Cutting after a Long Bulk Cycle

[MissMonsterr]

What are people's typical cut cycles like, especially after a long bulk cycle?

SO, I was raised with a very anti-cut/bulk cycle influence. While my dad and brother and cousins all lift I have never seen any of them bulk and cut, even my dad who was doing it competitively. They may have shifted 1-3% bf for a competition or etc but they pretty much always kept a constant bf%.
Recently, because I don't live under a rock anymore, all I hear about are cuts and bulks. My man has fallen into the trap lol and he basically "bulked" for the past year since he started lifting, going from 140lbs to 210lbs and probably (guessing) 20%bf. Anyways, he recently decided to finally cut down and give his joints a break and really see definition...I'm assuming for swimsuit season.

His huge complaint is that he feels like he is losing muscle and not as much fat. I'm curious from people who know more about this, because I have no clue.
I don't know if he honestly is losing more muscle than he should because his body isn't used to the lower carbs/calories or if people typically lose a decent amount of muscle on their first cutting cycle after a very prolonged bulk?

Is the problem that he bulked for so long? If so, I wonder if doing a short cut cycle then returning to his normal diet for a short time than going back to the lowered carbs/calories would help his body adjust... It kind of sounds stupid, BUT maybe so stupid it just might work...or naw ha

 

[Jeffbcause]

Just checking in because i would like to know also

 

[Docd187123]

If he is training right and taking in adequate protein he won't lose much muscle, especially if he's at 20% BF. It like is water and glycogen weight coming off from being in a hypocaloric state. Some people bc of genetics and hormones tend to lose more muscle than others when cutting on the same type of diet but the key to minimizing muscle loss is adequate protein and relatively high intensity training.

 

[HDH]

What are people's typical cut cycles like, especially after a long bulk cycle?

SO, I was raised with a very anti-cut/bulk cycle influence. While my dad and brother and cousins all lift I have never seen any of them bulk and cut, even my dad who was doing it competitively. They may have shifted 1-3% bf for a competition or etc but they pretty much always kept a constant bf%.
Recently, because I don't live under a rock anymore, all I hear about are cuts and bulks. My man has fallen into the trap lol and he basically "bulked" for the past year since he started lifting, going from 140lbs to 210lbs and probably (guessing) 20%bf. Anyways, he recently decided to finally cut down and give his joints a break and really see definition...I'm assuming for swimsuit season.

His huge complaint is that he feels like he is losing muscle and not as much fat. I'm curious from people who know more about this, because I have no clue.
I don't know if he honestly is losing more muscle than he should because his body isn't used to the lower carbs/calories or if people typically lose a decent amount of muscle on their first cutting cycle after a very prolonged bulk?

Is the problem that he bulked for so long? If so, I wonder if doing a short cut cycle then returning to his normal diet for a short time than going back to the lowered carbs/calories would help his body adjust... It kind of sounds stupid, BUT maybe so stupid it just might work...or naw ha

It's a tough question to answer over a computer. Each person is different. Many factors will play a roll in this. How he eats, how he trains, rest, supps, use or no use of anabolics, age and how he responds.

In just a years time he has gone from 140 to 210. That's 70lbs. I would guess to say a good raise of BF and water by those numbers. I would suggest having BF tested at your gym. Most gyms have a set of hand helds or you can get them off the net pretty cheap. Accuracy can be iffy but I have found them to be of good use to judge over a period of time, gains or losses.

The best bet would be to take a slow loss approach. Minimal muscle will be lost but of course it will take more time.

H

 

[PillarofBalance]

Best way I have found to cut after a bulk is to just let it come off slowly while training heavy. Patience in this area will pay off in the long run.

 

[MissMonsterr]

It's a tough question to answer over a computer. Each person is different. Many factors will play a roll in this. How he eats, how he trains, rest, supps, use or no use of anabolics, age and how he responds.

In just a years time he has gone from 140 to 210. That's 70lbs. I would guess to say a good raise of BF and water by those numbers. I would suggest having BF tested at your gym. Most gyms have a set of hand helds or you can get them off the net pretty cheap. Accuracy can be iffy but I have found them to be of good use to judge over a period of time, gains or losses.

The best bet would be to take a slow loss approach. Minimal muscle will be lost but of course it will take more time.

H

He's on tren, gh, clen, and some SARM I can't remember...maybe GW#bluhbluh
Because of that I'm surprised he was complaining about feeling smaller.

