Do I cut or bulk?

I think this a topic that a lot of people avoid thinking about. Personally, I think the word bulk and cut are the wrong words.

When planning your goals, it’s really important to decide what you want to do. Rather than just exercising for the sake of it, you are more likely to stick to health and fitness when you have a goal or incentive in mind.

So what does bulking and cutting mean?

Well essentially its two phases from the bodybuilding culture.

Bulking means you aim to add lean muscle to your frame with a surplus of calories and intense resistance training. Now when eating surplus calories regardless of how clean your food is you will add bodyfat. If you are in a slight surplus you may only add 1-2% bodyfat and realistically you could lose that within a week of been in a calorie deficit.

Cutting is well the exact opposite, you take in less calories than your body needs to sustain weight as well training with resistance to preserve your muscle slowly resulting in lower body fat levels revealing the hard work of your “Bulking” phase.

So why don’t I like the words?

Well like I said before there no reason you can’t be lean and have a six pack all year round and still be adding lean muscle to your frame. If you get your food right and take a bit extra time to figure out a slight increase or decrease (depending on your goals) in your calories your body shouldn’t roller coaster between high and low levels of body fat.

I like to use the words surplus and deficit because bulking sounds kind of gross? Who wants to go to a gym to get fat? It doesn’t make sense and goes against the whole idea of wanting to get in shape.

So, next time someone asks you what you’re doing regardless of your goals just say… “I’m getting in shape”. Because you should look great regardless of if you are adding muscle or stripping body fat.

Train Hard!

Jack