April: Serious Toning Tool – 3 days

Cutting Workout Plan – Serious Toning Routine for 3 days

Serious Toning Tool – seriously cutting schedule

The Serious Toning Tool is the ultimate equipment to create a seriously toned body. Designed to maintain as much muscle mass as possible while gradually losing fat mass. Strength exercises are the foundation, and you'll top off your workout with circuits or cardio. Starting week 4, we ramp up the intensity by increasing or decreasing the reps. Increase your weight only when your technique is solid, and spread out your rest days throughout the week for serious results. It’s toning time! Time to get serious about cutting.

Also read: cutting – 6 tips and plans for serious results

Cutting – Maintaining Muscle Mass and Losing Fat Mass

Cutting is a challenge. You aim to maintain as much muscle mass as possible while losing fat mass. This can only be achieved through a combination of strength training and a slight caloric deficit. Strength training sends a signal to your muscles that they need to stick around. Without it, your body would rather burn your muscles than fat mass. Add a slight caloric deficit and get consistent. You can create this deficit by eating a bit less (you'll find tips later) or by burning more calories through exercise. In the Serious Toning Tool, we combine strength training for your muscle mass with serious circuits or energy-draining cardio challenges. Be patient and aim for a maximum weight loss of 0.5% per week, then you're really doing it seriously well.

Also read: why losing weight is hard and maintaining weight is even harder.

Cutting Through Training and Nutrition

Training during cutting has two major benefits. The first is that you directly burn calories. The second, potentially more impactful, is indirect. When you exercise, you're less likely to indulge in bad and calorie-rich foods. Every calorie not consumed doesn't need to be burned off. Therefore, try to spread the 3 training days of this cutting schedule for the best results. Each session combines strength exercises to maintain your muscle mass and ends with a serious circuit or cardio challenge aimed at burning energy. This way, you not only lose fat but also retain as much muscle mass as possible. The essence of cutting.

How This Cutting Schedule Makes a Difference

The Serious Toning Tool is, on paper, a very effective cutting plan for losing fat and maintaining muscle mass. Science has proven that focusing on muscle building helps you retain as much muscle mass as possible. This is done in the middle of each training session. Before and after that, you burn a good amount of calories with strength exercises. Research indicates that this combination of training gives you the best chance of achieving lasting results. Of course, you won't see results without the right nutrition. Tips on that later.

Tips for This Cutting Plan

Your body only changes when you challenge it. This training plan definitely does that, but it relies on your commitment. You only need to do the following two things:

1. Perform exercises where you choose a weight with about 1-2 repetitions left in reserve, unless otherwise specified. This is key. If it says 10 repetitions, that means you could do 11-12 but you stop at 10. However, if at 10 you feel you could do exactly 4 more repetitions if your life depended on it? Then you should do 12-13 repetitions for that set. Adjust the weight for the next set accordingly. This ensures each set remains effective.

2. It’s hard to add more weight to the bar when you're cutting. Therefore, set a goal to at least lift the same weight as the previous workout each week. This way, you ensure that you maintain as much muscle mass as possible. If at the end of your training plan you've only become a few kilos 'softer', then you've done extremely well! Stay realistic, understand your objectives.

Serious Toning Tool – The Schedule

This cutting plan, as described, spans 3 days and lasts 6 weeks. The focus is on the large muscle groups and calorie-devouring circuits. Each workout combines strength exercises and circuits. If you don’t talk too much, you can easily complete each session within an hour.

WARM-UP

Every day you get serious, start with a warm-up. In this schedule, you start each session with 25-30 calories on a cardio machine, followed by 2 or 3 bodyweight exercises in a circuit. This way, you reduce the risk of injury and immediately burn a significant number of calories towards your goal.

DAY 1: FULL BODY CUTTING SCHEDULE

We start the week with a serious calorie burner by training all the major muscle groups.

