Who has it easier? Bulkers or cutters?

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  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
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    I'm towards the end of a cut, so I'm going to say bulking is easier.

    Ask me in six months to a year, and my answer will certainly change.
  • robdel302
    robdel302 Posts: 292 Member
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    Bulking is harder and for those who say it's not, you guys know nothing about force feeding.

    Depends on each individual honestly. My body reacts fast to food, especially in a surplus. I only need to add one meal on top of my maintenance phase and I gain. But I gain everything easily, it's dropping body fat that is a pain. I would suspect this has something to do with my family's genetics. Weather we want to consider endomorph, genetics or whatever; I do know that most of my family is obese and diabetic so insulin is likely a huge factor here. But balancing carbs to cut while maintaining glycogen stores are a royal pain for me. Gaining just requires me to eat an extra meal. Or I can just add more carbs with my current amount of meals.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    Bulking is heaven for me. Srs
  • jamielynas
    jamielynas Posts: 366 Member
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    Gaining lean mass with minimal fat gain is more difficult IMO I also struggle with traditional "bulking" due to my ED but that's just a personal thing
  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    IMO bulking is harder, I love food so I tend do overeat and gain weight, but that has nothing to do with proper bulking.

    Cuting and bulking is about training and sticking to your calorie goals. Not eating when you are hungry is way easier then eating when you are stuffed --> cuting is easier then bulking
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Clean bulking is hard. Actually fitting 3000 kcals of clean food is tricky. I'm sick of nuts.

    I could easily eat about 1500 kcals of clean food and hit my protein levels. When planning, I find I reach about this level then have to pad it out with carbs I cba to eat - boring carbs not fun carbs like cakes, crisps and biscuits. I have to eat a lump of cheese but not cheese on crackers if it's a rest day.</first world problems>
  • CarlKRobbo
    CarlKRobbo Posts: 390 Member
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    It depends on the type of cut, and type of bulk

    Bulking for general weight gain is relatively easy, but as Jamielynas posted - Lean bulking is seriously hard, as Bulking in general almost always seems to add fat, keeping that off, and keeping the scale creep slowly up, is seriously hard.

    Bulking can get hard for those who have previously cut - I personally spent years eating 2300 calories trying to cut, so the first few months trying to eat 3600 calories was hard work. Most of my diet is clean, even though I'm on an IIFYM diet, so having that much pasta\rice\chicken, and having to force feed myself at times, has been a real struggle. I now hit those targets daily now.

    On the flip side, Thanks to the poor knowledge of a lot of cutters, they have a hard time too - my 2300 was too low for me, so I kept the fat, and lost muscle, it can be hard to get it right and eat MORE to lose weight

    A lot of it is also down to personal preference, and genetics IMHO
  • robdel302
    robdel302 Posts: 292 Member
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    Clean bulking being harder is something I'd agree with. All those extra calories and you don't even get to enjoy it.
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    Cutting is easier workout wise. One when you're bulking you have to work out the musles correctly and in a balanced way to create your build, and 2 Gaining muscle hurts, Weight training on a cut is far easier you are never too sore to train.
  • y2james
    y2james Posts: 2
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    For me personally, cutting would seem like an easier option. I find it really difficult to put on weight as it is, so with my ectomorph frame and fast metabolism I'd say cutters have it easier! But that's all merely from a personal outlook, as I've never cut before :)
  • JDMarlowe
    JDMarlowe Posts: 327 Member
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    As someone who is just starting to look into buidling muscle after a large weight loss, I just wish I could understand a portion of what all this means!!! Sounds like becoming a rocket scientist would be easier to understand.... WOW....
    O_o
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Been thinking more about this.

    For an ecto - the problem with cutting is that you're more likely to lose that hard earned muscle as much as you're going to lose fat unless you're really strict with your protein intake (my mistake last year, really). Bulking to build muscle is going to be tough in terms of muscle size but you won't gain as much fat (my experience this year). Maintaining for an ecto is going to be much easier than for an endo, though.

    For an endo, cutting is tougher and you'll have to do more exercise, bulking will be easy to build muscle but you'll gain more fat. Maintaining is going to be harder as too many fun days out will push the scales in the wrong direction then you'll have to think about a mini cut.

