A common fitness belief is that if when you're cutting, you not only have to cut your food
intake, but you also have to cut your training.
But is that really true?
Well, in this video, we're gonna explore this concept a bit further and see if we're actually
better off keeping our training volume just like how it always is.
Reducing your training volume while cutting might seem fairly logical.
A deficit means fewer nutrients for the body, which means reduced energy and recoverability.
So, naturally, to avoid excess fatigue and recovery issues, we should dial back our training.
Eat more, train more.
Eat less, train less.
Makes sense.
At least, you would think so.
But, in reality, in the matter of cutting, reducing your volume isn't exactly necessary,
although it's also not a bad thing.
Thing is, there can be some benefits to maintaining your usual, higher volume training.
The most obvious reason is that it can help you with your cut by burning more calories,
which is always a welcome bonus, albeit a small one.
But, in some cases, it might just be the difference in achieving a calorie deficit.
Another reason why you wanna keep volume the same is to maintain training familiarity.
Consistency is a huge factor in terms of goal adherence.
Changing things up might not be the best option if it affects your training motivation, efficacy,
habit and so on.
This is not always the case, but definitely something to consider if you are someone that
might find it difficult adjusting to changes.
So, not a bad couple reasons for sticking to your usual volume.
But, the reason probably most of you clicked on this video for is finding out whether different
training volumes affect your oh-so-precious gains differently.
In this case, according to the science, it seems that... volume probably doesn't matter
all that much.
In 2022, we did get a systematic review on this topic.
After analyzing 15 relevant studies, the researchers found that, at most, women specifically might
benefit with higher volumes and maaaybe increasing your volume might mitigate some muscle loss
associated with long-term weight loss.
But at least, they also found that higher volumes don't seem to pose any negative effects.
Now, there is one catch: the data for this review is correlative and not direct measured
outcomes.
In that case, we really only have one study in 2023 covering this.
In this study, over the course of 6 weeks, both moderate and high volume training resulted
in similar losses in body mass, about 4 pounds (1.8 kg), with no significant differences
in changes to muscle mass.
The researchers also measured sleep quality, sleep duration, and mood, which all were also
similar in both groups.
In summary, this study found that different volumes loads during a cut had just about
the same effect on muscle and how you feel.
Now, looking at the science as a whole, although limited, it seems like cutting your volume
during a cut is not at all necessary.
Hopefully, we'll get more studies on this in the future, especially studies that consider
other factors, like adding cardio to the mix or larger calorie deficits.
Maybe things will change then.
But for now, if you were to ask, "SHOULD you train less during a cut," the answer to this
question is the age-old phrase of... it depends.
More specifically, it depends on which benefits you personally prefer.
Again, more volume means more calories burned, which can help with cutting.
It might also help with consistency.
But less volume can be beneficial too because it means less time spent at the gym and less
acute fatigue during your workouts.
So, it does come down to a bit of preference.
One thing we do know though is that, regardless of volume, keeping protein intake at least
moderately high is very important during a cut.
So, yes, get your protein.
But for our training, luckily, we do get a bit of wiggle room to work with.
Personally, I like keeping things high because my insecurities said I can't leave the gym
without looking like I'm about to pass out.
Other than that, if you enjoyed this video, please give it a cutting thumbs up and share
it with your volume-loving friends.
Subscribe for more and let me know what you think in the comments.
As always, thank you for watching and don't forget to get your protein!