How do you successfuly cut without losing muscle?

I used to look pretty bulky and strong before my cut, but had a massive gut in which strangely, that was where the only fat on my body would accumulate. Still though, I loved my OVERALL size, but I just wanted to lose the gut/love handles. So two weeks ago, I decided to add 25 minutes of cardio before and after my workouts, which is something I never did before. Also, I decided to cut, and since then, Ive eaten nothing but..
 
whey protein shakes, bananas, grapes, natural apple juice (grounded apples), spinach, other frozen mixed veggies, ground turkey, chicken breasts, tuna out of the can, spices such as black pepper, turmeric, and garlic salt, soybeans (which im gonna give up due to estrogen suspicion), cottage cheese, natural peanut butter on south beach diet whole grain wraps, olives, mixed nuts in the shell, carrots with hummus, Trader Joes Golden flax organic cereal, fat free milk, casein shakes before bed, and water.
 
Outside of the above list, I eat NOTHING. And my gut after two weeks is quickly diminishing as well as my love handles. But guess what? Im also getting skinnier overall! My looming traps are much smaller. My triceps look much more cut, but much smaller. My puffed up chest is now becoming flattened, and doesnt bulge with the use of a tight shirt. I just basically am becoming a cut, yet skinny ectomorph.  So why do I always see cut, yet BIG guys? How do they do it? What am I doing/eating wrong?

Some people forunate enough to not lose muscle while cutting.

When you cut your body has to be at catabolic state therefore being uncapable of producing muscle gains.  If you're not feeding your body the essential nutrients, it won't grow.  When you cut (burn fat) you have to burn more calories then you consume.

When catabolism occurs, that is muscle breakdown, your body begins taking protein from your muscles, using fat as a source of energy (therefore resulting in decrease in bodyfat % and weight loss), it begins stealing calcium from your bones, etc.

If you go on a high protein, low carb, zero fat diet for cutting.  You may be able to keep optimum muscle gains.

machoman


Some people forunate enough to not lose muscle while cutting.

When you cut your body has to be at catabolic state therefore being uncapable of producing muscle gains.  If you're not feeding your body the essential nutrients, it won't grow.  When you cut (burn fat) you have to burn more calories then you consume.

When catabolism occurs, that is muscle breakdown, your body begins taking protein from your muscles, using fat as a source of energy (therefore resulting in decrease in bodyfat % and weight loss), it begins stealing calcium from your bones, etc.

If you go on a high protein, low carb, zero fat diet for cutting.  You may be able to keep optimum muscle gains.

that is not entirely true, protein and muscles arent the most readily available "food" for the body during most activities.  During the day or 85% of the time you are sedintary (watching tv sleeping ect ect) you are in the oxidative energy system of the body and the body will burn mainly fat and carbs (70% fat 30% carbs), as intensity increases (exercises, walking, running ect) that slowly shifts to more carbs than fat, NOT muscle/protein.  You can stay in an anabolic state while cutting and you can lose fat while retaining most if not all your muscle, its the same way as some people bulk without gaining any fat.

I'd say work on low-weight high-rep cardiocentric weights, and do the diet thing mentioned. That should work. Do small runs, sprints for instance. A few 400 meter sprints with 1-2 minutes breaks in between every couple days in lieu of half of your weight workout for the day should cut it.

Make sure you include upper body, core, and legs in your workout, equal parts (you could cut the legs part of the workout out on days you do sprints, that would be a good idea by the way).

I'm not much of a "cutter", but if I were to ever cut I'd do the following 2 things:

1.) Eat on a slight caloric deficit - all healthy foods
2.) Train exactly the same way as I did while bulking

"True genius, in many fields of human endeavor, is often revealed in elegant simplicity."

- A smart man

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This happens to everyone...when you cut, youre going to lose water weight.  It will make you look alot more ripped but smaller too, especially when you have a shirt on.  If you were to start eating again i think youd be surprised that you didnt lose as much fat as youd thought, and you didnt really lose any muscle size either.  Its water.  You just have to choose one lol.  Thats why i bulk durin tha winter when im gonna have my shirt on all tha time nd cut in tha summer when im not.

I have a friend who weighs 225, carries around about 15% bf with just a tad less muscle than me.  I weigh about 210 but my bf is a little below 10%.  If were both wearin a shirt he looks bigger than me but if we take them off, suddenly i look bigger.

working on explosive phase
vertical: 35
weight: 206

Big 3: 300/440/515

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

When I am "cutting" I usually just eat enough to maintain and add in some extra cardio to burn some extra calories. I also tend to change up my workout to lower reps, higher weights. I have actually sometimes seen decent strength gains while losing weight. You might want to shoot for a few more calories during the day. Just go for a slight decrease in calories and you may be able to keep a little more muscle while you drop some fat. It will take longer to drop all the fat you want but it may help you retain some size.

Although if you feel like a skinny cut guy then maybe you should try to put on some more mass before you cut

Damn you, Rolling Stone. Is the avatar you? It must be your genetics, that is so unfair.

It could be or it could be that he just worked his balls off.

Discrediting a guy just because he looks good by saying its genetics is pretty low IMO. He might have great genes but without hours in the gym he'd never get there.

So really, its not unfair at all. He worked his balls off, whats stopping you?

Gin Rummy: Simply because you don't have evidence that something does exist does not mean you have evidence of something that doesn't exist.(from the boondocks)

Soccerking3000

machoman


Some people forunate enough to not lose muscle while cutting.

When you cut your body has to be at catabolic state therefore being uncapable of producing muscle gains.  If you're not feeding your body the essential nutrients, it won't grow.  When you cut (burn fat) you have to burn more calories then you consume.