    Yes? No?
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    As someone who is just starting to look into buidling muscle after a large weight loss, I just wish I could understand a portion of what all this means!!! Sounds like becoming a rocket scientist would be easier to understand.... WOW....
    O_o

    You don't have to worry about it - just eat healthy foods and keep your protein levels up while lifting right.
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
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    Been thinking more about this.

    For an ecto - the problem with cutting is that you're more likely to lose that hard earned muscle as much as you're going to lose fat unless you're really strict with your protein intake (my mistake last year, really). Bulking to build muscle is going to be tough in terms of muscle size but you won't gain as much fat (my experience this year). Maintaining for an ecto is going to be much easier than for an endo, though.

    For an endo, cutting is tougher and you'll have to do more exercise, bulking will be easy to build muscle but you'll gain more fat. Maintaining is going to be harder as too many fun days out will push the scales in the wrong direction then you'll have to think about a mini cut.

    Yes? No?

    I read on a great website (Bodyrecomposition) that people who tend to gain muscle quickly in a surplus are the same people who lose it more readily in a deficit, and that fat gain and muscle gain are correlated, and so are fat loss and muscle loss. And people who gain slowly hold onto it better and tend to more readily burn fat. It all comes down to "P-ratio". So it's all hormonal. Again, there really is no "ecto" or "endo", because it has nothing to do with bone structure or bodyfat percentage of the untrained person. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/calorie-partitioning-part-1.html

    Also, one thing that seems true is that everyone, regardless of how many calories you need, has to be gaining some fat, no matter how small an amount, in order to gain muscle too. This is all hormonal, and I haven't studied it much yet, but it makes sense.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    Oh. :laugh:
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
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    I personally think cutting is easier. It just requires not stuffing your face and eating with a little common sense.

    Bulking on the other hand required me to force feed myself.
  • solarpower03
    solarpower03 Posts: 12,160 Member
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    I personally think cutting is easier. It just requires not stuffing your face and eating with a little common sense.

    Bulking on the other hand required me to force feed myself.

    This
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    Bulking can get out of control and sloppy. Also, bulking can become addicting when the strength gain are skyrocketing. Cutting can be a psychological challenge when losing weight happens first in the extremities A perma-bulker might think he's losing all his gainz.
  • bokchoybaby
    bokchoybaby Posts: 62 Member
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    Since I've not done my first bulk yet I feel like I understand cutting a lot better. There was a time when I would have said dieting scared me and was filled with all these impossible variables but I think those days are behind me now. If a cut isn't working quite as expected I feel like I know what to tighten up to get the results I expect. Bulking not so much.

    Also, a lot of the cardio I do is to help improve my focus (ADHD) and decrease anxiety. Unfortunately, 15 minutes of HIIT or a 30-minute run don't really do much in that regard. However, I suspect I may have do cut back more than I'd like in order not to end up in a food coma during a bulk because I already consume quite a few calories to keep myself at a moderate deficit. I don't even want to think about the numbers for a small surplus. Lastly, I'm probably going to be pregnant or breastfeeding for a few more years to come. I suspect trying to bulk while breastfeeding will pose its own challenges in terms of calorie consumption.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Posted my previous reply from my phone but I'm going to ramble a bit.


    I find that bulking can be hard to maintain control over. I'm also not as "good" at it. I don't have any appetite issues typically, but it's a bit harder to manage the rate of gain and keep it around the "slot" you'd prefer to stay in. Now if you're the type that just opens up the flood gates and does a fatty-bulk then I could see that being much easier.

    Even when you DO control your rate of gain on a bulk, you're still eventually going to look/get fatter, and for some people this can be a challenge to deal with. On a cut, I think you're more "rewarded" with the appearance changes your body goes through. They also happen faster.

    Bulks are also very long whereas cut phases (for people who get to the point that they are bulking and cutting in a rotation) tend to be shorter. You can also start a cut with some aggressiveness.

    Gym performance and not constantly thinking about food are good bulking benefits obviously.

    So overall, I PREFER bulking because I get way more food (3400 cals and 450+ cho currently) but I find cutting easier to execute.

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