Cut/recomp plan - 6 months down, 8 weeks left

[P.brow17]

Posting this largely for myself, because I’m down to stubborn fat and want to make sure everything is honed in for the last 8 weeks. Feel free to critique or recommend anything from training advice to supplements.

I’ve been running the below macros and workout routine for the last 6 months with steady progress. Dropped from about 175 pounds and 20% body fat to the current stats below.

Current:
Height - 5’9
Weight - 145
Bf% - 12.5%
Age - 26

Goal:
10% BF before I go back up to maintenance for a couple weeks and start a lean bulk

Macros:
Protein - 200g
Not picky about carbs and fats, usually have a bit more carbs on lifting days. But whatever gets me to 1500 cals and 45g fiber

Workout:
Upper, lower, cardio - repeat

Upper:
Hammer chest press: 3x6-8
Hammer row: 3x6-8
Incline DB press: 2x8-10
Hammer pulldown: 2x8-10
DB side raises: 3x8-10
Hammer Preacher curl/incline DB curl: 2x8-10
Push downs/tricep dips: 2x8-10
Cable upright rows/hammer shoulder: 2x8-10
Machine Reverse flies: 1x10, 3x4 (myoreps)

Lower
Squats: 3x6-8
Leg press: 2x8-10
Hammer Leg extension: 2x8-10
Machine leg curl: 2x8-10
Lying leg curl: 2x8-10
Seated Calf/donkey calf: 2x15
Glute machine: 1x10, 3x4 (myoreps)

Cardio:
Fasted cardio before work
20 minute HIIT, 5 minute rest, 30-60 LISS

Daily:
10,000-15,000 steps per day (not particular about this, but this is usually finished off after my lifts on lifting days, or by itself in the PM on cardio days)

Supplements:
EC stack 3x/day with 2.5g Tyrosine/200mg Theanine
Alpha burn - 1 capsule swapped in for the E in the above stack an hour before fasted cardio
Multi
2g EPA/DHA fish oil daily
4000 iu vitamin D daily
5g Creatine daily
Magnesium, potassium sodium supplemented through lite salt and magnesium capsules
Evomuse guthealth

Adding in ThermoAmp and Ursa Major this week

Also taking some sleep supplement blend that I picked up from supplement superstore, can’t remember what it’s called.

Let me end by saying that I’m not particularly happy with how low my weight is at 12%. I have a naturally tiny frame, but about 5 years ago I leaned down to 10% BF at 153 pounds. Clearly between all nighters and treating my body like **** during grad school, I deleted a lot of valuable muscle. But it is what it is, and I’m hoping muscle memory will help get a lot of that back quickly in the next bulking phase before getting back to 15%

 

[LeanEngineer]

Nice! I'll get in on this ride!

 

[P.brow17]

Monday 4/18

• Fasted Cardio (60 min): LISS keeping HR at 130 min - Added in a second cap of alphaburn
• PM: 45 infared sauna stationary bike (free membership to this infared sauna fitness place near my office)
• Total steps: 16,500

Macros:

View attachment 215375

Tuesday morning weigh in:

View attachment 215374

Still waiting on ursa major and thermoamp to arrive

 

[LeanEngineer]

Still waiting on ursa major and thermoamp to arrive

Let me tell you they're definitely worth the wait

 

[P.brow17]

Tuesday 4/19

• Upper (no weight off the bar, 5 pounds up on rows) + 45 min LISS
• Total steps: 12,000

Macros:
P: 200g
C: 72g
F: 46g

Wednesday morning weigh in: 144 @ 12.5% bf

I believe thermoAmp arrives this afternoon. I gather from other threads it should be dosed around food 2x per day and away from workouts, so I'm planning on doing one cap with my first EC dose around 7AM, and a second one with lunch around 1PM.

 

[LeanEngineer]

Macros:
P: 200g
C: 72g
F: 46g

Dang I would struggle with only 72g carbs. I guess you're at 144 lbs to but still I would struggle with that Maybe I just like my carbs too much.

