I love switching to calisthenics when cutting. When bulking, your numbers go up. When cutting, your relative strength go up, suddenly it's possible to do 10 muscle ups, one arm pull up and planche! This gives me huge motivation to continue.
Big time, and that's one of the reasons why I love to mix in calisthenics. It's the one area where you can actually improve and demonstrate the bulking gains!
Why not get your standards up?Muscle ups, one arm pull ups and planche when you are at your regular/maintenance weight! The skill is clearily there and think about this both the strength and the muscle gains would be insane, if you got a one arm pull up or planche when bulking.
I just went with the flow and listened to my body. My training didnt change. My volume just slowly auto regulated. 10,10,10,10 would turn into 10,9,9,9, to 9, 9,9 8 and so on. Eventually I would lower weight and repeat the process. It felt weird going to the gym everyday and slowly getting weaker but I just accepted it. Once I started bulking again I gained all my strength back and then some in like 2 to 3 weeks.
I've been through this. The fear of losing those hard earned gains is tough on your mind. The mind plays a lot of games with you. Man just got to take a step back and think of things rationally.
This happened to me when I was 19. Horrible cycle of 1 month cuts followed by 2/3 months of dirty bulking only to start over the cycle, all the while not making progress and bullshitting myself about my strength by constantly switching exercises. Eventually I stopped lifting, but now I’m back, wiser and emotionally more mature, so as not to obsess too much after strength numbers or how visible are my abs. Thanks for putting this video out Alex, this is going to help a lot of people
This mans videos have been getting both better and funnier , it’s actually crazy Like 1:11 for Example , the humor is getting progressively better, I like to see it
"Maybe it was mass and not muscle what you had" WOW, just Wow The fitness community/gym-bros don't actually understand how real this can be Man... loved the video and the mindset! Let's keep pushing it!
Totally agree. Especially for beginners and early intermediates - maintaining and even gaining strength on a small cut is totally possible. In my opinion it's probably only when you're more advanced that you need to face the reality of strength loss on cuts.
Started scrawny and have been bulking for a looong time (years) and recently I've been slowly planning my bulk. I believe I read a study somewhere that revealed that some participants in the intense training group even gained a little bit of muscle while in a caloric deficit or something like that. Point is, that study plus the video you put out are totally helping me make my cut as effective as possible without losing too much strength.
Thanks for this!! My brother has the conception that if you train too hard and heavy when cutting, you lose muscle. I told him it's not the case, now I'll show him this video as well 💪
I do believe that reaching a point of fatigue that makes it hard to function in daily life will have a negative effect on muscle mass. There’s got to be a balance, enough stimulus to give the muscle a reason to stay, but not enough to reach a point of un-recoverability and not being able to train as hard.
Training hard during a cut is good. Training with excessive volume is what will cause recovery issues. If you're deep in a cut, the fatigue will usually force you to lower the volume anyway.
Great video. I'm in the skinny-fat novice, trying to gain strength whilst on a cut phase. I'm around 19% bodyfat. Started at 21%. It's been 2-3 months. I'm aiming to get to 17%, then will reassess my physique. The funny thing is, when I was slightly fluffier and had an extra 5kgs on me, I was getting more compliments than now and looked a lot better in clothes, but think that overall, getting lean for once in my life would be cool to experience.
Keep going, trust me if you’re skinny fat a slow cut will make you look better, actually a blessing in disguise as you can gain muscle while cutting. You def look better to others don’t worry, the reason u we’re getting compliments is because people who don’t lift see the water weight and fluff as muscle
Love this video! Don’t fall victim to the psychological effects of cutting. You are just as strong as you were. If you keep the intensity slightly lower (you don’t need to do triples or fives every workout when cutting) and keep form strict with a good tempo, even if that means using a slightly lighter weight, you will keep most of the gains.
Hey Alex! I’ve been here since the heavy rack pull days!! I’m a climber and have done over a 20lbs cut, and training this way helped me maintain my strength while losing so much weight!!!
My friend actually incorporated some powerlifting into his cut for his pro qualifier show. He was hitting 90% of his one rep max during a bulk about 4 weeks out from his show. It is the first time he placed second overall. His physique looked much denser due to him trying to maintain his strength as long as possible
This video honestly helped me a lot. I've watched a lot of fitness content and people bizarrely always avoid talking about what training will look like in a cut. Do I keep progressively overloading? Should I try to keep strength from falling? Is falling strength natural and unavoidable? This video really answered a lot of questions for me, so thank you
In the last week of my cut currently and have lost 10.5kg over 5 and a bit weeks. I've only lost about 10% strength on my strength focused movements (OHP, S, B, D) and have mostly just stalled on my other movements (although, some, like skull crushers and pull-ups have actually gone up by a rep or two). I dropped the volume only slightly, but I definitely found that gathering the mental and physical energy to push sets close to failure, and to keep my focus towards the end of a workout, has been a lot more challenging.
This video really helped to ease the paranoia I felt about my upcoming cut and simplified what I always found to be a confusing topic mainly regarding the muscle maintenance aspect. Great content as usual 🤘
Thanks Alex! I'm in the process of my last cut cycle before I begin my first bulk, so this is useful as I soon will get below 20% bf first time in my life. Can't wait to finally apply all the info on bulking that I've learned from your channel! Thanks a lot.
@@elka-bs8590 That's why I'm leaning down to 15-16% before I bulk up. Remember I don't got much muscle since I'm a novice lifter and havenever bulked before, so I got more of that "skinny fat" build. So I am planning to do a lean bulk and am okay to look fluffy till I put on some mass.
