minis and semis

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bluejacket

New Member
i have to ask a question  of some of the "long time" HSTers. ive been noticing lately a number of posts or threads concerning mini cuts and semi bulks (clean) and they usually are from members who post often, have been around a while and seem to know quite a bit.

are you guys finding good results with these brief cutting periods or what seem like looong bulking plans?

this is a serious question not a dubious one.

my personal exper. has never yielded noticable results when trying mini or semi anything pertaining to lifting. now ive never been mistaken for someone who naturally fits into the lifting/bb world, more like running or swimming but thats not where my interests lie.

now ive lifted for many yrs (hst the last 3+) on good and bad prog. and with good/bad diets but have found only moving in one direction (bulk or cut) with 100% focused effort has produced results for me. now im not talking about massive cals and 3-5lbs a week bulking nor a 4-8 month cutting diet either. im talking consistent lb a week type bulk (during cycle) for many months to a few yrs that is slowly adding good muscle to my frame without too much fat. even at this rate i feel im still a good yr from being a good size to cut from.

i guess my question is are you guys really seeing noticable fat loss during these mini cuts or any noticable muscle gains on these semi (clean) bulks? with as fragile/changeable ones self opinion can be id be afraid i couldnt notice a 2-3% bf drop or a 3-5lb gain (in 2-3 months) and would feel like id spent the past few months working hard but not really moving in any one direction.

im not trying to "call anyone out" im just trying to understand how the minis and semis fit into your big plan.....you know where you see yourself in 3 to 5 yrs etc.
 
In my opinion and experience, minicuts only work if you are on drugs - clen, dnp, steroids, whatever. I did a psmf last year while on winstrol and had amazing results in a short period of time. If I had done that without drugs... yeah, wouldn't have worked.
 
I think it's individual. There are some guys who ancdotally have had a good year doing it, to keep fat at bay. I haven't seen any scientific double-blinded, control group studies done on weightlifting athletes, but if one comes along, I'll read it.
 
"Mini" cuts do work very well if you are doing cardio and a very low carb diet with no cheats...or as already posted, using assistance.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that cutting should be done slowly over a period of 3 or even 4 months with "clean" bulking being done the rest of the time.

Hell, my first cut was over 2 years long, I took my time, burned off the fat and even managed to add some muscle simultaneously, but as my body fat got farther away from 60% and closer to 10% it became much more difficult to add muscle and cut at the same time.

Right now, I'm doing a clean bulk all the way through to spring and having trouble gaining. The first 30lbs came easy, now it's very slow and time to gradually up the cals again.
 
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(vagrant @ Nov. 16 2006,16:23)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Right now, I'm doing a clean bulk all the way through to spring and having trouble gaining.  The first 30lbs came easy, now it's very slow and time to gradually up the cals again.</div>
this is similar to what im talking about. my exper. has shown when going back up (post cut) its not terribly hard to gain, regardless of clean or not b/c this is ground already covered. youve been this size before, eaten as many meals and cals etc. so your just simply re-achieving (hopefully a better composition) a size you had before.

its the breaking new ground that is so tough. the same rules/principles apply of lifting hard and eating enough to gain about 1lb a week but there is always a point where more cals or an extra meal is req. each day (more than youve ever eaten). each added bit seems so hard (when added to an already busy lifestyle) b/c youve never been here before.

anyway, to make along post longer and get back to my orig. question. both bulking and cutting take signif. effort to &quot;get going&quot; in one direction or another i wonder at the effectivness of multiple cut/bulk cycles in a yr vs just keeping the momentum going (which ever direction) toward your goals.

vagrant, obviously your in a bit of a diff. catagory coming down from 60% to 10%. you seem to have a similar mindset/goal as i do in that youve gained 30lbs with more to go yet dont seem worried about cutting anytime real soon. id be curious to hear what youd like to achieve over the next 2-3 yrs.
 
My mindset is I was once 300lbs at 60% bodyfat. I'd like to get as big as possible while staying as close to 10% as possible. When I cut I'll drop into the 5-7% range then start bulking again.

By eating big, eating clean, eating often I'm slowly getting up there again, I'm now around 200. It's a little tougher at my advanced age of 37 than it used to be though. The dudes on here who are 20 years older and 20 years bigger...still hitting it hard are an inspiration to keep it going.
 
At 200 lbs this week, I dunno about the 'bigger' part!
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Question on this. People always say go for 1lb per week etc...whats this based on? Couldnt it be possible that though higher calories may lead to the body synthesizing more fat, it may also lead to it synthesizing more protein also? How can someone be sure that by limiting the amount of fat they put on they are also not limiting the amount of muscle they are capable of building.  
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Has anyone here ever compared the results of gaining 2lbs per week vs 1lb per week after cutting?
 
yes they have. I believe the consensus is that people usually will gain too much fat or lose too much muscle when extreme bulking or dieting. One pound a week is sort of an optimum for the general populace, but like all of BB'ing, you can find out what works best for you by experimentation.
A pound of muscle doesn't sound like much until you hold a pound of steak in your hand.
 
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