How does bulking and cutting work? Won't you lose muscle when you cut?
Bulking involves following a lifting routine and eating a caloric surplus and enough protein to build muscle. This typically has a side effect of increasing your body fat percentage as well.Once you decide to start cutting, you’ll follow a similar lifting routine. You won’t be adding weights, but still lift enough to stimulate muscle growth. You will be at a caloric deficit, but still eat enough protein to maintain your current muscle. Your weight loss will target fat instead of muscle.If you decide to cut with no exercise or stick to pure cardio, then yes you will lose most of the muscle you built during bulking.
Cutting and Bulking Phase?
No matter what your going to put on some fat while bulking, but don't worry about it. Bulking is when you have to try to put on as much muscle mass as possible. If you get to nervous about gaining fat your not gonna end out eating enough and be unable to take advantage of your bulk. Just eat as clean as possible and you won't but not that much fat. While cutting make sure your training hard in the gym. Use heavy weight to force your body to hold onto the muscle. Lower your volume though, you wont have as much energy when your on a caloric deficit. Eat healthy. Make sure you have at least a little time between the bulking and cutting cycles to let your body get use to your new bodyweight before cutting down. Good luck!
How to cut without losing muscle mass?
Cardio will always grab any source of energy even muscle just lift a little more and check your progress
Is it normal to gain fat during bulking phase?
Completely normal. I've gained 8kg of muscle in 12 months and i've put on 12 kg in weight. Which basically means i've put on 4kg of fat. You cannot build muscle on a calorie deficit, muscle can only be built on a calorie surplus. Dont get me wrong, there are times when there are exceptions and people put on muscle and lose weight, however this is rare (and sometimes only happens in the beginning stages). If you think about it, fat loss is calorie deficit and muscle gain requires calorie surplus therefore to achieve both simultaneously is not logically possible. It's okay to put on *some* fat, as long as it's measured, you know what you are doing and you have an agenda to go on a cut so you can rebuild form there.
What is the best way for an ectomorph to cut, after the bulking phase?
I’m an ectomorph as well and I speak from experience after having bulked AND then cut.The overarching principles of cutting are still the same:Calorie DeficitAdequate ProteinHard & Intense TrainingIt’s the subtle things that make the difference for an ecto.Calorie DeficitThe calorie deficit should be gradual, not sudden - so anything north of 500 calorie deficit per day is asking for trouble. Ideally you want to slow-cut, so you can maximize fat loss while minimzing muscle loss. To do this, you need a small calorie deficit, and therefore plenty of time. 12 week cuts are OK but 16–20 week cuts are better, because your deficit can be slower. Longer cuts also allow you to take ‘diet breaks’ in between, maybe every 6–7 weeks - where you eat at maintenance for 1 week, just to reset hormonal balance and prevent stallsAdequate ProteinEveryone loses muscle on a cut, but ectos can lose even more as the body looks to shed weight. So making sure you’re eating enough protein, perhaps even an aggressive amount of between 1g and 1.2g per pound of body weight - will help in muscle protein turnover. You want to consume enough protein to replace the muscle tissue that will inevitably be lost during the cutHard & Intense TrainingAs some others have answered here - your training routine should be EXACTLY the same as what you did while bulking. The whole ‘low reps to bulk, high reps to cut’ myth is a huge fallacy. You need to stimulate your body to retain and grow as much muscle as possible, even while cutting, and so you want to make sure that your training supports strength and hypertrophyA note on CardioAs you get deeper into the cut, the ability of the body to recover is severely hampered. This has a direct impact on muscle mass loss. So make sure your cardio is nice and slow, LISS cardio like incline walks on the treadmill or brisk walking are best. You need to avoid HIIT cardio while cutting, especially as an ecto as you will lose muscle mass AND you will hamper your strength gains too.And just to prove that I’m speaking from experience, read my article where I outline exactly what is needed to go from bulk to cut as an ecto.How does an ectomorph go from bulking to cutting?Good luck.