About this workout
Summer is coming and it is time to reveal what you built. This 8 week summer cut is the mirror image of a bulk: the same push/pull/legs backbone that keeps your muscle, run in a calorie deficit with conditioning finishers to strip the fat. The key to a good cut is training hard enough to signal your body to keep every ounce of muscle while the diet peels off the fat. Do that for eight weeks and you walk into summer lean, defined and showing off the work.
Who This Program Is For
- You want to get lean for summer while keeping your muscle.
- You can train five days a week and hold a disciplined diet.
- You have access to a full gym.
- You already train and have muscle worth revealing.
Who this is NOT for: beginners, who do better on a simpler plan, and anyone with little muscle to reveal yet; build first with a bulk, then cut.
What You'll Need
- A full gym with dumbbells, cables, a pull-up bar and kettlebells.
- A disciplined diet in a moderate deficit with high protein.
- A log to keep your strength up, which is how you keep muscle.
The Program
Five days on a push, pull, legs, push, pull rotation, with conditioning finishers on the later days to burn extra fat. Train hard and keep your weights up; maintaining strength in a deficit is the signal that keeps your muscle. Let the diet, not endless cardio, do most of the fat loss.
| Day 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Push A | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 3 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Tricep Pushdown | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Day 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull A | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Bent Over Row | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Pull Up | 3 | 8-10 | 90 sec |
| Face Pulls | 3 | 15-20 | 45 sec |
| Barbell Curl | 3 | 12 | 45 sec |
| Day 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Legs | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Barbell Squat | 4 | 8 | 90 sec |
| Leg Press | 3 | 12-15 | 75 sec |
| Walking Lunge | 3 | 12 each leg | 60 sec |
| Lying Leg Curl | 3 | 15 | 60 sec |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Day 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Push and Burn | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Incline Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8-10 | 75 sec |
| Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Cable Crossover | 3 | 15 | 45 sec |
| Kettlebell Swing | 4 | 20 | 40 sec |
| Day 5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull and Burn | |||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
| Romanian Deadlift | 4 | 10 | 75 sec |
| Seated Cable Rows | 3 | 12 | 60 sec |
| Hammer Curls | 3 | 12 | 45 sec |
| Face Pulls | 3 | 20 | 45 sec |
| Burpees | 4 | 40 sec | 20 sec |
How to Progress
Eight weeks of leaning out while holding your muscle.
Weeks 1 to 3. Set a moderate deficit and keep your training weights as high as you can. Holding strength is how you keep muscle.
Weeks 4 to 6. Keep the intensity up as the diet gets harder. Add conditioning if fat loss stalls rather than slashing calories further.
Weeks 7 to 8. Hold strength, tighten the diet for the finish, and lean out to your summer condition. Do not let the training get soft; that is when muscle is lost.
Warm-Up and Recovery Notes
Warm up before every session, especially the heavier push and pull days. A deficit makes injuries slower to heal, so do not skip it.
Recovery is harder in a deficit. Prioritize sleep and protein, keep the conditioning purposeful rather than excessive, and back off if your strength or energy crashes; that means you are cutting too hard.
Nutrition and Supplementation
A cut is won in the kitchen. Eat in a moderate deficit with high protein, around one gram per pound of bodyweight, to hold onto muscle while the fat comes off.
Simple support: protein powder to keep protein high while eating less, and a daily multivitamin. Keep protein high; it is the most important nutrient on a cut.
FAQ
How do I keep muscle while cutting? Train hard and keep your weights up, and eat plenty of protein. Lifting heavy in a deficit is the signal that tells your body to hold its muscle.
Should I add loads of cardio? Some conditioning helps, as built in here, but do not rely on endless cardio. Let the diet do most of the work and use training to protect your muscle.
How fast should I lose? About one percent of bodyweight a week is a good target. Faster and you risk losing muscle and stalling. Steady wins the cut.
Questions and results
Ask a coach
Running this program? Tell us what week you are on and how the progression is going. A coach answers every question here.