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.
In addition to boosting your daily protein intake, performing regular resistance exercise can help you maintain — and even gain — muscle while you shed fat. “[Weight training] is crucial,” Roberts says. “There is plenty of evidence supporting the notion that weight training can preserve muscle during dieting.”
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.
A cutting diet lasts 2–4 months, depending on how lean you are before dieting, and is normally timed around bodybuilding competitions, athletic events, or occasions like holidays ( 4 ).
Likewise, “if you cut your calories too low, you'll feel depleted because that quick energy source is no longer there,” Antuna says. Anything too abrupt and/or too extreme taxes your body. A better approach is to throttle back on carbs to lose weight over time, he says.
So, to summarize: if you are just starting out with training, then you can very likely increase your strength while cutting. The more advanced you are, the more difficult this becomes, and at a sufficiently advanced stage, just maintaining your strength while losing weight should be your goal.
If your main goal right now is to add more size, build muscle, gain strength, and set PR's in the gym, then a gaining phase is probably the best option as long as your current body fat % is around 10-15%. But if it's closer to 20% or above that, then start with a cut.
Adding cardio into a cutting phase is not necessary, however, it can help in that it burns additional calories. In some instances, burning 200 calories more a day may be easier than eating 200 calories less per day. That is ultimately up to the individual.
Summing It Up
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.
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).
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.
10 to 14 percent
This range of body fat is still lean, which means your abs will be visible.
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.
Choose cardio that is easy on the joints (low impact) and easy on the muscles in subsequent days (won't make you sore). Rowing, cycling, swimming, elliptical trainers, or even lightweight barbell or kettlebell complexes could all be used.
You Should Train While Fasting
Even if your main goal is losing fat, you still need to lift, which prevents your body from burning through muscle to fuel your daily activities. You won't gain much muscle if you're fasting, but if you lift, you won't lose it, either.
You sure can. Working on your muscular endurance and maintaining a calorie deficit at the same time are going to double your efforts towards achieving a leaner and more toned appearance. You'll be improving the condition of your muscles and reducing the amount of fat that surrounds them.
Keep the dressing clean by changing it as often as necessary. Keep the wound dry by using waterproof dressings, which will allow you to take showers. You can remove the dressing after a few days, once the wound has closed itself.
Skeletal muscle can regenerate completely and spontaneously in response to minor injuries, such as strain. In contrast, after severe injuries, muscle healing is incomplete, often resulting in the formation of fibrotic tissue that impairs muscle function.
The best gains of an entire year often come in the first few weeks after a cutting phase, making that period of time ideal for growth. In fact, you can easily add substantial amounts of real muscle mass in just six short weeks.
Eat at a caloric deficit
Just as the aim of bulking is to be in a caloric surplus, the aim of cutting is to be in a caloric deficit. This puts you in a “catabolic” state — one where tissue is broken down in the body. Keep your calorie intake below maintenance, but don't go too low.