How Bulking and Cutting Can Help You Gain Muscle and Lose Fat

Because bulking and cutting gets a lot of attention in competitive sports, ordinary people are also trying it in order to achieve a strong, toned look.

If you’re considering bulking and cutting, don’t just dive in. Guidance from a professional — a certified personal trainer, registered dietitian-nutritionist, or physician — can help you come up with an effective plan and avoid what can be serious risks.

What Is Bulking and Cutting?

The strategy of bulking and cutting involves two stages: a bulking stage (often taking anywhere from 3 to 12 months) and a cutting stage (typically lasting 8 to 12 weeks).

“People typically use these when trying to gain lean mass and improve muscle definition,” says Kacie Vavrek, RD, a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Bulking involves a period of consuming calories significantly beyond one’s normal intake, usually combined with heavy resistance or weight training.

It’s followed by a period of cutting, which involves shifting to a diet of fewer calories than normal. A person may also reduce their weight training, but that depends on the individual, according to Jenny Liebl, a certified personal trainer and senior content developer for the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA).

“Someone who is reducing their calorie intake by 200 to 300 calories a day may not experience that much of an energy dip or much fatigue and may continue their training as they were doing while in a calorie surplus,” says Liebl. “However, if they find themselves reducing their calorie intake by 500 calories or more, they may experience a relatively immediate dip in energy and won’t have enough to get through a more vigorous training session.”

What a person does after a cycle of bulking and cutting depends on their goals. A bodybuilder or wrestler, for example, may go back into a bulking phase to work on specific muscular deficiencies and get prepared for their next competitive event, notes Liebl.

“If an average adult goes through a cut, and they are happy with the way they look and feel, then maintenance [neither bulking or cutting] may be the next step,” she says.

Bulking and Cutting Calorie Needs

Before trying bulking and cutting, you need to know your caloric “maintenance level,” the daily amount of calories required to remain at an ideal weight based on factors such as age, height, sex, and current activity level.

For bulking, most people need a surplus of about 300 to 500 calories per day above their maintenance level, according to Vavrek. This supports muscle growth without excessive fat gain.

For cutting, Vavrek suggests a calorie deficit of around 300 to 500 calories per day below maintenance, but this can vary depending on individual goals. This allows for steady fat loss while preserving muscle assuming you are maintaining levels of protein intake and strength training.

What to Eat When Bulking and Cutting

Some people who are looking to beef up through bulking believe that getting big muscle-wise just means getting lots of calories, no matter the source.

“Energy-dense foods that don’t contribute much more than high-calorie content — such as burgers, fried foods, and desserts — are going to be unhealthy,” says Grace White, RD, a performance dietitian and PhD student at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

Instead, she says, it’s better to bulk with nutrient-dense foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, low-fat dairy products, and lean protein.

A higher proportion of carbohydrates (40 to 60 percent) provides fuel for the body. Healthy carbs include:

• Oats
• Sweet potatoes
• Fruits
• Whole grain breads
• Vegetables

A moderate proportion of protein (25 to 35 percent) repairs and forms new muscle. Healthy proteins include:

• Lean proteins such as chicken, fish, lead cuts of beef
• Low fat milk, cheese, and yogurt
• Beans

A lower proportion of healthy fat (15 to 25 percent) maintains hormones. Healthy fats are found in:

• Nuts
• Eggs
• Fatty fish
• Avocados

This type of nutrient-dense diet is important during cutting as well as bulking. “When you’re cutting, it can be more challenging to get all the nutrients you need just because they're going to be at a lower calorie intake,” White says.

Liebl suggests some trial and error may be necessary to see what type of macronutrient split works best.

Gena Wollenberg, RD, a teaching associate professor in nutritional sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, directs everyone to seek information on healthy eating habits at MyPlate.gov.

Bulking and Cutting Risks

Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto studying eating disorders and muscle-building behaviors, warns that improper bulking can cause excess fat gain and body dissatisfaction, while improper cutting can lead to muscle loss, nutrient deficiencies, and increased food and body preoccupations.

“Bulking and cutting can promote disordered eating patterns, obsessive body monitoring, and unhealthy weight cycling,” says Dr. Ganson. “Rapid shifts in caloric intake and weight can also impact cardiovascular health, hormonal balance, and psychological well-being — especially among adolescents and young adults.”

In an analysis of data from more than 2,700 Canadian adolescents and young adults, researchers calculated that nearly half of men, and 1 in 5 women, transgender, and gender nonconforming participants engaged in a “bulk and cut” cycle in the previous 12 months.

“Given body ideals that focus on bulk muscularity and leanness in boys and men, it is not surprising that this dietary method was highly common in our sample, but it should also be noted that girls, women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming participants, also face unique pressures to adhere to specific body types. For girls and women, this ideal is transitioning away from the thin ideal to a toned and fit ideal,” says Ganson.

Based on this study and responses from registered dietitians, here a few of the main risks associated with bulking and cutting:

• Excess Fat Gain or Muscle Loss Those following this strategy have to be careful about putting on too much weight in fat through bulking and losing too much muscle through cutting.
• Digestion Issues Taking in large volumes of food can cause gas, bloating, GI distress, and slower digestion, while cutting may disrupt the body’s natural rhythms and lead to constipation, diarrhea, and other gut-related turmoil.
• Eating Disorders Bulking and cutting may lead to restrictive eating, compulsive eating, or irregular or inflexible eating patterns.
• Mental Health Problems This fitness approach can lead some to spend an abnormal amount of time focusing on exercise and diet. Obsessive behavior can be harmful to one’s mental health. Some can develop a pathologic preoccupation with muscularity and leanness called muscle dysmorphia. Others may experience mood swings, depression, and anxiety.
• Poor Energy Levels An imbalanced diet can affect daily performance and hunger pangs may influence the ability to pay attention.
• Negative Impact on Heart Health Extra pounds from bulking, poor food choices, and rapid weight loss all may put extra stress on the heart. Increased body fat can heighten the risk of diabetes.
• Hormonal Imbalance Excessive fat or weight loss can get your hormones out of whack. Too many calories can decrease insulin sensitivity and send blood sugar levels to unhealthy highs. Severe weight loss can push cortisol (the stress hormone) to high levels, while hormones vital to the brain, thyroid, and sexual development (testosterone) may drop.

Wollenberg urges individuals to be aware of any signs that they might be overdoing it, such as dizziness, lightheadedness, issues focusing, or gastrointestinal distress.

People with a history of disordered eating or those who are pregnant, underweight, or have certain medical conditions (like diabetes or heart disease) should avoid bulking and cutting without professional guidance, according to Vavrek.

Age can also increase certain risks. “With the elderly, we want to encourage adequate intake, especially protein, but also overall calories,” says White. “And I would not really encourage adolescents to follow the practice because they’re growing and developing and this could introduce both physical and mental issues.”

The Takeaway

• Bulking and cutting can build a sculpted, muscular body but it requires careful attention and planning.
• If done improperly, bulking and cutting can lead to serious physical and mental health issues.
• Those considering this training technique are advised to seek the counsel of a professional such as a certified personal trainer, registered dietitian-nutritionist, or physician.