How long is your bulk? How long is your cut?

[pinchharmonic]

I'm wondering how long I should bulk. I feel the longer I bulk, the more stubborn the fat I gain will be.

Would it be ridiculous to do 2 week bulks, then 2 week cuts, repeat?

 

[Delita420]

I have no cutting cycle lol. I'd say it's favorable to continue bulking as long as you are seeing gains in muscle mass. When your body gets used to the routine, you can switch to cutting and then change your exercise routine as well. Of course, you may want to start cutting early if you're getting too fat. Otherwise, your cutting cycle will be too long.

Can anyone support this theory?

 

[mDeezy]

Personally I bulk for 8 weeks and cut for 12, but it certainly depends on your goals. I'm not too keen on the 2 week / 2 week cycle though.

 

[Rodja]

I actually like to do a 2/2 method. It is a slower method, but the mass added is much better quality and lends itself towards more of a recomp as opposed to straight bulking/cutting.

 

[flobot]

I do this. When I'm too burned out eating 5k calories a day to maintain muscle then I start cutting.

I have no cutting cycle lol. I'd say it's favorable to continue bulking as long as you are seeing gains in muscle mass. When your body gets used to the routine, you can switch to cutting and then change your exercise routine as well. Of course, you may want to start cutting early if you're getting too fat. Otherwise, your cutting cycle will be too long.

Can anyone support this theory?

 

[Irish Cannon]

Bulk or cut for however long it takes to complete the goal!

 

[pinchharmonic]

the more i think of it the 2 weeks may be tough. it takes time to get into a full blown workout routine geared towards mass.. not to mention gradually raising calories which can take a week itself.

Now I'm thinking the bulk will end if

a.) I get over 12.5% bodyfat,
b.) 5 weeks

whichever comes first.

Then I'll cut for 3 week as I believe in 3 weeks you can cut a lot of fat. Potentially 2-3lbs of pure fat.

thanks for all your opinions guys, it's helpful to know hte numbers people work with.

 

[striking]

I like to do goal shooting. Once you pick out what you want to do and just try to meet it.

I do however enjoy the "lean" bulk plan. It is slower and maybe harder then the full eat everything bulk BUT I like the lean mass it puts on your body.
In that you can also stay in a bulking mood and routine IE if your doing GVT it would be nearly impossible to do it on a cutting diet.
A lean bulk full of good foods should alow you to add the mass you want without so much fat. I also like the idea that the more mass I add the easier it is for me to lose fat.

 

[homer]

is different, if you gain slowly or fast, if you lose fat easily or not. I try to stay lean all year long, and in some weeks (especially christmas for example) i take this day to eat more and put some mass.
I noticed in this way I' m more muscular and lean, when I did bulk cut cycle I had no great result.
2week bulk 2 week cut is a part of ABCDE theory, I tried it, but i don't like

 

[mixedup]

Maybe your just trying bulk to fast?? What do you consider a Bulk? or a Cut? I mean 2 weeks even 5 weeks How much weight can you put on? When I think Bulk I think which you don't just put on in that amount of time. If your on cycle that's different though.

 

[TexasLifter89]

i typically shoot for a weight goal with under BF %X. when this is accomplished i slowly shift over my workout routine and diet (slowly not all at once) to my cut phase. I typically cut till a certain BF%. and then repeat after whatever the reason i cut for. Its all about controlling your fat. if you eat a good clean diet and exercise correctly fat gain should be minute. its all about being aware and watching yourself from crossing the trouble line IMO

 

[CaponeCEO]

I dont think the 2/2 method would work for me because my goals/body type are prob different then yours. My only answer would be to try it and see how it works for you. Give it a few months and see your progress. If you dont like it then change up, it will be a good shake up for your muscles one way or the other and that is a huge part of gains.

 

[OME]

I plan on bulking for the next 10 months gaining on average 3 lbs a month. Then I'll probably cut for 2-3 months.

 

[t-bone2]

Bulk to ~15%BF, cut to ~10% while preserving LBM, repeat.

 

[Aggression]

Bulk or cut for however long it takes to complete the goal!