 

[Sparta12]

Infra-red sauna cycling???? you must sweet like a paedophile at a wiggles concert. I need this

 

[Segansational]

Wow, well 30 lbs down and 7.5% BF loss is no slouch of an achievement! Nice work! You'll regain the muscle in time. Keep it up and I'll be following along.

 

[P.brow17]

Infra-red sauna cycling???? you must sweet like a paedophile at a wiggles concert. I need this

Yeah 15 individual saunas with bikes, rowers, or full body rows in each one. You book your time on the gym’s app, and they have a TV in each one.

I think it’s really meant for quick 15 minute HIIT workouts, but hardly anyone in my area knows about it so I book the cycle room for an hour and do 45 minutes of LISS (since I do HIIT in the AM with A-yohimbine) while I watch Netflix.

HR is about 20-30 beats higher than it would be outside of the sauna, and you sweat like a MFer.

Also like doing it the day after legs day because I feel like it reduces soreness and loosens everything up really well

 

[P.brow17]

Wednesday 4/20 (Trippy blazeeee)

• Lower + 35 min LISS on stationary
• Total steps: 11,000

Macros:
Protein: 198g (needs to be higher)
Carbs: 108g
Fat: 38g

Thursday morning weigh in: 143.6 @ 12.3% bf

ThermoAmp arrived so I took my first dose of that before my workout. No sides noticed except maybe a slight stomach pain during my workout. Ursa Major should be here by friday

 

[P.brow17]

Wow, well 30 lbs down and 7.5% BF loss is no slouch of an achievement! Nice work! You'll regain the muscle in time. Keep it up and I'll be following along.

Thanks man, appreciate the follow. Studied for the bar exam starting in November, had to be strict with studying as I was working full time, and diving into a cut at the same time fit right in with the rest of my lifestyle. Tbf I planned on ending this once I hit 12-13%, but I'm in a really good groove now. As long as I dont start to lose weight off of the bar, I'm gonna keep grinding until 10%

 

[Sparta12]

Yeah 15 individual saunas with bikes, rowers, or full body rows in each one. You book your time on the gym’s app, and they have a TV in each one.

I think it’s really meant for quick 15 minute HIIT workouts, but hardly anyone in my area knows about it so I book the cycle room for an hour and do 45 minutes of LISS (since I do HIIT in the AM with A-yohimbine) while I watch Netflix.

HR is about 20-30 beats higher than it would be outside of the sauna, and you sweat like a MFer.

Also like doing it the day after legs day because I feel like it reduces soreness and loosens everything up really well

This is like a cheat code haha

 

[akboom87]

In for support!!

 

[P.brow17]

In for support!!

Appreciate it bro.

Ursa Major arrived last night, so everything is in full swing as of this morning.

Will update with macros/workouts for Friday/Saturday when I’m at my work comp Monday morning

 

[akboom87]

Appreciate it bro.

Ursa Major arrived last night, so everything is in full swing as of this morning.

Will update with macros/workouts for Friday/Saturday when I’m at my work comp Monday morning

You probably already know but Apex is having a mix and match bogo sale until next Saturday, in case you want to stock up

 

[LeanEngineer]

You probably already know but Apex is having a mix and match bogo sale until next Saturday, in case you want to stock up

Can't beat that! Agreed I would take advantage and stock up for sure!