@@elka-bs8590 Do you workout? 9%? You expect a newbie lifter to cut till single digit bodyfat? Lemme link some vids for you: ua-cam.com/video/7WG_zeqDIyg/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/kqQD4YV5awI/v-deo.html
I’d rather cut down volume some than compromise on the weight lifted while on a cut. I like to pay attention to how I’m functioning in daily life. If I notice excess fatigue in daily life, I’ll cut volume little by little until I feel good. Keeping weight and intensity the same should be enough to maintain your muscle mass during an energy deficit if you ask me.
Alex, I get what you are saying. But man when I used to cut the weights I could use dropped quickly. And I would push it and still had to lower the weight to hit the rep range I wanted. Over the years I feel doing full body on a cut is great. You are getting the entire body pumped 3 times a week. 👍🏽💪🏾
Perfect timing for me. My bulking and cutting schedule seems to be a few months behind you. I finished bulking and now I'm going through a month or two where I'm not quite ready to start cutting but am just getting adjusted to some different NH style programming before I start cutting. Hearing your thoughts here has helped me mentally prep for cutting soon.
You look Great 🔔👋wait til you get to 65 your going to be a monster.. don't stop roll with your losses, because you will be stronger than anyone else. I'm going 40 years of working out and at 65 gotta say I look pretty healthy and strong for my age . .. maintaining my muscle mass at 125 and weigh 145.. 15 % body fat... Thanks for the 2 day workout routine it really helps when I'm not motivated.. 😀 and I'm not professional.. basically Arnold stuff
I never thought about using ‘regressive overload’ during a cut. I’m actually on one right now and my instinct ALWAYS is to go balls to walls. It does impede my recovery so I am learning to slow that tendency down, but this advice of yours is also another tool to use in my arsenal.
super stoked to see this! bench went from 135 for 10 - 12 reps to 95 for same reps and set. then last 2 weeks or so at 105 for 10 to 12. after losing bout 15lbs. I just want my plate back. ha.
Awsome timing man! Just started a cut myself and my training hasnt taken a hit yet despite pretty big deficit. Enjoying the novice gains when it comes to my lagging legs. Anyway good luck with your cut Alex.
Currently on a caloric deficit, lost around 10kg/22lbs so far but made all kinds of gainz. I put either new lifts on ME days or pick old AF ones to ensure easy PRs. It's all about the mindset. I even surpassed best paused SSB squat from fairly recent but now on a cut. It was 230kg/507lbs but yesterday I did 242.5kg/535lbs and 30kg/66lbs of chains on top of it. Also I mogged older high bar parallel box squat (210kg/463lbs > 250kg/551lbs), paused sumo from 260kg/573 to 280kg/617 and so on. But benchin' definitely feels harder due to leverage loss on top of lack of food. But I'm still going hard on it and shooting for even minor improvements. Only way to stay sane on deficit 😂
One of the things I appreciate about being an intermediate... smashin' PRs in a cut! 💪💪💪 I think when my progress does slow down a little bit more I'll definitely start regressing in a cut (especially presses)... but I gotta enjoy things while I can 😆
Mindset is so important. I can still make progress on most movements besides presses while cutting. But strength drops off quicker when your depleted so I end up doing way less volume but I can still keep pushing intensity.
I actually managed to keep a lot of parity in terms of strength. Last year I was 205lbs and did a 250x1 bench as a 1RM. Yesterday, after dropping down to 178-180lbs, I did the same weight. I think relative strength is the metric to look for when cutting.
this is so true, losing strength on a cut is a self fulfilling prophecy, because people think they will get weaker, so they will be less confident in the weightroom, and lose more strength/mass than necessary, i definitely fell into this trap aswell
I can't stress this enough. Go hard and heavy when cutting. Lower the weight when your joints begin to hurt and you should be fine. Creatine helped me with joint pain due to its water retention and acceleration in recovery. But it might have been a placebo effect, either way it worked for me. Pros of cutting, you can do infinite amount of pullups and specially one arms which is cool lol
Facts... Seen guys lose tons of muscle and strength on a cut and wonder why. Then you see their routine and they basically eliminated all compound movements and just started doing fluff and pump work. I'm like what did you expect?
bro where was this video for my last cut? I lost EVERYTHING, still looked good, but I felt horrible. I stopped doing bb compounds because I thought they were too fatiguing or some stupid shit. I'm down 30lbs already on this cut. 800 dead at 290lbs, 260 now and I pulled 785 with a stiff bar. I learned this through trial and error, strength is very neurological. If you don't use it, you'll lose it fast. So what I ended up doing this time around is hitting a top triple with 1-2 reps in the tank (if I went max effort, I found I'd be unable to get a pump or do anything else effectively after), then doing a few lighter back off sets, but still training hard. Also worth noting the first cut I did earlier this year my bench dropped from 455 to 315x3 D':
Agree with your caveat about max effort work. I’ve definitely noticed that you’re more likely to get injured with singles and doubles when you’re in a deficit.
Yeah it's definitely not necessary. After the first month, there's very little ME work with maybe the exception of weighted pullups which is one of the few exceptions.
@@AlexLeonidas Also, in my experience and which compliments your observations, is when you’re cutting, it’s useful to stop the deficit and go into maintenance or a slight surplus during any deloads. The body doesn’t understand you’re deloading, it just recognises a reduction in stress, which will accelerate losses in a deficit.
it is true, it is logical to work on being the strongest possible when losing weight. i never understood the idea of high reps with light weights when cutting, a lot trainers at the gyms say this. maybe it works the cardio a litle bit more, but it's better to keep the same workouts and do the real cardio after.
