Right, finally decided to put full force and effort into cutting this summer while im home from university.
I feel that due to me being at home, life will be more structured and therefore i can achieve my goal.

I've never officially weighted my bodyfat or anything like that. So basically am i right in saying that the steps of constructive cutting is:

• Calculating BF%?
• Calculating how many calories i need to consume to get rid of the fat?
• Choosing a right training routine and nutrition plan?

Now with the last bullet point in mind, i wondered what everyone thinks in terms of training, will i be more successful in reaching my goals with an all body routine lifting weights, accompanied by cardio and my martial arts training?

OR

the same cardio and martial arts training but training muscle groups on seperate days as i have been doing since i started.


For the first idea i was thinking of Mon, Wed, Fri, lifting with cardio before/after, thus leaving Tues and Thurs my rest days (which are my martial art training days anyway).
Weekends are rest periods also.

Second idea is the usual for me:
Mon - Chest, Bi's
Tues - Legs
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - Shoulders, Traps
Friday - Back

My nutritional knowledge is limited, i am going to purchase BFFM.
As reccommended by Marc

I've really decided to go for this with inspiration of MDClifter
cheers for posting your amazing progress.

Any comments are much appreciated and will be concidered.
I'm planning on before and after pictures also.

hold old are you?

what are your stats?

and how much lifting experience do you have?

i'm real curious to know your current BF % right now as well whenever you figure that out.

ORIGINAL: TheSilverFox

hold old are you?

what are your stats?

and how much lifting experience do you have?

i'm real curious to know your current BF % right now as well whenever you figure that out.

19 years old, been lifting since i was 16 on and off. Usually education and my goals constantly changing at that age started and stopped me with education.

Experianced with exercise, but always trained with the splitting of muscle groups. My dad taught me alot about training from various perspectives, he used to power lift but also trained with BBers and climbers.
The rest of my knowledge is compiled from magazines, these forums, and other people i train alongside with.

I'll post my stats up ASAP, dont have time at the moment as im just on my way out!

Should i calculate my BF% with clippers? (which id need to purchase) or from some sort of calucation? or a visit to the GP?

Thanks for showing interest!

cool.  yea.. get those stats up when you can,     and yes... clippers are probably the most accurate way to measure.

if you have a membership to a gym of some sort, i'm sure you could get all your measurements, and BF% measured by a trainer or whatever for free.  it's usually a perk from a gym membership.

yeah im not an amatuer with training, i've had a membership for around 3 years now.

Just i've mainly focused my efforts on experimenting with different exercises and routines to find whats best for my muscle development. Due to me bulking i just ate alot, and made sure it was high in protein and low in crap basically.

i have measurements and weights all recorded in my book, i just dont have any BF% numbers =]

i'll sort it all out and post it tomorrow

I like your first idea for training the best. It's pretty similiar to what I did. Although I will say don't do any cardio before you lift. All that is going to do is take away from your lifting intensity (which you don't want to sacrifice when you are cutting). Hit the weights hard (like I'm sure you have been doing) and then do some cardio afterwards (I'd start with just jogging or something moderate and then work your way up to some sort of HIIT cardio). Having said all that, I still believe the diet is the most important part of cutting. I probably could have lost 80% of the weight I did w/o doing any cardio at all (but the health benefits of cardio are great so you might as well do it).

Get your BF % measured and take pics and keep us posted on your progress. I'm sure you'll do great. A calorie calculator will get you started on the right path but most of it is going to come by trial and error, figuring out exactly what your body needs (calorie wise). Avoid those insulin spikes and eat clean and  you'll be dropping fat left and right. Good luck to you man and glad I could be some sort of inspiration.

just keepin you updated.

im moving out my flat to back home for the summer, tomorrow is my final checkout.
So when im back at home, the stats will be posted.

OK. So im semi settled back with the parents for summer. Here it goes

Using my Accu Calipers, my bodyfat percentage is around 14% apparently. But i do have a belly, from alcohol and also from being a tubby kid.

So:

BF Percentage : 14%
Height: 6ft
Weight: 14st 3lbs
Waist: 36" around hip  33" around abs


I have measurements for muscle groups but at the moment they are inaccurate.

After takin a couple of weeks out for exams etc i'v put on about 1/2 an inch around my waste etc, and decreased some muscle mass due to lack of calroies =[
Ah well, thinking ahead now.

Is there any other stats you wanted?




Oh and also, i did my first overall body workout. It was tough, my cardio is pretty dire, i need to sort that out! Plus, i think i did my routine in the wrong order, started with bench press etc rather than squats. so that will be sorted for next session =]

Thanks again fellas.

For my training im going to do:

Squats
Deadlifts
Calf Raises
Bench Press
T-Bar row
Lat pulldown/pullup
Military Press
Skull crushers with DB (due to my shoulder problems)
Bicep curl with olympic bar (personal preference)

Basically workin from my feet upwards getting all major muscle groups.

But i cant help to want to do more, maybe 2 exercises on my chest for example, throw in an incline etc, or even dips for the chest.
I'm going to keep this structure, but also keep changing exercises, especially for bi's and tri's. Maybe also change bench press to DB bench press etc.

I'm also going to experiment with supersets. I used supersets when bulking sometimes, especially if i was havin a bad week and needed to catch up with a muscle group.

Maybe supersetting my chest and back could leave room for more exercises. I suppose im still in a building mind set rather than concentrating on cutting!

=]

Routine looks good man. I honestly wouldn't add anything to it right away. You've got a bunch of good compound lifts and a few isolations. Stick with it for a few weeks and then see if you really think you need to add anything. Although feel free to change some exercises up every few weeks. Like doing incline bench for a few weeks then doing decline or flatbench, maybe throw in some dips for a few weeks but lower the sets on the bench. Tricep and bicep isolations obviously have tons of exercises you can use to mix it up. Keep us posted on the progress.