Cut, bulk maintain...means?

dafoots0911

What exactly is the process when cutting, bulking and maintaining and when is this done and for what purpose?

Starting SL's tomorrow and want bellyfat to go down a little...a lot. I know it's mostly diet but don't want to go too high on calories.

Amazing1985RSD

I think this is a bodybuilder thing. Some people will pack on the calories and lift heavy weights in order to get bigger. Maybe for a couple months then eat significantly less and workout a lot in order to lose the body fat. I reckon maintaining is simply just eating just the right amount calories every day in order to not shrink or grow.

I'm afraid I really don't know too much about weight loss, but yes it is mostly about consuming fewer calories. You can also do cardio too or jump rope. I'd recommend doing high intensity interval training. Even Bruce Lee advocated it.

DaniH826

Bulk = eating more calories than what your body uses, in order to gain muscle mass (and some fat, inevitably, which is cut later by ... well, cutting)
Cut = eating less calories than maintenance, to lose fat
Maintain = maintenance mode (neither gaining nor losing but only eating what your body actually uses)

It's what people do to cut down on their body fat percentage while gaining musle, and since you can't really do both at the same time (gain fat while losing muscle), this is how they do it; by cycling things around.

While lifting weight on a deficit, you probably won't actually build any muscle mass. The lifting helps you maintain what you already have, though, while gaining strength and burning excess calories (i.e. lose fat). That's why it's such a great supplement to a weight/fat loss regimen and works better than cardio alone, because you don't lose lean body mass (or muscle) while lifting on a calorie deficit (which will happen if you don't do some form of strength/resistance training).

That's the simplest way I can explain it, really.

tameko2

Yeah what dani said.

Its not just a bodybuilder thing. Basically there are 3 ways you can gain strength. Neurological adaptations, making your existing muscle stronger, and adding new muscle. While eating at a deficit or maintaining you will get the first two kinds, but there's a threshold to how much you gain gain that way. So most people opt to add some muscle too, depending on their circumstances.

Its also a looks and health thing for a lot of people - people who don't have a lot of lean body mass will benefit from gaining muscle.

Unfortunately, when you gain muscle you WILL gain fat because you're eating at a slight surplus. By lifting and keeping your surplus small, it won't be a LOT of fat, but after that you'll have to diet.

When people use the word 'cut' traditionally its specifically meaning removing fat gained while bulking, but it is really just dieting like anyone else, the main difference is that 'diet' can mean all kinds of things, whereas 'cut' always means ' dropping bodyfat and attempting to maintain every single ounce of muscle"