The timing of this video is perfect. Just yesterday I was explaining to someone how you want to "train like you want to get stronger when cutting calories" and they looked at me like I was stupid. Then I thought of what I said. Yeah, it DOES sound stupid. But physics don't care about how things sound.
Hey Alex.Just wondering how should you feel after a workout ?I have been strength training for 5 years and I always push myself hard .After most workout I feel sleepy, tired and hard to focus on work. Is that normal or am I just pushing myself too much ?Been watching you since heavy shrugs and cheat rows. And I made a lot of gains. Thanks man. Really love your content. Fan from Hong Kong.
Did a cut last year and going balls to the wall on big compound movements maintained my strength so good that when i got back to bulking the progression took off where i left it coulple of months earlier
Well, I for one still definitely try for prs when I first start a cut. But I cut as aggressive as I possibly can to get back to a bulk as soon as I hit my cutting goal. It's usually dropping around 3 percent body fat in 2-3 weeks. Man my press work does dive really fast. I do my best to maintain the same standards as I'm a little further. But some things fall off super fast. Regardless good topic thanks 👍.
@@AlexLeonidas yh I've noticed with exercises like weighted pull ups extra weight shedded makes a huge difference but with dips that's not necessarily the case
I find that mental resiliency and drive becomes ALOT more important when cutting. It’s easy to say, “Oh I’m cutting, therefore I will be weaker so I shouldn’t shoot for progressive overload”. Reality is, yes your strength may not be 100% there, but if you’re cutting correctly, it should still be between the 80-90% ballpark. It’s just a weak mindset that gets in the way.
I've failed my first cut because I was lowering the weights and I did that because I have heard so many people saying that this is normal. I have lost half of my muscle mass, while still eating more than 2g or proteins per kg because I was getting weaker and weaker. So for my second cut, I tried training like when I was bulking. Each time I was feeling weaker, I ate a bit more. I lost 8kg, almost 100% of fat and I even made some progress and built a bit more muscle mass.
I like higher reps when bulking pushing for PR's on my 10-16 rep sets. When cutting I like to keep my sets in the 6-8 rep range when I'm fresh and close out with some 1-2 high rep drop sets at the end of the workout.
It's natural to develop imbalances if you can't train the pushing muscles, but depending how long you deal with this injury it might not manifest in a real world physical sense. I would just tell you to keep training your legs/back equally as hard. Correct after the healing.
Yo, I was away from training for a couple of years during pandemic. Got back to lifting this January, had to cut from all the fat that accumulated from doing nothing. Lifting was nothing new to me, so I was slowly and steadily working my way through some mixed strength and hypertrophy training. I had managed cuts before, but this time I choose to do it slowly and steady, eating close to my maintenance calories. The results, less than a year of work, I lost 12kg and got almost all my muscle back, made incredible strength gains (relative to my own registered personal records). Now that I'm almost lean but stronger, I'm thinking about restricting my calories a bit more to speed up the final 5kg. For reference, now I'm 5'65", 171 pounds, wanna drop to 165 to start bulking from there.
Granted because I don’t bulk that hard (10-12lbs at a time) I also don’t lose much when cutting but I’ve found most of my movements don’t get weaker at all. Mostly just pressing and even then the top set is still just as strong sometimes. What becomes problematic more so is indeed the volume so I’ll just cut back on that a bit as the cut gets closer to the end.
Wish I had heard this sooner. Sadly I tried to maintain volume and intensity at the start and ended up burning out 3 weeks in. Came back with more sensible volume and using reasonable backoff sets instead of grinding through reps/failing if faigue is too high has helped, and swapped out bent over rows for cable rows etc. My squat hasn't recovered but everything else is just slightly below. Inbetween moving from manual labour to sedantry work as well so need to adjust my calories :L
When cutting, should we try to avoid exercises focusing on the weighted stretch (since they're known to damage muscle fibers more) and include instead exercises with peak tension when the muscle is contracted?
Why not keep/gain strength in the main compound lifts and mix in 8-12 rep auxillary exercises? I have 2 routines for PPL. One has the compound lift that I do no more than 8 reps for. The other has a challening main lift but not as strength based. Then they both have auxillary exercises that I do 3x8-12. No more than 6/7 exercises per workout. So I cycle them and so that means I don't fullout bench/squat/DL/OHP every week but those muscles are still getting hit. Works good for preventing CNS fatigue. I still am gaining strenght as well. It also allows me to not starve every workout day lol
I keep trying to hit new weight prs and I've lost 30lbs in 10 weeks dont feel like I've lost muscle, just completely glycogen depleted. Still feel strong though. Hit cable row for four sets 220lb 15 reps that's above bodyweight!
Do you think its possible to continue gaining strength while in a slight deficit IF you have a high bodyfat percentage (20%+). I'm currently at 25% and in a 300 deficit. But so far my strength seems to be the same or increasing on some lifts. Nothing has dropped so far. My goal is to lose about 10-15lbs of fat and I've been training for only 16 months so far. So is this possible for me?
At 25% with a 300 deficit, you'll be good for some time especially with under 2 years of lifting experience. I can't say how long you'll be able to milk this, but it might be for -10lbs or more. In my case, it's just maintenance for about a month before performance gradually starts to decline.
