While cutting, you need to make sure you're not only losing weight but you're losing at the APPROPRIATE RATE.
As a general rule of thumb, I feel pretty confident about recommending these weight loss rates:
1-1.25% of total bodyweight lost per week if > 20% body-fat
.75-1% if 15-20%
.5-.75% if 10-15%
.5% or less if < 10% body-fat (you’re basically lean as fuck at this point...get into a surplus unless you're getting on stage)
If you lose weight too quickly, you risk muscle loss AND burnout.
If you lose weight too slowly, you're just wasting time with no added benefit physiological benefit.
It's probably a better idea to lose too slowly than too quickly from an adherence standpoint but consider this:
While this may help you better adhere to your diet in the short term, what unintended consequence will this have in the longterm?
Imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get it off in 20 weeks...
That may just be too fast. You're potentially risking muscle loss and burnout.
Now imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get if off in 60 weeks...
Adherence may be high early on and you'll move the needle in the right direction, but that's a LONG TIME to spend dieting. Being in an intended hypocaloric phase for that long may result in you burning out...it'll just happen further down the road.
Now imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get if off in 40 weeks...
This may be the perfect time frame as it won't feel like FOREVER but you also won't really be risking any muscle loss either.
In conclusion, use the suggested rate of loss ranges to guide your decision making, consider both the physiology as well as your individual situation/psychology, and monitor your rate of loss to make sure it is appropriate given all relevant context.
As a general rule of thumb, I feel pretty confident about recommending these weight loss rates:
1-1.25% of total bodyweight lost per week if > 20% body-fat
.75-1% if 15-20%
.5-.75% if 10-15%
.5% or less if < 10% body-fat (you’re basically lean as fuck at this point...get into a surplus unless you're getting on stage)
If you lose weight too quickly, you risk muscle loss AND burnout.
If you lose weight too slowly, you're just wasting time with no added benefit physiological benefit.
It's probably a better idea to lose too slowly than too quickly from an adherence standpoint but consider this:
While this may help you better adhere to your diet in the short term, what unintended consequence will this have in the longterm?
Imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get it off in 20 weeks...
That may just be too fast. You're potentially risking muscle loss and burnout.
Now imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get if off in 60 weeks...
Adherence may be high early on and you'll move the needle in the right direction, but that's a LONG TIME to spend dieting. Being in an intended hypocaloric phase for that long may result in you burning out...it'll just happen further down the road.
Now imagine you've got 40 pounds to lose and you try to get if off in 40 weeks...
This may be the perfect time frame as it won't feel like FOREVER but you also won't really be risking any muscle loss either.
In conclusion, use the suggested rate of loss ranges to guide your decision making, consider both the physiology as well as your individual situation/psychology, and monitor your rate of loss to make sure it is appropriate given all relevant context.