When catabolism occurs, that is muscle breakdown, your body begins taking protein from your muscles, using fat as a source of energy (therefore resulting in decrease in bodyfat % and weight loss), it begins stealing calcium from your bones, etc.

If you go on a high protein, low carb, zero fat diet for cutting.  You may be able to keep optimum muscle gains.

that is not entirely true, protein and muscles arent the most readily available "food" for the body during most activities.  During the day or 85% of the time you are sedintary (watching tv sleeping ect ect) you are in the oxidative energy system of the body and the body will burn mainly fat and carbs (70% fat 30% carbs), as intensity increases (exercises, walking, running ect) that slowly shifts to more carbs than fat, NOT muscle/protein.  You can stay in an anabolic state while cutting and you can lose fat while retaining most if not all your muscle, its the same way as some people bulk without gaining any fat.

Alot of good information in your posts.
 
I'm not sure it's possibly to eat completely all protein.  Somewhere in your day your consuming carbs/fats.  But the body uses protein for energy as well.

God im tempted to give up on my cut, its just not what I was looking for. ALL i wanted was to lose belly flab and love handles, and I ended up losing like a fourth of my body mass in a month.

I look really thin so my popping chest is flattened and I just look like my old ectomorph self before working out. (Although strangely, my shoulders/traps remain widened and strong.) My strength is seriously crap now though. I used to incllne bench press with 55s (dumbells), and today I seriously could only handle.......37.5s! My left arm is especially weak, usually only giving about 4 reps before crumpling and causing me to end my set.

Has anybody else experienced this from cutting? I am not starving myself or nothing, I am just depriving myself of fatty goods and sugars, thats all. Im still eating tons of tuns, casein, whey, grapes, bananas, olives, tuna, chicken, spinach, etc.

hey DTES mabey your body is eating your muscles becuase you dont have the right carbs
cut the south beach and trader joes crap
try some high fiber multigrain bread, and plain old oat meal

stay with the same weight lifting routine you did not got that size by lifting light weight and 20 reps. as for the cut, eat healthy and do your cardio 6-8 hours before or after you weight training.

if you lost half your body mass in a month.. you're doing something very wrong.  sounds like your muscles aren't getting enough of what they need.

you still need to EAT. even when cutting.  only difference is... change the ratio of carbs/fats a lil bit.  and lower the calories / day just a bit.

also.. you can add in some type of cardiovascular activity if you need to in order to use up some extra calories.  I have a feeling though that you're eating or not eating the wrong types of things, and not getting enough per day.. food-wise.

My name is FOX.... and I approve this message.

How much are u exactly eating cause wat u posted doesnt look like u are eating that much

dtes


God im tempted to give up on my cut, its just not what I was looking for. ALL i wanted was to lose belly flab and love handles, and I ended up losing like a fourth of my body mass in a month.

Has anybody else experienced this from cutting?

A loss a a 1/4 of your body mass and a 31% decrease in your incline press in one month? I am not sure if you are using realistic assessments of your form. Is the loss of 'mass' judged by your perception in the mirror? Was this drop in weight just one bad day at the gym?
 
First thing to do is talk to a qualified trainer if you can? Sort out a weights and cardio program and have your form in lifts checked.
 
 
Brihead301 and soocerking3000 said,
1.) Eat on a slight caloric deficit - all healthy foods
2.) Train exactly the same way as I did while bulking
3.) Add a little more low intensity cardio to burn more fats (cardio machines can work out the intensity for you with the fat burning programs).
 
If you lower your dumbbell weight, your muscles will lose their muscular and strength adaptations. It could also be detrimental to your progress if you are overdoing the weight. If you are not eating and resting right, your body will not be able to support the anabolic environment necessary for adaptation.
 
 
Try not to worry so much about it all. Just incorporate good habits and think to be well trained or otherwise untrained.
 
 
 

HIIT + Normal food + extra fruits and greens + Protein Shakes twice a day = looking your best all through the year.
I dont understand why ppl want to get ripped and hot ONLY during the competition times! :S
 

Once again, youre not losing as much as you think.  Its mostly water.  Theres no way you lost a fourth of your body mass.  Your muscles look flattened most likely because of less glycogen stores as a result of eating fewer carbs.

Up your bcaa and get you calories so that youre only losing a pound or two a week.

working on explosive phase
vertical: 35
weight: 206

Big 3: 300/440/515

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.

With my standard disclaimer of being new to this - I think you've cut too much out of your diet probably to sustain your mass appropriately.  Its hard to tell without comparing to your prior diet.

I"m going to start a first cut on MOnday, which will consist of adding 30 minutes or so of cardio 3 days a week, eliminating simple sugars & reducing simple carbs, slightly lowering the portions of my meals and  reducing the carb/fat intake of my bedtime snack.  Going to keep my daily shot of olive oil though, for that healthy fat!

My lifting routine will stay the same.
 
Some other people (IBB) have posted on here that the first 10 lbs they lost on a cut were stressful because they felt like they were getting smaller, but they stuck with it, and the losses after that were good.

I think all this losing lean muscle mass when you cut is getting fairly close to the over-used slang, over-training... it's just not that easy..

When you lose fat, you're going to lose strength.. period...
If you continue to eat a somewhat healthy diet with frequency, (every 2-3 hours) you're not going to start losing muscle mass until you reach the single digits..  and more than likely not going to lose much until you're around the 6-7% range..

Everyone gets so carried away, affraid to do cardio, scared to death to lower calls due to losing lean mass... It's just not that easy...

Eat a crap meal 2 times a day and train like crap and you may have something to worry about.. but even with those two met, you're probably ok until you reach low double or high single digits..

True.. the body prefers to burn muscle over fat, but only when it feels it is being starved. and someone with a high BF% has nothing to worry about... it's moreless silly..

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing