ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MASTERING THE MINICUT

Many people are looking for a quick fix when it comes to getting lean and minicuts are not the answer. Instead: minicuts are effective for continuing to maximize gains as they potentiate muscle growth. Using this strategy can be powerful; however there are limitations. Understanding how and when to appropriately use minicuts is an essential tool for optimizing long term muscle growth!

WHAT IS A MINICUT?

A shorter and more aggressive fat loss phase for which the purpose is not sustainable weight loss!

MINICUT BENEFITS

• Potentiating Muscle Gain: the main purpose of a minicut is to potentiate further muscle gain and performance. Quick and aggressive fat loss dieting can result in rebound weight gain: an advantageous result when muscle growth is the goal. Minicuts facilitate this function in several ways:

  
  

  • Clearance of Accumulated Fat: over time during a muscle gain diet: body fat percentage will increase. The more fat gained during a muscle gain phase: the more fat you have to lose to get lean. Also, an important reason to avoid gaining too much fat is overall health and well-being. This equates to over 20% body fat for males and over 30% for females. Minicuts can help prevent excessive fat gain across your muscle gain phases which will help you stay healthier and potentiate your physique outcomes!

    
    

  • P-Ratio Improvement: the P-Ratio is the ratio of muscle to fat gain when increasing weight. The leaner you are: the more muscle and less fat you tend to add at any time you gain weight. If you get leaner again: you regain muscle insulin sensitivity and obtain improved nutrient intake by muscle cells. Gaining weight while staying within a range of 10% to 15% body fat for males and 15% to 25% body fat for females is ideal for the optimal muscle to fat gain ratios: minicuts can help improve this!

    
    

  • Re-Sensitization to Training Volume: the longer you train with high volumes: the less muscle growth it likely initiates. The short duration of a minicut means that you can lower training volume without risking muscle loss. A low volume training phase can re-sensitize your muscles to higher volume training to allow for more productive growth and recovery!

    
    

• Temporarily Improving Appearance: the second purpose of a minicut is to get into improved shape in a short amount of time. This is not part of a long term approach to gradually reducing body fat: it is a temporary solution when long term options are not possible. If and when you choose to do a minicut for appearance purposes: you are willing to make the trade-offs to look sharp in the short term while paying the cost of delayed long term progress.

MINICUT STRUCTURE

Duration: 2 to 6 weeks in length. The average rate of weight loss for a minicut is between 0.75% and 1.25% body weight per week. Minicut durations can be broken down into three categories:

• Short: 2-3 weeks

• Intermediate: ~4 weeks

• Long: 5-6 weeks

The table below outlines the recommended minicut length depending on the desired loss of % body weight!

If you have more than 5% fat to lose: a standard fat loss phase is recommended and not a minicut!

MINICUT RATE

To find the specific rate of loss: calculate the daily calorie deficit required to achieve body weight reductions of 0.75%, 1.0% or 1.25% per week using the chart below!

• Calorie Deficit: the calorie deficit should be as large as possible without risking the loss of muscle! The deficit needs to be individualized as leaner individuals can not lose fat as quickly. The more fat you have: the more you can lose per week.

• Example: if I weigh 180 lbs and want to lose 0.75% body weight per week: I multiply 180 by 3.75 and get ~675 as a needed daily calorie deficit from my maintenance calories for that desired rate of loss

  • Click here to learn how to calculate maintenance calories!

SETTING UP MINICUT NUTRITION

Protein Intake: 1 gram per pound of body weight and this simple rule works for most people. If you are an individual who holds 30% or more body fat: it would be beneficial to scale down to 0.75 grams per pound of body weight

Fat Intake: 0.3 grams per pound of body weight. The minicut is short and aggressive so we want to favor carbohydrate intake and keep fats as low as possible. Do not cut fats any lower than this because they are essential for hormone support and other health purposes

Carbohydrate Intake: all of the calories remaining

Food Composition: 80% of your diet should consist of high quality and nutrient dense calories from whole food sources. The remaining 20% can consist of lower quality foods you enjoy in moderation. Also, consume 3 to 4 servings of fruits and vegetables and hit a minimum of 20 grams of fiber daily: this will keep you healthy and feeling more full!

Nutrient Timing: while aggressively losing fat and maintaining muscle mass: nutrient timing plays an important role in the minicut. Key points are outlined below:

• Split protein intake to 4-6 servings a day and with 2-4 hours between meals

• Eat more whole foods, fruits, and vegetables to stay full

• Consume the majority of carbohydrates pre and post training

  
  

This will ensure you are maximizing muscle protein synthesis and properly recovering from your training as best as possible!

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS DURING A MINICUT

No adjustments are needed. If the calorie deficit is set correctly from the beginning: no adjustments should be needed during the 2 to 6 weeks. Ignore the first 1 to 2 weeks of the minicut because of glycogen, water, and other changes in your diet as you will drop weight quicker than normal. After this: weight loss becomes more predictable. Trust the process!

