Does Cutting= Diffrent Type of Weight Lifting???

[Amica]

OK ladies I have already recieved so much help from everyone here over the past couple of years and wanted to thank you. I'm somewhat of a lurker and have realized that I need to be more of an active participant if I want to obtain all my training goals.

I am 5'3 135pds and about 16%bf. I am going to be starting a cutting plan this week. I only need to lose a few pounds. I eat fairly clean except that I do not pay attention to my calorie intake or macro break downs and on the weekends I tend to cheat a little , so diet wise I am just going to be a little more strict and watch my calorie and macro intakes. Also increasing protien and decreasing carbs.

I work out 5 days a week.
M- 40 min cardio (20min running/20 stairmaster); Back
T- 40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min elliptical); Chest
W-40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min stairmaster);Shoulders
Th- 40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min elliptical); Bis/Tris
F- 40 min cardio( all 40min running); Legs
Sat- OFF
Sun- OFF

I have been weight training for about seven years but have fallen into a stale program of focusing on one body part a day, 3 sets each exercise for 12-15 reps. I have made gains but was wondering if thier was a better way to train now that my goal is to cut instead of gaining strenght and mass?? I was thinking of adding sprints, but was unsure where in my week that would fit in. Please any ideas, comments, suggestions and critiques will be so appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I am 5'3 135pds and about 16%bf. I am going to be starting a cutting plan this week. I only need to lose a few pounds. I eat fairly clean except that I do not pay attention to my calorie intake or macro break downs and on the weekends I tend to cheat a little , so diet wise I am just going to be a little more strict and watch my calorie and macro intakes. Also increasing protien and decreasing carbs.

I work out 5 days a week.
M- 40 min cardio (20min running/20 stairmaster); Back
T- 40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min elliptical); Chest
W-40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min stairmaster);Shoulders
Th- 40 min cardio (20 min running/20 min elliptical); Bis/Tris
F- 40 min cardio( all 40min running); Legs
Sat- OFF
Sun- OFF

I have been weight training for about seven years but have fallen into a stale program of focusing on one body part a day, 3 sets each exercise for 12-15 reps. I have made gains but was wondering if thier was a better way to train now that my goal is to cut instead of gaining strenght and mass?? I was thinking of adding sprints, but was unsure where in my week that would fit in. Please any ideas, comments, suggestions and critiques will be so appreciated! Thanks!

Too much cardio, too much lifting too many days in a row, IMHO. I honestly don't see how you gained strength, size or mass off that training plan. Typically, when gaining muscle, cardio is VERY VERY limited, as it is very catabolic. Also, 12-15 reps isn't ideal for gaining strength. To gain muscle or strength, reps are usually about 6-8.

I would try something like this......

Sun - OFF
Mon - 30 min HIIT
Tues - Back, Biceps
Weds - 30 min HIIT
Thurs - Chest, Sh, Tri
Fri - 30 min HIIT
Sat - Legs, 30 min light-moderate cardio (either inside or out)

HIIT.....High Intensity Interval Training. Can be done on any machine or outside. Try 3-5 min warm up, ~20 min of 1 min intervals, 3-5 min cooldown. Intervals should be 1 min gut busting sprinting/all out, and 1 min recovery. When starting out, you can do 30 sec all out, 1 min recovery or something similar. Good to do on track with a stopwatch, indoors on treadmill, or running stairs. HIIT would be better for losing fat and maining muscle than longer duration cardio. HIIT should not be done on consecutive days, treat it like a weight workout, with PW shake/nutrition.

Weights....try new things. Your body is too adapted to what you are doing. Drop reps to 8-10, increase weights. Try new exercises - shake things up.

Post your diet when you can, we can tweak that.


(and WELCOME! Glad to have you! )

 

[Amica]

DaisyGirl you are a lifesaver! i appreciate yours and anyone elses input. I will definatly try what you recommended. I always lifted weights and used to compete in a Power Lifting club throughout college but then began to get self concious after someone comented that I looked to manly with my muscles so I took a few years off of the heavy lifting and focused on lots of cardio and light weight high reps. I became a cardio queen but just recently weened myself down to only 40min 5 days a week alternating hard days with easier days and I actually lost bodyfat so I agree that I was and still am doing to much cardio. I guess the strenght that I have gained was the strenght that I used to have. I went from weighting 115pds to weighing 135 pds in the past years and still fit into the same size. Most of the problem is my diet. I know not enough space between meals, not enough EFA....... I'm actually going to try to follow your diet. The foods I eat are considered clean, but I don't spread them out throughout the day and then end up over eating at night. This is what it's looked like over the past few months:

Before morning workout I have a cup of coffee w/instant creamer.
8:00-a/ft cardio/lifting
Balance Bar
1 cup egg whites

12:30 or so
Grilled Chicken Salad with cucumbers, a few croutons and light ranch dressing.


4:00pm
Coffee w/cream


7:00
Chicken w/ 3 cups brocolli and too much Fat-Free Italian Dressing

9:00
2 Cans Tuna mixed with Light Ranch dressing and 3 cups brocolli mixed with Fat Free dressing- again probably too much.

10:00
Cup of tea w/instant creamer

So your probably laughing at my diet right now-lol. Hopefully if I follow yours I will have some results and I realize that I am going to have to start bring food to work so i can eat every couple hours in the day. Any suggestions?

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Silly, I'm not laughing. (a small snicker, lol, just kidding)

Like you mentioned, you know you need to eat more often, less time between meals. Here are some thoughts I have:

Meal 1 (~8am)
1 Cup Egg Whites
1/2 Cup Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat
Splenda (or other sweetener) and/or Cinnamon if necessary

Meal 2 (~11am)
Salad with spinach or romaine lettuce
Unlimited Green Veggies on it (celery, brocolli, snow peas, etc)
Can also add Chick Peas or Kidney Beans (extra protein, good carbs, fiber)
4oz Chicken (grilled)
1tbsp Olive or Flax Oil
1tbsp Balsalmic Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar

Meal 3 (~2pm)
Protein Shake

Meal 4 (~5pm)
3-4 oz Lean Meat (Chicken, Beef, Turkey, Tuna)
Unlimited Green Veggies
Small Fat Source - 1/2 tbsp Oil, 1 oz Almonds, 1/2 tbsp Natty Peanut Butter

Meal 5 (~8pm)
Repeat Meal 4

Meal 6 (nighttime, if necessary)
Protein Shake OR Cottage Cheese OR Egg Whites

Meals 3 and 4 could be switched, if you want. I would try to stick with more real food, but 1-2 protein shakes a day isn't necessarily bad. Drink LOTS of water - about 1 gallon day. Drinking Coffee and Tea is fine, IMHO. But make sure you are drinking about 1 gal of water a day.

 

[Amica]

Thanks so much- it is so much easier when its written down in front of you. Well I'm off to go grocery shopping!

 

[FigureSkater]

I had good results with pyramid sets. I like to do 12, 10, 8 and 6 reps of increasing weight, and then polish the muscle group off with one final set of 12 at the same weight I used for the set of 8 reps. That set is killer (in a good way). I like it because it's the best of both worlds...low weight/high reps AND high weight/lower reps. I've built a lot of strength that way.