Lean with cardio only?

For example one might calculate maintenance calories/day and then perform 45 minutes of jogging or any other cardio, to create a deficit of -400/500cals a day? Has anyone been able to get very lean using this method? Obviously yes, though it seems that its always the macro calories and total cals that get manipulated( going hypocaloric, low carb etc). Does anyone use this method to get below 6-7% bf?

No.

dont know about under 6%, but lots of people get lean without changing their diet. i like to call these people “athletes”. train more get leaner… most athletes i have worked with dont know shit about nutrition and are in pretty good nick none the less…however they are training year in year out, so the body fat has always been low or comes back down quick after a lay off.
Example A: a h2o polo friend has drop from a ridiculous 23% to 16% in 6 weeks just from training again. he was certainly a funny sight in speedo’s

It works, yes, but not if you are inteterested in keeping LBM. I have some friends who are medium-range runners (400-800), and they are all rippped. They can eat absolutely whatever they want to.

A couple of years ago I did a lot of cardio as well, and was in really good shape endurance-wise (pathetically weak, though). I could litterally eat chocolate, pizza, chips, anything I desired, it would be nearly impossible to gain any fat. And I am NOT an ectomorph.