At 140 he was underweight, he got out of jail clean/sober with +40 lbs in 8 months looking fairly toned and defined then started experimenting with anabolic and during some intense cycles put on the rest of that weight. He's not lean muscle, but with visible striations and ab outline I'm thinking that's close bf...maybe a little low. I'm at a medical research center though, I guess it would be easy enough to check his I just never cared much. I do agree there's a good amount of water!!

Currently his training is combination rest-pause and then finishing super high rep.

So really it's more personal response than any training/approaches? Or should he try different things?

 

[HDH]

He's on tren, gh, clen, and some SARM I can't remember...maybe GW#bluhbluh
Because of that I'm surprised he was complaining about feeling smaller.

At 140 he was underweight, he got out of jail clean/sober with +40 lbs in 8 months looking fairly toned and defined then started experimenting with anabolic and during some intense cycles put on the rest of that weight. He's not lean muscle, but with visible striations and ab outline I'm thinking that's close bf...maybe a little low. I'm at a medical research center though, I guess it would be easy enough to check his I just never cared much. I do agree there's a good amount of water!!

Currently his training is combination rest-pause and then finishing super high rep.

So really it's more personal response than any training/approaches? Or should he try different things?

Sounds like he's got decent genetics for this. The only thing now that will retain water is the GH but that will depend on the dose. I might suggest getting some Test in the mix, even at a low dose.

Dropping weight with low carbs as opposed to just lowering cals will make a difference on water retention as well. Personally, I don't mind holding some water while losing weight, I hate looking flat with the depletion of glycogen stores. If we gain water from aas, stop the aas and drop the carbs, we can loose weight (water) pretty fast. It doesn't necessarily mean muscle.

A lot of times it's in our heads. We see a loss and hate it. On the upside, it can be what drives us to push harder. It's gonna take some time and in the beginning, faith that we are doing the right thing to achieve the future results.

We learn to make adjustments as we go. It's not something that we learn overnight, but it's how we learn ourselves. The biggest part is showing up and staying consistent.

Get him to join and post up. There are several knowledgeable folks that are more than happy to answer questions and help. Knowing what, when and how to do things can speed the progress up tremendously.

H

 

[Get Some]

Best way I have found to cut after a bulk is to just let it come off slowly while training heavy. Patience in this area will pay off in the long run.

Yes! The longer you can cut, the more muscle you will keep. Without heavy, heavy AAS usage, it is nearly impossible to keep most of the muscle you have gained during a bulk. Realistically, you should expect a cut to take just as long as the bulk you just completed. If it must be quicker, expect to lose a little muscle. If it seems like you lost a lot of muscle, really it's one of two things...

1. you are not cutting calories correctly and are too far in deficit/you are doing too much cardio
2. A lot of what you thought was muscle is actually water weight that has come off.

 

[shortz]

There are a few schools of thought on this. I Personally don't feel that bulking to a high BF is any more advantageous than bulking to a moderate level. This is purely for the sake of BBIng, keep in mind. The reasons why...

1. There is a point when all you're adding is fat and the muscle gains in hypertrophy are too minimal
2. Having to cut down from a high BF can lead to more mistakes, longer cutting period, decrease in motivation, etc, all for what? To reach the same exact body fat, regardless of your starting point.

I just don't see the advantage of reaching 20% when 14-15% will give you pretty much the same exact gains by the time you cut back down.

JMO

 

[Get Some]

There are a few schools of thought on this. I Personally don't feel that bulking to a high BF is any more advantageous than bulking to a moderate level. This is purely for the sake of BBIng, keep in mind. The reasons why...

1. There is a point when all you're adding is fat and the muscle gains in hypertrophy are too minimal
2. Having to cut down from a high BF can lead to more mistakes, longer cutting period, decrease in motivation, etc, all for what? To reach the same exact body fat, regardless of your starting point.

I just don't see the advantage of reaching 20% when 14-15% will give you pretty much the same exact gains by the time you cut back down.

JMO

I think some people use "bulking" as an excuse to eat shittier and justify reaching 20%+ BF. I've reached 20% BF without working out or "bulking" lol. I think no matter what you do as long as you have some sort of plan and stick to it, you'll have a much better chance of success.

 

[Docd187123]

There really isn't much of a difference in muscle loss when dieting with a more or less agressive deficit. Ppl do PSMF diets and don't lose significantly more muscle than on less agressive diets.

 

[PillarofBalance]

There really isn't much of a difference in muscle loss when dieting with a more or less agressive deficit. Ppl do PSMF diets and don't lose significantly more muscle than on less agressive diets.

I find that hard to swallow. For most of us, our bodies don't want to carry more tissue than required to do the job.