 

[P.brow17]

Thursday 4/21

• 60 minutes fasted HIIT before work
• Steps 9,991
• Macros
  • P: 198g
  • C: 108g
  • F: 38g
• No friday morning weigh in - was staying at a hotel thursday night

Friday 4/22

• Upper + LISS
• Steps: 16,216
• Macros
  • P: 185 g
  • C: 67g
  • F: 58g (14 oz prime rib destroyed me today)
• Saturday Morning weigh in - 143.6; 12.4%

Saturday 4/23

• Lower + LISS
• Steps: 11,208
• Macros
  • P: 232 g
  • C: 115g
  • F: 24g
• Sunday morning weigh in - 143.2; 12.4%

Sunday 4/24

• Fasted HIIT (infrared sauna stationary bike for 45 minutes)
• Macros
  • P: 202g
  • C: 70g
  • F: 46g
• Weigh in - 144 lbs 12.5%

As I mentioned before, Ursa major and thermoAmp are both in full swing. Doing 1.2 ml 2x per day (after AM shower and after PM shower) of ursa major. No dryness so far, smell is pleasant. Although it does leave a sort of sticky layer on my skin for the entire time it is on.

Thermo amp dosed 1 cap with first AM EC stack, and second dose around 2pm (with PM workouts about 2-3 hours later)

Scale is staying the same 143-144, but physically I'm noticing a lot more clean definition in my abs, veins popping in around each hip, more vascularity in my chest and shoulders, and overall just a more V-tapered look. Not going to stress about the scale.

 

[Segansational]

Honestly, I only weigh in once or twice per week. You shouldn't see much change daily, and if you do, it's going to be more water weight.

 

[P.brow17]

Monday 4/25

• Upper + LISS
  • Was able to up the weight on my first compound lift again surprisingly. Maintained on everything else with a few exercises having an extra rep where I could.
• Steps: 15,200
• Macros:
  • P: 224g
  • C: 105g
  • F: 24g

Overall a perfect day imo. Got extra steps in than I was planning, weight moved up on first lift, and macros were right where I wanted them to be.

With exercise and steps on point, my main focus this week is figuring out a satiating breakfast meal that holds me over until lunch (unsuccessful in my attempts for the last three weeks), or giving in to the cut and embracing the AM hunger.

 

[P.brow17]

Tuesday 4/26

• Lower + LISS
• Steps: 14,057
• Macros:
  • P: 209g
  • C: 65g
  • F: 30g

Wednesday morning weigh-in: 143.6 @ 12.1%

 

[P.brow17]

Wednesday 4/27

• AM HIIT & PM cycling
• Steps: 11,500
• Macros:
  • P: 223g
  • C: 100g
  • F: 28g

 

[P.brow17]

Will log today’s workout at the work computer tomorrow, but got an inbody scan again this evening and figured I’d upload the results.

Last month

View attachment 215758

Today

No way in hell I am sub 10%, but the one who administered said that the Bf% gets screwy once you get to be around 10%, which may be the case.

LBM went up despite being at 1,500 calories for every day in between. This is suspect as well.

Not giving much weight to the scan, as I’ve always based my progress off of the mirror and am going for 10% as represented in images rather than 10% calculated by my scans/formulas.

Also tossing up my macros for the last 7 days and step count:

Todays steps are about 2000-3000 too low, forgot my Apple Watch today

Cheers

 

[P.brow17]

Thursday 4/28

• Great Upper day - moved upright rows to immediately follow up my chest/back movements. Looked like this:
  • Hammer Chest press 2 x 5-8, into Horizontal pec deck 1 x 12, 3 x 4-6 (30 sec rest in between)
  • Underhand Hammer row 2 x 5-8, into Back shrugs 1 x 12, 3 x 4-6 (30 sec rest in between)
  • Incline Hammer Chest press 2 x 8-10
  • Hammer Underhand lat pulldown 2 x 8-10
  • Upright rows 2 x 5-8
  • DB lat raises 2 x 12-15
  • Weighted chest dips to failure
  • Wide grip pull-ups to failure
  • Hammer biceps 2 x 8
  • Hammer triceps 2 x 10
  • Incline DB bicep curls 2 x 12
  • Tricep pushdowns 2 x 12
  • Rear delt flyes on pec deck 1 x 12, 4 x 4-6 (30 second rest in between)

No loss on any exercise, gained a rep on first hammer chest press set. Ready to move up weight on hammer lat pulldown

Macros:

• P: 230g
• C: 105g
• F 22g

Steps: about 10,00 (no apple watch during the day yesterday)

Friday morning weigh-in: 142.8 @ 11.9% bf


Also snagged another bottle of Ursa Major because I suspect it is behind revitalizing this cut and helping me move the weights more. Used BOGO to get Flash point as well. Any advice on application for both products at the same time would be appreciated

 

[LeanEngineer]

Also snagged another bottle of Ursa Major because I suspect it is behind revitalizing this cut and helping me move the weights more.

