What would happen if you bulked 1 month, cut 1 month, continuously?

[Comply_or_Die]

Say you did something like this:

January - bulk
February - cut
March - bulk
April - cut

all the way through the year. Would you gain muscle and get big?

[Haveboards]

You would most likely end up spinning your wheels


Getting frustrated.

Adding muscle is much harder than stripping fat. IMO you should spend more time looking to gain LBM then cutting, especially if your goal is to get big.

[PerezEddie]

You would most likely end up spinning your wheels


Getting frustrated.

Adding muscle is much harder than stripping fat. IMO you should spend more time looking to gain LBM then cutting, especially if your goal is to get big.

This. ^

If you don't really want to do a super long bulk then what you can do is bulk for say 6-8 weeks, followed by a 2 week cut. So in about a 2 month time frame you probably put on a net of about 2lbs. So the weight gain is very slow and can get very frustrating, which is why most people opt for a longer bulk followed by a 12 week cut (or whatever)

[STT816]

this op, this

[Connor1226]

You would get no where.
It takes more than a month to build muscle. Plus you shouldn't be gaining fat so fast you would have to cut for the equal amount of time you lift.

[AFC96]

You will end up in the same place. Adding muscle is not easy.

[chemo29]

this op, this

yes definitely this

[JerryB]

this op, this

Prefect illustration.

[michaels22]

I get that the common advice here is "Bulk for longer periods of time to ensure you gain muscle mass, lest you spin your wheels."

However, I'd like to challenge you to do what works for you. For me? I like to remain leaner (10-13%) year-round, as I like to run marathons and engage in cardio. Thus, I never want to gain more than a few pounds at a time. Some on here might say it's spinning my wheels, but it's fine with me. I see modest strength and weight increases when bulking, followed by fat loss and general maintenance of strength during mini-cuts.

I think a one month bulk, one month cut process is just as viable as any other. If you think about it, you're in a surplus for 30 days, which at 300 calories per day is roughly 2.67 pounds. If 1.33 of that is muscle, you are pretty successful.

During your cut, say you lose 4 pounds (one pound per week) and 3.5 of that is fat, you've netted .83 lb of muscle in 2 months.

I know our bodies don't adhere to simple math and they are very complex, but even if you gained .5-.83 pounds of muscle every two months, you're looking at 3 to 5 pounds of muscle in one year, which is not bad IMO for staying lean.

[Anaerobics]

I get that the common advice here is "Bulk for longer periods of time to ensure you gain muscle mass, lest you spin your wheels."

However, I'd like to challenge you to do what works for you. For me? I like to remain leaner (10-13%) year-round, as I like to run marathons and engage in cardio. Thus, I never want to gain more than a few pounds at a time. Some on here might say it's spinning my wheels, but it's fine with me. I see modest strength and weight increases when bulking, followed by fat loss and general maintenance of strength during mini-cuts.

I think a one month bulk, one month cut process is just as viable as any other. If you think about it, you're in a surplus for 30 days, which at 300 calories per day is roughly 2.67 pounds. If 1.33 of that is muscle, you are pretty successful.

During your cut, say you lose 4 pounds (one pound per week) and 3.5 of that is fat, you've netted .83 lb of muscle in 2 months.

I know our bodies don't adhere to simple math and they are very complex, but even if you gained .5-.83 pounds of muscle every two months, you're looking at 3 to 5 pounds of muscle in one year, which is not bad IMO for staying lean.

Strong post. OP, listen to this guy. Do what works best for you. Bulking for long periods of time will obviously build more mass a lot faster, but if you participate in a sport that has rigorous cardio activity then maybe 1 month on 1 month off could be the best option. You could even stretch it and do 2 months bulking (or even 3) and then cut one month.

[Mrpb]

Layne Norton uses 6-8 weeks bulking, 2-3 weeks cutting (iirc). It seems to be working fine.

One thing necessary to make the shorter bulk & cut cycle working imo is that you must very well know what you're doing.

[sonnydfrizzy]

Layne Norton uses 6-8 weeks bulking, 2-3 weeks cutting (iirc). It seems to be working fine.

One thing necessary to make the shorter bulk & cut cycle working imo is that you must very well know what you're doing.

I have seen Norton advocate that in the past but does he still claim this to be effective? Looking at science and reading the literature, the body does not take an "adjustment period" to start adding muscle mass or losing fat. We are constantly in either a muscle building, fat storing, or fat loss "mode," and I do not see (other than visible progression in size and strength and easier to track weight/cals for consistency) why bulking for 8 months and cutting for 4 months would yield a better result than 8 week bulks and 4 week cuts, per se.

Seems like at the end of the day, if you spend 8 months TOTAL a year in a surplus and 4 months TOTAL cutting... whether that be in 2 week cycles or one big long bulk and cut, it would yield no difference in terms of mass gains.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Layne Norton uses 6-8 weeks bulking, 2-3 weeks cutting (iirc). It seems to be working fine.

One thing necessary to make the shorter bulk & cut cycle working imo is that you must very well know what you're doing.

So what you are saying is that this would be an advanced tactic?

I agree, as if a person did not have a solid grasp on their macro needs one could very easily spin wheels. After all on a 6-8 week mass gain cycle how much is one really looking for in scale movement? Guarantee I can shift that much in water in a day.


Obv would vary greatly with the size of the intended surplus.

[Mrpb]

So what you are saying is that this would be an advanced tactic?

Anyone with a very good grasp of their macros & TDEE could make it work I think.

I do not see (other than visible progression in size and strength and easier to track weight/cals for consistency) why bulking for 8 months and cutting for 4 months would yield a better result than 8 week bulks and 4 week cuts, per se.

I agree with this. I could actually see reasons why 4 week cuts would be more efficient than long cuts, because they tend to be less muscle wasting.

PS. I don't know if Norton still does this.

[Filthmonger]

Ive been doing 3 month bulk 1 month cut. Been fairly successful. Hovering around 90kgs, BF% definitely lower than when I started, much lower infact. Only problem I see with your plan is I believe you should spend a good chunk of the year in a surplus not 50/50.

[XCRunner9]

Depends. How much weight are you gaining during your bulk and how much weight are you cutting during your cut?

[Comply_or_Die]

I get that the common advice here is "Bulk for longer periods of time to ensure you gain muscle mass, lest you spin your wheels."

However, I'd like to challenge you to do what works for you. For me? I like to remain leaner (10-13%) year-round, as I like to run marathons and engage in cardio. Thus, I never want to gain more than a few pounds at a time. Some on here might say it's spinning my wheels, but it's fine with me. I see modest strength and weight increases when bulking, followed by fat loss and general maintenance of strength during mini-cuts.

I think a one month bulk, one month cut process is just as viable as any other. If you think about it, you're in a surplus for 30 days, which at 300 calories per day is roughly 2.67 pounds. If 1.33 of that is muscle, you are pretty successful.

During your cut, say you lose 4 pounds (one pound per week) and 3.5 of that is fat, you've netted .83 lb of muscle in 2 months.

I know our bodies don't adhere to simple math and they are very complex, but even if you gained .5-.83 pounds of muscle every two months, you're looking at 3 to 5 pounds of muscle in one year, which is not bad IMO for staying lean.

Thanks for some brilliant advice.