@@AlexLeonidas Wow, thanks for replying. I was also thinking the same that after 10lbs of weight loss, I would inevitably lose strength. Hoping to milk it out for as long as possible. I am following a program (5/3/1) and as long as I'm able to continue with that I will keep trying to progressively overload.
Man, it's one of the most intense ways of doing curls without a spotter/specialized machine that evens out the strength curve. You're dead after those.
Alex do you think not switching the program but swapping barbell/dumbbell compounds to Weighted Calisthenics like Weighted pushups, dips and pullups would work? As you cut, calisthenics gets so much easier and you will be increasing your numbers like crazy. Now I understand the total weight (Bodyweight + added) might be decreasing but seeing the added number go up can help in keeping lifters psychologically fresh?
This is what I wanted to do but instead I got bed ridden and sick losing 40 pounds in 2 months. I’m slowly gonna get back my strength and show this world who’s the boss while taking advantage of this fat loss!
Truth? I didn't count. And right now my deficit is very high which I won't even say what it is because I don't want you guys copying me. My best advice is to have a 250-500 calorie deficit and know that maintenance calories vary for everyone.
Except in my version of cutting calories where dropping from 35% body fat to 20% body fat is all relatively still in a surplus compared to a body builder cutting from 10% to 5%. If anything my work capacity should only go up as I diet more.
I use to hear stuff like it only takes 1 hard set a week to maintain muscle or that it takes a little more when you’re advanced. Not looked into it much
Yo alex on max effort is it normal that i dont pr every week, like 5lbs jump. Should i just do same weight but on volume work like 3x5 to try to increase reps to 3x10
Alex I’m 315 lb I’m currently doing ohp 135 for 3x7 in between sets I do push up for 10 rep for 4 sets I usually get 10-10-8-8 then I close grip bench press 3x10 into chest flys then do tricep and shoulder accessory’s can I build a chest with this
I like what you said about reverse progressive overload. That’s super intuitive on a linear progression program. But how would you apply that logic with something like Johnny Candito’s 6 week powerlifting program? Where the progressive overload is tied to reps and percentages. Interested in hearing what ideas anyone has about altering this program for an individual who’s cutting
@@pumpcover One that doesnt require you to hit specific weights at specific times. It's hard to peak for strength when you don't have the calories to push heavy weights at pre-set times.
I assume losing strength applies to those who have built a solid foundation and are peaking into late intermediate/advanced stage right? I thought people (especially with higher body fat percentage) and are less trained in certain movements can still make solid gains during a reasonable cut. (1 percent body fat) per week.
What's the best way to start cutting? Should I drop a lot of calories at the beginning of the cut? I'm gonna start cutting next month for the first time in my life and I'm nervous 💀
Slowly is more sustainable, quickly can mean the cut is shorter but you risk losing muscle if you cut too hard. I have never actually counted calories during my cuts, I just reduce portion sizes. Keep protein high, and have it with every meal.
2 compounds is enough, you'll get big with that routine. Just make sure to feature different angles on different days to get more of a complete effect. So day 2 incline bench, then maybe dumbbell OHP.
I love switching to calisthenics when cutting. When bulking, your numbers go up. When cutting, your relative strength go up, suddenly it's possible to do 10 muscle ups, one arm pull up and planche! This gives me huge motivation to continue.
Big time, and that's one of the reasons why I love to mix in calisthenics. It's the one area where you can actually improve and demonstrate the bulking gains!
Based
Why not get your standards up?Muscle ups, one arm pull ups and planche when you are at your regular/maintenance weight! The skill is clearily there and think about this both the strength and the muscle gains would be insane, if you got a one arm pull up or planche when bulking.
אחלה יהונתן
@@AlexLeonidas what dumbells and collars are u using?
Don't you dare let up Alex!
We continue going hard Daniel!
I just went with the flow and listened to my body. My training didnt change. My volume just slowly auto regulated. 10,10,10,10 would turn into 10,9,9,9, to 9, 9,9 8 and so on. Eventually I would lower weight and repeat the process. It felt weird going to the gym everyday and slowly getting weaker but I just accepted it. Once I started bulking again I gained all my strength back and then some in like 2 to 3 weeks.
Exactly how it's supposed to be done!
it’s funny when i’m in the gym and doing Preacher curls im screaming inside my head doing the last rep and saying dont leave me biceps haha
I've been through this. The fear of losing those hard earned gains is tough on your mind. The mind plays a lot of games with you. Man just got to take a step back and think of things rationally.
Making those rational and long term thinking gains!
Muscle memory is a real thing, as soon as you bulk up you will get the muscle back again
This happened to me when I was 19. Horrible cycle of 1 month cuts followed by 2/3 months of dirty bulking only to start over the cycle, all the while not making progress and bullshitting myself about my strength by constantly switching exercises. Eventually I stopped lifting, but now I’m back, wiser and emotionally more mature, so as not to obsess too much after strength numbers or how visible are my abs. Thanks for putting this video out Alex, this is going to help a lot of people
This mans videos have been getting both better and funnier , it’s actually crazy
Like 1:11 for Example , the humor is getting progressively better, I like to see it
"Maybe it was mass and not muscle what you had"
WOW, just Wow
The fitness community/gym-bros don't actually understand how real this can be
Man... loved the video and the mindset! Let's keep pushing it!
Totally agree. Especially for beginners and early intermediates - maintaining and even gaining strength on a small cut is totally possible. In my opinion it's probably only when you're more advanced that you need to face the reality of strength loss on cuts.
