How to Know If You Should Cut (Lose Fat) or Bulk (Build Muscle) First?

October 17, 2019

What is Cutting & Bulking?

You’ve surely heard these terms before, cut and bulk, after all, they’re used interchangeably with lose fat or build muscle.

However, ‘cutting’ and ‘bulking’ often refer to set periods of time where you focus exclusively on one goal, fat loss or muscle building;

Cutting: a period of time exclusively dedicated to losing fat
Bulking: a period of time exclusively dedicated to building muscle

These periods of ‘cutting’ and ‘bulking’ are often done in a cycle with fat loss being the primary goals for a number of week or months, followed by a number of weeks or months where muscle building is the goal.

Generally speaking, there is no real need to use ‘bulking’ or ‘cutting’ as the terms fat loss and muscle building accurately describe your goals…cutting and bulking, not so much.

Should You Lose Fat (Cut) or Build Muscle (Bulk) First?

Deciding whether to cut or bulk first, primarily comes down to knowing what will keep you motivated.

Trying to lose fat if you really want to build muscle is going to see you struggle. This means your primary motivation or desire should be your guide.

However, having said this you also need to consider your current weight and level of body fat when making your decision as there are favourable conditions for both fat loss and muscle building.

Guidelines for deciding whether to lose fat or build muscle first are;

15%+ Body Fat (25%+ for Women): it’s at this point that you begin to stop being able to see your abs and you lose the benefits of muscle building when lean, for these reasons and more (see below) this is generally the upper limit for building muscle. If this describes you then you want to focus on losing fat first.
Sub 10 – 12% Body Fat (15 – 17% for Women): at this point you should be able to see all or most of your abs the majority of the time and are primed to build muscle, for these reasons and more this is typically the optimal starting point for building muscle. If this describes you then you want to focus on muscle building first.

You can push these boundaries a little each way depending on how you look and feel. However, for the most part, you’ll do best sticking to these guidelines.

If at this point, you’re wondering why I recommend these guidelines, let me tell you.

It’s Easier to Build Muscle When You’re Lean

This is because of something called calorie partitioning, which is a fancy way of saying how your body uses the calories you eat for i.e. building muscle or storing fat.

Your ability to do this efficiently is the reason why some people will lose more muscle mass when dieting or gain more fat when building muscle.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a huge amount you can do about calorie partitioning as a lot of it is down to your genetics, however, one thing that does have an impact is your body fat percentage.

The lower your body fat percentage the more likely excess calories will be used to build muscle instead of storing fat. This means getting to approximately 10% body fat before you start building muscle will allow you to add more muscle and less fat to your frame.

This is for 2 primary reasons;

Insulin Sensitivity: as your body fat percentage goes up, your insulin sensitivity drops. (1) Insulin is a hormone in your body that helps with distribute nutrients to the cells in your body, as your body becomes more insulin resistant and less insulin sensitive you burn less fat, become more likely to gain weight and protein synthesis (muscle building) is negatively impacted. (2, 3, 4) The more insulin sensitive you are the easier you’ll build muscle and the less likely you’ll be to gain fat. Starting to build muscle from a lower body fat percentage helps you do this.
Testosterone: as you gain weight your testosterone levels drop, and oestrogen levels increase. (5) Testosterone is vital as it’s a vital component for muscle building, high levels of oestrogen on the other hand increase fat storage.

This is why it’s so important to start building muscle from a low body fat percentage if you want to maximise your gains.

#1: You Can Maintain A Good Physique All Year Round

Pretty straight forward this one. By not swinging between extremes, losing a lot of weight and gaining a lot of weight, you can maintain a good body all year round. This is not only beneficial for calorie partitioning benefits, but it also means you’ll look and feel good all year round too.

You won’t have to buy new clothes every time you go through a big ‘bulking’ period only to ditch them when you drop all the weight. It also means you won’t go through periods of feeling big and fluffy with no definition. Instead, you’ll look pretty lean all the time.

By staying between 10 – 15% body fat you keep things simple, straight forward and efficient.

#2: You Can See What You’re Working With

Another benefit of losing fat and building muscle between the 10 – 15% body fat range is that you can see what you’re working with.

