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What are the best exercises to get "cut"?



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Old 05-15-2008, 11:11 PM
ebase131 ebase131 is offline
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Default What are the best exercises to get "cut"?

Hey, I'm sort of new to the whole lifting scene, but I have been pretty serious the past 4 or 5 months lifting with a friend in a stage he called the "bulking" stage. I haven't gained a lot of weight (started around 173, up to about 177.5 lbs in weight), but I think that is because I replaced the fat with muscle as I definitely have seen a big improvement in every muscle group of my body and have drastically increased the weight I could lift.

I feel pretty comfortable with how big I have gotten, but now I want to get cut and tone (most notably in the ab region) while keeping as much solid muscle as possible.

Obviously running/cardio helps that, but what kind of weight lifting program should I follow now that I want to get CUT instead of build lots of muscle? Should I do more ab related workouts if I really want to bring those out? I think having really nice abs shows how "cut" someone is, that is probably a stupid way to say it but in my eyes that's what I think of right away.

How should I eat, should I avoid taking whey protein now or avoid eating heavier foods even when I'm really hungry? I'm sure these questions sound stupid, but I'm trying my best and I (and my girl) would appreciate any help anyone can give!

Thanks,

Eric
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Old 05-15-2008, 11:36 PM
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IMO it doesn't matter what kind of workout you do. As long as you keep the intensity up high and lift weights atleast 3 times a week. ( but that's just me). But there are some very good programs out there and on this site. Take a look around too see what may work for you.

Want you really need to do is get your diet in check. At 177lbs (what is your height? ) you want to take in atleast 177g of protein ( no less ) You can go up to 266g of protein and that would be 1.5 x 177. So lets use 220g of protein , that is 880 cals. You might want to use the same for carbs or go higher ( I would go higher on lift days ) so lets use 220g of carbs = 880 cals. Now for fat , if you take in 75g of fat that would be 675 cals . You would be looking at aprox 2500 cals.

This is all speculation , I can't tell you what your exact numbers would be. You must write down what your eating now and get the total cals (f,p,c) and see if your gaining weight , loosing weight , maintaining Fat or Muscle.

Even though you want to get "cut" you still have to eat. Being 177lbs, 2500cals maybe a good start - maybe not , only you can tell.

Also IMO running is not very good. It's hard on the joints. Walking is better and will help you keep some muscle mass , while losing weight.
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:38 AM
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you would have to post your diet (example of what you would eat on a normal basis) an dyour workout.

nine times out of ten if you start to cut your reps will increase. and IMO i would recommend sprints instead of long paced running. that will def help you keep your muscle. look at long distance runners and then look at sprinters you can see a big difference.

i agree with talo on the running, but if you find a grass surface those sprint will def help
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Old 05-16-2008, 05:55 AM
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Read the stickies in the fatloss forum. And the nutrition forum. You shouldn't need to change the foods you eat (if you're already eating correctly - see stickies)...just decrease overall caloric intake. You don't even need to change your weightlifting routine or anything. Hopefully you're already doing cardio and you can just increase that a little bit. If you're already doing a good routine with plenty of squats, dead lifts, etc then you probably already have some good abs... If you do some searching & reading, you'll find lots of info on this forum. Just read. A lot.
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Old 05-16-2008, 07:26 AM
ebase131 ebase131 is offline
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Alright guys, thanks for all the help so quickly! I do notice that I feel exhausted just from doing my normal lifting routine (probably helps burn off a lot of fat as well as building muscle), but when should I mix in some cardio? On off days?

I work out 2 on, 1 off, then 2 on again, then repeat the cycle.

Day 1: Chest/triceps
Day 2: Back/Biceps

rest

Day 3: Shoulders/Abs
Day 4: Legs

rest

repeat

Does that seem like a pretty good routine? I know Day 1 works shoulders pretty good, and abs are worked in almost all exercises as a stabilizer. Also, I don't do deadlifts as the guy I work out with says they can reallllly mess up your back if you do them incorrectly, should I maybe start throwing those in somewhere?

For now, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, maybe cut back on some calories and treats every now and then, and hopefully I'll start seeing the cut abs.

Thanks for any help you guys can give, and thanks for responding already!

