Hi - I love this community!  I have a quick question:

I'm in pretty good shape (11% BF) 5'9" 172lbs and am looking for a quick cut for summer (4-6 weeks).  Can I go as aggressive as 25% below BMR? 

Would I need to add a refeed day?

I'm also currently doing weights 6 days a week and HIIT 3-4 days a week.  I'm using the "Moderate Activity" option on the Meal Planner BMR calc.

Thanks! 

Glad you are enjoying the site my man!!

Honestly you don't want to go much below 500 calories below your BMR in motion.. otherwise you start to risk a lot more muscle loss than you need. Cutting at a 500 calorie deficit still leaves you open to drop about 1lb per week.. which could be 6lbs in 6 weeks by the time summer is here. You CAN cut quicker than that if you want to.. just keep that in mind about muscle loss, and no matter what, make sure you are keeping your protein levels high (1.2-1.5g per pound of lea bodyweight).

And yes a re-feed day would probably be a good idea on your most intense training day.

Thanks Scott!

Hey Scott - one more question. Would refeed be like 600 cals (primarily carbs) over cutting macros once per week?

Thanks!

Andrei

I would simply increase your carbs by about 100g, or double them on your refeed days, depending how many carbs you're going to be having on an average day. So if you're having 150g on a normal day, go for 300g on the refeed, which would be 600 calories extra. But if you're carbs aren't going to be that low on a normal day (say they're between 200-300g on average), then an extra 100g (400 calories) would be enough.