Hey guys im 16 5’9 182 lbs. I found my cutting macros when i weighed in at 185 but now im at 182. My macros are 3000 calories 67 fats 182 protein and rest are carbs.
My weight scale broke so idk how i can track weight lol. My question is i do cardio every monday wed and friday for 20 mins jogging. Im already in a calorie deficit + cardio wouldn’t i be burning way too many calories? How does this work? And any tips on cutting?
Hey Dreamerz, welcome to the forum!
Some of the more experienced folk will undoubtedly respond, but I wanted to give my two cents.
The weight scale isn’t necessarily a good indicator of how a cut is progressing. Unless you’re cutting weight for a specific sport or competition, consider gauging your progress in the mirror instead of the scale. Some people enjoy taking pictures and comparing them over time.
As far as whether or not you will be “burning too many calories”, I might encourage you to mentally frame your programming a little differently for yourself: eat enough to maintain (or slowly increase) the weight on the big lifts AKA bench, dead, squat, and press, while still consuming a caloric deficit.
Sidebar: this is totally a matter of opinion and different bodies, but your caloric intake seems a little high. I’m currently bulking on 3k calories – albeit I’m a wiry little fuck. YMMV.
When it comes to your conditioning, I would encourage you to explore options other than sustained steady-state jogging. Many people experience success with interval training, for example: sprint intervals, sled/prowler pushes, bike intervals, and loaded carries. 3 times a week, after your lifting, would be great.
All of those come very highly recommended on T-Nation. There are many reasons why you should do this kind of conditioning instead of (or in addition to) steady-state jogging. I would encourage you to look this subject up for yourself, so that you can better manage your own programming. Google: conditioning; energy systems; interval training; and EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). Read everything, and succeed.
As I said, the big fish will weigh in soon, and hopefully get you on the right track for your goals.
Hey thanks for the response but I dont lift at a gym i lift at home and i dont have any machines 
Does this look legit? http://tinypic.com/r/fmmedw/8
Obviously im not going to jump in a 500 calorie deficit BUT maybe from 100-150.
Since i already screwed up on my cut will this fix it?
15-20 min jogs every mon-wed-fri
thoughts?
everything you’re doing is wrong. Literally everything.
Way too many calories unless you have a metabolism like a race horse. bodyweight x12 should be your starting point. What’s your lifting schedule like?
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Way too many calories unless you have a metabolism like a race horse. bodyweight x12 should be your starting point. What’s your lifting schedule like?[/quote]
The OP is 16, so he probably does have a metabolism like a race horse. My question is why does the OP want to cut anyway at 5’9" 182. Unless he is super fat, a slow recomp while gaining mass/strength would be advised.
OP, as nighthawkz wrote, what is your lifting schedule like?
It depends on what your goals are. If you’re trying to make a weight class or lean out for possibly better performance in a sport then it makes sense. If your goal is aesthetics then you have to define what you want to achieve and in what time frame. If your goal is purely strength then you probably don’t need to cut. You should state what your goals are before coming up with a plan.
IMO, cardio won’t hurt strength if you keep it at a low enough intensity that it doesn’t affect your recovery. To preserve strength you would want to minimize it and reduce energy expenditure in other areas besides strength training. It doesn’t seem like you need to lose a lot of weight but I can’t tell if you have a high BF percentage.
Edit: If you don’t play any sports besides your current running regimen and have access to any other conditioning methods, I would recommend to keep the running in since it’s likely your strength training isn’t very taxing. Everyone should have a decent level of conditioning.
Hey Dreamerz.
Jogging for 20 minutes three days a week will not help you lose fat and look slimmer. In fact, it will start to slow your metabolism down as your body adjusts to the work, which will actually make you start to gain weight.
Just a heads up, this is a website dedicated to weightlifting. It’s a little weird to create an account here if you don’t lift weights. ("Do U ev3n lift BRAh?) This is not even to mention the fact that the best way to lose weight is a combination of compound liftng and intense conditioning.
The calorie calculator you found online seems accurate. You will have to experiment over time to find the caloric deficit that works best for you. More likely than not, it will be closer to 500 than 100-150. Again, YMMV.
I think a strength and recomposition is a good call. What this means (please correct me if I’m wrong, T-Nation experts) is that you can think about gradually building muscle and dropping fat, to change the ratio of lean mass to fatty mass in your body overall. However, it is hard to say for sure if a traditional cut or a recomp would be better, because we’re not sure how “bad” your situation is. Bodyfat percentage, pictures, and diet information would be helpful. Blur your face out of the pictures if you want.
In the meantime, you need to start resistance training. Barbell training is best, and for that I recommend Stronglifts 5x5 and Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength programs. I dare say almost everybody on this forum started on a program just like those two. If you can’t start barbell training for a while, body weight exercises will do in the meantime.
To get you started, do this three times a week:
Push-ups: 3 sets 1-20 reps
Pull-ups: 3 sets 1-5 reps*
Body weight Squats: 3 sets of 1-20 reps
Plank Hold: 1 minute
Sprints: 20 minutes**
Do as many reps as possible for all three exercises.