You have by far the most underrated channel, truly the best source of information and knowledge, from experience AND facts.
Started scrawny and have been bulking for a looong time (years) and recently I've been slowly planning my bulk. I believe I read a study somewhere that revealed that some participants in the intense training group even gained a little bit of muscle while in a caloric deficit or something like that. Point is, that study plus the video you put out are totally helping me make my cut as effective as possible without losing too much strength.
Thanks for this!! My brother has the conception that if you train too hard and heavy when cutting, you lose muscle. I told him it's not the case, now I'll show him this video as well 💪
I do believe that reaching a point of fatigue that makes it hard to function in daily life will have a negative effect on muscle mass.
There’s got to be a balance, enough stimulus to give the muscle a reason to stay, but not enough to reach a point of un-recoverability and not being able to train as hard.
@@bigpicturegains I agree, and I actually think the scenario you described is detrimental for bulking just the same 👏
Training hard during a cut is good. Training with excessive volume is what will cause recovery issues. If you're deep in a cut, the fatigue will usually force you to lower the volume anyway.
100% guilty of this. Learned the hard way. Listen to this man, people!
Great video. I'm in the skinny-fat novice, trying to gain strength whilst on a cut phase. I'm around 19% bodyfat. Started at 21%. It's been 2-3 months. I'm aiming to get to 17%, then will reassess my physique. The funny thing is, when I was slightly fluffier and had an extra 5kgs on me, I was getting more compliments than now and looked a lot better in clothes, but think that overall, getting lean for once in my life would be cool to experience.
Keep going, trust me if you’re skinny fat a slow cut will make you look better, actually a blessing in disguise as you can gain muscle while cutting. You def look better to others don’t worry, the reason u we’re getting compliments is because people who don’t lift see the water weight and fluff as muscle
@@tejassinha62 Appreciate that bro!
Love this video! Don’t fall victim to the psychological effects of cutting. You are just as strong as you were. If you keep the intensity slightly lower (you don’t need to do triples or fives every workout when cutting) and keep form strict with a good tempo, even if that means using a slightly lighter weight, you will keep most of the gains.
Regressive overload is the perfect way to describe this method. It makes so much sense for keeping on muscle while cutting.
Hey Alex! I’ve been here since the heavy rack pull days!!
I’m a climber and have done over a 20lbs cut, and training this way helped me maintain my strength while losing so much weight!!!
My friend actually incorporated some powerlifting into his cut for his pro qualifier show. He was hitting 90% of his one rep max during a bulk about 4 weeks out from his show. It is the first time he placed second overall. His physique looked much denser due to him trying to maintain his strength as long as possible
Interesting! Regardless of the 90%, I guess the mindset itself of preserving as much strength as possible is what did the trick!
Been watching your channel for a few years now. This is the best you have looked imo. Keep the good work up brother and thank you! Real inspiration!
Thank you OG!! Real recognize 💯👊🏻
This video honestly helped me a lot. I've watched a lot of fitness content and people bizarrely always avoid talking about what training will look like in a cut. Do I keep progressively overloading? Should I try to keep strength from falling? Is falling strength natural and unavoidable? This video really answered a lot of questions for me, so thank you
In the last week of my cut currently and have lost 10.5kg over 5 and a bit weeks. I've only lost about 10% strength on my strength focused movements (OHP, S, B, D) and have mostly just stalled on my other movements (although, some, like skull crushers and pull-ups have actually gone up by a rep or two). I dropped the volume only slightly, but I definitely found that gathering the mental and physical energy to push sets close to failure, and to keep my focus towards the end of a workout, has been a lot more challenging.
This video really helped to ease the paranoia I felt about my upcoming cut and simplified what I always found to be a confusing topic mainly regarding the muscle maintenance aspect. Great content as usual 🤘
Didn't watch a video, but I know it's better than 90% percent of videos on fitness out there
Thanks Alex! I'm in the process of my last cut cycle before I begin my first bulk, so this is useful as I soon will get below 20% bf first time in my life. Can't wait to finally apply all the info on bulking that I've learned from your channel! Thanks a lot.
Last thing you need is a bulk if youre over 20% lmao
End of the bulk you shouksnt go over 18% 19% maximum
@@elka-bs8590 That's why I'm leaning down to 15-16% before I bulk up. Remember I don't got much muscle since I'm a novice lifter and havenever bulked before, so I got more of that "skinny fat" build. So I am planning to do a lean bulk and am okay to look fluffy till I put on some mass.
@@formidableplays4750 well lean up to 9% then bulk up to 16% over 9 months
@@elka-bs8590 Do you workout? 9%? You expect a newbie lifter to cut till single digit bodyfat? Lemme link some vids for you:
ua-cam.com/video/7WG_zeqDIyg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/kqQD4YV5awI/v-deo.html
I’d rather cut down volume some than compromise on the weight lifted while on a cut.
I like to pay attention to how I’m functioning in daily life. If I notice excess fatigue in daily life, I’ll cut volume little by little until I feel good.
Keeping weight and intensity the same should be enough to maintain your muscle mass during an energy deficit if you ask me.
Couldn't agree more!!
Alex, I get what you are saying. But man when I used to cut the weights I could use dropped quickly. And I would push it and still had to lower the weight to hit the rep range I wanted.
