Sam Sulek, a young and rapidly rising figure in the bodybuilding and fitness world, has garnered significant attention for his impressive muscle growth and dedication to the sport. Originally from Ohio, Sulek's background in gymnastics and competitive diving during his high school years laid a solid foundation for his pursuit of bodybuilding. This article delves into Sam Sulek's cutting diet plan, exploring the strategies, food choices, and supplements he employs to achieve a lean and muscular physique.
Introduction to Sam Sulek
Despite his young age, Sam Sulek has become one of the biggest fitness influencers in the world in recent years. He is known for his dedication to bodybuilding and fitness. As an aspiring bodybuilding talent, Sulek has rubbed elbows alongside expert IFBB Pros, taking lessons from their training sessions. He’s collaborated with third-place Classic Physique Olympia finisher Urs Kalecinski, as well as the newly minted 2024 Mr.
Sulek hinted at stepping on stage in 2025 in Classic Physique but did not confirm any plans. Recently, Sam Sulek made his competitive debut at the NPC Legends Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he secured first place in the Classic Physique division. The victory in Las Vegas qualified him for the NPC Arnold Amateur competition, held on February 27, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. Sam followed a strict diet to get ready for his competitive debut. He described it in his own words as: “Protein heavy."
Sulek's Dietary Philosophy
With weight loss as his primary objective, Sulek has focused on losing weight and has tailored his diet plans to reach this goal and lose fat overall. Bodybuilding influencer Sam Sulek has dropped the donuts and chocolate milk for a cleaner diet. While he’s been criticized for his questionable dieting choices in the past, some bodybuilders, like Lee Priest, support his decisions. Sulek says in the video that this is his cutting diet, and the goal is to consume 2,500 calories throughout the day. Cutting diets occur around competition time, and during this period, the goal is to eat fewer calories to lose fat while maintaining muscle (1).
Macronutrient Breakdown
During cutting phases, Sam strategically reduces his calorie intake, especially from carbohydrates, while prioritizing high protein levels to safeguard muscle mass. In his last cut, his macros were Carbohydrates - 150 grams, Protein - 250 grams and Fats - 70 grams. Sam also takes this approach. He explains: “I’m eating 250g of protein, 70g of fats, and about 150g of carbs but I’m going to have to drop the carbs down. Maybe even to the 100g range. See what happens." The amount of protein Sam Sulek eats during a bulking phase and a cutting phase stays relatively similar. He instead reduces his carbohydrate and fat intake. This helps him to maintain as much muscle mass as possible while trimming bodyfat from his physique. Sam explains: “Protein is simply a staple of bulking up or cutting down. If I’m bulking or cutting my protein intake isn’t going to change much."
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The Importance of Tracking Macros
Per Sulek, tracking macros and protein intake is the first step toward achieving your weight loss objective. He advises eating one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Sam Sulek is a big advocate for tracking macros precisely and he does this by using a food scale to weigh his food. This practice becomes even more important during a cutting phase where margins are smaller. The bodybuilder has become accustomed to studying ingredient labels and macronutrient values intently. He continues: “As anal and as OCD as it seems - it really is important to track all this stuff."
Sam Sulek believes that tracking macros accurately and weighing food on a food scale is extremely important during a cut. He says: “If you’ve got a macro scale and you’re only half tracking you’re only going to get half the results. With the dieting it just doesn't work like that." The bodybuilder continues: “You can’t do it 70% of the time and 30% of the time you slack off. You’ve got to be on this shit. I know it sucks. I’m not trying to say that counting all these calories is easy but if you can start to do it for long enough, I only mean weeks, then you should start to see noticeable results."
Sample Meal Choices During Cutting
Sulek says he goes for low-calorie foods to keep him full so he doesn’t get hungry, but he isn’t concerned with the calorie source. Sulek finds consuming at least a pound of red meat daily improves his energy levels and contributes to his overall well-being. In this article we’ll look in more detail at the specific foods Sam Sulek eats when cutting, along with his macros, cutting hacks and his cardio regimen.
- Meal 1: “Meal number one, not exactly a meal at all… just a fucking two liter of flat diet soda, which frankly, I think it gets way too much fucking hate."
- Chipotle: “Quick pit-stop to Chipotle, a lot of its already gone, I’ve already eaten basically a good chunk of it.
