How long should a cut and bulk cycle last???

hannahnew625
hannahnew625 Posts: 19 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hey so I'm trying to get lean. I'm 5'4, 119 lbs, 19 yrs old. I want to tone up. I have a little belly fat around stomach but that's it. Ive been on a very slow cut for a little over a week now. I was thinking I would 4 week cut 4 week bulk and then repeat but I don't know how most people do it. Any suggestions???

Replies

  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    edited July 2017
    How long you cut will depend on how much you want to lose. My cuts are anywhere from 8-12 weeks or so, losing approximately 0.5lb per week. Some people prefer to cut a bit faster especially if they have more to lose, or slower if they only have a few lbs. So it is a personal thing.

    A 4 week cut/bulk cycle is kind of spinning your wheels, essentially overtime you would be eating at maintenance and potentially recomping if that is what you want to do. Muscle gains will be slower.. and you will be gaining and losing the same weight. If you want to add mass/size to your frame, I would run at least a 4 month slow lean bulk cycle, then cut after. My first bulk was 4.5months, and I gained 10lbs. My second bulk was 8 months and I gained 12 lbs.

    Ultimately it will depend on your goals.
  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    How long you cut will depend on how much you want to lose. My cuts are anywhere from 8-12 weeks or so, losing approximately 0.5lb per week. Some people prefer to cut a bit faster especially if they have more to lose, or slower if they only have a few lbs. So it is a personal thing.

    A 4 week cut/bulk cycle is kind of spinning your wheels, essentially overtime you would be eating at maintenance and potentially recomping if that is what you want to do. Muscle gains will be slower.. and you will be gaining and losing the same weight. If you want to add mass/size to your frame, I would run at least a 4 month slow lean bulk cycle, then cut after. My first bulk was 4.5months, and I gained 10lbs. My second bulk was 8 months and I gained 12 lbs.

    Ultimately it will depend on your goals.


    I agree, a 4 week build and a 4 week cut literally might even put you back. You won't gain any substantial amount of muscle in 4 weeks. Cutting for 4 weeks if not don't correctly, you COULD easily get rid of the muscle you just put on and more which would put you worse off after 8 weeks than when you started (in terms of muscle, you may be leaner though).

    Being in a deficit for 4 out of every 8 weeks is counterproductive. I agree with what @sardelsa said going on a longer building phase and then if you start to feel uncomfortable with your weight or how you look, bring your calories down for 3-4 weeks (or until you feel lean again), and then return to building then cutting until you reach a desired look and just look to maintain and enjoy working out.
  • hannahnew625
    hannahnew625 Posts: 19 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    How long you cut will depend on how much you want to lose. My cuts are anywhere from 8-12 weeks or so, losing approximately 0.5lb per week. Some people prefer to cut a bit faster especially if they have more to lose, or slower if they only have a few lbs. So it is a personal thing.

    A 4 week cut/bulk cycle is kind of spinning your wheels, essentially overtime you would be eating at maintenance and potentially recomping if that is what you want to do. Muscle gains will be slower.. and you will be gaining and losing the same weight. If you want to add mass/size to your frame, I would run at least a 4 month slow lean bulk cycle, then cut after. My first bulk was 4.5months, and I gained 10lbs. My second bulk was 8 months and I gained 12 lbs.

    Ultimately it will depend on your goals.
    sardelsa wrote: »
    How long you cut will depend on how much you want to lose. My cuts are anywhere from 8-12 weeks or so, losing approximately 0.5lb per week. Some people prefer to cut a bit faster especially if they have more to lose, or slower if they only have a few lbs. So it is a personal thing.

    A 4 week cut/bulk cycle is kind of spinning your wheels, essentially overtime you would be eating at maintenance and potentially recomping if that is what you want to do. Muscle gains will be slower.. and you will be gaining and losing the same weight. If you want to add mass/size to your frame, I would run at least a 4 month slow lean bulk cycle, then cut after. My first bulk was 4.5months, and I gained 10lbs. My second bulk was 8 months and I gained 12 lbs.

    Ultimately it will depend on your goals.

  • smileyducky
    smileyducky Posts: 31 Member
    Was looking into this too for when I eventually will focus more on toning up, the general consensus on the bodybuilding.com forums was a slow clean bulk of 250cal surplus for 4-6 months, then again 250 cal cut until they're as lean as they like. I think for most it was around 1-2 months
  • DresdenSinn
    DresdenSinn Posts: 665 Member
    I do a 6 month bulk/6 month cut (with a week break at 3 months for both)

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