really out of whack with 7 pushes 1 pull

I have shrugs and rows as pulls. I tend to not do a lot of exercises for lats/back as I feel I hit them enough with those exercises. I also mostly want compound exercises since I don't think isolations are useful while cutting.

Originally Posted by odoreater

drizzt, how are you finding that HIIT is working for you? I'm thinking about doing a HIIT type of thing instead of regular jogging for fat loss. Also, how is your diet other than restricting calories? Are you doing anything with the ratio of protein/carb/fat, or just straight up calorie reduction?

I tend to always do HIIT rather than other types of cardio, simply because I live pretty close to a track, and I don't really like running on a treadmill or something like that and it's fast and easy (only 25 minutes, and getting less as I increase the speed) I think HIIT is a nice workout that is pretty fun.

As far as my diet goes, it's skewed a bit more heavily towards protein now that I'm cutting. Right now the balance is right around 50% protein 30% carbs 20% fat, with grams of protein varying between 200-300 depending on whether I'm lifting that day. I tend to drink about two shakes a day and eat a decent amount of chicken etc. The rest of my diet is fairly healthy low calorie food, although i vary my diet a lot for variety (and practicality's) sake.