Cannon nailed it. Dude unless you have a date circled in red on the calendar (meaning your entering a show), there's no set time for bulking/cutting. You can bulk for 5 years straight if you want. Its all up to how you want to look. You're putting on too much BF? OK, so start to cut a bit if that worries you.

 

[pinchharmonic]

i typically shoot for a weight goal with under BF %X. when this is accomplished i slowly shift over my workout routine and diet (slowly not all at once) to my cut phase. I typically cut till a certain BF%. and then repeat after whatever the reason i cut for. Its all about controlling your fat. if you eat a good clean diet and exercise correctly fat gain should be minute. its all about being aware and watching yourself from crossing the trouble line IMO

man i'm bulking right now and within 3 weeks i feel and look noticeably fatter. Went from 60 grams of carbs a day to about 180 over the course of a week. All other things equal!! Even on my bulk im still eating clean as a f***** bird, I did not expect that much weight gain.

i do understand some may be water weight since low carb = natural dieuretic, but still... i'm doing everything right, increasing carbs slowly, still eating clean, lifting harder, i did cut the cardio down a bit too though..

 

[Distilled Water]

I'm playing baseball so it's kind of tough. Once it's done im going to step on stage but I plan on bulking for about 15 weeks then going on "mini" cuts to clean up a little bit(maybe 4 weeks or so), then bulk for another 15weeks. Probably going to do that for about a year. Then take a 20 week cut approach up until the show.

 

[TexasLifter89]

man i'm bulking right now and within 3 weeks i feel and look noticeably fatter. Went from 60 grams of carbs a day to about 180 over the course of a week. All other things equal!! Even on my bulk im still eating clean as a f***** bird, I did not expect that much weight gain.

i do understand some may be water weight since low carb = natural dieuretic, but still... i'm doing everything right, increasing carbs slowly, still eating clean, lifting harder, i did cut the cardio down a bit too though..

hmm...so it appears your carb sensitive. look into something to help with glucose. what supplement are you taking? maybe you transitioned too fast for your body and it just became overloaded to the increase in carbohydrates. when do you primarily take in carbs?

 

[Delita420]

Insulin resistance is down, his body uses excess insulin to control the carbs. Staying away from simple carbs and sugars can help. Exercise does help with insulin resistance. Supplementing with chromium helps with insulin resistance, too.

 

[pinchharmonic]

Insulin resistance is down, his body uses excess insulin to control the carbs. Staying away from simple carbs and sugars can help. Exercise does help with insulin resistance. Supplementing with chromium helps with insulin resistance, too.

thanks,

i don't have sugars period. the simplest carb I have is WMS post workout. i eat only oats, ezekiel bread and sometimes yams. It's the cleanest diet ever really.

i supplement with chromium, alpha lipoic acid, and bitter melon extract to help get those carbs into the muscles.

i think I may have some intestinal or digestive disorder that's causing this problem and I'm going to be scheduling to see a specialist soon.

as of lately, even drinking water makes me feel bloated and I've read that it's possible that a digestive kink can cause your gastric emptying (stomach to intestine) slow down. I think that's also why i feel fatter because my stomach just bulges after any meal no matter how big (i eat about 7 proportioned sized meals a day) and also some water retention.

thanks everyone and I do hope i can get this problem solved so i can bulk properly.

thanks

 

[poopypants]

my bulk is never ending.

 

[Brolic]

i have bulkin since 2/06 and only did a 3month cut

 

[Irish Cannon]

I honestly think I'm kind of done with the whole bulking/cutting thing. I'll probably just keep my calories and diet/macros somewhat the same year-round (just above maintnence levels), and change things up accordingly for whatever goals I have.

 

[Young Gotti]

I like to cut twice as long as I bulk, if I bulk for a month then I cut for two months. It just seems easier to bulk up, eating more is way to easy for me but getting on that cardio machine or running outside takes some motivation for me. September and October are always bulking months for me regardless and April and May are always cutting months no matter how they fall in my cycle. In my opinion 2 weeks is not enough time to really bulk and likewise 2 weeks doesn't seem like enough time to cut to really see any dramatic results.