”Bulk” refers to a muscle gain phase.
The goal is to gain muscle mass whithout put on to much bodyfat.
Bulk requires a calorie surplus. You have to eat more calories than you burn and you have to do heavy and intense weight lifting at the gym.
”Cut” refers to a fat loss phase.
The goal is to loose bodyfat while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible.
Cut requires a calorie deficit and you have to do heavy and intense weight lifting at the gym
Good idea to add some cardio.
What have I been doing lately?
I have been on ”Bulk” for 10 weeks now, where I was at 3400 calories which is about 500 calories above my calorie balance, wich is 2959 calories. To calculate my calorie balance I use the Harris & Bennedict Equation.
I wrote about the Harris & Bennedict Equation and how to use it in the blogg post ”Eating for gaining lean muscle mass Part I” here on this web site.
During this ”Bulk” I have gained a few kilo bodyweight, hopefully most of the gained bodyweight is muscle mass and not so much of the gained weight is body fat. Some of the gained weight is bodyfat.
Now its time for 10 weeks of ”Cut” where the goal is to maintain the gained muscle mass and loose most of the body fat. I do this by go about 1000 calories under my calorie balance. I stay high i protein intake to maintain my muscle mass. I try to intake 2,5-3,0 g protein per kilo bodymass. And i stay on heavy and intense weight lifting at the gym. The weight lifting at gym and high protein intake will minimize my bodys will to break down my musclemass to use as energy when im low in calorie intake.
What happens then?
When you lowering your calorie intake your body gets in to a starvation emerency mode and turn down energy-consuming functions and try to save the body fat to the last minutes and start look around for muscles whos not in use to break down and use as energy. Muscles also take energy in rest so when you are lowering your calorie/energy intake your body wants to shut down and break down your muscles to save energy. If you want to maintain your muscle mass you have to tell your body that you need your muscles by using them and work them out in the gym. This is harder than it use to be because you are low in calories so there is not enough gasoline in the gas tank to do the hard and intense weight training at the gym.
After this 10 weeks of ”Cut” its back on ”Bulk” for 10 weeks again. Its a never ending story..
This is my daily menu for ”Cut”:
Breakfast time
Breafast Lomo de Pavo 50 g (Dryed smoked turkey meat)
08.30 Protein Jelly 100 g
Apple 220 g
Whey hydrolysat protein shake 40 g
Creatine 5 g, Glycin 5 g, Arginin 5 g, Citruline 5 g, Taurin 5 g, Beta alanin 5 g
404 kcal, Protein 56,7 g (58 E%), Carbs 29,7 g (30 E%), Fat 5,4 g (12 E%)
Lunch time
Lunch White Fish 150 g
12.00 Rotfruits 50 g
Beetroot 50 g
Cauliflower/Broccoli pure´ 100 g
Mix green sallad 100 g
Strawberrys 100 g
Whey hydrolysate protein shake 40 g
407 kcal, Protein 62,4 g (63 E%), Carbs 26,7 g (27 E%), Fat 4,8 g (10 E%)
Time for a snack
Snack Lomo de Pavo 50 g (Dryed smoked turkey meat)
15.30 Protein Jelly 100 g
Banana 200 g
Whey hydrolysat protein shake 40 g
EAA – Essential Amino Assids 12 g
440 kcal, Protein 68,2 g (63 E%), Carbs 28,8 g (27 E%), Fat 5,3 g (10 E%)
It’s dinner time
Dinner Chicken 150 g
19.00 Rotfruits 50 g
Beetroot 50 g
Cauliflower/Broccoli pure´ 100 g
Mix green sallad 100 g
Orange 200 g
Whey hydrolysate protein shake 40 g
501 kcal, Protein 71 g (59 E%), Carbs 38,4 g (32 E%), Fat 5,1 g (9 E%)
Before bedtime
Bedtime Casein protein shake 40 g
21.00 Body Science Ymir 21 g, Glutamin 10 g, HMB 10 g, Arginin 10 g, Glycin 5 g,
210 kcal, Protein 46,2 g (90 E%), Carbs 2,9 g (6 E%), Fat 1,1g (4 E%)
The macros for the day
1961 kcal, Protein 304 gr (1216 kcal) (62 E%), (3,13 g protein/kg bodymass)
Carbs 126 gr (500 kcal) (25,5 E%)
Fat 22 gr (198 kcal) (10 E%)
Last weeks I remove the fruits to go low in carbs. And the macro becomes:
1614 kcal, Protein 301 gr (1204 kcal) (74,6 E%), (3,13 g protein/kg bodymass)
Carbs 52 gr (208 kcal) (12,8 E%)
Fat 22 gr (198 kcal) (12,3 E%)
Peak Day
If there is a ”peak day” like a competition or photoshoot my muscles will be dryed out and look flat because there is depots for glucogen in the musclecells. Glucogen is carbs. With low carbs in the diet the glucogen depots are emty and the muscle looks flat and smal. So for a ”peak day” event like a photoshoot or competition I have to fill up my muscles with fast carbs to make them look full. So the day before ”peak day” I eat a lot of suger, candy and sweets. I also eat salt and drink much water. This will come to my muscefibers as blodsugar or glucogen together with water and fill out and inflate my carb-deflated musclefibers.
