Oh mate this is understatement of the month 
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@tlgains Dude, as a guy who has dropped 60lbs in the last year, read and re-read this quote. It is super real. Cutting is a long game if you are dropping a significant amount, and you will absolutely question every millimeter of bicep size lost. Trust the process, keep hitting the weights, eating enough to fuel training but not too excess, and you will 100% be happier with the way your body looks 6 months from now. I also found pullups to be an awesome way to track progress. If my pullup numbers were increasing, then I knew that both strength AND bodyfat were going in the right direction.
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Thank you atlas, I will trust the process. I donāt expect to look like a bodybuilder after the cut, but I sure as heck will be happy taking my shirt off after it. All this extra fat on my body serves no purpose, also I wouldnāt be surprised if I have to lose more than I think I do to look sharp.
Iāve also read somewhere that @T3hPwnisher made his best gains after a cut, unless Iām mistaken?
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Dude, I think youāre going to crush this cut. Just transfer the effort and dedication youāve been putting in to gain. Iām super excited for this!
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Glory to the boilerman!
Thanks dude!
Nah, I made my best gains chasing after a 275lb keg press, during which time I was eating ANYTHING that got me to my goal, and I wasnāt particularly lean to start.
BUT, after cutting down to a very lean level of bodyfat and holding it for a while, I effectively reset my bodyfat set point and made it that I could eat a LOT of food and still stay lean, which made growing a better process.
Youāre at a great age to try out all this stuff.
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5/3/1 PR Sets and FSL 5 x 5
Strict Press
100 lbs x 5 115 lbs x 5 130 lbs x 15
5 x 5 FSL - 100 lbs
Dips - Bodyweight - 50 reps
E-Z Curl Bar Curls - 60 lbs - 50 reps
Seated Weighted Flat Bench Leg Tuck - 50 reps - 10 lbs
Litvisleds
Deadlift - 305 lbs
Prowler - 135 lbs
- 305 lbs x 8
- Push across gym turf
- 305 lbs x 6
- Push across gym turf
- 305 lbs x 1
- Push across gym turf
3 Round Total
Incline Treadmill Walk - 2.0 Speed - 10.0 Incline - 30 minutes
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Ever since Tuesday been eating 2800 calories. Weighed 245.2 lbs this morning. Perhaps itās too early for anything to happen
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Will need to adjust weight on deadlifts for litvisleds. There was a loaded barbell next to the turf field so I just used that, the knurling was so bad, thing is practically a chrome pipe.
-I need a better attitude with training because I feel like Iām in a mental limbo so I am going to believe that I can get stronger while on a deficit, and I donāt care what anyone says.
Maybe I will get stronger, most likely end up maintaining most of it, idk letās see what happens.
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Love this combo, hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks dude! Ngl Iāve been starting to look at conjugate training.
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12 Week Commercial Gym Conjugate
Week 1 Day 1
Max Effort Lower
A) Heavy Parallel Breathing Squat - 135 lbs x 5, 225 lbs x 5, 275 lbs x 5, 315 lbs x 5, 345 lbs x 5, 365 lbs x 5, 385 lbs x 5, 405 lbs x 5
B) RDl - 3x6 - 315 lbs
C) Leg Press - 3 x 10 Heavy - 4 plates
D) Hamstring Curls - 3 x 15 - 90 lbs
Leg Extensions - 3 x 12 - 140 lbs
Dip Hanging Leg Raises - 3 x Amrap
Incline Treadmill Walk - 2.0 Speed - 10.0 Incline - 30 minutes
Stairmaster - Level 4 - 5 minutes
Weight: 239.8 lbs
It has been a week and I have been eating 2800 calories and 300 - 400 grams of protein. That must be water weight that I lost so Iāll check next week and see if I need to adjust.
- I felt a program change was necessary in order to stay motivated and disciplined. Picked a commercial gym conjugate template, figured I canāt screw it too much but I have a lot of reading to do besides that article.
