3 Steps to an Effective Cut Phase

1. Build & maintain first

Effective cut phases happen not just because of the work you put in during them, but what you do beforehand. If you jump right in without a solid build or maintenance phase, you’ll have no foundation to build on top of. When you’ve already built lean muscle and established a healthy nutritional cadence, your body will respond more readily to the work you put in. Otherwise, your body’s natural response to less food will likely involve conserving calories in fat tissue. So before you start, making sure you’ve been building or maintaining and getting results first, before you even think about starting a cut phase.

2. Cut in stages

In an ambitious cut, you won’t be able to stick to your target macros immediately. Either they won’t work (because your body panics when it’s suddenly getting much less food than it’s used to), or you’ll give up because life becomes miserable all the time. If you’re constantly hungry — not ‘normal’ hungry, but ravenous, all the time — how can you possibly give everything you’ve got to your workouts? Combine that with more frequent, more intense cravings, and toning becomes much harder. So set intermediate targets and adjust your macros toward your desired numbers over time. The journey will be more effective, sustainable, and fun this way!

3. Know when to stop

No one can cut forever. Obviously you can’t reduce your weight indefinitely, but it’s tempting to pursue your desired physique or weight in a single cut. Unless you’ve been effectively transforming your body for years, this is nearly impossible — your body will respond better if your path looks more like: cut, maintain, cut, maintain, build, maintain, cut, maintain, etc. Punctuate cuts with building muscle and teaching your body how to operate healthily on a ‘normal’ day. Once its ready, then you can start the next cut. Simple, effective, but often overlooked — don’t lose sight of the life you want by aiming for quick fixes!

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