You can never go wrong with snagging another bottle of Ursa Major!

 

[P.brow17]

You can never go wrong with snagging another bottle of Ursa Major!

Are you familiar with flash point?

 

[LeanEngineer]

Are you familiar with flash point?

I personally have not ran it but here are two logs below on it:

Kat’s Flashpoint by Apex Alchemy Beta Log - AnabolicMinds.com

Big thanks to Apex Alchemy. @nostrum420 @Renew1 @xR1pp3Rx for the chance to try FlashPoint! They hooked me up with 4 bottles to try. This is a transdermal glycyrrhetinic acid product. Glycyrrhetinic acid has many benefits…a few are reducing inflammation, swelling, cholesterol, potassium, and...

anabolicminds.com

Lynks8 Attempts To Incinerate His Spare Tire with Apex Alchemy's Flashpoint! - AnabolicMinds.com

Welcome to my log! First of all, major thanks to @nostrum420 , @Renew1 , and @xR1pp3Rx for the generous opportunity to test their latest product. The Goal: Achieve a Godly V-Taper The Obstacle: Garbage-tier fat deposition genetics in my midsection The Solution?: Topical Glycyrrhetinic Acid A...

anabolicminds.com

 

[Segansational]

Wow, totally killing it with the progress! Seems everything is on point.

 

[P.brow17]

I personally have not ran it but here are two logs below on it:

Kat’s Flashpoint by Apex Alchemy Beta Log - AnabolicMinds.com

Big thanks to Apex Alchemy. @nostrum420 @Renew1 @xR1pp3Rx for the chance to try FlashPoint! They hooked me up with 4 bottles to try. This is a transdermal glycyrrhetinic acid product. Glycyrrhetinic acid has many benefits…a few are reducing inflammation, swelling, cholesterol, potassium, and...

anabolicminds.com

Lynks8 Attempts To Incinerate His Spare Tire with Apex Alchemy's Flashpoint! - AnabolicMinds.com

Welcome to my log! First of all, major thanks to @nostrum420 , @Renew1 , and @xR1pp3Rx for the generous opportunity to test their latest product. The Goal: Achieve a Godly V-Taper The Obstacle: Garbage-tier fat deposition genetics in my midsection The Solution?: Topical Glycyrrhetinic Acid A...

anabolicminds.com

Awesome I guess Ill apply flash point to abs and love handles, and keep rocking Ursa Major like I have been with the first bottle.

Can’t confirm whether it’s having a direct effect this early, but something about putting it on twice a day makes me want to lock in my nutrition and exercise even more, so it’s a win no matter what

 

[LeanEngineer]

Can’t confirm whether it’s having a direct effect this early, but something about putting it on twice a day makes me want to lock in my nutrition and exercise even more, so it’s a win no matter what

Good news. I'm the same way. When one thing clicks and going well it seems it motivates me more to get all other items in check. Consistency over time is the key

 

[P.brow17]

Weekly update on steps and macros:

Lifts are still incrementally going up from where I had halted in April. Maybe it’s because I upped my carb intake by about 30g / day, or the Ursa Major, or both.

Don’t have daily weigh-ins this week, but will do a weigh in this weekend, and another in body scan in 2 weeks.

Also throwing some cordygen in with my high volume for preworkout when it gets delivered this weekend

 

[P.brow17]

Another weekly update on steps and macros:

Aesthetically, too level of abs just below chest has much more clean definition this week. More veins visible in calves and shins, biceps and hips.

