The final stages of a first ever cut

[ivxenz]

Hi, I have been cutting for about 10 months now. I am 6'1" 27yr, and went from 103kg to 80kg and at about 19% bf right now. The first half of this cut I had no idea about lifting or bb.com so i spent most of it doing cardio. Now I have been keeping up my macros, calorie counting and lifting for the past 3-4 months now and progress is still happening

BUT


i had a lower back slipped disc about 6-7 years ago and now since my weight has dropped and I have not been able to add strength or mass to my lower back (because of cutting) my exercise regiment has frequently being put on pause because of strained lower back after lifting.

I am about 3kgs from the point where i feel i will be lean enough to start my first ever bulk (the muscles on my frame are not much at all right now) so i was wondering if i can do the following:

Ramp up the cardio
Keep the diet and macros
Cut down on lifting to just the 3 compound lifts of Bench press, Deadlifts and Squats (and maybe OHP and Curls) to 2 days a week till I reach the level of leanness I am aiming for before the bulk



Cliffs:
very close to finishing a cut and being adequately lean to start a bulk
heavy weight training without adding strength or mass really affecting my lower back stamina
thinking about lowering down the volume and number of lifting days and adding more cardio with same diet for these last 3kgs.

[nicklyne]

Hi, I have been cutting for about 10 months now. I am 6'1" 27yr, and went from 103kg to 80kg and at about 19% bf right now. The first half of this cut I had no idea about lifting or bb.com so i spent most of it doing cardio. Now I have been keeping up my macros, calorie counting and lifting for the past 3-4 months now and progress is still happening

BUT


i had a lower back slipped disc about 6-7 years ago and now since my weight has dropped and I have not been able to add strength or mass to my lower back (because of cutting) my exercise regiment has frequently being put on pause because of strained lower back after lifting.

I am about 3kgs from the point where i feel i will be lean enough to start my first ever bulk (the muscles on my frame are not much at all right now) so i was wondering if i can do the following:

Ramp up the cardio
Keep the diet and macros
Cut down on lifting to just the 3 compound lifts of Bench press, Deadlifts and Squats (and maybe OHP and Curls) to 2 days a week till I reach the level of leanness I am aiming for before the bulk



Cliffs:
very close to finishing a cut and being adequately lean to start a bulk
heavy weight training without adding strength or mass really affecting my lower back stamina
thinking about lowering down the volume and number of lifting days and adding more cardio with same diet for these last 3kgs.

I wouldn't sacrifice lifting over cardio.

What is your deficit like? Can you not make it any bigger without cardio?

[matman1813]

No pictures?