Going for a cut myself and I'm just wondering what are you doing different as opposed to bulking? Workout routine/diet would be helpful and I be down to talk in PMs if need be.
Thanks!
It really mostly in the diet. I go on high protein low/moderate carb diets within 500 of my calorie deficit. I tend to keep protein really high, usually 1.5-2g/lb. My body does not cut well with carbs, I've tried, and even when I'm carb cycling I have to keep carbs under what they should be.
There's a lot of great articles and discussions on carb cycling diets, macro amounts, etc. It really depends on the person how you juggle your macros. When it comes to keto, it's pretty simple. I follow it like a normal cut, except I eliminate carbs and up the fat. Protein stays high. Both diets tend to maximize fat loss while minimizing muscle loss with relatively quick results. They can be pretty tricky to come off of however. Also get used to feeling like shit, even after entering ketosis the energy you have is no where near a normal cutting diet.
As far as my routine goes, it doesn't change all that drastically between the too. Id o more cardio and HIIT on a cut, but still try to lift heavy. As City said, gains do slow down, but I have made some strength improvement while cutting.
Typical lifting routine, 5-8 reps a set, 3 working sets per exercise, 3-5 exercises per group. I pyramid my weights (increase weight slightly with each set).
When I switched over to keto last summer was when I made the most success cutting, and oddly enough, some decent strength gains. My days were broken down like this:
Sunday - Abs/Cardio
Monday - Chest/Tris
Tuesday - Shoulders/Traps
Wednesday - Arms/Cardio (Don't do this)
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Back/Bis
Saturday - Rest/Cardio
I would sometimes throw in an arm day (as I pointed out), but it was mostly pointless, a bodybuilding thing really.
I never did HIIT on keto, only low intensity cardio for 30-45 mins. When I move over to carb cycling I start adding in 1-2 days of HIIT and upping non-HIT cardio to medium intensity.
I'll break down a back/bi day to give you a basic idea, but I kept things fresh so they didn't always go down like this.
Back
- Deadlifts/Pullups (warmup)
- Deadlifts
- Lat Pulldowns
- BB/DB Bent over rows
- Seated rows
Bis
- Standing DB curls
- Reverse grip cable curls
- Chin-ups/close grip pulldowns burnout
Like I said, 3 sets on each, 5-8 reps, pyramiding the weight. I usually do rep changes like this: 8 8 5-6. If I'm still warming up there will be a fourth set (plus the warm up sets) at the start, 12 8 8 6.
Basically it. A disclaimer though, I have never really followed a program. I've been pretty much learning this shit as I go, and as I mentioned in an earlier post I've been reluctant to offer advice here. I don't know everything, nor would I even say I know a lot. I just know what has worked for me and that's the advice I can give. I'm still learning.