Strength maintained on all lifts. Incline hammer press up 10 pounds on first set. Putting extra emphasis on my tricep movements (specifically hammer iso tricep extension), up by 20 pounds. I think this is helping my chest movements as it’s improving overall tricep flexibility.

Ursa Major (chest, traps, shoulders) and flash point (abdominals/love handles) 2x / day after showers, which I’m loving. Got a exfoliating towel and some body scrub I use at the end of my shower before application, and body lotion with shea butter I put on 30 minutes after application.

Over halfway through my first bottle of ThermoAmp. Deciding now whether to run a second bottle.

Cordygen tossed into my preworkout stack this weekend since my workouts have been running long. Loving it so far. shout out to @Kronic for the rec.

Finally, added in ROMwod flexibility and mobility routine daily after my lifts. Already loving to stretch in my shoulders and lower back. shout out to @TheMrMuscle for this change. Found out about it through his lean bulk log.

Weight is hovering around 142-144, but muscle mass is going up incrementally, with body fat def going down visibly.

Cheers

 

[LeanEngineer]

but muscle mass is going up incrementally, with body fat def going down visibly.

That's the goal for most! Glad it's working for you. Definitely getting your daily steps in!

 

[P.brow17]

That's the goal for most! Glad it's working for you. Definitely getting your daily steps in!

Thanks, getting closer to an end goal, but I'm really looking for my body to tell me its time to take a break before I do a deload phase on my training and go back up to maintenance calories for two weeks.

First upper body workout with Cordygen yesterday. It was insane. Crazy good pumped and trotted out of the gym to my car rather than crawling as I had been the last few weeks. EC Stack + 2 scoops high volume + 3 caps cordygen for the win

 

[LeanEngineer]

I'm really looking for my body to tell me its time to take a break before I do a deload phase

Agreed. Always listen to the body. Sometimes I take random days off from training during the week solely because I'm sore or just don't feel like I can get in a quality workout.

 

[Segansational]

Thanks, getting closer to an end goal, but I'm really looking for my body to tell me its time to take a break before I do a deload phase on my training and go back up to maintenance calories for two weeks.

First upper body workout with Cordygen yesterday. It was insane. Crazy good pumped and trotted out of the gym to my car rather than crawling as I had been the last few weeks. EC Stack + 2 scoops high volume + 3 caps cordygen for the win

Sounds like a killer stack!

 

[P.brow17]

Weekly update:

Little lower on steps with the introduction of romwod flexibility routine daily. Daily calories burned may actually be a little higher though

Macros:

Scale:

Good lifts all week. Still loving cordygen with high volume. No major lift increases for upper body, but squats and leg press went up 10 lbs.

Ordered two more bottles of ThermoAmp to run 3 caps a day for the next few weeks. Just gonna dose them with my EC stack to keep things simple.

Still rocking Ursa/flashpoint at 2ml each / day.



Hope everyone is having a nice Sunday

 

[P.brow17]

Weekly update:

Steps

Macros

Skeletal muscle not dipping yet

Weight trending down still (big dip this week after getting a 24 hour stomach bug that had me toilet-ridden for the entire day)

At 11% BF or lower now. Pretty close to ending the cut and beginning a reasonable bulk (maybe 3-4 pound increase per month) for 12-16 weeks.

Hoping for another BOGO at apex so I can stock up on more Ursa and flash point.

Also if anyone has a top shelf whey/casein blend powder that’s 120 cals or less, I’d love to hear recommendations. Currently mix and matching flavors with PES snickerdoodle, chocolate peanut butter cup and peanut butter cookie

 

[P.brow17]

Little slow on these but screw it, progress pics from March 31 to today. Wish I was better about taking these, but I haven’t been too impressed with myself in a few years to even consider snapping selfies tbh:

March 31:

May 25:

 

[TheMrMuscle]

Also if anyone has a top shelf whey/casein blend powder that’s 120 cals or less, I’d love to hear recommendations. Currently mix and matching flavors with PES snickerdoodle, chocolate peanut butter cup and peanut butter cookie

SELECT is top shelf when it comes to whey/casein blends. I have all flavors at home and use them everyday. I have not managed to find any brand that does it better so far.

