How to Cut After Bulking: A Diet and Workout Plan

To cut after bulking, you need a plan and the discipline to follow it. From time intervals for eating and macronutrient ratios to workout intensity and duration, every detail matters. If you do it right, you'll not only lose fat but also make your muscles stand out and feel good.

Contrary to popular belief, cutting doesn't involve crash dieting or starvation. Instead, it requires a gradual reduction in energy intake and a slightly different approach to exercise.

Pro athletes and fitness competitors go through bulking and cutting phases year-round. Essentially, these pros bulk, putting on weight in order to build muscle, and then cut, losing the extra fat to look lean and muscular.

Hypertrophy — or muscle growth — requires a caloric surplus, meaning that your energy intake must exceed your energy expenditure. Some fat gain is inevitable when bulking up. However, beginners may be able to gain muscle mass and strength without increasing their calorie intake.

Fat loss, by contrast, requires a caloric deficit, meaning you need to burn more calories than you eat, which allows you to shed fat and improve muscle definition. At this point, it's important to reduce your calorie intake, adjust your macros and engage in high-intensity workouts. When cutting, you want to lose fat and preserve as much lean mass as possible.

Calculating calories for bulking and cutting and making a detailed plan is essential before beginning this fitness journey. You can't simply eat a ton of junk food to gain weight and then starve yourself to snap back into shape — that's a recipe for failure and will come with negative health effects.

The cutting phase of your fitness plan isn't about fad diets or skipping meals. This would lead to muscle loss and poor overall health. According to a 2018 study from the European Society of Cardiology, crash diets may impair heart function and damage the heart muscle in people with cardiovascular problems. While these plans promote fat loss, they may also lead to arrhythmias and exacerbate heart failure symptoms.

When you start cutting, it's recommended to gradually decrease your calorie intake and burn more energy through exercise. Maintain a high protein intake at all times so you can preserve lean mass and keep your metabolism up. Most important, clean up your diet and stick to whole, minimally processed foods.

First, determine how many calories you need to consume daily to lose weight. Reduce your daily calories slowly to prevent your body from entering starvation mode. Start by cutting 300 calories a day from your daily needs, track your progress for a week or two, and then adjust the number accordingly.

To tweak your workout routine for cutting, add cardio or throw in a 20-minute HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout to speed up fat loss. A 2014 review published in the Journal of Novel Physiotherapies suggests that HIIT may increase fat oxidation, reduce metabolic risk factors and improve body composition in people who are overweight or obese. Athletes, too, use this training method because it yields better results in less time ‌as‌ compared to steady-state cardio.

Depending on your fitness level, consider adding different types of weight training sets, like drop sets, pyramid sets, supersets or partials. These strategies can increase training volume and efficiency, according to a 2017 study published in Strength and Conditioning. In turn, these weight training sets allow you to quickly build mass. And when you're on a cutting diet, these training methods can make it easier to lose fat without losing muscle.

When you're cutting, eat clean to burn fat. Swap refined carbs and simple sugars for complex carbs. Veggies, sweet potatoes, wild rice, legumes and fresh fruits are all good choices. Get your daily protein from unprocessed lean meat, fish, eggs and low-fat dairy. Nuts, seeds, avocado and unrefined vegetable oils are all foods high in healthy fat.

Clean eating not only promotes fat loss but also gives your body a well-deserved break after bulking up. Processed foods put stress on your liver and negatively affect your overall health. According to a 2018 study featured in The BMJ, increasing the amount of ultra-processed foods in the diet by only 10 percent may elevate breast cancer risk by 11 percent and overall cancer risk by 12 percent. These products have also been linked to high blood pressure, obesity and dyslipidemia.

When you're cutting, it's easier to lose muscle and strength since you are consuming less calories. Most cutting diets are low in carbs, so you may not have as much energy and stamina as usual. One way to preserve lean muscle mass and reduce muscle breakdown is to increase your protein intake.

A 2016 clinical trial published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that consuming more protein than the recommended daily intake while in a calorie deficit helps preserve muscle, especially when combined with exercise. Low-calorie diets have been shown to cause a 20 to 30 percent decrease in lean body mass. Protein supplements combined with strength training helped dieters maintain lean mass during caloric restriction. Your muscles need a constant supply of protein to grow and recover from training

Wondering how much protein is right for you? Aim for at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight to reduce catabolism. Spread your protein intake evenly throughout the day by eating high-protein foods like lean meat, fish and eggs at every meal. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, fill up on tofu, green peas, lentils, beans and other plant-based protein sources. Protein shakes and low-carb protein bars can help you get your protein in, too.

Just because you're trying to shred fat doesn't mean you should cut out carbs. Meal timing is the key. Carbs replenish your glycogen stores, providing the energy you need for intense training. These nutrients are the body's main source of fuel.

But your body metabolizes carbs differently at different times of the day. The carbs consumed post-workout will have a different impact on body composition than those consumed before bedtime or on rest days. For example, you're using less energy late in the evening, so any carbs you eat are more likely to be stored as fat.

To lose fat, save your carbs for after your workouts. The carbs consumed immediately after exercise are unlikely to be converted into body fat. Instead, they'll replenish muscle glycogen stores‌,‌ leading to faster growth and recovery. For best results, consume about 40 grams of protein and no more than 60 grams of carbs after leaving the gym.

Along with protein, BCAAs are among the most popular sports supplements on the market. This acronym stands for branched-chain amino acids, three key nutrients that support muscle growth and repair.

Leucine, isoleucine and valine — the three BCAAs — help preserve lean mass and muscle performance during caloric restriction, according to a 2016 research article published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. These nutrients support muscle protein synthesis and accelerate recovery, delay fatigue and reduce catabolism aka muscle loss.

BCAA supplementation is even more important for those on a low-carb diet. These products allow you to work out harder and for longer, helping to maintain lean mass and recover faster from training. They may also help improve body composition, making it easier to get in shape after a bulk.