do i aim to lift more weight while cutting?

[sharaabi]

the aim here to loose fat with a good diet, cardio and a lifting program that works for you.

I was wondering.....in my case for example i can LEG PRESS 14 PLATES(7 each side) x 4 times.....75lb dumbell(each hand) x 4.

now when cutting, eating less than maintainence, doing cardio HIIT......should one aim to increase reps?? increase weight? intensity?

I do a full body circuit 3 times, day1- HEAVY like mentioned above, day2 8-10 reps of moderate weight and day 3 - PYRAMID 15 reps, 10 reps then 6 for each body part.

so i mix up my style 3 times a week to give the muscle the best of both fibers which is slowly working for me along with cardio...........i just wanted to know that once i conquer a certain weight x reps for an exercise, should i go up in weight or remain there to sustain my muscle while cutting?

all im trying to ask is, SHOULD I AIM TO GO UP IN WEIGHT WHILE CUTTING?:confused:

[Mr VW]

Forget the fact that you're cutting. Always try to lift more weight. You may lose some strength. But just keep at it.

[.V.]

Lifting heavy while cutting is more important than while bulking. If you drop the weight and do more reps while bulking - you can take advantage of the caloric surplus and grow anyway. Cutting CAN become a struggle to maintain muscle anyway. Lifting lighter doesn't give your body the stimulus it needs to hang onto the muscle.

Remember, if the body has enough muscle to move around and find food - it considers that to be enough. Extra muscle is wasteful of energy in the body's opinion and it will get rid of it if it can. If you are making it lift heavy, it feels like it needs to keep it so it will be more likely to maintain what you've built.

Kind of an oversimplification, but the explanation still works.

[SNPiccolo5]

I agree with welch in that you should definitely, at the very least, aim to lift more. Like your question states, you may very well not make too much progress, but it's all about perceived effort, anyway, so as long as you aim to lift more, it will help preserve muscle the most.

-Tim

[KickerNine]

I plan on cutting roughly 40 pounds over the next two months in preparation for my next contest, which is four months away. I plan on working heavy the entire cut. I fully expect to have strength gains, as I have done during previous cuts.

[totalchaos]

would 12 reps be ok for cutting?

[.V.]

Originally Posted by totalchaos

would 12 reps be ok for cutting?

If you've been doing 12 reps and can lift heavy enough to stimulate the body to keep muscle mass...then 12 reps would be great.