-Commercial Gym Conjugate - Elite FTS | EliteFTS
- From what I understand Max Effort work is supposed to be heavy but not sloppy.
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Itās supposed to be maximal STRAIN. ME work teaches you how to strain: how to take all your muscles and make them work as hard as possible toward one goal. Breathing squats would more fill the role of supplemental work: heavy work there to support the building of the ME work.
This is why box squats and good mornings were so popular for ME work: it removes the eccentric from the start, so you canāt bounce into the rep. You start from a dead stop and strain maximally against the weight. Deadlift variants work well too in that regard for lower body.
As an example, this would be a max effort trap bar pull for me
Whereas this would be heavy supplemental work
Conjugate is a great choice for your goals. Make sure you read up on it as much as you can. Itās super complex until you figure it out, and then itās the most simple thing in the world.
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Hey Pwn, thanks for the articles!! Also that is an insane trap bar pull. Why would breathing squats fill the role of supplemental work more? Personally, Iām obsessed with breathing squats and would like to keep doing them.
Iām not sure how different this commercial gym template:
https://www.elitefts.com/education/commercial-gym-conjugate/
is from how people typically train conjugate but, exercises are rotated after three weeks. After three weeks I would pick a variation. Is that the same with how people typically train conjugate?
I guess what Iām saying is that I want to cycle in regular barbell lifts for Max Effort work: Breathing Squat and Regular Deadlift. Obviously the rest of the max effort lifts will be variations of those lifts. Iām only asking if that defeats the purpose of conjugate training, if I were to cycle those in.
Btw Iāll get to those articles ASAP, this whole week (finals week) is nuts.
This is what I was explaining about lack of eccentric and straining. If youād like to keep doing breathing squats, thereās nothing wrong with that: Just make it a supplemental lift.
Those links discuss the rotation of ME lifts. 1-3 weeks is common. A newer trainee can hang on to an ME lift for 3 weeks, whereas a more experienced lifter tends to rotate after 1. Straining is HARD on the body. An experienced lifter is so good at the skill of straining that, within 1 week, they can exhaust themselves. A newer trainee will need to spend a week or 2 just learning HOW to strain on that particular lift before they can really committ themselves.
Deadlifts would be a fine ME lift for the reason I outline: no eccentric load at the start. Breathing squat would be a poor choice. An Anderson squat (squat from the pins, starting at the bottom) or a box squat would be a fine squat choice.
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Conjugate Training
Week 1 Day 2
ME Upper
Pin Press From Chest
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
175 lbs x 3
195 lbs x 3
205 lbs x 3
225 lbs x 3
245 lbs x 1
255 lbs x 1
265 lbs x 0
260 lbs x 0
Close Grip Incline Press
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 5
175 lbs x 5
Dumbbell Side Laterals - 3 x 10 - 45 lb dumbbells
Chin-ups - 3 x AMRAP - Bodyweight
Incline Treadmill Walk - 2.0 Speed - 10.0 Incline - 30 minutes
Stairmaster - Level 4 - 6 minutes
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Email me, man. I donāt check it often but Iāll send that paper if I hear from you.
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Emailed ya
Conjugate Training
Week 1 Day 3
Dynamic Effort Lower
Speed Box Squat (Low Box)
10 x 2 - 255 lbs (10-20 sec in between)
Conventional Deadlift Speed Pull
10 x 1 - 315 lbs (10 sec in between)
Dumbbell Rows - 4 x 10 - 50 lb dumbbells
Lying Leg Curl - 4 x 10 - 120 lbs
Back Extension - 4 x 10 - Bodyweight
Barbell Shrug - 3 x 15 - 205 lbs
Tabata Kettlebell Swings -70 lb kettlebell
Incline Treadmill Walk - 2.0 Speed - 11.0 Incline - 30 minutes
Stairmaster - Level 5 - 5 minutes
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Speed Day!
How did you like the 10 x 2 squats with short rests? Are you in shape for that kind of work after al those 20 rep squats?
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