What is cutting and bulking?
One of our followers on Facebook asked us this question, so I thought some of you might need to get it explained as well.

Bulking
Bulking is basically being in a surplus of calories. So if you fx. need 2700 calories a day to maintain your weight, you add a certain amount of calories to your diet in order to gain weight. I would recommend a surplus of 300 calories a day, that would lead to a weight gain of 300g a week. This a good surplus in order to gain muscle mass without gaining to much fat. So in this example you would start to eat 3000 calories a day. If you don’t gain 300g a week by that, you eat more. If you gain more than the 300g a week you eat less.

No need to eat this just because you are bulking.

But why should I bulk if it makes me fat? You should bulk because it’s only possible to build muscle if you are in a calorie surplus. That’s why it’s so critically important to bulk, and not just maintain your body weight. But remember, a bulk is not an excuse to eat shit like Mc Donalds all the time, it’s okay to cheat, but keep in mind that all the fat you put on during your bulk, is fat that you need to cut away later, witch brings us to cutting…

Cutting
When you are done bulking, you need to cut the fat away. This is done be going from being in a calorie surplus to a deficit of calories. So if you needed 2700 calories a day to maintain your weight, you start eating less than that. I would recommend a deficit of 500 calories a day. That would lead to a weight loss of 500g a week. Keep in mind that it’s not about loosing weight fast, the key is to lose as much weight a possible, without loosing all the muscle mass you worked so hard to get when bulking.

So in this example you would start eating 2200 calories a day. This a a very little amount to  some people, so they might not lower their calories that much. They might add cardio instead, so they burn more calories. This allows them to eat more during their diet. You control the cut the same way as you control your bulk, by weighing yourself once a week and changing your calories if you don’t loose what you need to.

I’m done cutting, what now?
When you are done cutting, you just start bulking again, to get even more muscle mass. If you are satisfied with the way you look, you can consider just eating your maintenance intake. Remember to always consider what macro nutrients you are eating when bulking and cutting. It’s IMO always a good idea to eat at least 2g of protein per kg body weight and 1g of (healthy) fat per kg body weight.

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