Troubleshooting: if the calorie deficit was not set properly and you are not losing fat as quickly as you would like to: you can use the formula below!

(ideal number of lbs lost per week – actual lbs lost per week) X 500 = the number of calories to remove from your diet

• Example: if you were aiming to lose 1.5 lbs per week and after week 2 you only lose 0.5 lbs: then you know you can probably improve with a greater daily calorie deficit

  • (1.5 – 0.5) = 1.0 X 500 = 500 calories to remove from diet

If you were eating 2,500 calories a day on average and you want to lose 1.5 lbs: you would drop daily calories to 2,000. Do not make needless changes if you have good reason to think your deficit was right in the first place!

WHEN NOT TO MINICUT

One requirement for a minicut is to be in a fresh, fully fueled, and low-stress state! Three reasons to not complete a minicut are outlined below:

• People with diet fatigue or a history of binging

• People who are highly stressed

• Strength athletes in their competitive season

Diet fatigue includes increased hunger, low energy levels, low testosterone, decreased metabolic burn, and mental exhaustion from dieting!

TRAINING

The purpose of minicut training is to preserve muscle mass while doing as little as possible!

To make re-sensitization to training volume a positive effect: at least maintenance volume training must be completed. This allows preservation of muscle mass and results in a substantial training volume reduction to potentiate an increase in anabolic sensitivity to higher training volume after the minicut is over. This phase will prime your body for more muscle gain!

Training Outline

• 2-3 sets per exercise

• 6-12 rep range

• Progress by beginning the minicut 3-4 reps from failure and add 1 more repetition closer to failure each week where you are properly recovered

What Not To Do In Training

• Include new exercises: new variations cause more muscle damage and require technique adjustments and the caloric deficit is stressful enough

• Use any intensity techniques including supersets, drop sets, and cluster sets

• Add more volume because you are not getting pumps as you are not supposed to be getting pumps during the minicut. The purpose of this is to avoid them so you can re-sensitize the body and the pump can help promote muscle gain again after the minicut is over

CARDIO

Cardio should be limited on a minicut! Cardio is not required for fat loss; however it can be utilized as a tool. If you are comfortable with your planned daily calorie deficit then cardio is not necessary.

Cardio Rules

1. It must be kept to less time than your resistance training

2. It is best kept to low intensity steady state including incline walking

3. Limit cardio's contribution to 1/3 or less of the calorie deficit

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE MINICUT!

You are putting yourself into a large and aggressive caloric deficit. Combined with reductions in training volume: the body will alter its appearance and performance. It is important to understand what to expect because of the quick and drastic changes it may cause.

• Body Water Reduction: when carbohydrates are dropped substantially in one week: body water will fall by a large margin. This will make you look flat and because this body water drop happens first: it is unlikely you have lost any fat. In the beginning: you will initially lose size in your muscles while your fat stays the same. The same amount of fat over a smaller muscle volume makes you look worse than before you started. Also, the combination of lower carbohydrates and lower repetitions in training means vascularity will not be as apparent. It is all perfectly predictable and not indicative of any loss of progress!

• First Week: the most difficult part. After this: each week you will look leaner when you have completed your minicut and re-introduce more carbohydrates; muscles will refill to their usual size and probably bigger since you are now re-sensitized to insulin and glycogen loading. Combined with your lower body fat percentage: you will look incredible about one week after the minicut is over!

• Strength In The Gym: strength will decrease due to the drastic reduction in calories and lower glucose levels. Weights may feel heavy in the first week of the minicut but should not feel progressively worsen. If strength progressively decreases across weeks: the calorie deficit may be too extreme!

WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER THE MINICUT!

• Body Water Rebound: when you increase calories after the minicut: lost water and glycogen will return about as quickly as they were initially lost. During this time: the body water will shift from intra-muscular to subcutaneous which is under the skin. This can make you look less defined for a short time. Also, the GI tract will be processing a lot more food than it has been used to over the last few weeks: leaving you feeling more bloated. This is completely normal and to be expected: with more water in your muscles and lower body fat; appearance is dramatically improved!

• Optimizing Muscle Gain Post: the primary purpose of the minicut is to make you more sensitive to muscle gain: moving back into a caloric surplus is the next plan of action. To get your calorie surplus intake: take your current maintenance calories and add in the extra using the desired rate of gain formulas outlined below:

Metabolism will not have changed a lot throughout the short duration of the minicut: you can use your pre-minicut maintenance calories or a value about 5-10% below as your baseline!

SUMMARY

Minicuts are a tool that can be utilized to further potentiate muscle growth and temporarily improve appearance. Remember: they are not used for sustainable fat loss! However, minicuts can make every muscle gain phase a bit more productive. Over time: these small increases in productivity will add up and provide you a significant edge!