How many Reps when on cutting routine...

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posted by lightout

Hi
I am about to start my cutting cycles but i dont have my routine yet and i just wanted to know how many reps should i do when i am cutting? i am doing 8-10 reps right now should i move them up? thanks

posted by cowcountry

Don't change reps, change your diet. Add more cardio.

posted by MegaA

Do about 15 reps to get the lines in your body.

posted by howlowcanigo

Have fun I'm almost done cutting finally, and so glad to be.

posted by brsett

How does that work?

posted by LukeVTS

dont do that. stick to your reps. sort your diet out gradually lowering your carbs and eatin clean, monitor calorie intake etc. and do more cardio.

posted by cowcountry

Please explain how 15 reps is going to make you lose fat and your muscle show through your skin...

posted by MegaA

Higher reps help shape the muscle instead of build it with alot of bulk.

posted by brsett

How do the higher reps know to do this? After the 10th rep the muscle stops growing in some spots and starts growing in others? But then the 1st ten contributed to bulking, so that damage gets erased?. A very confusing claim. Do you have any links/refs to back this up. (Don't waste too much time looking, but some time might not be a bad idea).

posted by SMBLSBGARMS

I've heard many people say low reps build size, high reps build definition. I think that is wrong.
Heavy weights harden muscles and put crazy lines into them. Low body fat lets you see it.
I think people mistake high reps for cutting because they are actually doing cardio instead of weight training by using light weight, high reps, short breaks.
Certain exercises tend to shape rather than build size, like concentration curls, cable flys, leg extensions, etc. but the reps still fall in the 8-12 range generally even though you can't lift much weight with those.

just my opinion

posted by brsett

I still don't understand how that can possibly be the case. The muscle contracts upon load, how can part of it grow and not other parts. Muscle shape is what you were born with, muscle size and definition are the only things you can even attempt to control.

Even more annoying is the problem with isolation. Some muscles are simply impossible to isolate, everyone's favorite the vastus medialis (teardrop quad) cannot be contracted without contracting other muscles in the leg. So you can't just grow the vastus, you have to grow the whole thing as a unit, and the proportions of said muscles are entirely genetically determined.

I wish it wasn't true, but all the serious articles I've read agree with these points.

posted by SMBLSBGARMS

You can't change a small rounded chest to a wide square chest but you can change shape somewhat by causing certain parts of a muscle to grow in relation to other parts of it.
Lemme give you an example. Straight barbell curls grow the whole bicep, but they especially hit the large inner head. hammer curls also grow the bicep but they mainly hit the outer head and brachialis. Concentration curls tend to develop the peak.
The reason different lifts hit different parts of the muscle is because at different angles and wrist positions different parts of the muscle are being worked harder than others. This applies to most muscles. That's why if you have a weak upper chest you can prioritize incline work and bring it up. You would be changing the shape of your chest.

posted by brsett

In the two cases you sited, the muscles are seperate. I.e. they have different tendons connecting them to bone. That's the same as saying you can target teh gastrocnemius versus the soleus. Of course thats possible to some degree, they are 2 seperate muscles (seperate tendons) even though they both make up the calf muscle group.

With the calf I agree that targetting is possible. With the chest, I'm unconvinced that you can really change the proportions of the upper versus the lower -- but it wouldn't surprise me if it was possible(I'm merely going by my own experience). OTOH, I am confident that no one can improve their peak. You can target the heads of the bicep (outer vs. inner, though I have no idea whether it would work), but the degree of bicep peak you have is genetic.

Otherwise, why wouldn't all bb'ers have Ronnie and Arnold's peak? Or Colombu's upper chest?

posted by SMBLSBGARMS

I agree that much of bbing is genetic, but that doesn't mean you can't improve. The question is how much. Not everyone can have Arnold's peak but then not everyone can have Ronnie's size. You can change your proportions, though maybe not as drastically as you'de like.
You are born with a genetic shape but it makes sense that if you can grow larger you can alter that shape somewhat by carefully planning which parts you are trying to grow the most in relation to the others.

posted by president_fad

theres no such thing as a cuttin routine. You want to keep lifting as heavily as possible to retain as much muscle as u can while cutting your calories.

posted by LukeVTS

bingo. spot on president. exaclty what i said

posted by anti-fat

Agreed, higher reps doesn't mean hard or what ever. Its like cardio, stick to your old workouts. for example if it was Barbell Flat Bench press 3 sets. 4-6 Reps(str workout)change it to 3 sets 8-12 reps with weight that you are use too. First set if you do more then 12 reps mean its too light and lower then 8 is too heavy. hope this helps.

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