Cardio and lifting 4 days per week

[WillAshland]

I'm attempting to cut down, and I currently do upper/lower splits, each one followed by cardio, and I do this twice a week. Hence, 4 days a week I lift then do cardio. Anyways, are there any opinions on this for cutting? I hope to retain my current muscle mass so I'm keeping up my protein and such.

[9cyclops9]

I'm attempting to cut down, and I currently do upper/lower splits, each one followed by cardio, and I do this twice a week. Hence, 4 days a week I lift then do cardio. Anyways, are there any opinions on this for cutting? I hope to retain my current muscle mass so I'm keeping up my protein and such.

Cutting is more about diet than training. Keep your lifting the same. Don't expect to get much (if any) stronger while cutting though. Your cardio is probably fine too, but you may decide you want to do a little more.

The main thing is the diet. And that depends on how strict you're willing to go. If you're willing to be super strict, look into carb cycling (more complex than strict), the T-Dawg 2.0 diet at T-Nation, or even the Velocity Diet at T-Nation if you're nearly suicidal. Of course, the V-Diet is the quickest way of the three, and the toughest to stick with. T-Dawg is super low carbs (never above 100g) and the V-Diet is all liquid (protein and flax shakes all day).

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=811783
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=473067

If you're looking for something less strict and willing to spend a little more time cutting, just keep a log of how many calories you're consuming and decrease by about 250-500 each week until you're losing fat at a steady rate. Increase protein intake because protein is more thermogenic than carbs and fat. Decrease carb intake, and get enough healthy fats.

PS: If you decide to go with the V-Diet, make sure you're using plenty of casein, or you'll be hungry constantly. You don't have to go with Low-Carb Grow! (now called Metabolic Drive), but if you don't, I'd recommend going to The Protein Factory and making a custom blend of 40% micellar casein and 60% whey isolate. It's a bit less expensive than Metabolic Drive, but the taste isn't as good. My recommendation is to go with Metabolic Drive. You'll probably be drinking 5 or so shakes per day and that's it, so you want something that tastes great. Your supplement bill will go up drastically, but your grocery bill will be non-existant. If you sit down and do the math, you'll find that a month of the V-Diet is much cheaper than a month of regula food. And you'll drop fat fast. The guy that originated the diet lost 15 lbs of fat in 4 weeks. The tough part is sticking to the diet.

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....le=05-009-diet
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....le=05-025-diet
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=559702

[oligator01]

Cutting is more about diet than training. Keep your lifting the same. Don't expect to get much (if any) stronger while cutting though. Your cardio is probably fine too, but you may decide you want to do a little more.

The main thing is the diet. And that depends on how strict you're willing to go. If you're willing to be super strict, look into carb cycling (more complex than strict), the T-Dawg 2.0 diet at T-Nation, or even the Velocity Diet at T-Nation if you're nearly suicidal. Of course, the V-Diet is the quickest way of the three, and the toughest to stick with. T-Dawg is super low carbs (never above 100g) and the V-Diet is all liquid (protein and flax shakes all day).

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=811783
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=473067

If you're looking for something less strict and willing to spend a little more time cutting, just keep a log of how many calories you're consuming and decrease by about 250-500 each week until you're losing fat at a steady rate. Increase protein intake because protein is more thermogenic than carbs and fat. Decrease carb intake, and get enough healthy fats.

PS: If you decide to go with the V-Diet, make sure you're using plenty of casein, or you'll be hungry constantly. You don't have to go with Low-Carb Grow! (now called Metabolic Drive), but if you don't, I'd recommend going to The Protein Factory and making a custom blend of 40% micellar casein and 60% whey isolate. It's a bit less expensive than Metabolic Drive, but the taste isn't as good. My recommendation is to go with Metabolic Drive. You'll probably be drinking 5 or so shakes per day and that's it, so you want something that tastes great. Your supplement bill will go up drastically, but your grocery bill will be non-existant. If you sit down and do the math, you'll find that a month of the V-Diet is much cheaper than a month of regula food. And you'll drop fat fast. The guy that originated the diet lost 15 lbs of fat in 4 weeks. The tough part is sticking to the diet.

http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....le=05-009-diet
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....le=05-025-diet
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=559702

^^^^What he said.