Bulk and cut nutritional plan

Sep - Dec: Bulking
Jan - Feb: Maintenance

Starting stats

BMR: 1787 kcal
TDEE (moderately active): ≈ 2771.6 kcal/day

Bulking phase

Starting caloric surplus: ≈ 500 kcal
Total calories: ≈ 3250 kcal/day
Protein: 160 g/day

Targets

• Weight: 0,3 - 0,5kg / week
• Measurements: Increase in muscles and waist, but not disproportionate in waist.

Monitoring progress

• Gym performance: am I steadily increasing weights and reps? If not, INCREASE carbs or 200kcal
• Energy levels: do I feel too exhausted or lethargic, or do I have a good amount of energy during and after workouts? If not, INCREASE carbs.
• Body weight: weigh twice a week; does weight increase by 0.5kg a week? If 0.4 or less, INCREASE by 100kcal. If over 0.6kg, DECREASE by 100kcal
• Muscle size: measure every 2nd week, does the size of chest, arms, butt, and thighs increase? If not, INCREASE by 200kcal
• Waist size: measure every 2nd week, does waist size increase disproportionately to muscle size, or more than 1cm/month? If yes, DECREASE by 200kcal
• Evaluate every three/four weeks.
• NO PROGRESS: If weight increases less than 0.3kg a week, muscles are the same size or smaller, performance is same, increase calories by 200 kcal.
• If waist size increases more than 1cm/month, weight increases more than 0.5-0.7kg/week reduce by 100-200 kcal.

Notes

• Bulking for more than 12-14 weeks, the body makes metabolic adjustments (i.e. insulin resistance), so muscle gain minimizes while fat gain increases. Jumping straight to cutting might involve losing a lot of muscle. Hence: maintenance phase.

Maintenance: 2750 kcal

Bulking calories

How much weight should I gain each week? To get muscular, but not to add too much fat.

If weight stays within 0,5 (0.4kg) - 1% (0.8kg) of BW, add 10% more kcal. If gained 1% (0.8kg) of BW, keep kcal as they are.

Your overall bulking goal should be to gain 0.25 (0.2kg) - 0.50% (0.4kg) of your body weight each week.

If not meeting goal, add 10% more kcal.

Bulking progression

Can add 1–1½lbs (0,5kg) of lean muscle per month (?).

Measure muscles to see if they are getting bigger. If not, increase kcal.

Measure waist to see if belly is getting bigger. If it is, reduce kcal.

Bulking to cutting

• Bulking phase: 10-14 weeks (Sep-Dec) // after this, muscle gain is limited and body starts to add more fat due to insulin sensitivity
• Maintenance phase (Dec-Jan): 4-6 weeks // reset to help body start improving insulin sensitivity, will lose muscle mass if going straight to dieting
• Dieting (Feb-Apr):