Bulking and cutting cycles

[toddro]

Can anyone give me good examples of bulking and cutting cycles, ie. duration, routines, supplements, etc. I am 5'9, 178 lbs and 32 years old. I have been working out for a few years but would like to "get serious" about my routines. Any help would be appreciated.

[toddro]

Also, how much cardio during these cycles.
Thanx.

[Mr.Lean]

Bulking:

Large body parts( Chest, Legs and back)

12-13 sets , 6-8 reps

Small body parts( Shoulders, biceps and triceps)

6-8 Sets 8-10 reps

4 Training days, each bodypart once a week, training session no longer than 45-70 mins.

e.g:

Monday : Chest
Tuesday:Back/forearms
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday : Legs/ Shoulders
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Arms/Abs
Sunday: Rest

Duration depends on your targets, for example you might want to get to 200 pounds so you keep bulkiing until then OR like most people bulk during the winter say until March/April then start cutting up for the summer.
Best supplemenss when bulking - depending on your bodytype if you have problems putting on weight than go for a weight gainer like NLarge2 otherwise get some decent whey protein powder like EAS or Optimum. Creatine is good so is a multi-vitamin and ZMA is also worthwhile if you can afford it. Best supplement is food though- chicken, tuna, eggs, milk, cheese etc should build the bulk of your diet.

For cutting cycle keep the same routine with weights maybe reduce volume a touch- dont switch to high reps or youll lose more mass and strength than necesarry. Add 3-4 40 min cardio sessions first thing in the morning or after your weights if you cant find the time( make sure you reduce volume with weights in this case). Best supplements would be whey protein powder again , multi-vitamin ,Glutamine and a good fat burner like Xenadrine or Animal cuts.

Remeber to eat 18-22 (if you put on weight easily x 18 otherwise x 22)x your bodyweight when bulking split over 5-6 meals and when cutting gardually reduce to 10 x your bodyweight split over 5-6 meals.

These are the basics start with them and adjust accordingly depending on how your body reacts to supplements, training, diet etc.

[x_rider]

i have a question about eaing 10*bodyweight when u are cutting. my concern is wont you loose muscle? i went on a bulking phase and want to cut now. but i want to make sure i am not loosing muscle. what do i need to do to make sure i dont loose muscle mass and only loose fat. is cutting carbs and replacing it with protein the one doing the trick. i dont get it

Thanks

[himynamesdanny]

ok im only 14 i kno but..i dont really get bulking and cutting
if ur bulking dont u get a like fatter? so then after bulking u cut it all off by cardio and stuff?

[beeshy]

Hi friends,

I am a 31 year old novice lifter. I want to know what do I need to do in order to bulk up fast? I would like to bulk up to 230LBS. Any nutrition diet plans and supplements I should consider?

[SuffolkPunch]

ok im only 14 i kno but..i dont really get bulking and cutting
if ur bulking dont u get a like fatter? so then after bulking u cut it all off by cardio and stuff?

Yep - it's unavoidable

If you limit your weight gains to 2% per month for newbies and 1% thereafter then you should gain mostly lean mass...

I am not convinced that cardio during a bulking period will have an effect on the amount of fat you gain - but certainly when you enter a cutting period it is a useful tool to help burn calories.

[wildphucker]

Wow strong 2 year bump from a post that wow strong 6 year bump.

OP is now 40 when his post says he is 32 mind=blown.

[lakers44]

I have a meal plan with supplements and a food chart as well. If you are interested I can email it to you. My email is lakers44@gmail.com, just email me and i'll reply back with the info. I did a bulk cycle for 2 months and now I am on a cutting cycle. I have both plans.

Hi friends,

I am a 31 year old novice lifter. I want to know what do I need to do in order to bulk up fast? I would like to bulk up to 230LBS. Any nutrition diet plans and supplements I should consider?

[g85]

Wow strong 2 year bump from a post that wow strong 6 year bump.

OP is now 40 when his post says he is 32 mind=blown.

That's awesome!

[glomar1]

Hi friends,

I am a 31 year old novice lifter. I want to know what do I need to do in order to bulk up fast? I would like to bulk up to 230LBS. Any nutrition diet plans and supplements I should consider?

You can not put on 30 lbs of muscle in 30 days. 3 pounds (of muscle) in 30 would be doing really good. Sorry, but there are limits to what the body can do.

[skscotchegg]

Quote = "Remeber to eat 18-22 (if you put on weight easily x 18 otherwise x 22)x your bodyweight when bulking split over 5-6 meals and when cutting gardually reduce to 10 x your bodyweight split over 5-6 meals."

