June 2016 to November 2016 | 5 months
Emy bulked hard chasing size, overshot badly, and spent the next five months cutting it back off without losing the muscle he had built.
Emy reported finishing this cut at around 7% body fat, down from about 17%. Single-digit body fat is contest-level conditioning rather than a year-round state, and it is not a target for general training. The weight change and the method are the useful parts here.
Where he started
For most of his life Emy was a naturally lean build, mostly because he played sport constantly growing up: football, tennis and swimming. He started lifting at fourteen and still looked skinny.
At seventeen he saw a bodybuilder on YouTube whose physique he wanted, and promised himself he would get there within a few years. To add that size he decided he needed a serious bulk, and he threw everything at it, force feeding far more than he needed for months on end.
That is the before picture. He had carried visible abs for most of his life, so ending up at around 17% body fat felt badly out of shape to him even in a bulking phase.
The turning point
Looking at where the bulk had left him and deciding to get back under 10% while holding onto every pound of muscle he had gained. That was the whole brief.
What he changed
Training was a straightforward six-day body part split: chest, back, legs and calves, arms, shoulders and traps, then abs. All the standard compound work for each group, so for chest that meant barbell bench, dips, dumbbell press and flyes.
He did no intense cardio at all for most of the cut, on the principle that abs are made in the kitchen. Towards the end he added an hour of brisk walking a day, which is what got him through his fat loss plateaus.
The nutrition is where the actual method is, and it is simple and repeatable. He worked out his maintenance using a TDEE calculator, set a moderate daily deficit, and weighed himself every morning. He had a target rate of loss per week; if he was losing slower than that he lowered his intake, and if he was losing faster he raised it back up. That feedback loop, not the starting number, is what made it work.
Within the deficit he ate whatever he fancied, including something like a chocolate bar or a doughnut most days. He is clear that this is what kept him sane, because six months of eating clean without a break would have broken him.
What he kept in the rotation
- Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard WheyBefore and after training.
- Casein proteinBefore bed.
That was the entire list. No fat burners and nothing else through the whole cut.
The hardest part
Staying consistent for months. He had a lot to lose, which meant a long cut, and he describes himself as an impatient person who wants fast results. What got him through was repeating to himself that the results would be slow and gradual, and that the end product would justify it.
Where he is now
In the best shape of his life, and he got there without cutting a single food out of his diet.
I ate whatever I fancied each day, as long as I was in a calorie deficit. Emy Peibst
His advice if you are starting today
Work out your maintenance, eat under it, weigh yourself daily and adjust based on what the trend actually shows rather than what you assumed at the start. And build in the food you enjoy, because a plan you resent is a plan you quit.
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