# 12 week cut progress



## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

After some advice, I've been cutting now for 12 weeks which was my intention. I started at 80.9kg and im now sat at 74.3kg. Should I keep cutting or start to bulk again? Any guesses on bf? The reason I ask these questions is that I was told to get bf down then start to slowly bulk again, don't want to be jumping the gun. Excuse the awful posing.


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## St. Michael (Mar 29, 2017)

I'd cut to 70kg.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

St. Michael said:


> I'd cut to 70kg.


 Any reason for this? Or just to get bf down?


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## Vinny (Nov 18, 2012)

c4nsy said:


> Any reason for this? Or just to get bf down?


 I would agree also, It's a mistake I have made.

If you can get as lean as possible before you "lean" bulk, After your bulking phase you shouldn't have to Cut again for that long compared to if you started to bulk now.

It's more of a personal choice, but I wished I had cut more before I bulked because now I've got a long lengthy cut ahead of me to get -10% BF.


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## mannersjay (Aug 19, 2013)

I'd cut. Well done dude, that's a good improvement. I know the effort it takes. You're already in 'cut mode' which is a hard mode to get into, for me anyway. It's making the daily sacrifice in order to cut fat, so you may as well keep going til you at least get a clearer view of your abs. The leaner you are, the better you look. The more muscle you put on in a leaner state, the better you will look. You're not far off, possibly only 4 weeks, so it'd be a be a bit of a waste to stop in the home straight of a marathon. Piling on muscle, whilst not easy, is easier than losing body fat, so keep on the path you're on. Like I said, which I'm sure you know, the leaner you are when you start any kind of bulk, the better. I might up the protein, and try a more weight orientated regime, not sure of your current program, but still stay in a deficit. Bodyfat % doesn't matter, even an estimate would be a wild guess. Just keep losing until you're satisfied with what you see.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

mannersjay said:


> I'd cut. Well done dude, that's a good improvement. I know the effort it takes. You're already in 'cut mode' which is a hard mode to get into, for me anyway. It's making the daily sacrifice in order to cut fat, so you may as well keep going til you at least get a clearer view of your abs. The leaner you are, the better you look. The more muscle you put on in a leaner state, the better you will look. You're not far off, possibly only 4 weeks, so it'd be a be a bit of a waste to stop in the home straight of a marathon. Piling on muscle, whilst not easy, is easier than losing body fat, so keep on the path you're on. Like I said, which I'm sure you know, the leaner you are when you start any kind of bulk, the better. I might up the protein, and try a more weight orientated regime, not sure of your current program, but still stay in a deficit. Bodyfat % doesn't matter, even an estimate would be a wild guess. Just keep losing until you're satisfied with what you see.


 Cheers mate, im definitely in cutting mode and have know problem carrying on with it. Im pretty new to training and have never cut before so wasnt sure how far to go to be honest. Im currently consuming on average about 160g of protein. Training programme is ppl which ive been doing for roughly 3 weeks.

Db flat 20kgx8 30kg 3x8
Bb flat 40kg 3x15
Db raise 5kg 3x12
Shoulder smith 30kgx10 40kgx3x8
Bw Dips 4x10 plus 10kg
Rope pulldowns 4x10
Side lateral raises 5kg 3x20 10kgx5 7.5kg x8 2kg x10

Rack pulls 60kgx8 90kgx5 110kg 4x5 120kg
T bar row 20kg 1x8 35kg 4x8 40kgx8
Lat pull downs medium 4x12
Bi2cep curl ez bar 20kg 3x8 slow
Hammer curls 10kg 3x8 slow 10kg-5kg 1x8 slow
Bent over lateral raises 5kg 4x10

Leg press emptyx10 40kg 2x12 80kg wide stance 3x13
Squats 20kgx8 60kgx8 80kgx8 90kg 3x5
Leg exstensions 4 plates drop 2 plates 2x30
Hamstring curls 6 plates 20
Ab circuit- rope pull downs 3x20 leg raises 3x10

Think this is sufficient?


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## ishadow (Sep 13, 2017)

Nice progress pal!


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## JB91 (Jul 31, 2017)

Me personally, I would continue bulking again. I don't mind holding a little bit of fat, it doesn't bother me.

How long had you been training and bulking in that first picture?


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## mannersjay (Aug 19, 2013)

c4nsy said:


> Cheers mate, im definitely in cutting mode and have know problem carrying on with it. Im pretty new to training and have never cut before so wasnt sure how far to go to be honest. Im currently consuming on average about 160g of protein. Training programme is ppl which ive been doing for roughly 3 weeks.
> 
> Db flat 20kgx8 30kg 3x8
> Bb flat 40kg 3x15
> ...