So I am 265 pounds so when I start bulking again I should eat between 4770 and 5830 calories a day?

Thanks in advance.

[SuffolkPunch]

Quote = "Remeber to eat 18-22 (if you put on weight easily x 18 otherwise x 22)x your bodyweight when bulking split over 5-6 meals and when cutting gardually reduce to 10 x your bodyweight split over 5-6 meals."

So I am 265 pounds so when I start bulking again I should eat between 4770 and 5830 calories a day?

Thanks in advance.

No, I suspect he means lean bodyweight - i.e. your weight minus your fat mass.

These calculations are of limited value - you will need to find calorie levels based on trial and error. After a diet, your metabolism can be depressed so you need to transition slowly into bulking and limit weight gain to 2lbs a month. The calorie level you mentioned would be a distaster IMO.

[stewoolley]

I dont wanna bulk because i think i will get fat and cant be doing with that, what can you do to minimise the fat gain? And can i still do cardio anyway to keep my fitness up?

[gomez26]

what can you do to minimise the fat gain?

control your diet.



if u have a reasonable bf% level u should be able to maintain it while gaining muscle.

this means u gain both muscle & fat in a ratio to keep your %'s the same.

so if u are comfortable at say 12.5%bf it means u gain 7 parts muscle to every 1 part fat to maintain 12.5%.

there is no reason to allow ur bf% to shoot up during 'bulking' unless u started very low

[SuffolkPunch]

Gomez is right. You cannot gain muscle without some fat appearing too - but it can be small enough that you barely notice it.

If you want, you can try a nutrient timing method like intermittent fasting to try to 'lean bulk'.

[skscotchegg]

Well is there anyway someone can please workout for me how many grams of carbs, protein and fat I should be taking per day whilst cutting, and how much when am bulking?

[MRileyLed]

I don't really get bulking and cutting so like you bulk up and then when you start cutting do you loose everything you just put on

[SuffolkPunch]

I don't really get bulking and cutting so like you bulk up and then when you start cutting do you loose everything you just put on

Bulk = gain muscle and some fat
Cut = lose fat and hopefully very litttle muscle

[LupusYB]

bulking means a whole lot of dat der cell tech. If your cutting then only drink half as much

[Atteroz]

bulking means a whole lot of dat der cell tech. If your cutting then only drink half as much

I am 5'6 at 138 and i want to gain at least ten pounds of muscle then cut, but how do i go about doing that?

[BFirebird101]

Bump from 12 years ago

[gotsleep]

Bump from 12 years ago

strong this. Bumping again

[mobythedictator]

of course everyone on this thread has already read the most important thread on bodybuilding.com (and on the internet, really)...


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

[LookinTRENdy]

That's awesome!

Well this should contribute nicely to this mind**** of a thread :S

[MehCheniti]

Strong first post.

[Jayan1983]

New to BB and wanted to pose a question to this forum. I'm 5ft 8in and 157-160lbs around 11%bf and have always been pretty active and have been on and off lifting my whole life. The post 12 weeks however I've been pretty intense with my workouts about 5x a week and eating fairly well and taking protein and pw supps. As a result put on some good muscle and about 5-7lbs.

My question now is should I start to think about cutting and not bulking? Considering my age, height, weight ratio etc.

[SuffolkPunch]

New to BB and wanted to pose a question to this forum. I'm 5ft 8in and 157-160lbs around 11%bf and have always been pretty active and have been on and off lifting my whole life. The post 12 weeks however I've been pretty intense with my workouts about 5x a week and eating fairly well and taking protein and pw supps. As a result put on some good muscle and about 5-7lbs.

My question now is should I start to think about cutting and not bulking? Considering my age, height, weight ratio etc.

Comes down to preference - but consider that most people have more fat and less muscle than they think. I've been there myself, constantly thinking "if I just lose 5 or 6 lbs, I'll have a sixpack".

You are still in the novice gains phase and should really continue to gain strength and muscle size for as long as possible while gaining weight at a slow controlled rate

BTW: "taking supps" is not a substitute for knowing your calorie and macro intake - and what is required. I recommend reading the macro calculation sticky threads in the nutrition forum.

[CaliViking]

I'm currently in a bulk phase (my first one) and want to get to 195 by Feb or March. Once I hit 195 I'm going to start cutting. Hopefully it takes me 8 to 12 weeks to cut. My question is what do you do right after you finish cutting? How do you maintain the results for the summer time before Fall comes around and you start the bulk phase again?

[MehCheniti]

Btw, at what age should one start cutting? Cuz I'm 16 and don't think I really need to cut (fast metabolism + swimming 2 times a day).