Short term bulk and cut cycles

Some say it's not possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
ie. You are either in an excess calorie state, or calorie deficit.
I don't know what is or isn't possible, but if it is not possible, or if it's too difficult to balance perfectly to be possible.

How short can a bulk and cut cycle be, to be effective?
1 month, 1 week, 1 day?

Any how/why would a weekly bulk/cut cycle differ to a monthly bulk/cut cycle?

Wouldn't the shortest, effective bulk/cut cycle be the most desired, as you won't have such large swings in body composition?
Could stay at a lower body fat level for the whole process?

What's the answer to this?

i have always wondered this.

A 6-8 week 'cycle' is/should be the bare minimum length of time you spend doing either a 'bulk' or 'cut' any less you will simply be 'spinning your wheels' as hormonal and physical adaptations for either will only just be reaching optimal levels. That is especially true for muscle growth.

Body composition is determined by long term (month to month and year to year) macronutreint intake and the appropriate physiological stimulation not a day to day or even week to week changes

The Hulk said:

Some say it's not possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
ie. You are either in an excess calorie state, or calorie deficit.
I don't know what is or isn't possible, but if it is not possible, or if it's too difficult to balance perfectly to be possible.

How short can a bulk and cut cycle be, to be effective?
1 month, 1 week, 1 day?

Wouldn't the shortest, effective bulk/cut cycle be the most desired, as you won't have such large swings in body composition?
Could stay at a lower body fat level for the whole process?

What's the answer to this?

Click to expand...

I would say it is possible and you can eat over maintenance (gain muscle) one day and eat under maintenance (lose fat) the next, but it is a much more difficult process than simply doing longer bulk and cut cycles. And often ends up taking longer to get you where you want to be.

bro said:

I would say it is possible and you can eat over maintenance (gain muscle) one day and eat under maintenance (lose fat) the next, but it is a much more difficult process than simply doing longer bulk and cut cycles. And often ends up taking longer to get you where you want to be.

Click to expand...

Considering most hormonal responses to different macronutrient and adaptations take longer than a day, that would be just silly and a complete waste of time. Get achieve considerable results 1 day make NO DIFFERENCE.

Take for instance, the U.D2 that Lyle has put together that is 2-3 days of below maintenance (~20%) calories, then 2 days at maintenance then 2 days of above maintenance (~10%). I have the up-most respect for Lyle but, doesn't that just sound like a whole lot of unnecessary micromanagement?

Achieving maximum hypertrophy and maximum fat loss requires time in an overall either calorie surplus or deficit. You can still maintain muscle when you are losing fat and you can (but it is much more difficult that previous) limit fat gain while gaining muscle. The more conditioned or the longer you have been training for the more difficult the latter is! But both require the appropriate calorie intake.