
While cutting, your body burns fat and starts to use protein for energy, decreasing your lean muscle mass. However, you also need to maintain your workout routine during this phase. By maintaining a calorie deficit, burning more energy than you consume, your body will start to drop fat.

This isn't a concern for some people, especially if your goal is to get big.īut for visible gains, you'll need to burn this newly-formed fat. Although you're training intensively and building muscle while bulking, part of your weight gain will be from fat. The results of one study showed that increasing your calorie intake, coupled with resistance training, leads to increases in overall weight and fat-free gains.Īs you're eating more, you'll likely consume more carbs, which are turned into sugars for muscle fuel. Your increased energy and protein intake helps power these workouts and promote post-training recovery. You work as hard as possible for the time, taking 20-30-second breaks between exercises. This is similar to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) but focuses on muscle-building in place of cardio. The main aim is to increase your calorie intake coupled with either weight lifting or High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT), There are a few distinct styles of bulking, each with different nutritional targets. Cutting means reducing the amount of calories instead. There are several ways to do this, like a dirty bulk or a lean bulk. To bulk and gain weight, you'll need to eat more calories than you burn in a day. So if you want to strut proudly and sveltely on the beach (or anywhere else) come summertime or your mid-winter tropical getaway, read on.Bulking vs cutting: what's the difference? All the recipes and tips below are borrowed from The Bodybuilder’s Kitchen and frankly, it’s one of the finest attack plans for safely shedding pounds that we’ve ever seen. Stern knows more about fueling fit bodies than practically anyone. This foolproof cutting plan is part of the new book The Bodybuilder’s Kitchen, written by Erin Stern, a two-time Ms. In that case, good news: We’ve discovered a brand-new cutting meal plan designed by a former champion bodybuilder that delivers on both taste and nutrition. If your answer is “no”-or “not quite,” or “almost”…or anything other than, “Dude, the beach isn’t ready for my body”-then you’re probably searching for a way get lean.

So ask yourself: If I were to go to a beach next week, would my body be ready for showtime? Perfecting that Zac Efron-esque beach body takes some time and dedication.
