Question- I think I got more muscle!

[SsiK]

Well on my last bulk I started weighing around 145-150. I bulked up to around 160-165, adding obvious muscle plus a little fat (obviously). I cut back down to around 150, maintaining that muscle mass. I was about 14% bodyfat.

I bulked up (again) to around 160, then cut back down to 150. This time I am at 11% bodyfat. This proves that I have added lean muscle mass, right?

It is possible to gain 10-20 lbs., then shed about 15 lbs. of fat off and still be around the same weight you started at yet more muscular, isn't it? Thanks for the clarity.

- SsiK

[Krunchy]

Well on my last bulk I started weighing around 145-150. I bulked up to around 160-165, adding obvious muscle plus a little fat (obviously). I cut back down to around 150, maintaining that muscle mass. I was about 14% bodyfat.

I bulked up (again) to around 160, then cut back down to 150. This time I am at 11% bodyfat. This proves that I have added lean muscle mass, right?

It is possible to gain 10-20 lbs., then shed about 15 lbs. of fat off and still be around the same weight you started at yet more muscular, isn't it? Thanks for the clarity.

- SsiK

Yes, it's possible. Normally when people do a bulking phase then a cutting phase, they end up a few pounds heavier than they started with. But if your bodyfat was high to begin with, then yeh, it's not unheard of. Really all you have to do is look in the mirror. Do you look more muscular now compared with before you did those cycles?

[SsiK]

I'd have to say I do look more muscular.

I don't understand- when people bulk, they gain a decent amount of weight, however when they cut don't they lose a lot of the weight they gained as well? I know the majority of the weight loss is fat, meaning for most people they end up after the cutting phase maybe 5 lbs. heavier or so?


So the point of bulking is to add muscle mass. Along with muscle mass comes fat, so cutting is the process of eliminating that fat. Do people usually end up around the same weight, maybe a little heavier after the cut?

- SsiK

[SsiK]

But I mean if I gained a bit of weight, then cutted it down (shred off the fat, or at least most of it) and I got down to almost my original weight, I could be more muscular just at a lower BF% right? I ask because I just bulked up again and I need to cut soon and I think I'm going to end up at my original weight, however I know I have gained muscle from my bulking cycle.


- SsiK

[Krunchy]

I'd have to say I do look more muscular.

I don't understand- when people bulk, they gain a decent amount of weight, however when they cut don't they lose a lot of the weight they gained as well? I know the majority of the weight loss is fat, meaning for most people they end up after the cutting phase maybe 5 lbs. heavier or so?

So the point of bulking is to add muscle mass. Along with muscle mass comes fat, so cutting is the process of eliminating that fat. Do people usually end up around the same weight, maybe a little heavier after the cut?

- SsiK

You pretty much have it. You do a bulking then a cutting phase because it is faster to gain muscle as opposed to maintaining a constant diet of X calories (with no bulk or cut).

After the cut, you should end up several pounds heavier. But there are many things that determine this: How long you bulked, how long you cut, how clean your diet was when you bulked, what your body type is... Things like that.

If you didn't do a clean bulk, then when you cut and lose all the excess bodyfat, you may end up somewhere near where you started.

Bottom line is make sure you do a clean bulk.

[Krunchy]

But I mean if I gained a bit of weight, then cutted it down (shred off the fat, or at least most of it) and I got down to almost my original weight, I could be more muscular just at a lower BF% right?
- SsiK

Right, but this shouldn't happen time and time again, or you will begin to go in circles. An example: Say you start bulking at 9% bodyfat and you bulk and gain 20lbs, and finish with 13% bodyfat. When you cut, your aim is to lose ~10-15 of those pounds and finish at around the 9% bodyfat you started with. You're now where you were before you bulked, only 10 or so pounds heavier. Does that make sense?