Cutting

Cutting: what is it?

Cutting is a phase, not a permanent state, and that distinction is where most of the coaching value sits. It has a start, an end condition and a plan for what happens afterwards. Clients who think of themselves as always cutting spend years slightly under-eating, slightly under-recovered and slightly frustrated, which is a worse outcome than a properly run twelve weeks followed by a proper maintenance phase.

The four elements of a cut

A cut that preserves muscle is not just a smaller diet. Each element below does a specific job, and dropping any one of them changes what the client loses.

The mistake almost everyone makes

The classic error is cutting calories and simultaneously changing training to high-rep, light-weight circuit work in the belief that it burns more fat. The result is a smaller stimulus at exactly the moment the body is looking for reasons to shed tissue, and the client finishes lighter, weaker and softer.

Keep the heavy work. Volume may need to come down as the diet goes on and recovery gets harder, but intensity should stay. The message the training sends is what decides whether the weight lost comes from fat or from muscle.

How long, and what to expect

Cuts of eight to sixteen weeks are typical, with longer diets structured into blocks separated by diet breaks. Loss of around 0.5 to 1 percent of bodyweight a week is a common target, at the lower end for leaner clients.

The last few weeks of any cut are the hardest, and predictably so. Hunger is higher, training feels heavier, and daily activity tends to drop without the client noticing. Refeeds and diet breaks exist for exactly this stretch, and step count is worth watching as closely as calories.

• Set an end date or an end condition before starting.
• Keep the training heavy; reduce volume before reducing intensity.
• Watch step count as the diet progresses; NEAT falls quietly.
• Plan the exit, whether that is maintenance or a reverse.

Ending a cut properly

The end of a cut is not the end of the coaching. A client dropped back into unstructured eating at the end of twelve weeks of restriction will regain, and both parties will be surprised by how quickly. The exit is either a return to maintenance or a structured reverse diet, and it should be discussed at the start, not improvised at the end.

It is also the moment to reset expectations. Photos taken on the final day are the leanest the client will look, and staying at that condition indefinitely is not the goal for a general population client. Naming this early prevents a very common post-cut disappointment.