Hi, I was on bulk for almost a year and I just started my mini-cut. My original plan was go back to regular 8-12 weeks of bulking after my mini-cut, I think a lot of you on here do bulking for most of the year. However, I’ve changed my mind and would instead extend my cutting without sacrificing muscle. Honestly, I’m ok with my mass right now (180 lbs, 5’7”, mesomorph) and I won’t need to put on more for now. So I thought I’d do mini-cuts and even shorter mini-bulks?
What do you think of doing 4-6 weeks of mini-cut then 2-4 weeks mini-bulk then repeat until at least the end of summer? Trying to keep leaning down for the summertime without doing a long cut without breaks.
You “bulked” year-round with harsh steroid support and only gained 10lbs total?
Please expand on what your ‘bulk’ diet looks like. Foods and weights please.
Asking because I suspect your “bulk” is better defined as “eating whatever I want” and I’m hoping I’m wrong.
Honestly, the 180 was just an estimate. I was 190+ in Jan/Feb so I gained 20 ish lbs during my bulk. I’m 3 ish weeks into my mini-cut and lost a bit so I could be wrong but I’ll weigh myself later for you
My bulk isn’t completely clean, no lies. As for my workout, my programs were all 5 or 6 days a week (both full-body and split). Now can we go back to the topic?
For me mini-cuts have worked and i usually can lose all the fat i need in like 2-3 weeks anyways, but of course i never gain so much that cant be lost in a few weeks.
The problem with this is that when i cut i cut super brutal. I have 3000kcal deficit as the lowest but i usually went for 4500kcal deficit, and a pound a day. Works very good but the problem was that i also probably lost some muscle. Well, at least when i checked the strength records, it seemed so. Anyways, muscle wasnt a concern if i cut, so yea.
Lesser deficit wont give much results because if you are on a 300-500kcal deficit, its basically 1 trip to McDonalds to delete the whole week. So if you cut like this for 4 weeks, then start a bulk, and have like 2-3 cheat meals on a bulk, or just have a bit larger surplus, you just delete the bulk in 2 weeks anyway.
I dont believe in mini-bulks tho, unless they are more like mini-bloat bulks that powerlifters do on dbol, anadrol, and all the foods that bloat them just for weight gain and extra strength before the meet.
In my experience, muscle takes a lot of time not only to grow but also to go into a growing process after a cut or a maintenance phase. I always felt that i need those 2-4 weeks to get my bulk food in check and adapt to the muscle building training because when you start a new program the first week is just looking for weigths, the second will be a fast neuro adaptation and only by 3rd you can finally start pushing.
Its not scientific but i always feel that everything we do kind of goes with some inertia. Like a train. It takes time for it to reach maximum speed, and it also takes a while to fully stop. It never accelerates as soon as you start and it never actually stops as soon as you stop. It actually kind of keeps going for a while.
Jerking it around after every 4 weeks is probably one of the best ways to always keep it in same place, but actually add the struggle of a diet half the time, haha.
I agree with what everyone else said except I have something to say from a slightly different angle.
Mini-bulks can be GREAT if you understand that you’re not going to build any measurable muscle and you stay really close to maintenance. It’s basically a diet break if you’re doing it in such short bursts like that. Using a slight-surplus mini-bulk after 4-6 weeks of heavy cutting can keep you cutting for longer.
You can’t chase both goals at the same time - all that will happen is disappointment. What a mini-bulk can do is stop your cutting before all the negative effects manifest.
It’s very easy to undo a lot of your hard work if you just go ahead and eat what you want on the “mini-bulk”. If you plan to incorporate mini-cuts and mini-bulks together then it’s probably best to do something in a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 depending on how fast you’re cutting/how much you’re struggling.