By this I mean, you can see more clearly how much muscle you’re adding to your frame, which gives you a better idea of how you’ll look when you drop the excess fat.

If you were to pile on the pounds in an old school ‘eat as much as you can’ bulk you’d have no idea how much muscle you’ve built and would have to spend months losing all the extra fat for not much in return.

By staying pretty lean you can see the increase in muscle definition, get leaner quicker and benefit from looking good all the time.

#3: Fat Loss Becomes More Manageable

What typically happens when you use your typical bulking and cutting protocol is you gain a load of weight hoping that some of it is muscle, only to then spend months in an extended ‘cut’ to lose all the excess weight you gained.

This prolonged calorie deficit eventually becomes a grind as weight loss slows down and hunger ramps up. Next thing you know, you’re putting the weight back on having given up on your fat loss goals. Not ideal right?!

However, when you work within the 10 – 15% body fat range you skip this step by keeping both the fat loss and muscle building phases to a manageable time length.

By minimising the amount of fat, you gain when building muscle (more on this soon) you reduce the amount of subsequent time you need to spend in a fat loss phase, making fat loss more manageable. There’s less or no swing between extremes as you’re using set checkpoints for your progress. It’s a win, win really.

Using this information, you should now know whether to lose fat (cut) or build muscle (bulk) first. The next step is how to do it, what you should and shouldn’t do to get the best results.

What Not to Do When Cutting to Lose Fat

When it comes to fat loss there are a few things you really do not want to do. Namely, lose weight too quickly, do too much cardio and perform high rep ‘toning’ workouts.

#1: Lose Weight Too Quickly

Creating a big calorie deficit to lose weight quickly is the worst possible thing you can do when it comes to fat loss.

Rapid weight loss, also known as crash dieting, is a sure-fire way to run yourself into the ground mentally and physically. Not only will you lose fat, but you’ll lose muscle and strength too. Not to mention your cravings and hunger will be through the roof.

#2: Do Lots of Cardio

Ramping up your cardio when trying to lose weight brings on the same problems as crash dieting.

This is because all the additional cardio not only increases the size of your calorie deficit which impacts performance and in time your ability to maintain muscle mass and strength, but it also increases your recovery needs beyond what your body is capable of handling.

#3: Perform High Rep Toning Workouts

When trying to lose weight your number one goal should be the retention of your muscle mass, as it is this combined with steady body fat loss that will give you the lean look you desire.

Key to being able to maintain your muscle mass is your strength. This means you want to focused on performing low to moderate rep workouts with a focus on compound movements, as this will signal to your body that it needs to hold onto your muscle even as you lose weight.

Exactly How to Cut & Lose Fat

To effectively and efficiently lose fat without sacrificing your muscle you only really want to do these 3 things;

Set a moderate calorie deficit: take your body weight in lbs and multiply it by 12 to get your daily calorie needs for weight loss. See exactly how to calculate your calories and macros here
Eat enough protein: protein is an important part of your diet when losing fat for its ability to help you maintain muscle mass when in a calorie deficit. I wrote a blog detailing exactly how much protein you need here
Strength train regularly: strength training is the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to ‘cutting’ weight and maintaining muscle. This is because it’s by strength training regularly and applying progressive overload that tells your body to hold onto your muscle. Learn more about how to do this here

What Not to Do When Bulking to Build Muscle

As for building muscle there is one mistake you need to avoid, if you can do this then things become infinitely easier.

Gaining Weight Quickly

Gaining weight as quickly as possible is a remnant of the old school muscle building philosophy. It comes from a time when the strategy for gaining size was ‘eat big to get big’.

All that happens when you do this is you built a little bit of muscle, gain a lot of fat and none of your clothes fit. The bigger you get the less efficient your body is at building muscle, the more your testosterone goes down and the more likely you are to gain fat.

Not a good place to be if you want to build a lean, muscular body. Remember, weight gain can happen quickly, but muscle building cannot.

Exactly How to Bulk & Gain Muscle

When it comes to gaining muscle without excess fat there is really only one way to do it.

The Lean Bulk

Lean bulking is the name given to the process of reducing your body fat to 10 – 12% (15 – 17% for women) before you start building muscle.