Over the years I feel doing full body on a cut is great. You are getting the entire body pumped 3 times a week. 👍🏽💪🏾
Perfect timing for me. My bulking and cutting schedule seems to be a few months behind you. I finished bulking and now I'm going through a month or two where I'm not quite ready to start cutting but am just getting adjusted to some different NH style programming before I start cutting. Hearing your thoughts here has helped me mentally prep for cutting soon.
You look Great 🔔👋wait til you get to 65 your going to be a monster.. don't stop roll with your losses, because you will be stronger than anyone else. I'm going 40 years of working out and at 65 gotta say I look pretty healthy and strong for my age . .. maintaining my muscle mass at 125 and weigh 145.. 15 % body fat... Thanks for the 2 day workout routine it really helps when I'm not motivated.. 😀 and I'm not professional.. basically Arnold stuff
I never thought about using ‘regressive overload’ during a cut. I’m actually on one right now and my instinct ALWAYS is to go balls to walls. It does impede my recovery so I am learning to slow that tendency down, but this advice of yours is also another tool to use in my arsenal.
Great video! Reverse progressive overload is a unique phrasing that summarizes how you should properly cut.
Simple and gets the point across, cheers!
super stoked to see this! bench went from 135 for 10 - 12 reps to 95 for same reps and set. then last 2 weeks or so at 105 for 10 to 12. after losing bout 15lbs. I just want my plate back. ha.
Good video Alex, not many guys talk about these nuances, so very insightful 👍
Awsome timing man! Just started a cut myself and my training hasnt taken a hit yet despite pretty big deficit. Enjoying the novice gains when it comes to my lagging legs. Anyway good luck with your cut Alex.
Currently on a caloric deficit, lost around 10kg/22lbs so far but made all kinds of gainz.
I put either new lifts on ME days or pick old AF ones to ensure easy PRs. It's all about the mindset. I even surpassed best paused SSB squat from fairly recent but now on a cut. It was 230kg/507lbs but yesterday I did 242.5kg/535lbs and 30kg/66lbs of chains on top of it.
Also I mogged older high bar parallel box squat (210kg/463lbs > 250kg/551lbs), paused sumo from 260kg/573 to 280kg/617 and so on. But benchin' definitely feels harder due to leverage loss on top of lack of food. But I'm still going hard on it and shooting for even minor improvements. Only way to stay sane on deficit 😂
One of the things I appreciate about being an intermediate... smashin' PRs in a cut! 💪💪💪
I think when my progress does slow down a little bit more I'll definitely start regressing in a cut (especially presses)... but I gotta enjoy things while I can 😆
Epic grind on that pull-up sheeesh
Going to see a lot more grinders like that throughout this entire cut! No laziness 💯
Mindset is so important. I can still make progress on most movements besides presses while cutting. But strength drops off quicker when your depleted so I end up doing way less volume but I can still keep pushing intensity.
I actually managed to keep a lot of parity in terms of strength. Last year I was 205lbs and did a 250x1 bench as a 1RM. Yesterday, after dropping down to 178-180lbs, I did the same weight. I think relative strength is the metric to look for when cutting.
this is so true, losing strength on a cut is a self fulfilling prophecy, because people think they will get weaker, so they will be less confident in the weightroom, and lose more strength/mass than necessary, i definitely fell into this trap aswell
On my last cut I switched from PPL to upper lower to decrease training frequency and decrease volume and I gained strength throughout most of the cut
I can't stress this enough. Go hard and heavy when cutting. Lower the weight when your joints begin to hurt and you should be fine.
Creatine helped me with joint pain due to its water retention and acceleration in recovery. But it might have been a placebo effect, either way it worked for me.
Pros of cutting, you can do infinite amount of pullups and specially one arms which is cool lol
Facts... Seen guys lose tons of muscle and strength on a cut and wonder why. Then you see their routine and they basically eliminated all compound movements and just started doing fluff and pump work. I'm like what did you expect?
Tell me about it!!!!
Thank you Sir!
bro where was this video for my last cut? I lost EVERYTHING, still looked good, but I felt horrible. I stopped doing bb compounds because I thought they were too fatiguing or some stupid shit. I'm down 30lbs already on this cut. 800 dead at 290lbs, 260 now and I pulled 785 with a stiff bar. I learned this through trial and error, strength is very neurological. If you don't use it, you'll lose it fast. So what I ended up doing this time around is hitting a top triple with 1-2 reps in the tank (if I went max effort, I found I'd be unable to get a pump or do anything else effectively after), then doing a few lighter back off sets, but still training hard. Also worth noting the first cut I did earlier this year my bench dropped from 455 to 315x3 D':
Love the way your shoulders look.. 🔥 biceps and triceps
Agree with your caveat about max effort work. I’ve definitely noticed that you’re more likely to get injured with singles and doubles when you’re in a deficit.
Yeah it's definitely not necessary. After the first month, there's very little ME work with maybe the exception of weighted pullups which is one of the few exceptions.
@@AlexLeonidas Also, in my experience and which compliments your observations, is when you’re cutting, it’s useful to stop the deficit and go into maintenance or a slight surplus during any deloads. The body doesn’t understand you’re deloading, it just recognises a reduction in stress, which will accelerate losses in a deficit.
it is true, it is logical to work on being the strongest possible when losing weight. i never understood the idea of high reps with light weights when cutting, a lot trainers at the gyms say this. maybe it works the cardio a litle bit more, but it's better to keep the same workouts and do the real cardio after.
The timing of this video is perfect. Just yesterday I was explaining to someone how you want to "train like you want to get stronger when cutting calories" and they looked at me like I was stupid. Then I thought of what I said. Yeah, it DOES sound stupid. But physics don't care about how things sound.