- Ground beef: “A pound of ground beef mixed with 40 grams of rice mixed with a touch of sugar-free barbecue sauce as well as oh yeah, a couple slices of American cheese,” said Sulek.
Protein Sources
Every meal Sam Sulek eats throughout the day contains protein and some meals consist purely of protein. He says: “Every meal has one thing in common and that’s the protein part of it." The main protein sources he focus on are ground beef, top round steak, egg whites and chicken. A major part of Sam Sulek’s cutting diet is consuming egg whites. He used to separate the whites from the yolk of eggs manually but has recently started buying pre-packaged cartons of egg whites. He explains: “I thought it was better to individually separate every egg yolk from every egg white. Something in my mind that made sense to me. Totally stupid - you’re wasting egg yolks, you’re wasting time, you’re causing a mess - it’s just foolish."
Smart Grocery Shopping: Bread and Buns
Smart grocery shopping during a cutting phase is crucial for fueling your body with the right nutrients and staying on track with your calorie and macronutrient goals. Each keto hamburger bun contains a mere 50 calories, starkly contrasting to the 150 calories in conventional buns. Unlike traditional wheat flour buns, keto-friendly alternatives are made from dietary fiber. Sulek chose buns containing 21 grams of carbs per slice, with 18 grams attributed to insoluble dietary fiber.
Read also: The Truth About Cutting Supplements
Low-Calorie Additions
The 22-year-old bodybuilder adds shredded cheese to his egg white omelet and salads to manage cravings during a strict diet. Sulek suggests choosing zero-calorie versions of one’s favorite sodas or energy drinks.
Sauces and Condiments
With Sam reducing his carb and fat intake during a cut, meals can start to become a little less appetizing. He says: “I might put some low sugar barbecue sauce on it. I’m not a huge fan of just salt and pepper on the egg whites; it just doesn’t really do it for me. I’ll throw anything in the egg whites - it’s just a blank slate. I’ll do teriyaki sauce; I’ll throw mustard on there." A low-calorie sauce Sam specifically recommends is light mayonnaise as it contains minimal amounts of fats and carbs. Using these types of sauces simply helps him increase his enjoyment levels when eating at little cost in the way of calories. Sam says: “Light mayonnaise - this I wouldn’t say has been a lifesaver but it’s definitely a creature comfort. A teaspoon of this only has 3.5g of fat, 1g of carbs. He continues: “I sometimes have ketchup with ground beef. I’m not only looking for any tomato ketchup on the shelf. I’m looking for “No Sugar Added”. Zero fat, zero protein, 1g of carbs."
The Role of Cardio
Sam Sulek also does cardio while cutting, which is recommended to aid in the fat loss process. He uses a stationary bike to train and does vacuum poses after. Sam also increases his cardio to 60 minutes per day, doing 30 minutes on an exercise bike followed by a 30-minute uphill walk on a treadmill.
He says: “I’ve got to get extra lean, so cardio is longer than 30 minutes of just sitting down on the bike. I want to add a bit more. Sam explains: “If I do an hour cardio it’s just too much on the bike. It just ends up thrashing my quads…It just doesn’t compute for me - I’m working my legs too much. That’s an argument I’ve seen against the cardio bike - it’s all quads. He says: “Instead, I’m doing 30 minutes on the bike followed by 30 minutes on a treadmill. And the treadmill that’s the easy part. The treadmill is kind of chill. All I’m doing on the treadmill is having a walk, playing on my phone, or watching Yellowstone….30 minutes on the treadmill. 3 miles an hour. Mild incline."
Supplementation
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Sulek's Arm Day Workout
After meal three, Sam Sulek heads to the gym for his arm day workout. He plans to hit his biceps and then triceps. At the gym, Sulek does eight sets of triceps-building exercises and eight sets of biceps training routines. He also does one movement to target his forearms and then throws in one move to work his legs as a wrap-up to his training day.
Triceps Exercises
- Cable Triceps Pushdown: The cable triceps pushdown is an isolation exercise that targets your triceps to tone the back of the arms. Sam Sulek uses a straight bar attachment to do this routine bilaterally.
- Seated Machine Tricep Dip: The seated machine tricep dip is an excellent exercise for toning the rear of your arms. It targets the triceps and lets you choose how much weight to push for optimal upper body strength.