*If you can’t do pull ups, then do “negative pull-ups”: use a box or chair to jump up to the top position of a pull up. Hold for a moment, and then lower yourself slowly. Then use the box to jump back up to the top.
**For these, pick a length of street. Warm up and stretch. Then, sprint as fast as you can from one telephone pole to the next. Then lightly jog to the next telephone pole. Then sprint to the next one. Carry on in this manner for 20 minutes, or until you throw up. (Joke)
As a general note, you need to show some fucking hustle. Nobody is going to hand you a better body. Even a personal trainer can’t give you what you want. Only you, and your learning, and your motivation, and your dedication, and your discipline will result in you being happier with your body.
My goal is aesthetics. I’ve been lifting seriously with ice 5x5 for 6 months then hopped onto ppl. I bulked and ate in a surplus but sort of went overboard and I have a gut lmfao. I don’t want to keep bulking with a high bf. I need to cut down. So those macros seem legit around 2800 I’ll just cut 150 from it and start from there??
What kind of lifting progress have you made since you started? What are your current lifts and where did they start?
Well my goal was size but I understood that I needed basics so I did 5x5
At the beginning my max bench was 90 then I ended with 185 and I can do 5x5 with that weight.
I can dl 350 for 1 and only squat 225.
Yeah bad numbers but my goal isn’t strength it’s hypertrophy.
Im going to follow this my maintenance is 2806 I’m going to subtract 150 and cut.
My protein will be my body weight 63 fats rest carbs.
Thoughts?
I gained size though which what I wanted but too much fat so
[quote]Dreamerzzz wrote:
My macros are 3000 calories 67 fats 182 protein and rest are carbs.[/quote]
Can you tell me what foods and amounts make up your 67g fat and 182g protein? Instead of micro-managing your macros, focus on consistently making good food choices. Stick to the foods I mentioned here for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week:
That’s okay. Focus on improving in the gym each week and watch how your clothes are fitting. I have a feeling you’d go overboard with the scale if you had a working one.
A 20-minute jog a few days a week is not intense cardio and is no big deal. There’s the whole question of why jog when you can sprint, but that’s a bit different subject.
Yes. Don’t. Like Ecchastang said, it’s much more important for you to build a base of strength and muscle before going on a dedicated cut. Even if you have a gut now, hard training and smart eating will basically sort it out soon enough.
When you “finished” the 5x5 plan, what were you lifting for 5 reps on the squat, deadlift, bench, row, and overhead press?
[quote]Jarvan wrote:
everything you’re doing is wrong. Literally everything.[/quote]
Lol
It seems like you’ve made good progress so far gaining strength and muscle. As others have said or implied, keep lifting heavy focusing on progression, adjust diet (make better food choices and/or lower overall calories slightly) and add cardio. I like long walks in the morning, or interval sprints, but short jogs are fine too.
[quote]Dreamerzzz wrote:
Hey thanks for the response but I dont lift at a gym i lift at home and i dont have any machines
Does this look legit?[/quote]
Oh, my bad. I took this to mean that you weren’t/hadn’t trained with barbells. Totally misread you. Disregard the pull ups and shit. Listen to Chris.
[quote]OGrady wrote:
Hey Dreamerz, welcome to the forum!
Some of the more experienced folk will undoubtedly respond, but I wanted to give my two cents.
The weight scale isn’t necessarily a good indicator of how a cut is progressing. Unless you’re cutting weight for a specific sport or competition, consider gauging your progress in the mirror instead of the scale. Some people enjoy taking pictures and comparing them over time.
As far as whether or not you will be “burning too many calories”, I might encourage you to mentally frame your programming a little differently for yourself: eat enough to maintain (or slowly increase) the weight on the big lifts AKA bench, dead, squat, and press, while still consuming a caloric deficit.
Sidebar: this is totally a matter of opinion and different bodies, but your caloric intake seems a little high. I’m currently bulking on 3k calories – albeit I’m a wiry little fuck. YMMV.
When it comes to your conditioning, I would encourage you to explore options other than sustained steady-state jogging. Many people experience success with interval training, for example: sprint intervals, sled/prowler pushes, bike intervals, and loaded carries. 3 times a week, after your lifting, would be great.
All of those come very highly recommended on T-Nation. There are many reasons why you should do this kind of conditioning instead of (or in addition to) steady-state jogging. I would encourage you to look this subject up for yourself, so that you can better manage your own programming. Google: conditioning; energy systems; interval training; and EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). Read everything, and succeed.
As I said, the big fish will weigh in soon, and hopefully get you on the right track for your goals.
[/quote
i’m a tall lanky fuck myself but I would lose weight on 3k a day.
you will be able to tell if your doing too much cardio. listen to your body. if your lifts start going down, cut the cardio back or completely out til your lifts get back up. same with your calories. manipulate them according to how you feel and what the mirror says. scales don’t mean a lot if you have access to a mirror and most gyms have scales.