Training through a cut
12-Week Cut
Lifting that aims to keep your strength while you eat less, plus cardio that builds week by week.
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Frequency
- 5 or 6 days a week
- Sessions
- 40 minutes (35 to 50)
- Phases
- 3
Free to download. Eligible new subscribers get 14 days free, then $89.99 a year or $14.99 a month.
The short version
12-Week Cut is a program for training while you run a calorie deficit you have planned yourself. Lifting sessions aim to keep the strength you came in with, and progressing cardio adds to the deficit. Choose six days (push, pull, legs and three cardio) or five (three full-body lifts and two cardio). Sessions run about 40 minutes.
A good fit if
You have already decided to eat in a deficit and you want your training to fit around it, keeping your lifts and adding cardio, rather than chasing new personal records.
Look elsewhere if
You want to add size or set strength records right now. A building program such as the 3-Day Full-Body suits that better.
How it's built
- Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4
Ramp
Calibrate. Find the weights you can own for the target reps.
- Phase 2 · Weeks 5 to 8
Drive
Small, real steps. The rep targets tighten a notch where you have earned it.
- Phase 3 · Weeks 9 to 12
Hold
The deficit is hardest here, so the effort target eases off half a notch while the main lifts keep a strength signal.
Deloads. Week 8. The same weights with fewer sets.
A typical week
Six days (three lifts and three cardio) or five (three full-body lifts and two cardio). Miss one and the next session waits for you.
- 01 Push 35 to 40 min
- 02 Pull 40 min
- 03 Zone 2 Cardio 30 to 45 min
- 04 Legs 50 min
- 05 Zone 2 Cardio 30 to 45 min
- 06 Core and Conditioning 30 to 35 min
Session times are the app's own estimates, including the guided warm-up and cool-down.
A sample session
Push
- DB Bench Press
- DB Overhead Press
- Incline DB Press with Lateral Raise
- DB Tricep Kickback
Measured sets the weight and reps for every set from your starting weights, then adjusts them from what you lift and how many reps you had left. The movements change to fit your equipment.
Gym, home or bodyweight
Written around Dumbbells and an adjustable bench, plus whatever you use for cardio.
Gym
Runs as written, with a few dumbbell moves swapped for gym equivalents, such as a cable pushdown.
Home
Runs on the dumbbells you own. Weights snap to your set, and Measured adds reps first when your next dumbbell up is a big jump.
Bodyweight
Each lift is swapped for a bodyweight or band version that works the same muscles.
Why run it in Measured
You could follow a program from a PDF. Here is what changes when the app runs it.
How to start
- Download Measured and answer a few setup questions: your experience, your goal, your days, your time and where you train.
- See what it suggests. Setup recommends up to three programs that fit, with one marked as its pick. Take it, or choose 12-Week Cut from the full library.
- Set your starting weights, or tell it to start you light. Then start your subscription (14 days free for eligible new subscribers) and your first session is ready.
Before you start, Measured asks whether you have an eating plan for the deficit. It does not write your diet.
Questions
Does Measured set my calories?
No. Measured runs the training. You plan the deficit yourself, ideally with a professional, and the app asks whether you have one before you start.
Push/pull/legs or full-body?
Push/pull/legs is six days, training each area hard once with three cardio days. Full-body is five days, training each muscle more often with fewer total days.
Why doesn't the weight climb faster?
In a deficit your recovery is limited, so progression on this program is deliberately gentle. Keeping your strength is the goal.