Duration & organization of cutting/bulking cycles

[plornive]

What is the optimal duration and extremity of cutting and bulking cycles for you?

Do you go all out and eat a lot while bulking or just lift hard and bulk slowly? Do you decrease calories a lot while cutting or just cut slowly? How do you arrange your cutting and bulking cycles?

 

[plornive]

3 months seems to be my optimal duration for bulking. During these 3 months, I can gain almost all muscle as long as I already have a small layer of fat (~10-12%). After 3 months, gains turn to fat and my body doesn't seem willing to synthesize more muscle or increase in strength. This has happened 3 times before and I continued to bulk and gained fat the first two times.

2-3 months seems to be my optimal duration for cutting. After that, I start to lose strength like crazy. This has happened to me twice. I now know that I can only stay very very lean for brief periods, while I can maintain at about 8% just fine and neither gain or lose muscle.

Basically, I have an idea what my limits are now and I do not plan to go past my limits too much anymore.

After a recent long cut, I gained a great deal of muscle in only 2-3 weeks, similar to the ideas in the ABCDE diet. Taking advantage of this is very nice. Since that time, I have been gaining muscle with very little fat (with a one month interruption/layoff due to surgery). Now I am cutting.

 

[Kid Dynamite]

When I did those, I'd always lose the most fat and gain the most muscle in the first 3 or 4 weeks. But, an exception is last winter, I started a bulk up after a diet and gradually upped my calories. Got to eating around 4 - 5K a day near the end, and gained 20 lbs, maybe 3 or 4 was fat. Hmm... I didn't answer the question very well. I'll drop it later, gotta work soon.

 

[SteelWeaver]

plornive - when you went from cutting to building how quickly did you increase calories?

 

[plornive]

plornive - when you went from cutting to building how quickly did you increase calories?

The most recent time I increased calories very quickly. It was more out of necessity since I was extremely lean and had a huge appetite. I'd say over 1-2 weeks I basically tripled my calories gaining a bunch of weight including lean mass. I don't think it was all *muscle*, but a great deal of it was either lean mass or non-subcutaneous fat. I probably gained about 6 lbs in 3 weeks (including the first few weeks) plus a few pounds of water. It felt strange.

 

[Kid Dynamite]

I think when I jumped cals quick like that I gained maybe 8 - 10 lbs in 2 weeks. Maybe 2lbs. muscle, 2 lbs. fat, 3 - 5 lbs water + glycogen. I always tank up water for some reason, carb sensetive or something.