These are the most widely utilized methods used by people who do resistance training to build muscle at the gym. Bulking and cutting. Although completely opposite from each other, they are both diet techniques applied to either gain strength or get lean.
Bulking
Bulking is when you consume more calories than what your daily calorie intake is supposed to be, either by force feeding yourself or by just adding some calorically dense foods to your diet. In other words, you eat more than you need. This keeps you in a surplus and your body has more calories to spare. This helps you get more fat on your body than muscle, but it allows your body to have stores of fat to use as energy whenever needed.
It’s one of the reasons people who start lifting start bulking either to gain more strength on their lifts or to just put on more weight, in general. Specifically, extremely skinny people or people who might have hit a plateau on their lifts. The increase in strength from eating more allows them to lift more at the cost of aesthetics such as abs.
Everyone in the gym has different goals. Some are their to be their strongest versions, while others have an aesthetic goal, while some people just want visible abs. Your goals determine your approach. That’s why make sure you know what your goals are and then use the approach that is targeted towards achieving your goals. To know more on how to set your goals based on your needs, Read. best-fitness-tips
Cons of bulking
Keep in mind that no approach is perfect, some are just better suited to your goals. Bulking has a lot of advantages for someone who is extremely skinny, but it is the worst thing for someone who is overweight, as they won’t just gain more weight. Their muscles will get covered by more fat the more they eat in a caloric surplus and get heavier.
Sure, their strength would go up from eating more and lifting weights, but they would end up being more unhealthy and prone to a wide array of health issues stemming from being obese. That’s why you should always be careful when bulking, as it can result in health concerns.
Why people cant get out of a bulk?
A lot of people who start their bulk are never able to cut and lose the weight they have put on due to various reasons, like getting addicted to junk food. If they are consuming junk calories like sugar and processed foods. They become addicted to it and can’t let go of it.
That’s why it’s always encouraged to eat clean food during your bulk, so that it gets easier when you’re cutting, as you are not going to be addicted to eating, let’s say oatmeal or chicken as compared to a cake or a cheese burger. Not only that protein is known to satiate hunger while junk food is known for the opposite.
Some can’t fathom the fact that they will lose strength, because when you cut, you lose weight along with strength to a certain degree as you lose the extra muscle that was built by having more fat on your frame. This turns into a psychological battle and keeps people from losing that unhealthy weight due to the fear of being weaker than they currently are.
Nevertheless, bulking is an excellent tool if your goals are set and you know the limits to which you should push yourself . That goes for both bulking and cutting.
Cutting
Cutting is when you eat less calories than your body needs to maintain your current body weight and lose weight as a result. A cut is generally utilized by overweight people whether they have joined a gym or not. Some people bulk to a certain degree then cut to get rid of the extra fat while maintaining some muscle that they have attained from their bulk. Most of the muscle as a result of bulking goes away as well as your not supposed to be carrying that muscle without the fat to begin with.
Some of it does stay with you during your cuts but its not substantial enough for majority of people. Skinny people do benefit from it but overweight people do not. They already had the fat for their bodies to use as energy to build muscle to begin with. That is when cutting helps. It allows you to build muscle while losing weight and as your weight goes down your muscles start popping up and all these changes can be seen in the mirror and serve as motivation as well.
While cutting its extremely important to not only avoid junk calories but to make sure you’re eating enough protein. You do not want your body to use your muscles for energy due to you being in an extreme caloric deficit
Cons of cutting
There are cons to cutting if done to an extreme as well. If your cutting back on calories. The food you consume should be from clean food sources. Which has to mainly be from protein as your body is going to burn calories to maintain itself. If you are not eating the right or enough calories, your body will target your muscles for energy.
Your strength levels will drop during a cut as you lose weight your strength will go down. It’s not as drastic as it might seems but if your someone lifting over 120kgs. Lets say, expect a significant decrease to100 or below. This is just an example and does not represent everyone’s level of drop during their cut. It’s just for explanatory purposes to give you an idea.
Cutting has a psychological aspect to it as well. As you are losing weight as an overweight person. The more you progress the more likely you are to go in a higher caloric deficit to get more progress. Resulting in you losing muscle in the process. Extreme cutting also leads to lower energy levels hence hindering your progress in the gym or day to day life. You should always be aware of the fact that cutting is like a marathon not a race. The faster you try to finish it the more likely you are to lose muscle in the process. Be mindful of your weight changes and know when to stop and take it slow. No matter what approach you choose whether it is bulking or cutting.
Conclusion
- Before you decide between bulking and cutting make sure your goals and body fit the criteria for either.
- Both bulking and cutting have a negative psychological effect when overdone leading to body dysmorphia.
- Do not bulk with junk or trigger foods as it will make getting out of the bulk harder.
- Both approaches require you to train with proper form.
- to know if you should bulk or cut based on your body type. should-you-bulk-or-cut-based-on-your-body-type/
- To know more about how to lift proper and built more muscle with time under tension. Read what-is-time-under-tension-how-does-it-affect-hypotrophy
- to know how more about mind-muscle connection and how you can utilize it for more hypotrophy. Read mind-muscle-connection-how-does-it-increase-muscle-gain