We're back. Those of you who follow me will know I attempted to start my mini cut at the end of February, but big bad rona got in the way. I ended up getting sick (not corona) and was finding it really difficult to shake off. Add on top the risk of getting corona virus and I felt it was best to go back to maintenance to give my immune system some love.
As we're all tucked up in our homes (or at least, we should be), I feel like now is the right time to go in with attempt number two. I have a fair bit of weight available to use at home, as I've brought back some equipment from my studio, so loss of tissue isn't a huge risk. I also only go out for one walk a day, so I feel I'm reducing my risk of getting corona as much as I can.
My plan is to document my mini cut on a weekly basis on this blog. I'll upload photos (first set further down) and let you all know how it's going, as well as show you all what my calories and macros are, how I'm training and also what I'm doing in regards to recovery and supplementation.
So, here's a guide on what I'll be doing for week 1 (starting this Thursday).
Calories & Macros
Starting calories will be 2,000. This is 900 calories below my bulking calories of 2,900, and around 500 calories below my current maintenance of 2,500.
The macro breakdown will be as follows:
Protein: 139g
Fat: 42g
Carbs: 267g
The macros are split up so I have 1g per lb. of bodyweight of protein. Fat is set up to be at the lowest it can be (0.3g per lb. of bodyweight) so I can dedicate as many remaining calories as possible to carbs.
For a guide on how I worked out my mini cutting calories, head here and watch my free members video.
Food Choices
Given the current situation with food in the UK right now, I can't be too picky with my food choices. Ideally I'd be getting in plenty of rice, pasta and Quorn, just so I can keep things nice and easy to plan and prep. However, right now, those three things aren't always easy to come across. So, for now, I'll just do the best that I can.
Training
My training split is set up as the following:
- Push & Abs
- Pull
- Legs
- Upper
- Lower
I have access to an olympic barbell with plates that can take me up to 70kg, dumbbells up to 20kg, resistance bands, cuffs, d handles and kettlebells up to 14kg. I'm hoping when I go down to check on my studio to grab a couple more weights to tide me over until all this is done. I think this is pretty much all I need in order to hold on to as much tissue as I can.
Recovery
Regardless of training phase, recovery should always be of top priority. However, because I got ill last mini cut, I'm going to take even more care wherever I can to reduce the possibility of it happening again. My usual recovery routine includes monitoring my sleep (7.5+ hours every night with a quality score of at least 95%), keeping outside stress to a minimum, foam rolling and stretching two times a week. I also make sure I allow my heart rate to drop post workout before resuming day to day activities.
Supplements
My usual supplements will continue into my mini cut (whey, creatine, multi vitamins and krill oil), but I'll also be adding in an extra vitamin c supplement, to try and hold off colds where I can.
Starting Physique
Here is my starting point. I'm sat at around 63.5kg / 139.9 lbs. As a guess, I would say I'm sat at about 20% body fat.
I would ideally like to get down to 58-59kg by the end of my mini cut, as that's the weight I began my bulk at. I think it will be really interesting to see the difference in my physique at the same weight.
That's all for this week. My next post will be uploaded at the end of this month, when I'll be Just under 2 weeks into the cut✌🏻
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