 

[P.brow17]

SELECT is top shelf when it comes to whey/casein blends. I have all flavors at home and use them everyday. I have not managed to find any brand that does it better so far.

Yeah I’ve had PES peanut butter cookie, snickerdoodle, and chocolate peanut butter cup on rotation for the last month.

Getting vanilla cake pop today as I’ve heard good things. Excited to try that out

 

[TheMrMuscle]

Yeah I’ve had PES peanut butter cookie, snickerdoodle, and chocolate peanut butter cup on rotation for the last month.

Getting vanilla cake pop today as I’ve heard good things. Excited to try that out

Add Cake Pop to your list, its their most unique flavor. I got the new Cookies&Cream last week and its become my new favorite in my overnight oats.

 

[P.brow17]

Weekly update on steps and macros:

Had what I’ll call a refeed on the 29th in celebration of my birthday. Went nuts on some Asian food (ramen, gimbap, pork bao, beef pho)

Ran a PSMF for two days after to balance the week out and had two incredible lifts the following days after. Waiting to check the scale until the end of this week so that water weight goes away

Currently enjoying ghost whey fruity cereal milk and PES cake pop with my morning overnight oats/bowl of puffed kamut.

And I’ll share a giant bowl of post workout protein fluff I made last week:

2 scoops PES cake pop
100 g egg whites
30g puffed kamut
10g honey
Cinnamon
1 tsp xantham gum
50ml iced water

Hope everyone is having a good week

 

[Segansational]

Happy birthday man!

 

[TheMrMuscle]

Happy belated brother.

Haha its funny when you say you went nuts on asian food and end up under 4k calories. Then you have me, going "nuts" usually ends up in me having 8k calories on a day

 

[P.brow17]

Happy belated brother.

Haha its funny when you say you went nuts on asian food and end up under 4k calories. Then you have me, going "nuts" usually ends up in me having 8k calories on a day

Thanks bro, yeah I probably would've eaten more, but after staying strict with my deficit for so long, my appetite is just tiny. My rib cage felt like it was going to explode eating as much as I did LOL

 

[Segansational]

Happy belated brother.

Haha its funny when you say you went nuts on asian food and end up under 4k calories. Then you have me, going "nuts" usually ends up in me having 8k calories on a day

Not everyone is an anabolic machine like you!

 

[P.brow17]

Late on update for steps and macros:

Pigged out on some delicious Midwest BBQ this weekend that I don’t feel sorry about

And a not-so-sober Nutella pizza from a fancier pizza place that I wouldn’t have regretted, except for the fact that I ate too many slices

As the macros reflect, logged two PSMF days immediately after. Clocked in this morning at 141.8 lbs, so the scale isn’t ticking up despite one cheat day a week likely due to high step count and strict diet days throughout the rest of the week.

Still running Ursa with flashpoint, ThermoAmp, cordygen preworkout with Nitr-Ox, EC 3x / day.

This will be my third bottle of ThermoAmp (currently running three caps per day). After finishing this, I think I’ll swap in SNS leanedge and see how that goes.

Obviously not prioritizing scale loss anymore, as I lost the weight I wanted to about two weeks ago. Maintaining now while I introduce some more taxing exercises back into my lifts as I prepare to move into a leaner bulk.

Visually, once the bloating goes down from the cheat days, I look sometimes even slightly leaner than the above progress pic. Not sure if it’s the topicals or a conjunction of everything, but it feels like I’m putting on muscle incrementally rather than maintaining. No longer have the depleted feeling in the morning and just generally have a heck of a lot more energy during my lifts (which have also gone up incrementally since the introduction of cheat days).

Hope everyone is having a nice summer - it’s hot AF where I’m at. Enjoy the food pr0n