2

I did SS for around 5 months and have had pretty good success, although my BF% had gone up to 20% and I probably need to do a cut before I continue, or reboot SS.

Squat 50kg -> 85kg
Bench 50kg -> 75kg
Press 30kg -> 45kg
Deadlift 50kg -> 110kg
BW 70kg -> 80kg

Towards the end of the program, I had injuries, lack of motivation, and stopped making gains in both body-weight and strength, so decided it was time for a change.

A lot of people (the SS crowd) suggest staying on SS while on a cut. I can't see this working without since I struggled even when trying to eat a calorie surplus....

I was going to start running 2x week and 1x heavy weights since this seems to be the middle ground. But that doesn't seem very common at all.

Is there an SS equivalently routine while cutting? Or any other really popular routines? Should I be lowering weights and increasing exercises, reps and sets??

Should I be looking at Madcow or Texas method since they tend to be high volume less increases?

Improve this question
2
  • I believe that you might be looking at it from the wrong perspective. Cutting is not so much the workout program you use but more in the diet you have. It would be great if you could provide the kind of diet you are on while doing SS. SS does provide a basic idea of the diet here.
    – Calvin
    Feb 4, 2014 at 7:21
  • @LazyMan Why did your BF% go up while doing SS? If you're lifting properly and maintaining the proper nutrition, you should bulk up on muscle and not fat.
    – Kneel-Before-ZOD
    Mar 31, 2014 at 17:53

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

I'm doing Starting Strength myself right now and naturally, I did think about how to get rid of the fat I'll gain during the next few months.

As @Calvin pointed out in his comment, the workout programm you do is not really important for weight loss. If you want to stay strong while losing fat, though, you should continue lifting heavy.

Now, when dieting your recovery is of course not as good, so you might want to start at 80% of your current working sets and cut back on accessory exercises. If recovery is good, you can add weight and/or accessory exercises back in. If your recovery seems to suffer, scale back again. You're cutting now, get rid of the idea of actually progressing on your lifts. A standstill is probably the best one could manage, but don't count on it.

You'll notice I'm one of the 'SS-crowd' and I'm quite opposed to changing programms between bulking/cutting cycles. The reason being, if you go for volume because you're cutting you're basically bastardizing your workout to do cardio's job.

Speaking of cardio, I wouldn't do it at the expense of weightlifting. Weightlifting itself (especially SS-style) consists of short bursts of high intensity. Sound like HIIT much? If you absolutely have to add cardio, make sure it doesn't interfere with recovery from lifting. Super-Low-Intensity cardio (aka taking a nice long walk) would probably be best.

As for nutrition, you should of course cut back on calories. 500kcal under maintenance is normally recommended. Yes, it is slow, but the faster you go, the more muscle you will lose. You should still keep your protein intake high, though, so cut back on carbs mostly, maybe a bit on fat (assuming you were eating right already, to begin with).

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.