Should I bulk up and then start cutting?

Question

Hi,

I'm 6 ft 3 and my weight is around 167-170. I'm trying to gain more muscle. Should I first start bulking up and then cutting? I'm using Cytogainer as my supplement for now.

Answer 1

Miguel, the problem with the bulking approach is that you run the risk of putting on a substantial amount of fat along with the additional lean muscle. Once you've created fat cells, they are there for life and it becomes increasingly more difficult to effectively cut in future cycles. Sure you'll put on muscle, but at a long-term cost that you probably will not be happy with.

Bulking diets are most effective for bodybuilders on steroids. This is something that the muscle magazines fail to tell you. When you see professional bodybuilders consuming 5,000-plus calories a day, it's because they need these amounts of food to take advantage of the unnatural anabolic state the steroids put them in. They are also carrying around much more muscle mass than the average person, so their resting metabolic requirements are substantially higher out of the gate.

Unless you are an extreme hard-gainer, consuming large amounts of extra calories (especially from gainer powders which are usually filled with large quantities of simple sugars) will just make you fat. You should be able to make substantial lean muscle gains by consuming as little as an additional 500 calories per day above your maintenance levels. With this approach, you can monitor your fat levels more accurately, and pull back if you are getting too soft.

If you aren't gaining muscle, then simply add in another 100-200 calories and see if that helps. Again, the name of the game here is keeping track of what you are eating and how many calories and what impact it is having on your lean body mass-to-fat ratio.

Outside of individuals on steroids, bulking diets are really the lazy man's path to muscle, since you don't have to count anything ... you just stuff your face and watch your weight go up. Problem is, you now have 10 pounds of fat to strip away. The nice thing about a more moderated, non-bulking approach to muscle gain is that you don't have to go through an extreme cutting phase, which I can tell you is miserable for most people.

If you need help keeping track of your calories, use one of the tools listed below. They are invaluable.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

You pretty much got a good idea of what you should do - Yes, bulking up and then cutting would be best. Cytogainer is great for that, too.

Answer 3

Yes you should pack on the bulk then start shedding the excess fat that you gained. Try using glutamine when you are in the cutting phase.

Answer 4

I would bulk until either the goal weight is reached or body fat is starting to increase. when the body fat is high increasing the amount of fat free mass is difficult as insulin sensitivity has decreased substantially. personally I wouldn't let the body fat get much more than 15-17%

Answer 5

sophisticated factor. browse into yahoo and bing. that can assist!

Answer 6

NEVER use steroids.