A Question About Bulking...

I’m trying to add some muscle to myself right now, and I was originally planning on bulking all the way through until I reach my goal. However, I am getting a little self-conscious about my body fat steadily rising, and I was curious how effective it would be to bulk one month, cut the next, bulk one month, cut the next, etc. Or maybe, bulk two months, cut one month, bulk two months, cut one month. Do any of you do this? Or, have you? If so, was it effective? As in, did you reach your ultimate goal? Or did you find it harder to gain mass this way?

Thanks in advance!

That’s not bulking and cutting, that’s yo-yo dieting. Whatever gains made during those bulks will be lost during the cut and you’ll be right back where you started.

If you’re gaining too much fat and not making a proportionate gain in muscle, back off on the calories a bit and continue with what you’re doing.

I have never tried that, but it sounds like a good way to make no progress at all.

If you are gaining fat faster than you’d like, then cut back on calories a little, or add a little more cardio.

Hahaha, anyone else thinking “ABCDE Diet?”

[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
That’s not bulking and cutting, that’s yo-yo dieting. Whatever gains made during those bulks will be lost during the cut and you’ll be right back where you started.

If you’re gaining too much fat and not making a proportionate gain in muscle, back off on the calories a bit and continue with what you’re doing.[/quote]

This post is right on.

Remember, no matter how hard we try not to, we lose some LBM during the “cut,” so we need to pack on the LBM first to a large degree (more than a month, dude) then cut.

AD

While I think you guys gave great advice, it would also be interesting to hear your opinions on what he is asking. How long should his bulking phase be?

Does anybody here think maybe he is not lifting hard enough if he is gaining too much fat?

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
While I think you guys gave great advice, it would also be interesting to hear your opinions on what he is asking. How long should his bulking phase be?

Does anybody here think maybe he is not lifting hard enough if he is gaining too much fat?[/quote]

He mentions that his body fat is ‘steadily rising.’ That would be expected. To say that he is gaining too much fat and not lifting hard enough is a big leap. He may be the type of person that doesn’t like to add any body fat. Or, if his waist grows an inch he thinks it is too much.

Next, to determine how long he should bulk, it really depends on where he is trying to get, how far he has to go and what his progress is like. Without that, it is going to be hard to give an answer, isn’t it?

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
While I think you guys gave great advice, it would also be interesting to hear your opinions on what he is asking. How long should his bulking phase be?

Does anybody here think maybe he is not lifting hard enough if he is gaining too much fat?[/quote]

No.

While intensity is definitly something that can affect this, he could still just be eating to much. You need to find that balance. Some fat is acceptable to gain… but grow to fast and your just eating like crap

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
While I think you guys gave great advice, it would also be interesting to hear your opinions on what he is asking. How long should his bulking phase be?[/quote]

Eh, I don’t really want to advise people on exactly how they should bulk. I mean, if they’re still making solid gains, why not keep going, especially if they still aren’t the size they want to be? Why follow some schedule advised by someone who doesn’t really know them or their exact goals?

[quote]
Does anybody here think maybe he is not lifting hard enough if he is gaining too much fat?[/quote]

Excellent point. I fell into this trap the first couple months I started. I would eat to gain and while I made strength gains, I wasn’t working as hard as I could in the gym. This resulted in a lot of fat gain too.

[quote]Velz wrote:
I’m trying to add some muscle to myself right now, and I was originally planning on bulking all the way through until I reach my goal. However, I am getting a little self-conscious about my body fat steadily rising, and I was curious how effective it would be to bulk one month, cut the next, bulk one month, cut the next, etc. Or maybe, bulk two months, cut one month, bulk two months, cut one month. Do any of you do this? Or, have you? If so, was it effective? As in, did you reach your ultimate goal? Or did you find it harder to gain mass this way?

Thanks in advance![/quote]

I think you need to bulk more than just a month at a time. There are people here who have done 2 year bulks. I myself did a 6 month bulk this last year and gained alot of weight (muscle & fat). I had a hard time with the weight gain but I knew I just had to accept it to reach my goals.

There are ways to bulk without gaining tons of fat but I chose the fatty route. The hardest part for me is being patient as I take the weight back off. I have dropped 16 pounds and my strength is still going up but it’s a very slow process. I have to resist the temptation to take it off quicker…10 more pounds to go.

This next year I am going to bulk again but without so much fat gain. The biggest issue is you can’t really have two contradicting goals. Figure out your goals and commit to them. Changing every month doesn’t give your body time to adapt to anything.

Hey Velz what does your diet look like? calories fat/protein/carbs %