The Easiest Way to Know If You Should Bulk or Cut

Both bulking and cutting have pros and cons.

Bulking adds both lean mass (yay) and body fat (boo), and cutting unveils your abs (hooray) but stunts muscle growth (hiss).

And it’s this dilemma that makes for a fitness purgatory of sorts where you don’t really commit to one strategy or another and thus stagnate in terms of progress.

Determining whether to bulk or cut depends on your body composition and fitness goals. In this article, you will learn which is right for you and the different ways of bulking and cutting.

Table of Contents

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• Bulking vs. Cutting: What’s the Difference?
• Should You Bulk or Cut?
• How Long Should I Spend Bulking and Cutting?
• Should I Cut or Bulk First?
• FAQ #1: How do you cut without losing muscle?
• FAQ #2: How do you gain muscle without getting fat?
• FAQ #3: Can I cut and bulk at the same time?
• FAQ #4: How do I transition from a cut to a bulk?
• FAQ #5: When should I stop bulking?

Bulking vs. Cutting: What’s the Difference?

Bulking refers to temporarily maintaining a moderate calorie surplus to increase body weight. 

Typically, people who are bulking optimize their macronutrient intake (the proportion of their calories that come from protein, carbs, and fat) and training to ensure that most of the weight they gain is muscle rather than fat (though some fat gain while bulking is inevitable).

Cutting refers to temporarily restricting your calorie intake to cause weight loss.

Typically, people who are cutting optimize their macronutrient intake and training to ensure that most of the weight they lose is fat, not muscle (though some muscle loss while cutting is inevitable). 

Should You Bulk or Cut?

How to Know If You Should Bulk

You should only bulk if you want to maximize muscle gain and you don’t mind gaining some fat.

(Yes, some people can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, but unless you’ve been weightlifting for less than about six months, you’re probably not one of them.)

So, assuming you’re okay with that, you should bulk if you’re a . . .

• Man at or below 10% body fat
• Woman at or below 20% body fat

Here’s a flowchart to illustrate this:

The reasons I recommend getting to a fairly low body fat percentage before bulking are:

• If you’re too fat when you start bulking, then you’re either going to have to cut your bulk short or wind up way too fat in the end. Start your bulks lean, though, and you’ll be able to stay in a surplus for much longer before having to cut, and this means more time spent gaining muscle.
• Getting lean before you start bulking makes for shorter post-bulk cuts because we have less fat to lose to get back to our ideal “maintenance bods.”

How to Know If You Should Cut

If you’re currently unhappy with your body fat percentage and you want to get lean before worrying about gaining a significant amount of muscle, then you want to cut.

There’s no reason to get fatter just to gain some muscle if that’s not your primary concern at this point. Do what’s going to keep you motivated.

Similarly, if you’re currently very overweight, then you want to cut. This is the healthiest and smartest choice, even if your long-term goal involves gaining muscle.

If you’re in the middle, however—if your body fat is in a normal range and you like the idea of having abs but also want to get bigger—then whether you should cut is dictated by your body fat percentage.

Specifically, you should cut if you’re a . . .

• Man with more than 15% body fat
• Woman with more than 25% body fat

If you prefer a visual, refer to the flowchart above. 

If you follow this recommendation, you’ll . . .

• Be happier with how you look because you’ll never “feel fat,” which helps you stick to your diet and training program. 
• Lose more fat and less muscle when you cut because you won’t have to heavily restrict your calories or cut for a prolonged period of time.

How Long Should I Spend Bulking and Cutting?

How long you spend bulking and cutting depends on the following:

• How much weight you want to gain or lose: If you want to gain a lot of muscle, you’ll need to stay in a surplus for longer than someone who only wants to add a few pounds of muscle to their frame.

Likewise, if you have a lot of fat to lose, you’ll need to stay in a deficit longer than someone who’s only looking to drop one or two body fat percentage points.

• How many years you’ve been training: The more experienced you are, the longer it takes to build muscle, and thus the longer you have to spend in a surplus to gain lean mass.

