Hey nation,
So I have been lifting for about two and a half years. I am 21 years old, 204 lbs, and about 6'3" tall, roughly 12% bodyfat right now. I ran track in high school, and decided in college to totally change my training and sports. I was playing football, so i started weight training. At first, I focused strictly on power lifting. I am naturally a tall lean build, and it took a long time for me to put on any muscle mass. So I trained and basically bulked fairly cleanly for about 2 years. I changed my training style to a more bodybuilding oriented approach about 8 months ago when I was done playing football. In the past two and a half years, I, have put on about 30 pounds of mostly lean muscle mass. Along with that mass I naturally put on some fat as well. When I changed to bodybuilding I started counting my macros. I cut down on my carbs, and lost some fat. but I still have some around my hips area and on my stomach as well. I can still see the outline of my abs but I would like to cut down and get shredded now that I have gained some muscle mass. I lift heavy 6 days a week. based on my activity level and my goal to gain muscle, I have been consuming around 3200 calories a day. My split is about 125 grams of fat 180 to 200 grams of carbohydrates, and about 350 grams of protein which is difficult to get that much protein. I have been in a calorie surplus in efforts to gain muscle but now I feel like I am just starting to store more fat and I want to cut now.I do about two 15 minutes sessions of high intensity cardio every week. I hit my main compounds lifts about twice a week. My training style that I have had the most success with utilizes a high volume style of lifting. I would like to drop a good bit of body fat and get down to 7-8%, I am about 12% right now I think. I want to be able to see more definition overall and get shredded so my abs show through more clearly. In order to lose fat I need to be in a calorie deficit correct? In order to do that I am worried that I will lose muscle mass if I cut down on body fat. If I recalculate my macros to a lower calorie level, should I just adjust my macro split to be the same percentages just based off of a different calorie number? My goal is to get shredded, and then continue to make strength and muscle gains while maintaining a low body fat percentage from that point on like Scott has been able to do for many years. Is it too early for me to cut? Will it set me back with my gains, or will I continue to be able to gain muscle and stay lean at the same time? I would love to get your input as well Scott, and give me some guidance to cutting without losing all my muscle and strength gains. Thanks nation!