As we touched on earlier in this article this is for several reasons;

It’s easier to build muscle when you’re lean: as you gain fat your testosterone levels decrease and your ability to store fat increases. By being lean first you improve your ability to build muscle
You can maintain a good physique all year round: traditional cycles of bulking and cutting leave you big and bloated for a good portion of the year as you’d try to gain as much weight as possible. By lean bulking, you’re able to maintain a good physique all year round
You can see what you’re working with: by stopping when you reach 15% body fat you’re able to get a clearer idea of how much muscle you’ve built and what your body will look like once you’ve lost the fat
Fat loss becomes more manageable: when lean bulking you not only gain less weight but more of the weight you do gain is muscle which makes switching back to fat loss and losing any excess fat quicker, easier and more manageable

Getting it done is really quite simple.

How to Lean Bulk

Calculate a small calorie surplus: you don’t need many extra calories to support muscle growth, as little as 200 – 300 is enough. Take your body weight in lbs and multiply it by 16 for your daily calorie needs. See exactly how to calculate your calories and macros here
Get enough protein: protein is vital for muscle repair and growth when bulking. Getting 1g per lb of body weight is a good place to start if you’re not sure how much you need. I wrote a blog detailing exactly how much protein you need here
Stick within the 10 – 15% body fat range: this is the crux of a lean bulk, staying between this body fat % window is what makes it work. Now this isn’t exact and if you want to get a little leaner or gain a little extra weight then you can but working within a bracket keeps you on track
Strength train regularly: not only training regularly but applying progressive overload is fundamental to your ability to build lean muscle mass. This means you want to make sure you’re making progress in every session. Learn how to do this here

If you can follow these guidelines, you’ll see fantastic results.

Can You Lose Fat & Build Muscle at the Same Time?

Invariably when talking about whether to lose fat or build muscle first, the question of whether you can just do both at the same time crops up.

The answer is yes and no.

Confusing I know, so let me explain how this can be the case. You see, there are some circumstances where you can absolutely build muscle and lose fat at the same time and it makes sense to do so. These circumstances are;

#1: Beginners

When you’re a beginner, someone who has not weight trained before or not lifted weights consistently whilst applying progressive overload then it is possible for you to build muscle whilst losing fat.

This effect is often referred to as ‘newbie gains’ and it describes the period, often the first 6 months of proper training, where you can see a rapid increase in muscle and strength gained whilst losing fat.

These gains occur because the body is hyperresponsive to the stimulus of proper weightlifting in untrained individuals. However, as you adjust to proper training these effects diminish.

#2: Detrained Lifters

If you’ve taken some time off from lifting due to injury, illness or simply being too busy then in some circumstances you too will be able to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

This is because of muscle memory, so in effect what is happening is that you’re gaining back the muscle you lost during your time off whilst also losing fat. This means it’s a lot easier to regain your physique after some time out than it is to build it in the first place.

This allows you to get back to where you were before your time out much quicker and without having to focus individually on fat lose then muscle building.

#3: Drug Users

No need to say much here other than taking drugs like steroids allow your body to do things that it normally would not be able to do.

However, outside of these circumstances and for most other people it doesn’t make sense to try and lose fat whilst building muscle at the same time. Your results will be slower and generally not worth it when compared to spending time focusing on a single goal.

Takeaway Point

When it comes to deciding whether to build muscle or lose fat first there a number of things you need to consider, most important of which is your body fat percentage.

Using your body fat percentage, you can figure out whether you should focus on fat loss or muscle building first with my recommended guidelines being;

If you’re at approximately 15% Body Fat (25% for Women) or more then you want to focus on getting lean first
If you’re at approximately 10 – 12% Body Fat (15 – 17% for Women) or less, then you want to focus on building muscle first

As for whether you can do both at the same time, for most people, it’s not worth your time or effort. However, there are a few situations in which you can;

Beginners who are new to lifting weights or having never lifted weights properly focusing on compound movements and progressive overload
Those who are coming back from a long layoff due to injury, illness or being busy
Anyone using performance-enhancing drugs like steroids which allow your body to do things it normally would not be able to do

This being said, for most guy goers you’re better off picking a goal and sticking to it.

Should You Cut or Bulk?