cutting...bulking

karrielynn80

curious ur plans - how long - ur routines, etc (i'm female so mostly women but anyone is welcomed)

how long do you cut for?
what % of calories do you drop to cut?
what is a typical fat/carb/protien ratio for you?

same for bulking...

i'm in a 12 wk cutting stage right now, wk 7 starts monday, i'm doing a 1300 cal cut (but i eat pretty low calories all the time) in 4 wks i start bulking so i want to do some research... right now i work to keep my ratios @ about 25/25/50...

Annaruthus

I calculated my daily caloric needs at 2400 calories or so, so I'm sticking with approximately a 2000 calorie diet. I work out twice a day with cardio focus, since I'm so close to my competition, and I've reached my goal look and body fat.

karrielynn80

think you've responded to one of my questions about this (upcoming question) before - but what do you measure ur body fat with? the hand held one doesn't seem consistant for me & accuracy isn't my goal (like i dont' care if one says 22% and the other says 19%) rather consistancy (just want which ever one i have to not say 19% one wk, 22% the next - when i know i've burned something off...)

Annaruthus

I use body fat calipers. I also take my measurements once per week. I also take weekly progress photos, so I can see if there is a difference or not

budru21

I'm currently in my off season (figure) and am working on bulking for a whole year, while maintaining 12-14 bodyfat as my goal. Currently, I am 138 pounds and 5'7". My stage weight this season was 125. I was eating at 1700 calories a day then while doing 30 minutes of cardio daily in the mornings, and lifting at night 6 days per week. While cutting, I eat at a 50/30/20 ratio. Now that I am bulking, I am eating 1900 calories a day (still super clean...basically the same diet, but with high calorie and high carb days every 5 days for refeed) and only doing cardio twice a week. I lift 5-6 days a week still, depending on if I feel fully recovered. I listen to my body. I have gained 13 pounds and went from 9 to 13% body fat since May 1st. I eat at a 40/40/20 ratio, with no grains or complex carbs except on refeed days, which is when I eat almost all my calories from complex carbs (except a little protein with each meal).

Absref71

Still working on my discipline so generally do most things intensely for short periods of time and the best thing you can do for cutting is to either start tapering your carbs down throughout the day so at night carbs are min and if you are able to stay disciplined then do a week or two of carb cycling but make sure you know all the facts and do it properly or you will end up going into "starvation mode" and putting on more weight like those who fail on atkins.

Anyways hope that helps, im no professional but works for me

Annaruthus

So for bulking, if I ate a clean 1800-2000 calories per day, minimized the cardio to 2-3 times per week, and lifted weights 5-6 times per week, I would be on the right track? I know these are all general numbers, but it would take time to tweak. I'm pretty sure I want to start bulking after my competition (this saturday).

whiskeycharged

I calculated my daily caloric needs at 2400 calories or so, so I'm sticking with approximately a 2000 calorie diet. I work out twice a day with cardio focus, since I'm so close to my competition, and I've reached my goal look and body fat.

So for bulking, if I ate a clean 1800-2000 calories per day, minimized the cardio to 2-3 times per week, and lifted weights 5-6 times per week, I would be on the right track? I know these are all general numbers, but it would take time to tweak. I'm pretty sure I want to start bulking after my competition (this saturday).

Congrats on hitting your goal and good luck with the competition.

For bulking, you have to be in a calorie surplus for it to count. If you estimated your daily requirement to be around 2400 cal, you should be consuming within a range of 2600 to 2900 calories a day. I'm not sure if your original estimate included the calories you burn from training but again, a net surplus is necessary.

A 'clean' bulk compared to the ever so fun 'dirty' bulk would be a more gradual transition. By defenition, some fat will be put on no matter what during a bulk. My suggested strategy would be to consume 1g of protein per body weight and then distribute the rest of the calories between your choice of carbs and fat.

Annaruthus

Okay, thanks. A "clean" bulk will by tremendous amounts of fun for me, since I have been eating lower for so long! It means bigger portion sizes! How exciting! lol.

karrielynn80

Okay, thanks. A "clean" bulk will by tremendous amounts of fun for me, since I have been eating lower for so long! It means bigger portion sizes! How exciting! lol.

Ain't it the truth!!! lol, Who cares if I eat a cookie, i just want a HUGE amt of all those yummy, healthy items i've had to moderate... LOL... I think i'll be just fine keeping my fat at bay - my "chore" will be making sure my protien out ways my carbs (yummy yummy carbs)... LOL

I'll be watching your statuses like a hawk btw, to get ready for mine... I'm just one month away

Annaruthus

My 2400 daily caloric need was including the fact that I worked out twice a day, and that at least one of those times included cardio, if not both times, since I was slimming down for my competition. So my caloric needs will definitely be lower since I won't be doing nearly as much cardio, and focusing more on the weight training.

Annaruthus

Just spent about 20 minutes trying to find the right calculations for my bulking phase, which will hopefully start about a week or so after my competition. Maybe right after, we are grocery shopping on Monday, and I am not the girl to sit around with out a plan! Anyway, I calculated my daily caloric needs to be between 2000-2200 calories per day, since I won't be doing as much cardio, and I'll be lifting more and heavier.

6 small meals per day=333-367 calories
Protein & carbs per day= 200-220 grams each
fat per day= 45-49 grams
protein & carbs per small meal= 33-40 grams at each small meal
fat per small meal=7-9 grams per small meal

This is a 40/40/20 split. Please tell me what you think. This is definitely the most scientific I've gotten with my diet so far! Lol

Jbartram93

hello, I am relatively new to mfp, i join and quite here and there but I am sticking to it legitimately, from here on out. I am however not new to weights with a workout regimen consisting of 3-(sometimes)5 times a week. I'm currently on my first cut ever with close to a week and a half finished. I'm using the animal cuts supplement which consists of 3 weeks on one week off and another 3 weeks on. does anyone have any tips on how to get a better cut other than low cal high cardio? feel free to add me!

Annaruthus

Well, since my previous posts, I've gotten my fitness nutrition cert in addition to my PT cert, and I will tell you that low calories and high cardio is NOT the answer. You need to eat food that fuels your workouts. Cardio will play a substantial role, but if all you do is cardio and no weight training, or too much cardio when compared to your weight training, you will be left with an overworked and injury prone body.