Reflecting on My Last Cutting Cycle
At the beginning of the cut, this was to be the ultimate cut.
For almost four years now (and off and on for almost eight), I’ve been lifting very seriously. I went from obese (275 lb) to pretty cut but almost without muscle (160 lb). After that, I’ve been slowly adding on muscle. It was nice having to go from 18.5" fatceps to 13" and now up to 16 1/4" lean and flexed. It has been somewhat hard work. I enjoyed lifting but the hard part was the sacrifices that I made. While my roommates were eating pizza, I was eating a chicken breast. While other people were downing Jungle Juice, I was downing water. In the end though, its those sacrifices that make my gains that much more impressive.
Back to the topic at hand, this was going to be the ultimate cut. My plans were that by the end, I would finally looked ripped enough to look like I’ve been doing this for years. In the end though, it wound up being a success and a failure.
The success came from the fact that I was able to see a lot more definition than before. I’ve also continued to make serious strides in certain bodyparts. In the past, I used to let my abs lag. This time, instead of doing more than just weighted decline crunches, I added in cable crunches, weighted leg lifts, and twists. The changes were definitely noticeable. Here I am, still making newbie gains. The same goes for my back and biceps, which were often neglected, since the day I usually do them for the last bulk cycle was during my busiest class day.
The failure came in with circumstances. My lifting partner, who almost never missed a day for the two years he has been my partner, started showing up sporadically. The passion for lifting and most things were now gone. He now spent most of his days watching TV (MTV to be exact) and browsing around on the internet. Whenever I asked him to go lift, he always had an excuse. Then he would go to the gym at 10 pm, 30 minutes before its closing, to get in a set or two. The fact that he was gone screwed my lifting up. He knew how to spot me for everything. I would ask for help for spotting but the mental edge was gone. I no longer felt as pumped as I used to. My lifts started dropping, namely the squats, which went from 465 x 3 at its height, down to 395 x 3.
To reflect on this cut, I was disappointed in it. My ultimate cutting plan was dead in the water and one of my weaker ones. The upside is that with a new lifting partner and all my passion intact, the new bulk cycle I’m doing is going to be a great one.
Keep you all posted.
