How to Bulk and Cut

Training Beginners
1

I am a 26 year old male, 5’8 165 pounds. 2 years ago i went down from 190 pounds (being over weight my entire youth) to 149 pounds. Stupidly reaching my goals by eating 0 carbs, all protein, all cardio, absolutley no weights for the first 4 months. Obviously i took the wrong approach and was skin on bones with no definition.

About a year and a half ago after starting to try and understand the way the body works i finally started to open my eyes to the importance of carbs for the brain,body,building muscle and having energy. 2 years in now, and asking the PT at my gym more questions then they could handle, i have built up about 15 pounds of muscle.

I now understand the basics + about weight training ,nutrition etc. To not make this longer than it already is i am seeking advice on the proper way to bulk then cut. These are my questions and concerns, first; being someone who was over weight my entire life the thought of bulking and gaining extra body fat is a bit scary, but im willing to move forward.

I work out 5-7 days a week, being smart to let the appropriate muscles recover.I have also cut down cardio to 1-2 times a week. I am getting alot of advice from dudes who are “hard gainers” and naturally genetic ripped guys.

Due to the elastisity in my skin due to loosing weight soo fast with no weight training, i fear that bulking up will just make me fat in all the places my fat was stored as a teenager/young adult (ie.chest,stomach and spare tire)

I eat clean food, 6 times a day, i take isolate,casein,hmb,glutamine,multi V, and now started a new cycle of creatine monohydrate.I also know about supplement timming and have applied it and seen a big difference. I understand how to bulk, eat lots, work out hard, lots of sleep and recovery time.

I am curious about “the cut” When i have become bigger in my eyes,and i am ready to cut, do i eat high protein 0 carb and get on the cardio and completly stop the weights? or intake smaller amounts of carbs, and do high rep weights 2-3 times a week.

The reason i ask is i dont want to spend all the time i have and still am at the gym to bulk up, just to cut down(to get more tonned) and lose all the muscle mass i have gained. Any tips or suggestions comments would help,

2

Never eat 0 carbs. Never stop the weights. Keep the same workout frequency you have now. You want to burn a lot of calories.

3

Bulking and cutting is a bad idea. Do a search on “carb cycling”. Keep a relatively lean bf% all the time and make steady progress.

4

Like Stuward said you don’t want to add too much fat while ‘bulking’, the idea is to make sure you eat enough to gain muscle and not just get fat! This is esp true if your are a FFB (former fat boy).

Read this ‘Truth about bulking’ article

www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1268956

and also do a search for Berardis articles on nutrition, they will help you learn a bit more about calculating how much of each macronutrient you need.

When you want to burn off fat, you will need to continue with your weights as they help to both preserve your muscle mass (stop you becoming just skinny and soft) and also to rev up your metabolism. Cardio intervals (HIIT) are also good and also help keep your heart in good shape.