Are you planning to start on the journey towards achieving the body shape of your dream? Do you have the specific goal you want? You are probably in a dilemma, and that is why you have landed on this article.
You are lost between cutting and bulking. I am sure that you don’t want to be an ectomorph, but rather be strong, build muscles, and now you are struggling with the next steps. But how do you do this? Are you planning to bulk and build muscles as soon as possible or cut and lean out the body fat and then start bulking?
Well, the two are different and come with both advantages and disadvantages. If you are planning for bulking, get prepared for both lean mass and body fat, while if you are planning on cutting, you can as well prepare for abs but stunt muscle growth. Furthermore, it dawns on different people that they get slim after a successful cut than they had anticipated. What follows after that? Automatically a jump on bulking to get the size they desire, and then embark on s log cut to show it off.
You are not alone in this scenario where fitness becomes a process where you don’t stick to one strategy and remain stagnant in terms of progress.
In this article, I will be making things clear while equipping you with knowledge about what you should do when and how. First of all, let us see the easiest way to know if you should cut or bulk.
Some Basics About Cutting And Bulking
Everybody is well familiar with the fact that for one to cut, they should reduce the number of calories in taking while for people who tend to bulk, are supposed to maintain high calories levels in taking. All the same, having adequate macros according to the outlined goals is imperative for any optimum diet. But one thing will ever stand out: constant protein intake is the king regardless of your goals.
Cutting
The basic fact that one has to keep in mind when going to the shredding lean phase is to avoid and keep off all kinds of crash diets or detox juices and overdoing cardio. It is also good if you avoid cutting down calories to prevent metabolism slow down.
Bulking
While on a bulking diet, it is always imperative to understand that your sole aim is to pack muscle mass and not fat mass. It is common with most of the weightlifters trying to get buff, hog on junk food to be into a surplus, and unfortunately, end up accumulating fat. This is what professionals like us call dirty bulk that makes you filthy fat. We accept that there will be a slight gain in fat during the bulking process, but if the ratio is 3:1, where 3 is fat, this is not good at all, and you will have to go back to the drawing board check on the macro breakdown.
Easiest Way To Know If You Should Cut Or Bulk
Knowing whether you should cut or bulk is nothing but an individual decision, with many factors playing a part in making the right decision. In fact, there is no fit approach to determine if you should do cutting or bulking, but here is one thing to bear in mind.
Make Goal-Driven Decision
It would be more than wise if you can, first of all, get into specific details concerning your current situation. My firm and a strong belief that you should decide based on your goals or objectives as to whether you should cut or bulk. It is common to find themselves in the middle of doing what they are "supposed" to do rather than what they "want" to do.
We have often come across people doing several things in the gym or eating some fun foods; just people somewhere have brainwashed them with some information and believed that person. It is always that you see or hear that you should commit your energy to implement. No. They should play their part in telling you, and then you make the noble decision on whether to do as they say or not. While we will make suggestions, it should not be a must-do thing as an individual decision depending on what you want.
As we make suggestions, let's be honest with each other. If you are overweight and want to get strong, it would be bad to restrict yourself from consuming calories. Yes, restring yourself from a large number of calories will definitely lead to fat loss, but the final result will be frustrating, and you won't get any stronger. This will automatically discourage you and most probably derail your effort to continue.
This is just one incidence and may apply to some other scenarios considering your objectives. All we recommend is that after considering your circumstance, coupled with your primary goals, you can use this information to make the right decision.
Factors To Consider To Decide Whether To Cut Or Bulk
While deciding on whether you should cut or bulk, here are the factors you should consider
Insulin Sensitivity
How well does your body tolerate carbohydrates and metabolize nutrients such as proteins or amino acids? We have proved a close relationship between fat levels and the reduction in it or increased insulin resistance. As a result, it is recommendable to keep your body fat down at a low level to maximize insulin.
General Body Fat Levels
Excess body fat is by far associated with widespread effects on your metabolism and body. Alongside weakening or damaging insulin function, it can also impair important factors like blood sugar levels, altering your body's ability to partition minerals for muscle growth and maximize performance.
Besides, excess body fat comes with some health-related problems over the long term like cholesterol, blood pressure, and what have you.
Objectives Or Sport
You may need to consider your sport when deciding as far it is linked to what you enjoy the most and your objectives. Although a little excess fat may not give you the six-packs, it will significantly impact your sports life, especially as the excess fat levels interfere with the speed and power.
When To Stop Bulking And Start Cutting
It is recommendable to use bulking and cutting cycles when you want to build a ripped physique in the long term; the result will only be forthcoming when it's done right. One thing that always goes a long way in ensuring you see the result is that you know when to stop bulking and start cutting and vice versa. What are you supposed to do and facilitate the quickest possible in developing muscles and losing fat while maintaining the recommended health standards?