Eric
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Old 05-16-2008, 08:01 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ebase131 View Post
Also, I don't do deadlifts as the guy I work out with says they can reallllly mess up your back if you do them incorrectly, should I maybe start throwing those in somewhere?
Try adding them in and doing them correctly. They are arguably the best mass building exercise that exists.

The split that you posted doesn't really explain much at all. There is nothing obviously wrong with it, but it means nothing without exercises/reps/sets included.

EDIT: A split isn't a routine. It's just how your routine is broken up.
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Old 05-16-2008, 08:33 AM
ebase131 ebase131 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross86 View Post
Try adding them in and doing them correctly. They are arguably the best mass building exercise that exists.

The split that you posted doesn't really explain much at all. There is nothing obviously wrong with it, but it means nothing without exercises/reps/sets included.

EDIT: A split isn't a routine. It's just how your routine is broken up.

What about squats? Aren't they just as important though?

I do everything 3 sets of 8 reps, increasing the weight by 10 pounds or so each time. So, with that in mind:

Day 1: Chest/Triceps

Flat bench, incline bench, skull crushers, butterflies on machine, tri pulldowns (should i add something else, i feel like im forgetting something)

Day 2: Back/Biceps

lat pulldown, seated rows, different type of rows, 21s or just dumbbell curls, pull ups, nukes (biceps)

rest day

Day 3: Shoulders/Abs

seated shoulder press, dumbbell shoulders, inclined situps with 10 pound weight, leg raises, birdmans, (shrugs?)

Day 4: LEGS

squats, calves (raises), leg extensions, leg curls, obliques (if needed)

rest day


I may have accidentally left out some things, I am just trying to recount my workout plan off the top of my head, but I think I got most if not all of it covered. Am I missing any vital exercises, or should I not be doing them 3 x 8? That's how I've always been taught/trained, so if there is something better I'm definitely open to suggestions.
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Old 05-16-2008, 08:45 AM
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Yeah, squats are the other exercise that people would argue is the best for building mass. I think squats are more important than deads, but they're both very important.

About your exercise selection...some of that stuff is redundant, but I'll let someone else explain why because I don't feel qualified to try to explain all of it. Volume is little too high also, IMO.
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Old 05-16-2008, 12:03 PM
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You diet is the number one thing that will contribute to your recovery from the workouts. And it ain't just having enough protein to cover protein synthesis. I wouldn't agree with the common advice to just do the same thing you would normally do except on a calorie deficit (if you are on one). That is a recipe for disaster.

If you do the same amount of work, the same stress, on a calorie deficit as you would on a calorie surplus...you will just build up a recovery debt. It doesn't make any sense to me to tell people the only difference between them and their middle aged mom is the amount of carbs they should eat or something like that.

Training always has to fit the goals as does diet. I think some of this comes from the off-stated but decidedly non-sensical "diet is 80%" thing". How people come up with shit like that is beyond me. Your diet determines what you can do and recover from in order to meet your goals, progress, not get injured, etc...so in other words your training is in large part determined by your diet. Putting one as so much more 'important' than the other makes it sound like people can do any damn thing in the gym they want and just adjusting their calories will work it all out for them.

That is just a general opinion on the whole workout thing.

I know some may say, well, you take all these supplements to help with "recovery". Well, sups aint anabolic steroids. Steroids can both increase your work capacity AND recovery. Many supps that can help increase you work capacity a bit do nothing much to anything to increase your recovery. So it can kinda be the same thing..more work with less recovery capacity. There just ain't much other than food that can really determine recovery.

What I would suggest is strength maintenance combined with a couple of moderate volume/intensity sets to stimulate EPOC and then finishing off with supersets, trisets, tabatas, that kind of thing to get heart rate up. I'm no expert on cutting though. I can tell you from experience though that you want to fit your training to your dietary restrictions. Probably there are others who can explain this better than me.
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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.
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Old 05-16-2008, 02:14 PM
ebase131 ebase131 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric3237 View Post
Probably there are others who can explain this better than me.
I don't know, that was pretty good =0)

I'm thinking about staying the course and just hoping eating healthier while staying on the same workout routine will help shape my body, then cardio maybe later on if necessary?
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