Cutting and bulking at the same time???

[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!!!

[Amanda76]

I've gained strength while leaning up a bit (did so last spring into the summer). I think the key to doing so is expecting the scale to move slowly and not fretting when it doesn't move at all.

Depending on exactly how much cardio you do, cutting back on cardio might be the key to giving your body the boost it needs to make lean gains. But that doesn't mean you have to stop doing it completely. The benefits of cardio still apply when you are bulking. You just don't want to be doing so much of it that it interferes with recovery or nutrition that should be going toward growth. It's something you'll have to experiment with a bit.

[Npeart]

Yes, walk on a treadmill at 3.5 MPH 5 days a week. Lift as heavy as possible and keep your macros on a 50/30/20 split - meaning 50% of your cals from protein, 30% from complex carbs and 20% from healthy fats. Do you know how many cals a day you should be consuming?

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!!!

[dbroncofan]

I have tried to increase in muscle size and cut for the last 6 months and I know your frustration.
I have been training for a marathon so I think I eat up my muscle with long cardio sessions.

I am switching to short cardio and intense lifting after the marathon Sunday. I am interested to see how you do because I feel your frustration.

I have lifted alot and haven't seen near the gains I think I would have if I weren't doing so much cardio and burning muscle.

Good luck to you and I hope you meet your goals!

[lmlage]

Originally Posted by dbroncofan

I have tried to increase in muscle size and cut for the last 6 months and I know your frustration.
I have been training for a marathon so I think I eat up my muscle with long cardio sessions.

I am switching to short cardio and intense lifting after the marathon Sunday. I am interested to see how you do because I feel your frustration.

I have lifted alot and haven't seen near the gains I think I would have if I weren't doing so much cardio and burning muscle.

Good luck to you and I hope you meet your goals!

thanks. I think I will definitely keep cardio short and simple and lift heavy!

[gfundaro]

You can certainly gain strength on a cut. If you stimulate your muscles, they will react to become more efficient. However, strength and size do not come hand-in-hand, and hypertrophy training is different from strength training. Hypertrophy is probably not going to happen to any impressive degree on a cut.