How You Can Preserve Muscle Mass While Cutting

[Jay kay]

I've been training in the gym for years and it took me a long time to learn how to cut and maintain muscle mass.

I made this mistake by running up to 3-4 days a week along with my weight lifting program.

Yes, I was lean but very slim, but burned way too much muscle mass as a result.

Guys still make this mistake, my friends included. They bulk up on greasy fatty foods and still try to cut at the same time but instead put on unnecessary excess weight, it's a vicious circle if you ask me.

Other guys set unreasonable goals on really strict diets by reducing their calories to a ridiculous amount.

You have to feed your body enough calories throughout the day to burn fat. I would recommend cutting back on 300 calories per day and burn up to 400 calories per day at the gym.

In case you don't know already, the calories that you consume each day has to be less than the calories that you burn each day.

I was never a fan of counting calories but since I wanted to maintain my current physique I needed to stay on track with what I eat.

The calories that you consume every day has to be less than the calories you burn everyday.

So what has worked successfully for me over the years that allowed me to maintain muscle mass and get my body fat down from 15% to 5%?

High Intensity interval Training.

I do this either on a treadmill or outdoor sprints and still lift weights 4-5 days a week. I suggest sprinting for 30 seconds, rest for 20 seconds and repeat this cycle for 6-8 rounds. You'll burn fat even after your finished.

For me this has been a very effective way to maintain muscle mass and get ripped at the same time...so long as I made sure to eat my chicken fillets, eggs, and protein shakes each day.

Either way, it has helped me preserve muscle mass and burn fat at the same time. I go into more detail about this topic on my blog that has helped me achieve this. http://bit.ly/1fuJ1ye

Now, some of you might already be doing something similar to this and i'm not saying that it will work for any shape, size, age or gender but it's definitely an effective way to burn fat and maintain muscle mass at the same time.

If you reduce your calorie intake, lift weights 4-5 days a week and incorporate HIIT into your cardio workout once or twice a week, no more!

Would love to hear what has worked for you and would like your take on this.

Cheers

Jay Kay

 

[Dacarnix]

Hey mate, just had a read as I'm about to embark on my cutting journey. Aiming to shred about 10 kg. Really enjoyed your read, however you didn't go too indepth about how you lifted weights. When you went to the gym, did you still do the usually? i.e repping to failure as such.

 

[Jay kay]

Hi Dacarnix, Nowaday's when I'm at the gym I still do pretty much the same chest, arm and shoulder workout I have been doing for the past 8 years or so. Only difference is I take less breaks between each set and exercise and try to lift and rep till complete failure. By constantly lifting and moving quickly from one exercise to the next it really helps me burn way more calories than if I was to just move at a normal pace if that makes any sense to you.

Also I have recently replaced interval training on a treadmill with sprint training outdoors (thank god for the good weather in Ireland these days)

I try to do 8-10 50 meter sprints at least twice a week, and i'm very pleased with the results thus far....oh and I cut sugar out of my diet too so that helps a lot

So any updates on your goal to shred 10kg?

 

[Dacarnix]

Thanks for your reply Jay kay, that certainly does help. I've been on the cut now for about 6 days and so far reduced my weight by about 2.5 kg. Which I would assume has to do with water weight being dropped too as it is quite a large decrease. I've been lifting as normal about 5-6 times a week, and trying to incorporate 4-5 cardio sessions of HIIT on the treadmill per week. So far so good!

 

[demiwatkins]

In order to understand how to preserve muscle while losing body fat, it is helpful to understand the biological motivation behind these processes. Why does the body break down muscle tissue when dieting? During periods of reduced caloric intake, the body must compensate for this lack of energy.

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

Myself personally, HIIT is less effective than steady cardio. In fact, I get better results from walking rather than jogging.

But then again, everyones' physiology is different. I recall when I was younger walking wouldn't do sh!t and only running made a dent in my belly fat. Now, it's the opposite, running doesn't do sh!t but walking burns a ton of fat....weird.