bulking on week days, cutting on weekends?

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kingkam21
kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Has anyone tried this method of bulking Mon-fri and cutting on Saturday and sundays? If not, any thoughts? I am on a bulk and would like to lose some fat, but am not ready to do a full cut yet, I am considering a 2-4 week cut, any thoughts or recommendations?

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  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    I don't believe you're going to lose fat if you are in a surplus five days a week and a deficit two days.
    For one to lose fat, you have to be in a deficit at least on average and it seems you would be on the other end of losing this challenge.
    In 2-4 weeks how much do you intend to lose? How much will you be in a surplus/deficit?
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    You'll accomplish nothing of significance.

    Bulks and cuts don't happen over a matter of days (or for that matter even over 2-4 weeks).

    Pick on or the other; make a specific goal, and most importantly - stick to it for a few months until you reach that goal. THEN and only then, reverse course.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    To lose fat you have to be in a net deficit...you can't be in a bulk surplus and a net deficit at the same time...
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    No. That doesn't make sense. If you feel you've gained a bit too much fat, and you want to bulk for awhile, do a mini-cut for a week or two, if anything. But really, just be realistic. You're going to gain some fat. Make sure you're not over-doing it and gaining at a .5lb per week rate if you want to minimize it.
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    No. That doesn't make sense. If you feel you've gained a bit too much fat, and you want to bulk for awhile, do a mini-cut for a week or two, if anything. But really, just be realistic. You're going to gain some fat. Make sure you're not over-doing it and gaining at a .5lb per week rate if you want to minimize it.
    So if I'm at 1lb a week vs .5lbs am I gaining the same muscle gains just less fat gain??
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
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    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I don't believe you're going to lose fat if you are in a surplus five days a week and a deficit two days.
    For one to lose fat, you have to be in a deficit at least on average and it seems you would be on the other end of losing this challenge.
    In 2-4 weeks how much do you intend to lose? How much will you be in a surplus/deficit?

    In 2-4 weeks ide like to lose 2-5lbs. I have not counted my calories on weekends for 3-4 weeks now and I've been losing 2-3lbs on my weekends but gaining 1lb-1.5lbs on week days. I am not taking creatine to lose an extensive amount of water in just 2 days. This 2-3,lbs I'm losing on weekends made me think of a possible cut??
  • bclarke1990
    bclarke1990 Posts: 287 Member
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    This sounds like a very very poor excuse to binge, lol.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    This is an horrible idea, why not just average out your calories to be in a weekly surplus instead of bulking then restricting. Agree with post above, it does sound like a set up for binging
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
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    pinggolfer96 wrote: »
    This is an horrible idea, why not just average out your calories to be in a weekly surplus instead of bulking then restricting. Agree with post above, it does sound like a set up for binging

    I am creating more understanding from these comments. On weekends what is the best thing for me to do with my caloric intake? If Mon-fri (i lift eweights for one hour a day) I'm eating 3300 and on sat-sun I'm doing about 3 hours of cardio each day, do I leave my calories the same?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    kingkam21 wrote: »
    pinggolfer96 wrote: »
    This is an horrible idea, why not just average out your calories to be in a weekly surplus instead of bulking then restricting. Agree with post above, it does sound like a set up for binging

    I am creating more understanding from these comments. On weekends what is the best thing for me to do with my caloric intake? If Mon-fri (i lift eweights for one hour a day) I'm eating 3300 and on sat-sun I'm doing about 3 hours of cardio each day, do I leave my calories the same?

    For the most part, yes. If you're using the MFP NEAT method, you might want to even eat calories back from your cardio burn on the weekends. You should generally be in a surplus every day. That said, sometimes I'll go over my 250 calorie surplus, so I might have a day at maintenance to even it out. Generally I don't care though because...gains.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    kingkam21 wrote: »
    pinggolfer96 wrote: »
    This is an horrible idea, why not just average out your calories to be in a weekly surplus instead of bulking then restricting. Agree with post above, it does sound like a set up for binging

    I am creating more understanding from these comments. On weekends what is the best thing for me to do with my caloric intake? If Mon-fri (i lift eweights for one hour a day) I'm eating 3300 and on sat-sun I'm doing about 3 hours of cardio each day, do I leave my calories the same?

    Come again?
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    3 hours of cardio......
    Is that for any reason or cause you enjoy running? Or because you're trying to burn calories? Id eat more on weekends than weekdays if you're running that much. Find your tdee and create a surplus. It's not difficult. You're trying to make things harder than they are. Keep a weekly surplus and keep calories the same everyday. Calorie cycling doesn't do anything unless your manipulating them for a show. And that's only temporary.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Yeah why so much cardio? You need to factor that into your TDEE or make sure to log it and eat more if you're using the NEAT method.
  • kingkam21
    kingkam21 Posts: 76 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Yeah why so much cardio? You need to factor that into your TDEE or make sure to log it and eat more if you're using the NEAT method.

    I am very active and love to do many things. I play sports with my buddies (or by myself) on Sat and Sun for 2-4 hours. Every weekend is different, today I only played soccer for 2 hours.

    If I decide to do a mini cut for a few weeks, how quick do I drop my calories to preserve my muscle gains?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    kingkam21 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Yeah why so much cardio? You need to factor that into your TDEE or make sure to log it and eat more if you're using the NEAT method.

    I am very active and love to do many things. I play sports with my buddies (or by myself) on Sat and Sun for 2-4 hours. Every weekend is different, today I only played soccer for 2 hours.

    If I decide to do a mini cut for a few weeks, how quick do I drop my calories to preserve my muscle gains?

    Fine. Do your thing.

    Subtract 250 calories from your maintenance and eat that.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    this is a perfect example of "spining your wheels"...

    OP = you should bulk until you hit your goal weight and then cut to get rid of the fat...running a bulk for five days and cutting for two days is a horrible idea and you are never going to get anywhere.

    if you don't want to bulk then don't bulk and just eat at maintenance and try to do a recomp....
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    edited February 2016
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    So, you are exercising 7 days a week - lifting Mon - Fri then your 2 massive cardio sessions on Sat and Sunday?

    To bulk you need calorific surplus and stimulus, but most (and I) would also recommend rest.

    As others say: Focus on one thing and set your exercise and eating to achieve that.

    If you enjoy those long cardio sessions to the point that they are non-negotiable, that is fine but you will have to face the fact that they are detrimental to certain aesthetic/athletic goals and set your sights accordingly.

    EDIT: actually re-read your comments and although not strictly cardio I thing my comments still apply.
  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    this is a perfect example of "spining your wheels"...

    OP = you should bulk until you hit your goal weight and then cut to get rid of the fat...running a bulk for five days and cutting for two days is a horrible idea and you are never going to get anywhere.

    if you don't want to bulk then don't bulk and just eat at maintenance and try to do a recomp....

    OP would agree with the last part of this advice. I'm currently doing a recomp. I run once a week between 50-60 minutes and eat back all the calories that I have burned. As a recomp is slow, you will lose body fat over a longer period.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
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    This sounds like f**karounditis (to quote Martin Berkhan), focus on one goal at a time (fat loss, strength gain, muscle gain, etc) and do that. I'm guilty of this myself, working towards more than one goal at a time usually leads to failure to achieve any.

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