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Build Muscle & Loose Fat? Anonymous
what's the deal with bulking & cutting? they're always mentioned as seperate "phases" that people are "in"...can one not reap benefits of both simultaneously?

i mean, is it futile to both lift fairly heavy and do daily cardio?
>> Anonymous
Bulking is consuming shittons of calories so put on mass. This is when you see big guys with big "guts". It is common for people to do this to try to get the biggest gain by not limiting their caloric intake. It is a common fitness formula: If your intake is higher than your usage = you will gain weight (this works for fat as well) however if you use more than you take in you will lose weight. This is the basic nutritional concept bodybuilders base their bulking and cutting crap off of. Sometimes they will consume upwards of ten thousand+ calories a day in their bulk phases to fuel their hypertrophy phases (muscle growth). Not sure the health ramifications of this but apparently there have been concerns.

As to address the second point: Yes, it is possible to gain muscle mass while maintaining a lean physique. You may not gain mass as quickly but muscle is overrated, people correlate muscle with strength and while it is a big aspect the CNS is where the real strength is (training your nervous system to use more of what you have than just packing on masses of inefficient mass). Sorry for going off on a tangent. You can lift big and run, people do it all the time with good gains. If you run marathons you will lose fat along with muscle, it's a side effect of burning all of those calories. If you eat right you can avoid most of it but unless you're an ultramarathon man you're probably not going to have a problem.
>> Anonymous
you can but honestly, your body needs a lot of energy to build and maintain muscle, if you're on a caloric deficit as it is, why would your body build MORE lean mass which will consume more of your daily calories that your body needs for other things?
>> Anonymous
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Bulking is slang for I am too lazy to be thin the whole year, so I will eat my own shit and then say its ok because i'm bulking.

Arnold Schwarzenegger never 'bulked.' Neither does Jay Cutler. Cutting should only be pre-contest.

Everything else is healthy eating. If you're overweight and out of shape, do both. You will reap the benefits. If you're just overweight, then you can focus on cardio. If you're just a tiny guy, focus on mass and eating a bit more.

Be sensible, split the middle.

pic is Ronnie Coleman, 8 time Mr. Olympia during his "bulk phase." Enjoy it.
>> Anonymous
>>24560
most body builders only cut for shows and specific dates. and they'll dehydrate the shit out of themselves just for that one day.
>> Anonymous
>>24567
Cutting takes 4-6 weeks, the last week which is nearly zero carbohydrates and the last day is extreme dehydration, yes.

But cutting also entails drastically reducing your fat. Jay Cutler walks around at like 10% body fat, which is great. For contest, he'll cut down to like 5%