We’re off and running! My 2019 cut begins this week, and with it comes brand new goals.

I’ll be documenting my plans, my strategies, and how things progress on a week-to-week basis to document this journey and hopefully provide you with some tips and takeaways.

The last time I did a full-on cut, I set out attempting to lose 20-plus pounds in three months. That was it. It was all about weight loss. And I accomplished that goal, plus a little more.

This year, I have a similar goal in a similar time frame — losing 20 pounds in three months sounds nice — but the way in which I’d like to achieve weight loss is considerably different.

I’m stronger now, and I’d like to maintain my strength levels (or at least stay in the same ballpark) while losing weight. Last time around, the most I ever squatted was 200 pounds, the most I ever benched was 200 pounds, and who even knows where my deadlift was. Nowadays, I have a 900-pound total (290-pound squat, 235-pound bench press, 375-pound deadlift) and I’d really like to maintain as much of that as possible so I don’t have to dig out of some humongous hole when the cut is complete.

I’d also like to maximize the amount of muscle I maintain while at the same time maximize fat loss. The last time I did a cut, I started at a similar weight (around 190 pounds) but much more of that overall weight was fat mass as compared to this time around. I’m happier with my body composition now that I’ve put more time and effort into building muscle. I’d like to hold on to that muscle as much as I can.

This is a tricky thing to accomplish — stay strong, lose fat, hold on to muscle. In terms of losing fat and preserving muscle, it’s impossible to do it perfectly. When you lose weight, you’re losing body tissue. Both fat and muscle is going to come off, but there’s a lot you can do from a diet and training perspective to optimize the results.

Now what about strength? That gets a little more complicated, first and foremost because the heavier you are generally means you’ll inherently be able to handle more weight. You’ll be stronger.

For instance, I was able to squat more at 190 pounds than I was at 180 pounds. That increase in strength wasn’t completely attributed to weighing more, but the extra weight helps (this is why sports like powerlifting, wrestling, etc. have athletes compete in weight classes).

The training stimulus is the other major key.

To build strength, you need to progressively provide your body with a heavy stimulus over time. The weight and intensity with which you lift should periodically increase, and each session should be followed by proper rest and recovery. This primes your central nervous system (CNS) to lift heavier and heavier weight. It also acclimates the overall musculature, joints, tendons, etc. to operating efficiently under heavy load.

Those same principles apply to maintaining strength in a weight loss phase. To accomplish my goals, I’ll need to periodically present my body with a moderately heavy stimulus in order to keep my CNS and body accustomed to handling heavier weights.

So, with all the background information, how are we going to go about maintaining strength during this cut?

Here’s the basic breakdown of my approach. And be sure to check out my other article on nutrition to learn about how I’m approaching my diet during this process.

Strength Training:

I plan to continue to train my squat, bench press, and deadlift on a weekly basis. Last time around, I eventually abandoned all three of these lifts because my strength dropped off so dramatically with my weight loss.

In order to continue training each lift, I plan to work between 60-80 percent of my one-rep max for each lift. Last week, I established those numbers for the bench press, squat, and deadlift.

Here’s a breakdown of the ranges and rep schemes I’m looking at…

Squat (290 pounds)

• 60 percent is 175 lbs, so 17 total reps (a 3×6 or 4×4 set/rep scheme)
• 70 percent is 205 lbs, so 12 total reps (a 3×4 or 4×3 set/rep scheme)
• 80 percent is 230 lbs, so 8 total reps (a 2×4 or 4×2 set/rep scheme)

Bench Press (235 pounds)

• 60 percent is 140 lbs, so 15 total reps (a 3×8 set/rep scheme)
• 70 percent is 165 lbs, so 12 total reps (a 3×5 set/rep scheme)
• 80 percent is 185 lbs, so 9 total reps (a 3×3 set/rep scheme)

Deadlift (375 pounds)

• 60 percent is 225 lbs, so 17 total reps (a 4×4 set/rep scheme)
• 70 percent is 265 lbs, so 12 total reps (a 3×4 or 4×3 set/rep scheme)
• 80 percent is 300 lbs, so 8 total reps (a 4×2 set/rep scheme)

My blocks of training operate on a three-week cycle, so I’ll rotate through those percentages throughout the entire training program. This will allow me to continue to practice each skill and work on form and technique, while still taking on a stimulus that promotes maintaining my current strength levels.

Will my strength drop off? Probably a little. But I should be able to maintain the majority of what I worked so hard for over the last year and-a-half.

Accessory Work:

My accessory work will continue in a similar fashion to the majority of my training throughout the strength-building phase. I’ll have days focused around pushing, pulling, and lower body. On a weekly basis, I’ll vary my set and rep schemes with a focus on higher volume.

For example, after my bench press I’ll finish off the day with exercises focused on the chest, shoulders, and triceps. I’ll have a week where I’m operating with the goal of 12 reps per set, followed by a week of 10 reps per set, and finally a week with 8 reps per set.

That same structure will carry throughout the week, and I’ll be training six days per week.

I could dive much deeper into this structure for hours about the details and specifics, but I think this is enough to give you a good idea of my plans.

Cardio:

The last little piece to this puzzle is cardio, and this is something I plan to start slow with and build on as the cut progresses. To start, I plan on getting in two 20-minute cardio sessions on the stationary bike each week (Tuesday nights and weekends).

If and when progress with my weight loss plateaus, I’ll likely add to the duration of each of those sessions. I’m prepared to add additional cardio sessions as well, but those decisions will be made later in this process. There’s no need or reason to try and structure that out at this early a juncture.

—

So, with all of that said, I feel I’m in a pretty good place to begin my cut! Throughout years of creating and adapting my programming, I’m very confident this structure will work from a training perspective.

I’m also certain that this plan will adapt over the next three months. It might not be dramatic, but I’m sure my body will give me signals that lead to adjusting little details in order to keep progressing and working towards my goals, which overall is weight loss while maintaining strength.

I’m excited to document the entire process, and I hope you’ll follow along. I also hope you’ll find some value in the information I share!

As always, please feel free to ask questions if you have them. I’d be happy to help!

—

CG