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I guess I am going into what you guys would call a "cutting" phase even though I never really went on a "bulking" phase.

Essentially, I feel that I have gained strength and size in my muscles, but I would like to have them stand out more. For example, I would like my shoulders to be less round and more "ripped".

I know that fat loss is essential. But I am wondering what type of excersises and sets/reps I should do to get this look.

You might want to look at this article for some information.

Also, Stephen, we need more information about how. How tall are you, how much do you weight, what's your body fat percentage? What is your workout, what do you eat? If you lift consistantly and eat right, your body fat should drop dramatically, especially if you throw in some HIIT.

Going hand in hand with the that Stephen put up, a very popular method of leaning out back in the 50's and 60's, before the bodypart splits got real popular was circuits and or PHA style training. PHA-peripheral heart action. These were simply circuits rotating from lower to upper body, done one right after the other with minimal rest, in the 8-15 rep range, intensities varied with the reps. A very simple example would be ciruit one. Squats, rows, glute hame raise, DB bench press, abs. Do 2-3 rounds, just resting long enough to catch your breath between rounds. Circuit 2 (if you choose to do another might be RDL, overhead press, abs, Chins. These are just examples. Done this way it tends to expend a lot of energy (which fits in quite nicely with diet to nfluence fat loss. Plus done in this quick fashion, it also tends to have a cardio vascular effect: hence the name peripheral heart action.
Tim

Tim

Here is more info on PHA workouts

I've done circuit training before (most recently using the XpressLine at NYSC), but never with the upper-body/lower body switch. It makes sense though - it avoids local fatigue.

Thanks for the heads up

yeah i agree with all that, you dont need to do high reps or anything special like that to get cut, just eat right, eat very right, and kick your ass in teh gym

like they have said doing your lifting with very little rest will make it like you are doing cardio while weight lifting and accelerate fat loss, sprinkle that with some HIIT and the right diet and youll shed it all off

but yes how tall are you how much do you weigh and whats your body fat?

VoK is the one who's trying to get ripped, not me. But if you must know, I'm 6' 6" and I weigh 225. I have no idea what my body fat percentage is, but it must not be too high, since I can see my abs ;-)

Hey Stephen, thanks for that link to Mahler. I've played around with his stuff for a while now, and he is extremely knowledgeable in both the old and new stuff. I've been mixing up HOC, Javorek, crossfit and 5X5 for4 a while now
I loved that article.
Tim

Here'sanother one.

I'm getting a lot of ideas for new training programs when my current one ends next month.

Thanks.

oh i wasnt asking you Stephen sorry :P but yeah if you can see your abs thats like around 10% i believe is the threshold

I would go with this option. BTW, from what I read, another benefit of pairing up a big upper body ex and a big lower body ex is that it is very inefficient (which is what you want when burning fat).

One problem i have with the article that Stephen posted is that there are too many "little bang for your buck" exercises like leg extensions etc. Fat loss programs must focus on the big moves. I would avoid isolation work completely during a fat loss phase.

Definition is a function of the amount of body fat to lean body mass.
The less body fat to lean body mass the the more muscle definition will show.
If you want to measure your body fat percent with skin fold calipers try the website www.lookbetterfit.com

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