Diet is the key to cutting. There are many misconceptions about the term "cutting" and/or "cutting cycle." There are types of gear that may facilitate the process as jstrong suggested. ie tren, GH. There are really no specific "cutting" or "bulking" gear it has to do with diet. The resond that some gear gets the label "cutting gear" is becuase it has very low water retentive properties which is obviously good for a pre-contest or cutting cycle. Also, like bigkraut says the gear during a cutting cycle is for mainly keeping the body out of the catabolic state that a restricted diet places us in. Basically, you can cut on anything if you adjust your diet accordingly. (pre-contest water reduction not withstanding) Here is a piece of a small article I wrote on the subject a while ago that may help understand the processes of the body (simplified):
There are 3 states of the body for our purposes. These really all revolve around cortisol exclusively:
1. Anabolic state- a state which is conducive for muscle hypertrophy. Alot of the effects of anabolism, when dealing with
steroids, is actually caused because of the blocking of cortisol receptors, which because cortisol is a
steroid also(corticosteroid) the structure is very similar to that of anabolic
steroids which make them an effective anti-catabolic.
2. Homestasis- a state where there is neither growth nor atrophy. Neutral.
3. Catabolic state- a state in which cortisol levels cause the muscle fibers (and other tissues) to be metabolized thus, causing muscle atrophy.
Now depending of the amount of gear and your diet will determine which state your body will be in. This is often the biggest mistake I see when guys are planning their "cutting cycle." I see, very often, guys using alot less gear for their cutters because they "are not trying to build mass." Well the problem with this is that it took whatever amount of gear during your bulking cycle to attain that amount of muscle mass, regardless of BF% as we are just dealing with muscle mass here, so I beleive that at least the same amount is needed to maintain it while dieting, if not more. It is very important that you stay out of the catabolic state if you are to try and keep all that hard earned muscle. There are no magic figures as all metabolism is different and we all have differing amounts of LBM. But, I reiterate, that your bulking cycle is the best indicator of how much you need. You grew on that amount (hopefully) so you were in an anabolic state. Now together with restricted cals and cardio ect. you hope that you will at least be able to avoid the catabolic state by using the same amt. It depends on the individual, as I said. This is where knowing your body and how you are reacting to different things comes into play. I know myself that often time I can feel during my workouts that my cals are too low and often results in some loss of strength. This is a great indicator that your body is in the catabolic state but most of the time this is very late in the process so, try to see other signs that you would know better than I before this happens. I know what they are for myself but I don't think I can list them as a blanket statement that would apply to everyone.
Peace. Freez.
Linear Mode
