Decrease volume when cutting calories??

[tpz4sheezy85]

I was thinking of incorporating a program where you basically hit each body part 2x a week and it incorporates a good amount of volume each workout. My question is I'm on a pretty restricted caloric intake around 1500 to 1700cal a day and I was going to try that routine. Should I just stick to only doing each body part once a week and just making sure I hit it good that one time instead of hitting them a second day that week? I'm just worried that due to the restricted calories I won't give my body enough fuel to recover adequately. I also do light cardio for 45 min 3 to 5 days a week. My main goal is to drop 20 lbs or so. I'm currently 5'6 188 at around 22% bf.

[dipatel13]

Whether you're cutting or not, I would recommend switching to hitting each muscle group 2x per week instead of just one. You don't need just one muscle per day unless you are older or an advanced lifter.

Why are your cals so low? At your stats 1-1.5lbs per week loss is fine.

[Tommy W.]

I was thinking of incorporating a program where you basically hit each body part 2x a week and it incorporates a good amount of volume each workout. My question is I'm on a pretty restricted caloric intake around 1500 to 1700cal a day and I was going to try that routine. Should I just stick to only doing each body part once a week and just making sure I hit it good that one time instead of hitting them a second day that week? I'm just worried that due to the restricted calories I won't give my body enough fuel to recover adequately. I also do light cardio for 45 min 3 to 5 days a week. My main goal is to drop 20 lbs or so. I'm currently 5'6 188 at around 22% bf.

Frequency and intensity is important volume is not. You won't be building muscle on a cut so no need to use a lot of volume. The goal is not to lose muscle. Too much volume compromises recovery which in turn compromises intensity.

[kusok]

On a cut you need to reduce volume, frequency, but NOT intensity.

Keep the weight on the bar!

If you can't lift what you lifted a week ago you are at risk of losing muscle and need to back off your diet a bit (try 100 calories more and stay that way for a week, never bring up your calories up by more then 100-150 per week) and/or decrease how often you hit each muscle group (frequency) and/or decrease how many sets you do (volume)


If on a bulk you would do 4 days upper/lower, on a cut you'd do 3 days alternating upper and lower, and reduce number of sets, even as much as by half. Instead of 4 working sets of bench, do 2 etc.


Also, you do too much cardio. 3 days 30 mins is enough. Unless you're an athlete training for some endurance event.
2 days 45 mins fine also.

[sunsean]

Not saying it's the right way to go, but my approach when cutting is switching from a split to a 3/week full body routine, hitting each major muscle group twice, with some arm work thrown in at the end...and then I do cardio on the other 4 days, sometimes throw in an extra run on a lifting day for 2-a-days...I personally find upping my cardio during a cut hugely beneficial...a) it keeps me engaged with my fitness, so I'm not just sitting around when I'm not lifting, which helps motivate me to eat right on non-lifting days; b) it allows me more flexibility with my diet, by being able to eat a little more and also having a positive effect on my metabolism; c) it might be mental/placebo, but I swear it yields faster fat loss results for me than dieting/lifting alone. But that's just me.

[NitrogenWidget]

I cut hard during the week while doing the cardio bunny thing then up cals on the weekend and follow an upper/lower split.
Simple basic moves one exercise per body-part and I pyramid to fail.

I don't even track what i'm lifting because I know my strength will tank anyways while cutting.
when the fat is gone I look like I have muscles to women compared to the other guys my age.

the only reason I follow this is because it works best for my schedule.