I have been dying to bulk. But with 2-3 months until i see my boyfriend I would rather be cut when I see him

Any suggestions for short bulking cycles? Open for any suggestions. Considering it, but would like more ab definition by summer. At the same time I have been dying to add some lean mass. Im stuck -.-

Just eat 20% above TDEE, hit your macros, ENJOY THE FOOD and have fun.

srs.

You don't have enough time, IMO. Figure at least a 2 week transition from cutting to bulking, maybe more than that because your maintenance level will be higher than what it is now. Then figure how long you would still need to cut.

That gives you 4 weeks or so to bulk. That's one pound of muscle, if you're lucky. Not worth it.

You have the rest of your life to bulk and cut, enjoy being cut for the summer, and start your bulk mid fall/winter-ish

I keep thinking about just bulking now, but I have never really been "cut" in the summer. Last year I had about 10lbs of body fat more than now. Kind of thinking of just enjoying it :]

Since we are on the topic and awesome people are here How long do you guys bulk for? Never really looked into details since I never have done it

And is there much of a difference between a clean bulk and a... ummm.. normal bulk i guess?

I'm not experienced with bulking but I'll still share my thoughts on this/what info I've gathered. (This is my first real bulk right now.)

Lyle has made at least some reference that people should ideally bulk in a given bodyfat slot (I believe 10% to 15% for males) as it can effect body composition in that, at certain bodyfat ranges you're more likely to gain lean vs fat -- at least that's how I understood what I last read from him on this topic.

Additionally, I think personal preference matters a great deal in that, it's perfectly viable to bulk until "you feel too fat".

Clean bulking is a new fad term that basically means bulking slightly above TDEE, whereas dirty bulking is more of a free-for-all fulking fest.

My current bulk started in December and will end either at the end of March or the end of April, for a total of 4 to 5 months.

Sorry for the silly questions, I don't know some stuff heh

Is a clean bulk less effective than a dirty bulk then? Would seem to be since if you are over estimating intake then it would be harder to add mass maybe?

Will be looking at Lyle's % for women then. I saw a flyer for free body fat test at the rec center so I may be signing up for that to see where I am at, or I will before I leave school for the summer

In my opinion:

Since lean mass gains are pretty limited in that you can only really gain a pound or two of good lean mass per month (guessing at that figure), it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to eat too far beyond that target since you're really going to just make your cut cycle longer.

But I do think that people can take the whole clean-bulk think too far and undereat, and I think I actually did that for the first 2 months of my bulk (3k wasn't enough) and it probably hurt my progress a bit.

EDIT: To me, I think gaining .5 to 1lb/week is a reasonable slot to land in. I think 1/week is probably even a bit on the high end of things but it's not outrageous. I'm speaking from my own perspective on this. A smaller female probably would have a slightly lighter slot to land in.

I just finished a 7 week bulk and I am glad that I did it. However, I might add - I was cutting for damn year 18 straight months. So I was LONG overdue. I gained too much fat (expected), but strength gains were phenomenal. 2-3 lbs of muscle does make a difference.

IMO if you really want to be cut to see your bf and for summer, I'd just stay where you are now and wait until the end of summer before bulking. It's a bit of an awkward time otherwise to start bulking, you would've been better off, as you said, starting earlier.

As far as time length goes, when I did my first bulk last year that was for 6 months. I just bulked until 150lbs/2012 so I could eat what I wanted over Christmas, and then thought I'd start cutting as that leaves me plenty of time to lose all the fat before the weather starts getting warmer. Had around 15lbs to lose afterwards.
I was 130 at lowest which is what I looked best at in terms of fat, but not as much muscle as I wanted.
134 at start of bulk. 150 at the end.
Goal of ~135lbs at the end of cut.

if im lazy and play WoW lol :P

All the nerds just fell in love.

I bulk for about 3-4 months, I don't mind the fat gain because I just see it as stored up energy for when I cut. My last bulk was at 3,000 calories, and then my weight wouldn't go up for a few weeks so I bumped up to 4,000.

Clean bulk: you hit your macros without going over calorie goal
Dirty bulk: you hit your macros and go over calorie goal

Some people think that eating fast food is a dirty bulk. It isn't the quality of food, its the quantity. One of my favorite bulking foods are hamburger helper, McDoubles, McChickens, and Chilli.

My TDEE on a non-workout day is 2300. I started my bulk at 2600, gained 3 pounds in like 3 weeks, then nothing more for like 5 weeks. I then upped it to 2800, then gained another 8lbs in 8 weeks.


I think 10% over maintenance would be a good start.

i know a trick that works for men but unable to determine whether it works for ladies. 2 weeks cutting directly followed by 2 weeks bulking, during the 2 weeks cut your body craves the nutrients and excess calories, then when you switch it acts like a sponge and takes up everything. also your testorone (for men...) hgh and insulin increase.
they call it the anabolic rebound effect. might be worth researching it for women. last year in under 3 months, i managed to gain 5kg of muscle and lose 2 kg of fat. worked very well for me and thats currently what i am trying to see if it will continue to make improvements.
try googling: 21 day bulk
short bulks, bulldozer bulking. and then find out if it can be applied to ladies :-) im not sure it can but defo worth a look into.

p.s , backed up with bodyfat tests for the stats. not me gaining 3kg and thinking im slimmer and bigger lol.

Plenty of good advice already

My plan: 15% above TDEE (averaged over the week as I like to carb/cal cycle)
Do minicut for about 2 weeks when ab caliper reading got to 14mm as I know that's when I start to look a big "puffy".
Get strong!