hey, so I’ve recently started getting into strength training. I used to favor cardio, but being that I have so much fat accumulated in my lower body that won’t tone with cardio alone, I’ve taken on lifting. I follow gym pages and people always refer to cutting and bulking. the changes are drastic and the same theme is seen throughout. they obtain the perfect lean yet toned body by going through those phases. could someone explain like I’m five what the purpose and difference is? and like anything else that should be known about it, pls?
In: Biology
Losing body fat (eg cutting) happens when you are in a caloric deficit. There are formulas that calculate your resting calorie burn rate (what your body would consume just laying in bed to stay alive) and formulas to calculate how many calories a given exercise burns. Gaining fat/muscle is called bulking and is when you lift weights and consume more calories than you burn. So if your resting metabolic rate is 2000 cal and you walk around throughout the day burning another 500 calories, you burned 2500 calories that day.
If you eat 2000 calories, you will lose some muscle and some fat as you are in a 500 calorie deficit (if you eat a lot of protein and lift weights, you will minimize some of this muscle loss).
If you eat 3000 calories, you will have a 500 calorie surplus that day. Again if you lift weights and eat a lot of protein, it’s more likely those calories will turn into more muscle than fat. This is bulking.
It is almost impossible to gain muscle while in a deficit so most people bulk to gain the muscle they want (while gaining some fat), then cut while working out like crazy to lose the fat (and some muscle).
BTW, 3500 calories is equal to a pound of fat so generally something like a 500 calorie deficit per day will result in losing a pound of fat per week and is a realistic deficit. You really can’t sustain large caloric deficits for a host of reasons. Shaping your body is not a sprint, but a marathon.
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