Cutting vs. Bulking: How to Plan Your Next Phase for Maximum Results

Let’s talk about one of fitness’ biggest love/hate debates: cutting vs. bulking.

It’s like asking whether you want a six-pack or a bigger chest. Or whether you want to look good in a T-shirt or a hoodie. Both phases have their place, but how you approach them makes all the difference.

So, before you jump headfirst into chicken and rice or start tracking every almond like it’s contraband, let’s get into how to plan your next phase properly.

Prefer to watch than read? Then please check out the video below:

What is Bulking & Cutting Anyway?

Bulking: Eating in a controlled calorie surplus to gain muscle (with the odd bit of fluff).
Cutting: Eating in a calorie deficit to lose fat while preserving the gains you grafted for.

Bulking: Feed the Machine

Eat Smart (Not Like You’re on Man vs Food)

Yes, you need a calorie surplus, but that doesn’t mean inhaling five Domino’s pizzas because “it’s bulking season, bro.”
Aim for a surplus of 5 to 20% above your maintenance calories. Keeping to the lower end of that percentage, so maybe a 5–10% surplus, helps to minimise fat accumulation while bulking. You’ll want to eat more of everything; protein, carbs and fats. Though, once your protein needs are met and you’re getting in your 1.6 grams of protein per kg of your body weight, the majority of the additional calories will want to come from carbs.

Train Like You Mean It

Time to hit the big lifts: squats, deadlifts, presses, rows. Go for 6–12 reps per set, and prioritise progressive overload. Basically, try to lift a bit more each week without exploding.

Realistic Expectations: How Fast Can You Bulk Up?

This part’s important. Set realistic goals, or you’ll end up disappointed and 10kg heavier with nothing but regret and an extra chin.

Beginners

New to lifting? You’re in the golden era of “newbie gains.”
Aim for 1–2% increase in body weight per month.
If you're 70kg, that’s around 0.7kg to 1.4kg of lean mass per month. Which means it’s possible to go from 70kg to 80kg in just one year. 10kg of gains in a year would be a monumental achievement!

Intermediates

After year one, things slow down a bit. Aim for 0.5–1% increase in your body weight per month.
Still solid progress, but not quite the magic it once was.

Advanced Lifters

Been lifting since the dawn of time? Then you know the struggle.
You’ll likely see 0.25–0.5% increase in your body weight per month, and even then, some months feel like nothing’s happening.
Personally, after nearly two decades of lifting, I’m happy if I gain 1kg of actual muscle in a whole year. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles for us natural athletes!

Cutting: The Big Reveal

Create a Calorie Deficit

You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn. But don’t starve yourself.
Aim for a 500-calorie deficit per day, max. Anything more extreme and your lifts (and sanity) will start to suffer.

Keep the Weights In

Don’t be tempted to ditch strength training for hours of cardio.
Lifting while cutting = muscle retention. You might not PB every week, but keeping those gains is the name of the game.

Cardio: Use It, Don’t Abuse It

Cardio’s great, but don’t start running marathons if your goal is to look lean and muscular. A few moderate sessions per week can help with fat loss, but weights come first.

When to Switch: Cut or Bulk?

This one trips people up.

If you can see your abs or are just relatively lean (men <15%, women <25% body fat), you're in prime bulking territory.
If you’re feeling a bit fluffy, it’s probably time to cut back before bulking again.

A good rule of thumb:
Bulk until you’re pushing around 15% body fat for men or 25% for women, then cut.
Cut until you're lean enough that bulking again won’t just make you look... soft. Don’t take the bulk too far! If you take the bulk too far, it will make it much harder to cut as extra fat is not always just from bigger fat cells, but can also form new fat cells if your current fat cells max out. It’s uncommon with sensible bulking, but it can happen in uncontrolled bulking. More fat cells will make it much harder to get lean, and even harder to stay lean, as you have more fat cells driving a desire to be moderately full and consequently increasing hunger. Personally, I like to play it safe with myself and my clients and keep body fat low(ish) when bulking. If we started gaining body fat, we can do a quick mini-cut.

The Takeaway: Play the Long Game

Be smart. Set goals. Adjust as you go. And for the love of creatine, give it time.

Your friend might brag about gaining 4kg in a month… but if most of that’s fat? Which it will be, it’s not exactly a flex.

Real gains are slow, consistent, and earned – one rep, one meal, one phase at a time.

Think about it, you gained 4kg in a month, so 1kg per week, you would be 52kg heavier in a year, and gaining 52kg of lean muscle would put you among the most jacked guys in the world. I pride myself on getting people quick results, but some things just aren’t on the cards.

When bulking, take pride in just steady increases, and it’ll translate to some serious gains over time.