Entry #10: Beginning a "Cut"
For some people who lift weights, diet is very important. If you eat with the goal of helping yourself gain strength and muscle from lifting weight you can come at odds with others when you use the word "diet". Let me explain it as I understand it. Mind you, I haven't been doing this long so take this (and everything fitness related) with a grain of salt.
Many weightlifters view the most vital relationship between diet and lifting through ta dynamic of two processes: "bulking" and "cutting". When you lift weights to gain strength and/or muscle mass your body demands more food; more of certain macronutrients and micronutrients. If you fail to eat enough (and rest enough) for your body to repair itself you'll find your progress much slower and less rewarding than it could be if you ate enough. For that reason, to me, eating is more important and difficult to nail than the lifting itself. Anyway, these two processes represent cycles that you are recommended to adhere to in order to achieve the results you'd like.
During a "bulk" you eat much more than you normally would to maintain your weight. For me, that's now about 3,000 calories a day- give or take 100. I've been bulking for a little over the past 3 months or so, pretty religiously adhering to a diet involving 3 meals and one smaller meal a day. (I do this all pretty cheaply, too. Its a bit time consuming and involves a kitchen scale but I'll link some stuff at the end for anyone curious about adopting some of this stuff for their own routines) Anyway, during this bulk you eat as much as you for your increased physical activity, and maybe then some. This bit of excess likely will become body fat but this something you just tolerate as a necessary part of "bulking". During a bulk, the goal is to build strength and muscle, not necessarily to lose weight and look lean. However, that isn't to say you should just eat loads of fast food to reach your goal. Aside from a myriad of other health issues this might cause that may affect your health and energy, you'll gain much more body fat as opposed to muscle than if you ate a variety of healthy foods. This is the difference between "dirty bulking" and "clean bulking".
Generally, after a bulk cycle, you will begin a "cut" cycle. This cycle is more the opposite of a bulk. You aim to lose fat instead, generally by cutting some portion of calories out of your diet and letting your metabolism do the lion's share of the work. For me, that number will be about 500 calories cut mostly out of carbs. But, I guess a cut isn't purely the opposite of a bulk- the goal isn't to lose strength and muscle, obviously.. though that certainly is a danger. Therein lies the scariest part about a cut: the potential to lose the strength and muscle you've worked hard to build. As I understand it, your body burns fat to make up for the lost energy it once relied on it may also burn muscle for energy. From what I've seen, reducing your amount of lifts and focusing mostly on low rep, high weight compound lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat, I would count pull ups) you can reduce the amount of muscle lost over the duration of a cut. Then, after a cut, you can go back to bulking and get it all back, and then some.
I'm excited and a little nervous to begin my first cut starting sometime this upcoming week. The added bonus of a cut: your ratio of weight to lift becomes a lot more impressive. Currently, I weigh nearly 200lbs (I want to reach 200 even before I cut, not for any good reason but it would be cool). If I were to drop 20lbs my current deadlift of 245 for 5 sets of 5 repetitions would be nearly double my bodyweight. As it stands its only about 45 above my current weight. Something about having lifts equal to or greater than your own bodyweight is really satisfying to me and I hope to get there soon with my 5x5 bench press.. probably won't happen during the cut though!
Anyway, if anyone is curious to find a cheaper way to eat while lifting you could take some cues from this link: [click here] I'm a 6'0 guy and this seems to work for me just fine, but depending on your circumstances you may need to adjust the plan for more or less calories. Do some extra research about calorie intake just in case.
In that link, I use the $50 a week plan but usually come out paying less than that. Your meat is going to be most expensive if you're not careful so I would hunt sales. For me, Mexican stores like El Rancho and Ranch Market seem to always have a sale $1.99/lb ground beef (or less) and often lower than $1.50/lb for chicken breast. I'll usually buy enough for two weeks at a time and prepare it then separate it in portions, freezing the second week's half. Also, a Costco membership might go a long way with those eggs.
Many weightlifters view the most vital relationship between diet and lifting through ta dynamic of two processes: "bulking" and "cutting". When you lift weights to gain strength and/or muscle mass your body demands more food; more of certain macronutrients and micronutrients. If you fail to eat enough (and rest enough) for your body to repair itself you'll find your progress much slower and less rewarding than it could be if you ate enough. For that reason, to me, eating is more important and difficult to nail than the lifting itself. Anyway, these two processes represent cycles that you are recommended to adhere to in order to achieve the results you'd like.
During a "bulk" you eat much more than you normally would to maintain your weight. For me, that's now about 3,000 calories a day- give or take 100. I've been bulking for a little over the past 3 months or so, pretty religiously adhering to a diet involving 3 meals and one smaller meal a day. (I do this all pretty cheaply, too. Its a bit time consuming and involves a kitchen scale but I'll link some stuff at the end for anyone curious about adopting some of this stuff for their own routines) Anyway, during this bulk you eat as much as you for your increased physical activity, and maybe then some. This bit of excess likely will become body fat but this something you just tolerate as a necessary part of "bulking". During a bulk, the goal is to build strength and muscle, not necessarily to lose weight and look lean. However, that isn't to say you should just eat loads of fast food to reach your goal. Aside from a myriad of other health issues this might cause that may affect your health and energy, you'll gain much more body fat as opposed to muscle than if you ate a variety of healthy foods. This is the difference between "dirty bulking" and "clean bulking".
Generally, after a bulk cycle, you will begin a "cut" cycle. This cycle is more the opposite of a bulk. You aim to lose fat instead, generally by cutting some portion of calories out of your diet and letting your metabolism do the lion's share of the work. For me, that number will be about 500 calories cut mostly out of carbs. But, I guess a cut isn't purely the opposite of a bulk- the goal isn't to lose strength and muscle, obviously.. though that certainly is a danger. Therein lies the scariest part about a cut: the potential to lose the strength and muscle you've worked hard to build. As I understand it, your body burns fat to make up for the lost energy it once relied on it may also burn muscle for energy. From what I've seen, reducing your amount of lifts and focusing mostly on low rep, high weight compound lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat, I would count pull ups) you can reduce the amount of muscle lost over the duration of a cut. Then, after a cut, you can go back to bulking and get it all back, and then some.
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| An accurate kitchen scale is a must for clean bulking, makes it easy to measure out cooked and uncooked portions of food. |
I'm excited and a little nervous to begin my first cut starting sometime this upcoming week. The added bonus of a cut: your ratio of weight to lift becomes a lot more impressive. Currently, I weigh nearly 200lbs (I want to reach 200 even before I cut, not for any good reason but it would be cool). If I were to drop 20lbs my current deadlift of 245 for 5 sets of 5 repetitions would be nearly double my bodyweight. As it stands its only about 45 above my current weight. Something about having lifts equal to or greater than your own bodyweight is really satisfying to me and I hope to get there soon with my 5x5 bench press.. probably won't happen during the cut though!
Anyway, if anyone is curious to find a cheaper way to eat while lifting you could take some cues from this link: [click here] I'm a 6'0 guy and this seems to work for me just fine, but depending on your circumstances you may need to adjust the plan for more or less calories. Do some extra research about calorie intake just in case.
In that link, I use the $50 a week plan but usually come out paying less than that. Your meat is going to be most expensive if you're not careful so I would hunt sales. For me, Mexican stores like El Rancho and Ranch Market seem to always have a sale $1.99/lb ground beef (or less) and often lower than $1.50/lb for chicken breast. I'll usually buy enough for two weeks at a time and prepare it then separate it in portions, freezing the second week's half. Also, a Costco membership might go a long way with those eggs.
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