That said, a good rule of thumb is to spend at least 8-to-12 weeks bulking and use a bulking-to-cutting ratio of 3:1 (unless you’re very overweight, in which case you may need to spend considerably more time cutting than bulking until you reach a more healthy weight).

For example, if you spend 12 weeks bulking, you should spend the following 4 weeks cutting.

Keep in mind, though, that none of these figures are etched in stone and will likely change as you become more experienced with bulking and cutting.

Once you’re good at controlling your calorie intake and can easily maintain a healthy body fat percentage, you may prefer to shorten your cycles of cutting and bulking using mini cuts and bulks.

Should I Cut or Bulk First?

If you want to gain muscle and strength as quickly as possible and you’re at or below 10% (men) or 20% (women) body fat, then you should bulk.

And if you want to lose fat as quickly as possible and you’re at or above 15% (men) or 25% (women) body fat, then you should cut.

Although the process of bulking and cutting is the same regardless of your training experience, you’ll be able to build more muscle while cutting when you’re new to weightlifting than you will after your first six months, and this effect will all but disappear after your first year of weightlifting.

This is because your body is hyper-responsive to the muscle-building effects of resistance training, which allows you to gain muscle even when you’re in a calorie deficit.

This “newbie gains” phase generally lasts 6-to-8 months for most people, after which you’ll have to alternate between cycles of cutting and bulking depending on whether you want to lose or gain weight.

FAQ #1: How do you cut without losing muscle?

1. Use an aggressive calorie deficit.

Set your calorie deficit at 20-to-25% (eat 20-to-25% fewer calories than you burn every day). This is enough to lose fat lickety-split without losing muscle or wrestling with excessive hunger, lethargy, and the other hobgoblins of low-calorie dieting.

(And if you’d like even more specific advice about how many calories, how much of each macronutrient, and which foods you should eat to reach your goals, take the Legion Diet Quiz.)

[Read More: How Many Calories Should I Eat?]

2. Eat a high-protein diet.

To lose fat as quickly as possible, aim to eat 1-to-1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.

And if you’re very overweight (25%+ body fat in men and 30%+ in women), this can be reduced to around 40% of your total daily calories.

[Read More: How Much Protein Do I Need? The Definitive (and Science-Based) Answer]

3. Do a lot of heavy compound weightlifting.

Lifting weights helps you maintain muscle and lose fat. To maximize these benefits, do the following:

• Lift weights 3-to-5 times weekly.
• Prioritize compound exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press.
• Train with 75-to-85% of your one-rep max (weights that you can do 4-to-10 reps with before failing).
• Strive to add weight or reps to every exercise in every workout (also known as progressive overload).

[Read More: The 12 Best Science-Based Strength Training Programs for Gaining Muscle and Strength]

4. Do a moderate amount of cardio.

The best way to include cardio in a weight loss regimen is to do as little as needed to reach your desired rate of weight loss and stay fit and happy, and no more. 

Here’s what typically works best: 

• Do at least two low- to moderate-intensity cardio workouts per week of 20-to-60 minutes each. 
• Do one HIIT workout weekly if you enjoy it.
• Limit total cardio to 2-to-3 hours weekly.
• Do your cardio and weightlifting on separate days if possible, and if you have to do them on the same day, lift weights first and try to separate the two workouts by at least 6 hours.

5. Take fat loss supplements that actually work.

The best supplements to help you cut without losing muscle are:

• Protein powder: Protein powder, such as whey or casein, provides your body with the nutrients needed to maintain muscle tissue and recover from workouts.
• Caffeine: Taking 3-to-6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight per day raises the number of calories you burn and increases strength, muscle endurance, and anaerobic performance. For a clean, delicious source of caffeine, try Pulse.
• Yohimbine: Taking 0.1-to-0.2 milligrams of yohimbine per kilogram of body weight before fasted training increases fat loss and is particularly helpful with losing “stubborn” fat. For a 100% natural source of yohimbine, try Forge.
• Phoenix Fat Burner: Phoenix speeds up your metabolism, enhances fat burning, and reduces hunger and cravings. You can also get Phoenix with caffeine or without.

