ExRx.net

Hey guys,

I had been bluking for a year and decided to cut for 6-8 weeks just to get my body fat to a more acceptable place. I will start bulking again after this period.

It has been exatctly 1 week. I dropped calories from 3500-3800 to about 2500 (too drastic?). I added three 10 minute interval sesssions (jump rope), 2 hours of soccer, and 2 hours of ridinng my bike (very easy pace).

Last week: 186 lbs @ 18.8% BF (BF measured by a BIA machine)
This week: 182 lbs @ 18.5% BF (BF measured by a BIA machine)

I lost 4 lbs with no measureable change in body fat (skinfold measurements also whowed no change). Is this normal or am I losing muscle? Do I need to make adjustments?

My personal guess (and hope) is that I am dropping water weight. But this is the first time in my life that I am cutting, so I wanted to see what someone with experience would say.

well.. I think it's too soon to be muscle loss.

It IS a drastic calorie cut, so it's not surprising to me that the scale is moving. And I'll bet if you give it a few weeks, you'll see that bodyfat percentage change too. But you could also see some muscle loss.

have you quit lifting too? I mean...are you planning on NOT lifting during this 6-8 weeks?

dian

George,

I wouln't worry about that at all. In MMA, it wasn't uncommon for guys i trained with and myself, the odd occasion, to drop as much as 20 pounds in 24-36 hours for weigh-in. That was all water, of course.

What you describe is nothing to be concerned about.

Also - try weighing yourself each morning, afternoon and just before bed. You might be suprised by the fluctuation in weight that occurs throughout a normal day.

I can vary +/- 5 lbs within a given week - depending on my training cycle/program, etc.

-Hoister

I absolutely have NOT quit lifting. That would not be a very good idea :) I life 3x a week upper/lower. I did decrease volume very slightly.

I am familiar with the weight fluctuations throught the day.

For a long time now I have been weighing myself weekly every Monday upon waking up and after going to the toilet. I never saw such drastic changes in body weight before.

How the hell do you drop 20 pounds in 36 hours?

If you ever get a chance to watch the Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike you'll get a good indication. Lots of time spent in the saunas, i remember they had one guy before riding an exercise bike in there...he had to lose like 20lbs just from morning to mid day! They had to literally drag the guy in there and hold the door closed.

A good test to see if you're losing muscle is if your going down on your lifts. A little decrease is natural when you begin cutting, but if you're going down on how much you lift, how many reps you're doing or how tired you are by the end of your workout it probably means you're losing muscle.

Another good test is if your weight drops but your body fat doesn't....

yes..but, I think it would be a mistake to assume that's what's happening here. For one thing, not enough time has gone by.

For another..4lbs is nothing.

A bodyfat check in a couple more weeks will probably be more telling.