Great video man. So helpful as im doing a cut right now. Keep up the good work.
Btw, what type of chest expanders are using here?
Great video Alex!
Hey Alex.Just wondering how should you feel after a workout ?I have been strength training for 5 years and I always push myself hard .After most workout I feel sleepy, tired and hard to focus on work. Is that normal or am I just pushing myself too much ?Been watching you since heavy shrugs and cheat rows. And I made a lot of gains. Thanks man. Really love your content. Fan from Hong Kong.
Did a cut last year and going balls to the wall on big compound movements maintained my strength so good that when i got back to bulking the progression took off where i left it coulple of months earlier
Man that's the best when things go right!
Looking good bro 🙏🏻
Love your vids bro !
Well, I for one still definitely try for prs when I first start a cut.
But I cut as aggressive as I possibly can to get back to a bulk as soon as I hit my cutting goal.
It's usually dropping around 3 percent body fat in 2-3 weeks.
Man my press work does dive really fast.
I do my best to maintain the same standards as I'm a little further.
But some things fall off super fast.
Regardless good topic thanks 👍.
Yeah, this is the approach that i like cutting aggresively for a month then back to bulk, for me a small or large deficit are the same suffer
@@timothymanurung4835 right on man 👍
Good explanation. Definitely needed to hear this.
Not as much because you might actually see your numbers improve for some time
@@AlexLeonidas yh I've noticed with exercises like weighted pull ups extra weight shedded makes a huge difference but with dips that's not necessarily the case
Can you please make a video of good genetics for each of the main workouts would really look forward to it
I find that mental resiliency and drive becomes ALOT more important when cutting. It’s easy to say, “Oh I’m cutting, therefore I will be weaker so I shouldn’t shoot for progressive overload”. Reality is, yes your strength may not be 100% there, but if you’re cutting correctly, it should still be between the 80-90% ballpark. It’s just a weak mindset that gets in the way.
Great vid man , going to cut at the end of next month this will defenetily help alot 👍
I've failed my first cut because I was lowering the weights and I did that because I have heard so many people saying that this is normal.
I have lost half of my muscle mass, while still eating more than 2g or proteins per kg because I was getting weaker and weaker.
So for my second cut, I tried training like when I was bulking. Each time I was feeling weaker, I ate a bit more.
I lost 8kg, almost 100% of fat and I even made some progress and built a bit more muscle mass.
Super motivation🔥🔥🔥
0:55 I paused the video for a minute to let you relax for a bit
😂😂😂
I like higher reps when bulking pushing for PR's on my 10-16 rep sets. When cutting I like to keep my sets in the 6-8 rep range when I'm fresh and close out with some 1-2 high rep drop sets at the end of the workout.
Hey destiny I've recently fractured my elbow, do you know how I can lift upper body without too much muscle imbalance?
It's natural to develop imbalances if you can't train the pushing muscles, but depending how long you deal with this injury it might not manifest in a real world physical sense. I would just tell you to keep training your legs/back equally as hard. Correct after the healing.
@@AlexLeonidas ok thank man, also it'll be around 5-6 weekS
Yo, I was away from training for a couple of years during pandemic. Got back to lifting this January, had to cut from all the fat that accumulated from doing nothing. Lifting was nothing new to me, so I was slowly and steadily working my way through some mixed strength and hypertrophy training. I had managed cuts before, but this time I choose to do it slowly and steady, eating close to my maintenance calories.
The results, less than a year of work, I lost 12kg and got almost all my muscle back, made incredible strength gains (relative to my own registered personal records).
Now that I'm almost lean but stronger, I'm thinking about restricting my calories a bit more to speed up the final 5kg.
For reference, now I'm 5'65", 171 pounds, wanna drop to 165 to start bulking from there.
very helpful as i am in a middle of a cut
Granted because I don’t bulk that hard (10-12lbs at a time) I also don’t lose much when cutting but I’ve found most of my movements don’t get weaker at all. Mostly just pressing and even then the top set is still just as strong sometimes. What becomes problematic more so is indeed the volume so I’ll just cut back on that a bit as the cut gets closer to the end.
I am running 5-day nsuns and cutting. Works great.
Wish I had heard this sooner. Sadly I tried to maintain volume and intensity at the start and ended up burning out 3 weeks in. Came back with more sensible volume and using reasonable backoff sets instead of grinding through reps/failing if faigue is too high has helped, and swapped out bent over rows for cable rows etc. My squat hasn't recovered but everything else is just slightly below.
Inbetween moving from manual labour to sedantry work as well so need to adjust my calories :L
Totally agree I've never dropped the weight endless I had to
When cutting, should we try to avoid exercises focusing on the weighted stretch (since they're known to damage muscle fibers more) and include instead exercises with peak tension when the muscle is contracted?
Thoughts on shorter cycles and lean gains?
Why not keep/gain strength in the main compound lifts and mix in 8-12 rep auxillary exercises? I have 2 routines for PPL. One has the compound lift that I do no more than 8 reps for. The other has a challening main lift but not as strength based. Then they both have auxillary exercises that I do 3x8-12. No more than 6/7 exercises per workout. So I cycle them and so that means I don't fullout bench/squat/DL/OHP every week but those muscles are still getting hit. Works good for preventing CNS fatigue. I still am gaining strenght as well. It also allows me to not starve every workout day lol
I keep trying to hit new weight prs and I've lost 30lbs in 10 weeks dont feel like I've lost muscle, just completely glycogen depleted. Still feel strong though. Hit cable row for four sets 220lb 15 reps that's above bodyweight!
