The case against bulk cycles

[Mavy]

What a great post. How did I miss it. Good one DT.

 

[Wingnut32]

I used to do the eat everything bulk diet. But I now bulk with a clean diet and hard training. I've stayed very lean and still gained muscle size. I dropped my waist down 4in. and still weigh the same. I think everyone responds differently to certain A.S. Deca makes me hard and lean while it blows up my training partner. I guess its trial and error sometimes.

 

[OMEGA]

getting fat is fun

 

[TheAssholeFomerlyKnownAsDBBT]

I see alot of people, often newbies, doing so-called bulking cycles followed almost immediately by a cutting cycle. On the bulking cycle they eat everything that doesn't move out of the way in an effort to gain as much mass as possible, only to lose a good portion of it in the post-cycle therapy and cutting cycle that follows. This is, in my opinion, an extremely inefficient use of time, effort, money and anabolic steroids. Let me explain why I think so.
When you gain weight even following a relatively clean diet you can pretty much assume for every 4 lbs of muscle you gain you'll add 1 lb of fat. On an "eat everything I can" diet that ratio that ratio may increase to 4:2. This is before factoring in the additional water weight that certain aromatizing steroids (such as Dbol, Anadrol, Test, to a lesser extent Deca) cause. When you gain fat weight two things happen. The size of your fat cells increases AND the total number of fat cells increases. When you lose weight the size of your fat cells decreases but the total number stays the same. This is fact, not what I simply "think happens". This means when you come off that cutting cycle those extra fat cells you gained during that bulking cycle are still there dying to absorb every single gram of fat you take in. If you want to get rid of those extra fat cells you'll need to plan on liposuction. How many more fat cells do you think you'll end up with after 4-5 bulking cycles? Have you considered how hard it will get to stay lean in the future? You're setting yourself up for a dependancy on fat cutting drugs.
A cutting cycle, even when done by the pros, WILL cost you muscle. Even with anabolic steroids it's very difficult to lose more than a lb a week without costing some muscle. In a recent MD Ahmad Haidar says in the offseason he's 250 lbs at 10% bodyfat. My math tells me at 225 lbs he'd be at 0% bodyfat. In actuality he probably competes around 3% bodyfat which would put him near 229, yet in the same article he says he competes at 218. What happened to the extra 10-12 lbs? It could be water but I think he's factoring in some muscle loss as well. What about Ronnie competing in the Mr. O at 260'ish when Chad says he could've weighed 285 if he wanted to? He's losing muscle there too, albeit intentionally.
You regular Joes can rest assured that cutting cycle is costing you some of the hard earned muscle you gained during that last bulking cycle.
Wouldn't you rather do two cycles where you can eat as much as you want rather than one feast cycle and one famine cycle? You'll build much more muscle on the former. If you gain 25 lbs on a bulking cycle offhand I'd estimate it's 12 lbs muscle, 6 lbs fat and 7 lbs of water. In the subsequent cutting cycle you may lose 2 lbs of muscle while trying to ditch that 13 lbs of fat & water. That means a net muscle gain of only 10 lbs. What if you could gain 12 lbs of muscle, 3 lbs of fat and little water? Would you take it? Here's how.
I suggest doing a “Clean bulking” cycle instead. WTF is that? Simple...eat like you're 6-7 weeks out from a contest, only in unlimited amounts. Chicken/turkey breasts, steak, lean cuts of meat, rice, potatoes, pasta, breads. Only allow yourself to eat junkfood on the weekends. That extra fat in your diet isn't helping you build quality muscle and you're consuming enough carbohydrate to fuel your workouts and recovery. Now when this clean bulk cycle ends you don't have 10 lbs of extra fat to deal with. You can do post cycle recovery followed by your time off then go right into another clean bulk cycle, plus you don't have to waste money on weak anabolics like winny. You'll still have nearly all the muscle you gained first time around and you're about to double it on the next cycle. Not to mention it'll be easier to buy clothes because your weight won't fluctuate as much. Trust me on this...I've outgrown a 46-short suit which is the biggest you find off the rack in a short size.
Save the cutting cycles for contest preparation. Maximize the effectiveness of your steroids by using them the way they were intended...to build huge muscles. If you're an ectomorph then the traditional bulk cycle is a good idea, but then an ectomorph shouldn't need a cutting cycle in the first place.

With Bulk/Cut cycles you take 3 steps forward then 1 step back.
With Clean Bulk cycles you simply take 2 steps forward.

nice tities

 

[strongsmartsexy]

K orbyl! This is an excellent post.

 

[Mavy]

When you gain fat weight two things happen. The size of your fat cells increases AND the total number of fat cells increases. When you lose weight the size of your fat cells decreases but the total number stays the same. This is fact, not what I simply "think happens". This means when you come off that cutting cycle those extra fat cells you gained during that bulking cycle are still there dying to absorb every single gram of fat you take in. .

I had no idea about this ... so are you saying that the number of fat cells in your body ONLY grows? It never decreases?

 

[satchboogie]

good post DT..

i'm now a strong supporter of the 2 week yo yo cycles..
basically, you stay on the sauce for 12 weeeks.

the first 2 weeks are cutting..
the following are bulking..
and repeat again for 12 weeks.

 

[Dial_tone]

good post DT..

i'm now a strong supporter of the 2 week yo yo cycles..
basically, you stay on the sauce for 12 weeeks.

the first 2 weeks are cutting..
the following are bulking..
and repeat again for 12 weeks.

I copied a similiar idea from a pro named David Henry. Here's what he does:

Weeks 1 - 4: Gain
Weeks 5: Hardening
Weeks 6 - 8: Gain
Weeks 9 - 10: Hardening
Weeks 11 -12: Gain
Weeks: 13 -15: Hardening

During the GAIN phase the calories are a bit higher, then the HARDENING phase is to eliminate any fat buildup. He didn't necessarily say he did this while on juice but I plan to use this for 10-12 week cycles. You could start the juice at any point in the process. The changes could be simple things like:

GAIN - red meats or bigger portions, more whole eggs, whole milk
HARDENING - 2%x or skim milk, white meat, 1-2 whole eggs only, more protein from water-based shakes, cardio.

 

[satchboogie]

sounds nice.
here's my routine and keep in mind i'm on teh sauce all the way through:

week 1 & 2 are cutting: DNP, lots of cardio, low cals, high intensity training

week 3 & 4 are bulking: lots of food, lots of training.. lots of sleep. no cardio!!!!

repeat the cycle til the end.

as far as the dnp dosage:

200mg in the a.m and 200mg at night do the job quite effectively.
carbs are kept under 100g a day.
supplemenation a must while dnp so i wont get into that.

during cutting phases, i try to get a solid workout in the afternoon, and later that night a light cardio session like bike riding on the beach... its great for fat loss and i even managed to score some skanks back to the pad. damn skanks!

my way flucuates between 205 pounds during end of bulking down to 195 at end of cutting...

i've been doin this for a little over 2 months now and am VERY satisfied with the results. as far as i'm concerned its one of the only ways to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

 

[The_Chemist]

Your absolutley right. It is a well known fact that your body NEVER loses fat cells when dieting. You simply shrink the fat cells that you have. On the other hand it IS possible to produce More fat cells.

That is why it is harder and harder to get lean as you get older. Chances are you grew more fat cells somewhere aling the way.

For this purpose, I will never do an all-you-can-eat bulikng cycle again. I simply don't want to grow more new fat cells.