It is recommended that you aim to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs of total body weight per week during a diet phase, as any faster than that and it suggests you are losing muscle tissue. While you may be tempted to push for 1.5lbs or more loss per week, it often comes at the cost of losing muscle.
A slow, even rate of weight loss — such as 1 lb (0.45 kg) or 0.5%–1% of your body weight per week — is best for a cutting diet ( 6 ). Although a larger calorie deficit may help you lose weight faster, it can increase your risk of losing muscle, which is not ideal for this diet ( 6 ).
It's pretty simple. If you're lean enough to bulk (10-15% body fat or less for a man, or 18-23% or less for a woman), you should probably bulk first. If you're above these ranges, you should cut first. And if you're a beginner who's somewhere in the middle, you should recomp.
To lose muscle mass, you must reduce your caloric intake and alter your workouts. Consider these adjustments: Diet. Consume fewer calories and eat a lower percentage of foods that are high in proteins and carbohydrates.
Furthermore, the longer the cut, the more muscle mass is lost overall since it is impossible to avoid muscle loss, so keep this in mind. Most bodybuilders do not exceed cuts of 4 months but usually do at least 2 months.
Yes, strength training during a cutting phase is critical to maintaining as much lean muscle mass as you can during this lower-calorie phase. The more muscle mass you can maintain, the lower your body fat gets as you drop weight.
We recommend losing somewhere between 0.5 to 1 kilogram (or 1 to 2 pounds) of body weight per week. That rate ensures you can keep all your muscle and lose more or less only fat weight, as long as you engage in strength training and eat enough protein.
To lose weight and maintain muscle mass, you need to go into a caloric deficit and exercise regularly. Cardio, strength training, and especially compound movements are key to losing fat and building muscle. Taking it slow and giving your body time to recover is imperative.
Creatine can help support and protect your muscles during cutting by bringing water into your muscles. This helps boost and preserve muscle fibers from damage. That's also why drinking plenty of water during cutting is important.
So, what are the best rep ranges for cutting? The best rep range for cutting is one that allows you to sometimes train with heavier loads to preserve basic strength (5-10 reps) and more moderate to light loads to allow you to retain as much muscle while training in higher volumes (10-20 reps).
For beginners, it isn't too uncommon to build muscle while cutting. For intermediate or advanced lifters, maintaining your muscle mass during a cut is often a more realistic goal, and if you are able to train hard enough to actually increase your muscle mass while cutting, then that is just a bonus.
Conclusion. Yes, you can gain muscle while cutting. However, it may be more complicated than if you were maintaining your weight, trying to lose fat, or trying to gain muscle individually. Regardless, focus on eating a healthy diet and getting enough protein.
There is no set time that water fasting should last for, but medical advice generally suggests anywhere from 24 hours to 3 days as the maximum time to go without food. Throughout history, people have undertaken fasts for spiritual or religious reasons.
Once you reach a body fat percent of 15% for men or 25% for women, that's when you'll want to start the cut. With a calorie deficit and ensuing weight loss, you'll start losing that fat gain you've put on over the winter months.
To lose weight, diets with higher amounts of protein—between 90 and 150 grams a day—are effective and help keep you from losing muscle along with fat.
Conclusion: Protein supplementation attenuates muscle loss in some populations at increased risk of muscle wasting, but there is no consistent evidence to support benefits on muscle strength or physical function.
If you are underweight, you should bulk. If you are overweight, you need to cut; however, the less training experience you have, the more likely it is that you will gain muscle simultaneously as you lean out (though you'll lose weight overall).
So, should you cut or bulk first if you are skinny fat? You should bulk first if you are skinny fat. A 10% caloric surplus is optimal to build muscle while ensuring you don't put on a lot of excess body fat. Stay in a surplus for a minimum of 4 months and then begin a slow, gradual cut.