cuts and gains, possible within a week?

Reeceybaby1988
Reeceybaby1988 Posts: 91
in Health and Weight Loss
hi guys

this has been on my mind for a while. is it possible to build muscle and cut fat within a week by alternating eating at a surplus for half the week while lifting, then eating at a major deficit the rest of the week while doing cardio? at the same time keeping protein macro high and coming out at a total deficit for the week?

Example:

monday: lift > eat at above TDEE
tuesday: rest > eat above TDEE
Wednesday: lift > eat above TDEE
Thursday: rest > eat above TDEE
Friday: cardio > eat below TDEE
Saturday: rest > eat below TDEE
Sunday: light cardio > eat below TDEE

Total Calorie intake for the week = Below TDEE

any help apreciated

Cheers

Replies

  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    I don't think so. What are you trying to accomplish?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Within a week? Not likely. To do this over a longer period is called calorie cycling. It can work but it is slow and tedious.
  • chimp517
    chimp517 Posts: 185 Member
    No, pick either a bulk or a cut and stick with it until you reach a particular goal.
  • Reeceybaby1988
    Reeceybaby1988 Posts: 91
    I don't think so. What are you trying to accomplish?

    not trying to acomplish anything, was just a question really. i do cardio and lifts 3 times a week, cardio as a warmup

    any reason why its not possible?
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    I would imagine that if it were that simple, bodybuilders wouldn't do cut/bulk cycle.

    You have no way of knowing to the hour when your body has done growing muscle, so at some point in your cycle you'll either be at a deficit when your body could be growing, or you'll be at a surplus when your body isn't growing.

    Personally I'm eating at a deficit until I hit my goal body fat, and then I'll think about putting on some muscle. In the meantime I lift and maintain my protein intake to minimize muscle loss.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Your progress will be slower than bulk/cut cycling, but you can do what you suggested. Google lean gains to get an idea, though this requires even more protein than a typical bulk would.
  • mryak750
    mryak750 Posts: 198 Member
    search for lean hybrid muscle....they have a diet which cycles in the same way...I would like the answer to this as well...I'm starting the lean hybrid muscle reloaded training program myself
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    I don't think so. What are you trying to accomplish?

    not trying to acomplish anything, was just a question really. i do cardio and lifts 3 times a week, cardio as a warmup

    any reason why its not possible?

    Nobody said it's not possible. Just that it's not very effective compared to cut / bulk cycles.
  • Reeceybaby1988
    Reeceybaby1988 Posts: 91
    Nobody said it's not possible. Just that it's not very effective compared to cut / bulk cycles.

    actually a couple did, but putting being pedantic aside


    why is it not as effective? im not talking massive gains, but i feel like, yeh when i reach my goal i dont want to bulk 15lbs then try and lose 90% of that just for a few lbs of muscle?

    its hard enough losing it in the first place lol, id rather keep it off an have small gains
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Nobody said it's not possible. Just that it's not very effective compared to cut / bulk cycles.

    actually a couple did, but putting being pedantic aside


    why is it not as effective? im not talking massive gains, but i feel like, yeh when i reach my goal i dont want to bulk 15lbs then try and lose 90% of that just for a few lbs of muscle?

    its hard enough losing it in the first place lol, id rather keep it off an have small gains

    essentially doing bulk and cuts over the same time frame you can end up at the same goal weight at any point but will most likely have a lower BF% at that weight doing bulk/cut cycles instead.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Nobody said it's not possible. Just that it's not very effective compared to cut / bulk cycles.

    actually a couple did, but putting being pedantic aside


    why is it not as effective? im not talking massive gains, but i feel like, yeh when i reach my goal i dont want to bulk 15lbs then try and lose 90% of that just for a few lbs of muscle?

    its hard enough losing it in the first place lol, id rather keep it off an have small gains

    Give it shot then and see how it goes. Based on what you said above though, I'm not sure you truly completley understand how a cut/bulk cycle works. If you were to gain 15 lbs, you would have likely gained 7.5 of fat and 7.5 of muscle or 50/50. When you cut, you can lose 80% fat and only 20% muscle if done right. That would mean you kept 4.5lbs of muscle and lost 10.5 lbs of fat! All in about a 6 month cycle. Calorie cycling would take much longer to accomplish the same thing.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    I guess just try it. Maybe you can make it work. Personally, I doubt I could make it work.

    I'll go out on a limb though and say that over 12 months, you'll lose less fat and gain less muscle doing it this way, versus say a six month cut and a six month bulk, or a 3 month cut/bulk cycle.

    Common sense would seem to dictate that whenever you switch from cutting to bulking you'll have a period when your diet will work against your goal - you'll either lose some potential muscle growth because your body was still growing when you switched to a deficit, or you'll gain some fat because your body wasn't growing and you switched to a surplus. Switching every week means this error period happens 52 times. And they don't balance out. Pure guesswork here, of course, but you'll probably lose a couple pounds of potential muscle, and miss out on a couple pounds of potential fat loss.

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