Okay to take a bulk cycle to 20%BF?

GGDaddy

A question just to solicit general thoughts/discussion...

I joined mfp April 2013, and went from 240 to 180lbs, finishing at just about 10%BF in March 2014.

Then I started a bulk cycle, going from 180 to 205, where I am now, just coming up on 15%BF.

I know most folks recommend keeping bulk/cut cycles between 10 and 15%. But this bulk is going very well for a number of reasons. I'm thinking of continuing until I get to 20%, then a longer cut back to 10%.

Any reasons you can think of this might be a bad plan?

Many thanks for all of your outstanding advice!

Cheers,
Ken

SideSteel

You would have to cut for longer which could have performance implications.
You might get slightly worse partitioning, but I'll leave that to Lyle to explain:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/calorie-partitioning-part-1.html

GGDaddy

Fantastic info SideSteel, many thanks!

FitterBody

Old article but you might find this of interest too.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_truth_about_bulking

Hendrix7

Pros

You will get good strength gains adding that much body weight, if you diet down slowly and carefully you should be able to keep a good proportion of that

Cons

As mentioned it will take quite some time to cut from 20% back down to 10%

You will probably look quite fat for a while

GGDaddy

Great stuff gang, many thanks.

It seems like cutting 20% back to 10% is a pretty long haul and risks performance loss. I'm thinking instead of continuing the bulk up to 17%, then down to 12% instead of 10%, since my last cut the P-ratio was a lot worse under 12%.

For now I'll probably do a couple-few cycles between 12-17%, then back to 10% when ready.

Appreciate it again!

_benjammin

Maybe consider figure out what maintenance is at 15% for a bit and slowing your bulk to 17%
Is my math right, 25 pounds gained in 4 months?

GGDaddy

Yep, ~25 lbs in ~17 weeks.

9 lbs of water and glycogen in wk 1, and pretty much 1 lb a week after. Have been calibrating TDEE to dial in 1 lb/wk.

It's been an average p-ratio of 65%. I figure not too bad considering my age (46). Back in my 20's did a 35 lb gain with p-ratio in the 80-90% range, but this ain't then.

Planning to keep at 1 lb/wk then slowing to hit 17%, will maintain at 17% while converting from isolation exercises 6x/wk to strong lifts. Then when lifting heavy enough to help with p-ratio will start to cut. I figure that timing works out pretty well to aim for 12% BF next summer...