Biceps Exercises
- Alternating Dumbbell Curls: Alternating dumbbell curls target your biceps. You can do this routine standing or seated. Standing will give you more support from your core and legs to use heavier loads, while sitting forces the biceps to curl the weight entirely.
- Incline Seated Cable Curls: Incline seated cable curls majorly target and build the biceps. Using a cable machine for this exercise removes the need for stability, thus allowing you to focus on training your biceps. This exercise also works on your forearms. Sam Sulek does the incline seated cable curl unilaterally.
- Preacher Curls: The preacher curl is an isolation exercise that targets your biceps. It specifically targets the inner head of the biceps, which can help to strengthen your double-front bicep pose.
- Cable Curls: Cable curls primarily target and build your bicep muscles. However, this exercise also recruits your brachialis and forearms. Sam Sulek does a few sets of cable curls before heading to close out his arm day.
Forearm Exercise
- Dumbbell Wrist Curl: The dumbbell wrist curl is an exercise that targets your wrists and forearms. They train a part of the body that people often neglect and build stronger wrists. It’s also a good way of improving your grip strength.
Calf Exercise
- Seated Machine Calf Raises: Seated machine calf raises are one of the best ways to work your calves. It targets your gastrocnemius, soleus, and Achilles tendon. This movement also works on your stability in general.
Sulek's Approach to Bulking
Sam Sulek isn’t resting on his laurels following an epic start to 2025 which saw him become a bona fide IFBB Pro bodybuilder. Instead, the popular YouTube star is now locked in as he looks ahead to his first competition as a professional. To that end, Sulek is making changes to his nutrition in order to maximize muscle growth during his bulking phase. “The plan is to continue to grow,” shared Sulek regarding his intention to up his calorie intake for more mass during a recent vlog. While the athlete has not announced his next competition, building the best possible physique is clearly the number one priority for now. “I’m not saying jump to five freaking gazillion calories a day,” he reassured his 4-million-plus YouTube followers.
“I think I have been steadily gaining size, slow and steady is not a bad approach, but not in the pace that I wanna see,” explained the star, noting that he intended to increase calories in order to bulk up during his offseason. “Three eggs for breakfast is not a high protein meal,” dismissed the man mountain. Sulek also notes that his eating regime of five meals at 50 grams of protein per meal will provide a total of 250 grams of protein per day. While Sulek’s desire is to digest more calories, the bodybuilder explains that eating more fat is not a focus of his.
“I’m trying to chill on my fat intake,” he revealed. “Just because, it doesn’t have an awesome correlation, at least from what I’ve seen [regarding] my actual in the gym performance. You know, as long as I’m getting a good amount of red meat, and whatever kind of omega 3s from like, egg yolks or sardines and everything else, then I think I’m solid.” The rising competitive bodybuilder opts to stay in the 100-120 grams of fat range which is a lot less than many who aim more than a gram of fat per pound of bodyweight. Sulek said that building muscles is a process that relies heavily on carbs.“Intramuscular freakin’ glycogen, you know?” he observed, offering his own brand of science. And he’s not wrong, carbohydrates supply us with energy in the form of glucose, and this is stored in the muscles as glycogen. Intense workouts strip those stores quickly, so replenishing them is important.
The social media powerhouse went to on to explain that if a theoretical microscope could see inside his muscles, it would show that his fibers were plump and primed, storing energy for the intense workouts ahead. ‘“You have got to start chowing down,” enthused the YouTuber. “I don’t care what it is. I don’t care if it’s rice, I don’t care if it’s sweet potato,” he said. Sulek asserts that that by steadily increasing carbs by 50-75 grams per day, you will continue to gain size. But he does caution that you should regularly check-in with yourself to make sure you don’t overeat to the point of getting too soft. “Cuz then, you’ve lost it, right?” he says of constructing a competition worthy physique.
Conclusion
Sam Sulek's cutting diet plan is a testament to his dedication and discipline in achieving his bodybuilding goals. By focusing on high protein intake, strategic carbohydrate reduction, and consistent cardio, Sulek has demonstrated a comprehensive approach to fat loss while preserving muscle mass. His emphasis on tracking macros and making informed food choices further underscores the importance of a well-structured diet in achieving a lean and muscular physique.