• Rowing – 25 calories warm-up

• Circuit 1: 3 sets of bodyweight squats (15 reps), knee push-ups (15 reps), and mountain climbers (15 per leg)

• Standing dumbbell shoulder press – 3 sets of 15 reps

• Superset: 3 sets of flat dumbbell press (15 reps) and two-arm dumbbell rows (15 reps)

• Circuit 2: 3 sets of dumbbell goblet squats (15 reps), forward to backward jumps (15 reps), and seated alternating leg raises (15 reps)

Exercise videos found in the app

Not sure about the exercises in this schedule, or don’t want to search for them on YouTube? Download the app to access all exercises. You can simply click them in the schedule. You can also track your weights and adjust repetitions.

DAY 2: FULL BODY CUTTING SCHEDULE

On day 2, we train in the same intense and focused manner as day 1. Here it goes:

• Running – 25 calories warm-up

• Circuit: 3 sets of TRX rows (15 reps) and jumping jacks (20 reps)

• Dumbbell forward lunge – 3 sets of 12 reps per leg

• Superset: 3 sets of bench-assisted single-arm dumbbell rows (12 reps per arm) and lying dumbbell triceps extensions (15 reps)

• Cardio interval: 6 sets of 60 seconds of running alternated with 60 seconds of jogging/walking.

DAY 3: FULL BODY CUTTING SCHEDULE

After this session, your week is done, so let’s really go for it. Give it your all!

• Rowing – 25 calories warm-up

• Circuit 1: 3 sets of bodyweight forward lunges (10 reps per leg), knee push-ups (15 reps), and mini squat jumps (15 reps)

• Bench press – 3 sets of 15 reps

• Superset: 3 sets of dumbbell curls (15 reps) and single-arm dumbbell overhead extensions (15 reps per arm)

• Circuit 2: 3 sets of rowing (200 meters), double dumbbell thrusters (10 reps), and inch worms (5 reps)

Serious Toning Tool – also in the app

Don’t feel like writing down this serious cutting schedule? It’s ready for you in our app. It includes recommended weights for circuits, adjustments from week 4, technique videos, and it remembers your weights, so you can try to outdo yourself every session. Besides the Serious Toning Tool, there are more than 100 cutting schedules waiting for you in the app. All aimed at maintaining as much muscle mass as possible and losing fat mass. Let’s get serious!

What to Eat During Cutting?

Nobody loses fat and maintains muscle mass without a strong nutritional plan. If you want to get leaner, you'll need to eat slightly less than your body demands. While there’s no one-size-fits-all diet, the basics are often the same:

• Create a small caloric deficit (250-500 kcal less than maintenance daily).

• Aim to consume about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. This helps you feel full and keeps your muscles happy.

• Focus on natural food sources rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

• Eat as few calorie-dense ultra-processed foods as possible. Think sweets, cookies, savory snacks, chips, pizza, chocolate, pastries, sweet dairy variants, soda, and sweetened cereals.

• Drink plenty of water, black and green tea, and to a lesser extent coffee.

• Make sure you can stick to your eating pattern.

For specific questions or to develop a personal nutritional plan for cutting, we always recommend contacting a qualified (sports) dietitian. Never change your entire nutrition plan on your own.

Supplements During Cutting?

As the name suggests, supplements are an addition to your normal diet, not a replacement. Supplements do not cause more weight loss. However, to reach your protein goals, a protein shake or bar is a convenient addition. Proteins help you feel fuller longer, thus making weight loss a bit easier. Essentially, there are only two supplements that can really help with weight loss:

1. Protein powder: Whether it's whey, casein, a mix, isolate, or whatever, doesn’t matter. Your body thinks in totals. The speed of absorption has been shown to be irrelevant in scientific studies.

2. Protein bar: This is naturally an ultra-processed product. Therefore, be cautious about the amount of sugar.

Also read: which supplements work and which don’t?

Generally, the above supplements are safe. However, before starting a supplement regimen, it's wise to consult a (sports) dietitian or medical expert, especially if you are already on medication or have underlying health issues.

Serious Toning Tool is Ready for You

Are you ready to seriously get toned and maximize your results from this schedule? Download Serious Fitness Lab now and dominate your cutting goals!