Such a thing as bulking and cutting???

[lmlage]

I started by 12 week transformation on January 1st and my plan was to get down to 18% bf. Will this be very hard to do if I am trying to increase my lifts as well? I don't mind bulking persay but I really like doing HIIT and cardio in general. I was told that if I'm going to truly bulk and hit my bench goals at the end of 12 weeks, I'm going to have to cut down the intense cardio and increase my lifting days. Is there a way of doing bulking but at the same time lowering my bf %? I've essentially been "cutting" for years now and it hasn't gotten me very far so I thought maybe bulking was the way to go? My bf is 22% right now.


I appreciate any advice!!!

[Mother Prussia]

For most people it is impossible to lose much weight while gaining muscle. If you are not getting enough calories/protein in a day, your muscles won't have the nutrients to grow. It is easier to lose body fat once you have more muscle because it will make your metabolism that much faster. As far as the HIIT goes... if you really like it that much try to separate it from lifting (lift in morning and then run at night). If your schedule doesn't allow you to do this then at least make sure you are doing your cardio after your lifts.

[tunaB0Y]

lmlage, it's not possible (as far as I know) to cut and bulk at the same time.
Cutting requires a calorie deficiet so that you lose weight - fat weight hopefully;
Bulking requires a calorie surplus so that your muscles can grow, making you stronger, in turn lifting more weight - but adding some fat% to your body is inevitable.

To be honest I don't see why continuing with HIIT would affect your bulking progress as long as you are sufficiently nutritioned. In fact it would help keep the fat gains lowered.

[lmlage]

Originally Posted by tunaB0Y

lmlage, it's not possible (as far as I know) to cut and bulk at the same time.
Cutting requires a calorie deficiet so that you lose weight - fat weight hopefully;
Bulking requires a calorie surplus so that your muscles can grow, making you stronger, in turn lifting more weight - but adding some fat% to your body is inevitable.

To be honest I don't see why continuing with HIIT would affect your bulking progress as long as you are sufficiently nutritioned. In fact it would help keep the fat gains lowered.

Thank you!

[aiming45]

Yeah, I run half-marathons and do some serious cardio in the spring/summer months and still fit in 3 full body workout days to retain muscle size.

You won't accomplish either goal as quickly when trying to do both, but it is entirely possible.

[ToTha5Boroughs]

Paradoxal.

What you can do, and is suggested by many to keep in great shape while increasing lifts, is to fluxuate your BF% by one or up to three percent per change.

For example, I use estimates on my BF% by the way, I'll stay around 10% and go up to about 12%, then cut back down to 10%. This will be over the course of a month or two.

[praex]

doing one at a time will make your results better.

[sendoh23]

Originally Posted by lmlage

I started by 12 week transformation on January 1st and my plan was to get down to 18% bf. Will this be very hard to do if I am trying to increase my lifts as well? I don't mind bulking persay but I really like doing HIIT and cardio in general. I was told that if I'm going to truly bulk and hit my bench goals at the end of 12 weeks, I'm going to have to cut down the intense cardio and increase my lifting days. Is there a way of doing bulking but at the same time lowering my bf %? I've essentially been "cutting" for years now and it hasn't gotten me very far so I thought maybe bulking was the way to go? My bf is 22% right now.


I appreciate any advice!!!

In my opinion, there's no way you can lower your BF% while doing a bulk.
Your BF% will usually increase while u bulk.
At the utmost, you can only try to maintain it or keep your increasing BF% as low as possible.

[Big Bosman]

I pretty much had the same ????'s as you do....I am coming off a 3 month bulking cycle where I DID NOT eat as clean as I know I should have eaten. Carbs, pasta, red meat, breads, dairy & some other junk that I should have left alone & little/no cardio (big mistake)...Good news is that I gained @ 25lbs in a couple months..Bad news is probably over half of that was PURE FAT!

It did not help that I was also supplementing with Cytogain, Muscle Milk & 100% Whey, all with skim milk mind you instead of water. Yeah I fukked up! I am paying the price for that costly mistake as we speak by trying to cut my Bf % back down to @ 10% (@ 25% now ):

Defintely a challange to say the least but a great learning experience as well. I still want to keep the lean muscle gains that I have but get rid of the unwanted body fat that the bulk cycle has added..Is that possible to lose the fat gain w/o losing my muscle???


Skool of hard knocks, heavy ass weights & 5 miles of cardio daily!!!

[atrain11b]

This guy/thread proves it can be done:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=115248

[tunaB0Y]

Originally Posted by atrain11b

This guy/thread proves it can be done:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=115248

John Stone's progress pics is real motivator, in fact his website/journal was one of the first things I read when i found this site, however I don't think he bulked and cutted at the same time.

If you read his nutritional info and workout plans, he cycles between the 2, with emphasis on the cutting (using HIIT) during the beginning stage when he was overweight. Judging by his pics he seems to have lost some lean muscle as well during his cut. Plus the man's a robot! I could never eat cod for 4 meals a day at the exact same time!

[lmlage]

Originally Posted by Big Bosman

I pretty much had the same ????'s as you do....I am coming off a 3 month bulking cycle where I DID NOT eat as clean as I know I should have eaten. Carbs, pasta, red meat, breads, dairy & some other junk that I should have left alone & little/no cardio (big mistake)...Good news is that I gained @ 25lbs in a couple months..Bad news is probably over half of that was PURE FAT!

It did not help that I was also supplementing with Cytogain, Muscle Milk & 100% Whey, all with skim milk mind you instead of water. Yeah I fukked up! I am paying the price for that costly mistake as we speak by trying to cut my Bf % back down to @ 10% (@ 25% now ):

Defintely a challange to say the least but a great learning experience as well. I still want to keep the lean muscle gains that I have but get rid of the unwanted body fat that the bulk cycle has added..Is that possible to lose the fat gain w/o losing my muscle???


Skool of hard knocks, heavy ass weights & 5 miles of cardio daily!!!

Yeah I know someone that is bulking but he's eating dirty. I mix my protein with water, and I am eating very clean so far. I am mixing lifting with cardio but it's not insane intense like I usually do.

[Blk98Bird]

I would avoid chasing two rabbits at the same time, because odds are you won't catch either that way.

There's a chance your genetics will allow you to do both to a degree but the most likely situation is that you'll need to make a choice.

That being said, it is possible to gain strength while cutting even if you don't pick up a little LBM.

I would choose which goal is more important to you in the short run and which you feel will have the most effect on your long-term goals then commit to that for the time being.

Personally, I got a little excessive with my last bulk because I powerlift and my strength was shooting up so I had the fat blinders on. I've now decided to cut down a lot further than usual to help me bulk a bit "cleaner" next time. Lyle McDonald has suggested that leaner individuals tend to gain a more favorable ratio of muscle to fat once switching to a bulk...whether or not that's true is probably up for debate, but it's worth a shot .

[Blk98Bird]

Originally Posted by lmlage

Yeah I know someone that is bulking but he's eating dirty. I mix my protein with water, and I am eating very clean so far. I am mixing lifting with cardio but it's not insane intense like I usually do.

I should throw in that you don't have to be afraid of milk (unless you like the whey/water better) while cutting contrary to what some people say. The only time you may want to avoid it is if you seem to have lactose intolerance.