Do you think its possible to continue gaining strength while in a slight deficit IF you have a high bodyfat percentage (20%+). I'm currently at 25% and in a 300 deficit. But so far my strength seems to be the same or increasing on some lifts. Nothing has dropped so far. My goal is to lose about 10-15lbs of fat and I've been training for only 16 months so far. So is this possible for me?
At 25% with a 300 deficit, you'll be good for some time especially with under 2 years of lifting experience. I can't say how long you'll be able to milk this, but it might be for -10lbs or more. In my case, it's just maintenance for about a month before performance gradually starts to decline.
@@AlexLeonidas Wow, thanks for replying. I was also thinking the same that after 10lbs of weight loss, I would inevitably lose strength. Hoping to milk it out for as long as possible. I am following a program (5/3/1) and as long as I'm able to continue with that I will keep trying to progressively overload.
Great video bro! What do you think of 3 week waves with max effort method lifts?
Bad idea, NEVER do this. With the Max Effort method, the variations must be rotated every week.
tips for high protein low cal options when cutting on a plant based diet ?
When are you gonna make a video on the chest expander?
Damn those concentration curls with the assistance from your other hand looked so brutal.
Man, it's one of the most intense ways of doing curls without a spotter/specialized machine that evens out the strength curve. You're dead after those.
@@AlexLeonidas I've honestly never even tried them. I'll probably give it a shot next week.
Alex do you think not switching the program but swapping barbell/dumbbell compounds to Weighted Calisthenics like Weighted pushups, dips and pullups would work? As you cut, calisthenics gets so much easier and you will be increasing your numbers like crazy.
Now I understand the total weight (Bodyweight + added) might be decreasing but seeing the added number go up can help in keeping lifters psychologically fresh?
What chest expanders are you using, they look sick
10:11 good message 🔥🔥
This is what I wanted to do but instead I got bed ridden and sick losing 40 pounds in 2 months. I’m slowly gonna get back my strength and show this world who’s the boss while taking advantage of this fat loss!
Hey Alex, how many calories are you eating now, and how much did you finish the bulk at?
Truth? I didn't count. And right now my deficit is very high which I won't even say what it is because I don't want you guys copying me. My best advice is to have a 250-500 calorie deficit and know that maintenance calories vary for everyone.
What kind of Dumbbells' are those? they look great if they are adjustable
Except in my version of cutting calories where dropping from 35% body fat to 20% body fat is all relatively still in a surplus compared to a body builder cutting from 10% to 5%.
If anything my work capacity should only go up as I diet more.
I use to hear stuff like it only takes 1 hard set a week to maintain muscle or that it takes a little more when you’re advanced. Not looked into it much
Yo what up Alex!
Not much Darnell, just cutting and trying to provide good informative content. You?
i really wanna know if you stats your 1rm , bench,squat,deadlift right now vs after you completely cutting after this.
Yo alex on max effort is it normal that i dont pr every week, like 5lbs jump. Should i just do same weight but on volume work like 3x5 to try to increase reps to 3x10
2 sets? How well did you recover after going down to 2 sets per exercise in a session and were you able to retain that strength at 2 sets?
Hey Alex ive been on your novice program for 5 weeks now and will try to document how It's going
Awesome man, keep my updated with the gains!
Alex I’m 315 lb I’m currently doing ohp 135 for 3x7 in between sets I do push up for 10 rep for 4 sets I usually get 10-10-8-8 then I close grip bench press 3x10 into chest flys then do tricep and shoulder accessory’s can I build a chest with this
If your chest gets any bigger you will be able to fly
I like what you said about reverse progressive overload. That’s super intuitive on a linear progression program. But how would you apply that logic with something like Johnny Candito’s 6 week powerlifting program? Where the progressive overload is tied to reps and percentages. Interested in hearing what ideas anyone has about altering this program for an individual who’s cutting
Tuo NEVER cut during a strength/powerlifting cycle
@@Luca_S_8 what type of program would it be fine to cut on then?
@@Luca_S_8 I’m training for powerlifting and cutting rn
@@pumpcover One that doesnt require you to hit specific weights at specific times. It's hard to peak for strength when you don't have the calories to push heavy weights at pre-set times.
@@pumpcover hypertrophy
I assume losing strength applies to those who have built a solid foundation and are peaking into late intermediate/advanced stage right?
I thought people (especially with higher body fat percentage) and are less trained in certain movements can still make solid gains during a reasonable cut. (1 percent body fat) per week.
Max effort bench variations that help with a middle sticking point ?
Anything with a Swiss bar, floor press, and chains will help
Would go to maintenance if you need a deload on a cut?
What about cardio and steps during a cut?
What's the best way to start cutting? Should I drop a lot of calories at the beginning of the cut? I'm gonna start cutting next month for the first time in my life and I'm nervous 💀
Slowly is more sustainable, quickly can mean the cut is shorter but you risk losing muscle if you cut too hard. I have never actually counted calories during my cuts, I just reduce portion sizes. Keep protein high, and have it with every meal.
On a push day can I do flat bench the OHP then just do flyes and raises twice a week or do I need more compuond work
2 compounds is enough, you'll get big with that routine. Just make sure to feature different angles on different days to get more of a complete effect. So day 2 incline bench, then maybe dumbbell OHP.