 It's OK, are you training 3 days a week? I prefer the 5x5 compound lift routine as the effort is intense from 1st rep to 5th meaning greater pressure on the muscles. Your weight and reps are a small concern in places. Example. db flat 20kg x 8 and 30 kg x 8. There's a huge discrepancy there. If you can do 8 reps at 30kg, then doing 8 reps at 20kg is pretty pointless. bb flat 3x15 reps isn't really working your muscles hard enough. I'd get the reps down to under 8, meaning you'll need to increase the weight and sets will be more of a struggle. If all your compound lifts were like your squat routine (which looks about right reps wise) it'd be better. But as muscle gain isn't your priority given you're cutting, it isn't a horrible regime. Just my thoughts


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

JB91 said:


> Me personally, I would continue bulking again. I don't mind holding a little bit of fat, it doesn't bother me.
> 
> How long had you been training and bulking in that first picture?


 Training for 9 months started at about 12st. I gained to much fat in that time was eating to much in a surplus.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

mannersjay said:


> It's OK, are you training 3 days a week? I prefer the 5x5 compound lift routine as the effort is intense from 1st rep to 5th meaning greater pressure on the muscles. Your weight and reps are a small concern in places. Example. db flat 20kg x 8 and 30 kg x 8. There's a huge discrepancy there. If you can do 8 reps at 30kg, then doing 8 reps at 20kg is pretty pointless. bb flat 3x15 reps isn't really working your muscles hard enough. I'd get the reps down to under 8, meaning you'll need to increase the weight and sets will be more of a struggle. If all your compound lifts were like your squat routine (which looks about right reps wise) it'd be better. But as muscle gain isn't your priority given you're cutting, it isn't a horrible regime. Just my thoughts


 The 20kg was just a warmup then 3x8 with 30kg, that was a bad example i normally do incline bb press instead of flat bb for 4x8 but ive been getting bad shoulder pain, so it was of the cuff. Its something i could defo try 5x5 on compunds then keep everthing else the same. Im guessing you keep weight tje same throughout 5x5?


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

You've made good progress - well done  .

How do you feel now? As in are you thoroughly fed up with cutting or not? Also, are you still losing weight OK?


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

Ultrasonic said:


> You've made good progress - well done  .
> 
> How do you feel now? As in are you thoroughly fed up with cutting or not? Also, are you still losing weight OK?


 Thank you. I feel alot better in the way i look now but mentally feel skinny with clothes on and the mrs saying i look gaunt and need to eat more......she dosnt understand. To be honest im comfortable with the cut im someone who does well in routine, i struggle when im not. So i could carry on cutting without a problem. Weight loss has slowed but still dropping every week. Ive introduced alot more walking for cardio, have an app on my phone for steps, so aim for 10000 everyday not sure how accurate this is for kcal but its linked to my fitness pal, allows me to have a few more kcal.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

> So i could carry on cutting without a problem.


 If you're in a place where you can keep going then I'd personally take advantage of this and stick at it for a bit longer. 4-6 weeks maybe? Although maybe stop if your partner ends up really not liking how you look  .

Cutting for longer while you are still losing fat OK will mean you'll be able to then go longer before needing to cut again.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

Ultrasonic said:


> If you're in a place where you can keep going then I'd personally take advantage of this and stick at it for a bit longer. 4-6 weeks maybe? Although maybe stop if your partner ends up really not liking how you look  .
> 
> Cutting for longer while you are still losing fat OK will mean you'll be able to then go longer before needing to cut again.


 Thanks for the advice again. Ill see how im after 4 weeks and hopefully still losing and in better shape.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

4 weeks and I'm starting to itch a little about a slow bulk but I'm after some advice......again. The same question do I still keep cutting or start to gain, I'm still losing 0.5lb-1lb a week and I can keep going if needed and you think it will benefit me in the long run. Or do I start adding some calories? Just under 70 kg in this pic from Sunday.


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

??


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## Tricky (Jan 21, 2017)

I would cut for another few weeks then start to reverse diet by slowing adding in kcals to Work back to and beyond your new maintenance to facilitate growth


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## mrvest (Oct 27, 2012)

Fantastic work! Achieving this early on in a training career is impressive on the cut alone, mindset and discipline n all that.

What's your diet like?


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## c4nsy (Aug 23, 2012)

mrvest said:


> Fantastic work! Achieving this early on in a training career is impressive on the cut alone, mindset and discipline n all that.
> 
> What's your diet like?


 Thanks much appreciated. My diets now changed since this post as im now looking to gradually add some muscle. At this time i was eating around 1800kcal with about 160g of protein being consumed tje rest carbs and fat. I ate mostly clean throughout but always making sure i hit my kcal and protein,only going over a handful of times.


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

I agree with the others, if you're still alright with cutting and you're in the swing then might as well continue. IME you'll always gain better from a lean base which is probably down to insulin sensitivity, and often the hardest part of cutting is actually starting it :lol:


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