(And if you’d like to know exactly what other supplements you should take to reach any and all of your fitness goals, take the Legion Supplement Finder Quiz.)

FAQ #2: How do you gain muscle without getting fat?

1. Eat slightly more calories than you burn.

Research shows that the sweet spot for maximizing muscle gain while minimizing fat gain is somewhere around 105-to-110% of your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Eating more than this won’t help you build muscle faster, it’ll only cause you to gain more fat.

2. Eat the right balance of macros.

Here’s what works for most people:

• Protein: Eating 0.8-to-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day is enough to maximize muscle growth. That said, eating more  (1.5-to-2 grams per pound) may help minimize fat gain. This usually works out to around 20-to-30% of calories for most people.
• Fat: Getting 20-to-30% of your calories from fat is enough to optimize health and add flavor to your meals while leaving plenty of room for protein and carbs. 
• Carbs: Get the rest of your calories (~40-to-60%) from carbs.

(Again, if you feel confused about how many calories, how much of each macronutrient, and which foods you should eat to reach your goals, take the Legion Diet Quiz to learn exactly what diet is right for you.)

3. Don’t eat too much.

Gorging a couple of days per week will help you bulk up fast, but you’ll gain fat at double or even triple the normal rate.

Don’t do this. Instead, learn how to “cheat” intelligently and control your calories while bulking the same way you would while cutting. 

4. Emphasize compound weightlifting and progressive overload.

To maximize the muscle- and strength-building effects of weightlifting, do the following:

• Lift weights 3-to-5 times weekly.
• Prioritize compound exercises.
• Train with 75-to-85% of your one-rep max.
• Focus on progressive overload.

5. Take the right supplements.

The best supplements for building muscle are:

• Protein powder: Protein powder, such as whey or casein, provides your body with the nutrients needed to build muscle tissue and recover from workouts.
• Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and strength gain, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle damage and soreness from your workouts.
• Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances energy, mood, and focus, increases strength and endurance, and reduces fatigue.

(Again, if you feel confused about what supplements you should take to reach your goals, take the Legion Supplement Finder Quiz to learn exactly what supplements are right for you.)

FAQ #3: Can I cut and bulk at the same time?

No. Physiologically speaking, fat loss and muscle growth have “irreconcilable differences.” Their mutual incompatibility stems from their relationship to the body’s energy balance.

That said, it is possible to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously—or achieve body recomposition—when you’re new to weightlifting.

In your first year of weightlifting alone you can expect to gain anywhere from 15-to-25 pounds of muscle as a guy and about half that as a woman, a phenomenon known as “newbie gains.” 

And in most cases, you can pull this off while gaining very little body fat or even losing fat—thus achieving “recomp.” 

Once the honeymoon phase is over, though, your goal will be to lose fat and not muscle while in a calorie deficit and to gain muscle with minimal fat while in a calorie surplus.

FAQ #4: How do I transition from a cut to a bulk?

For long-term success, it’s best to increase your calories to a maintenance level for a few weeks before moving into a surplus. 

This isn’t to fix “metabolic damage” caused by cutting (dieting doesn’t harm your metabolism). While your metabolism can slow while dieting, this is normal and quickly reverses once you start eating more.

The real reason for a maintenance period between cutting and lean bulking is to avoid overeating, which can lead to unwanted fat gain. After dieting and losing body fat, hunger and cravings can increase, especially if you’re very lean. This, combined with a sudden increase in food intake, can lead to overeating.

By transitioning from cutting to maintenance for a few weeks before lean gaining, you can control your appetite better and maintain your new body composition, setting yourself up for a successful muscle-building phase.

FAQ #5: When should I stop bulking?

Stop bulking when you’ve gained enough muscle or you’re no longer happy with your body fat percentage (because it’s too high). While these points are different for everyone, men typically stop bulking when they exceed 15% body fat, and women might do so when they reach 25% body fat.