Flipping from a Cut to a Bulk
You've been cutting calories for months. But now you've reached your goal and it's time to start putting on some muscle. Sure, you could just inject a ton of calories back into your diet. But you worked hard to get lean and you'd rather not see it evaporate in the first month of your bulk. You also know that staying [relatively] lean will make your next cut that much easier. What you need is a way to transition from a cut into a bulk where you can start gaining muscle again without a ton of unwanted fat. Keep reading to find out how.
Flipping from a cut to bulk does not have to be a complicated process. You already know how much you eat. So, all you really need to do is make a few adjustments to put yourself back on the road to [lean] gainz.
Update Your Diet
If you are like many bodybuilders then your cut probably consisted of some sort of Carb Cycling. Well, you're moving to a bulk now. So, you don't need to carb cycle the way you used to. What you are looking to do now is get consistent with a calorie surplus.
Start off by finding out how many calories you consumed during the last week. That's right; add them all up: the high days and the low days. Once you know how many calories you consumed over the last week, divide that number by 7 to get how many calories you consumed each day on average. This is your starting point. Now, it's just a matter of redistributing your macros like what is discussed in Reverse Dieting.
Shed the Cardio
At the end of a cut, you might be doing 3-4 days of cardio a week (or more if you've really got some metabolic damage). Stop. Just stop.
Cardio isn't going to do anything for you on a bulk except for hold back metabolic potential and/or force you to consume more to build the muscle you want. I'm not saying to completely cut out cardio. But I am saying that it's tome to go back to the level of cardio you were doing prior to your cut (i.e. during your last bulk). For me, this means dialing back cardio to 1-2days per week.
I know what you are thinking. Cutting out cardio with the same calories will just make you gain fat. However, this almost certainly won't be the case. In fact, usually most people I know that do this end up losing [a little] weight initially after flipping from a cut back to a bulk.
Adjust as Necessary
When I first flip back to a bulk, I am much more aggressive with calorie increases in my Reverse Diet. Why? Because my metabolism seems to adapt really fast in the initial stage after flipping from a cut to a bulk.
The point here is that if you notice immediate weight loss (or weight gain) then don't be afraid to adjust calories appropriately.
Other Considerations
The above advice is generally what I recommend to clients I haven't worked with before. **Although, I also remove all the guesswork by doing all the calculations and specific recommendations for them - see Coaching Services. And it is what I would recommend for most people who have never successfully flipped from a cut to a bulk without substantial weight gain. It's better to be conservative with calories than to go too high on the calories (you want to keep it lean, right?).
However, personally, I increase calories substantially more than my ending calories for my cut. How much? Well, I estimate based on personal experience. This is the art/experience side of bodybuilding. Everyone responds similarly but everyone is also just a little bit different. So, what were my results? I dropped a little weight, I gained strength and I stayed lean the first week of my bulk.
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