The ultimate answer to that question is building a ripped physique by doing the following.
Get Lean First
Getting lean should be the first thing to do, which is very important. Ensure you have around 8.10% body fat, and you will be good to go. It is the recommended percentage when it comes to maximizing muscle growth while staying healthy.
Lean Bulking
The moment you realize you are lean, you can now start lean bulking, and we recommend using a caloric surplus that is so big as the rate of your maximum muscle growth until you achieve the 15% body fat. During this point, you have completely lost all the definitions of the abs, if you had any.
Cut After Achieving The 15% Body Fat
Have you achieved the 15% body fat? If the answer is yes, you should start to cut down until you return to 8-10% again. Repeat this until you are physique or reach your genetic potential.
Hint worth noting: it is always important to make sure your percentage body fat remains between 8-15% body fat when utilizing bulking and cutting cycles.
When To Stop Cutting And Start Bulking
Although you may be planning to start bulking and why you are doing everything to get lean, it is advisable to avoid getting ridiculously lean if the goal is to switch to the bulking phase. It is worth noting that the leaner you become, the more you will gain weight faster since you will be more primed for fat storage.
We recommend stopping when you get to a point where you are exceptionally deprived and hungry, usually when you have 8-10% of the body for men and 16-18% for women. You can always give yourself a minimum of five months for every bulk phase to avoid interruptions to the anabolic process. Ensure you are lean enough before you start bulking, not to be disappointed by the process once you begin.
It is believed that if we are not considerably lean when we are starting to bulk, we will gain a disproportionate amount of fat and little in the way of muscles. This is called a "P-RATIO referred to as the proportion of the fat to muscle you gain when bulking. According to the research, naturally lean people without dieting gain more lean body mass during the overfeeding times while obese people gain more body fat when overfeeding.
However, there are two things that people always find confusing: gaining more lean body mass when overfeeding occurs naturally in lean people who walk around lean. This relationship is based on observation of people who are not training resistant.
If you start weight lifting, this can drastically change the whole process. Nutrient partitioning in your body is highly favorable to gain muscles because you provide the stimulus for growth while exhausting muscle energy and pushing them to become energy efficient and adapt.
What Should You Do First Between Bulking And Cutting?
While the decision to choose what to begin with solely depends on you, it is worth noting that it all boils down to the following factors.
Muscle Mass
If you have considerable muscle mass, you are likely to have a good basal metabolic rate. Since muscle is an active tissue, it requires a constant energy supply (calories) to keep it going.
However, if a person has relatively less muscle (ectomorph), we suggest and recommend them to start with bulk to pack on decent muscle mass. Patience is the key element here as it may take you some time to see the results. When you start gaining muscles, the process also facilitates the basal metabolic rate, which is the key to any transformation.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Basal metabolic rate is one factor that one has to consider before choosing to bulk or cut. It refers to the number of calories that your body needs for its vital functions. If you want to have a good basal metabolic rate, you ought to part ways with a sedentary lifestyle, reduced appetite, poor sleep, and much cardio. Remember, the good your basal metabolic rate is, the better your body's ability to burn fat and absorb nutrients.
The Amount Of Food You Eat
Are you under-eating? Underfeeding hurts the anabolism and slows down the metabolism. On the other hand, over-eating cause obesity, and under eating leads to the holding of fat by your body in obese subjects. This is a well experimental process as to why drastic cut in calories while on cut has proved to work magic. Do this: slowly reduce calories while losing weight and slowly increase calories while on a bulk.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Should You Bulk Before You Cut?
We recommend people to bulk for at least five months before they embark on the cutting phase to make the muscle gaining process uninterrupted before a significant amount of progress is seen or felt. However, there is no specific maximum time frame, but we can advise people not to gobeyond 20% of body fat to avoid health-related problems.
Is Cutting Better Than Bulking?
We can confidently say that cutting is better for people with a lot of fat compared to bulking. It improves your physique and health as well. Fat loss can be possible and faster than muscle gain, making it easier to cut and stay motivated. If you are among those people who find it hard to decide if to cut or bulky, then this is for you.
Final Thought
If you have a lot of fat and fewer muscles, and a lagging appetite, straight bulking is not your thing. It would be wise to maintain calories first and then come trying to develop muscle mass while reducing fat at the same time.
We can recommend cutting to skinny fat people, and remember, by cutting, we mean you develop muscles while losing fat at the same time. But always remember, regardless of the goal and objectives, weight training coupled with high protein intake, should lay a great foundation towards achieving your goals.
Hi Team,
i am Ajay from Delhi India...