Statistics show half of all men aged 16 to 30 and about 1 in 4 women have in the past or are currently using a bulk and cut dieting approach to gain as much muscle and get as lean as possible. The idea is you train like a savage, eat like a horse, and pack on slabs of muscle during your bulk then jump into a calorie deficit via nutrition and training adjustments to get lean and peeled like a ripe banana through a cut phase, rinse and repeat. The ultimate goal is to continually add muscle then shed fat, over and over again, to get as big and lean as possible. Unfortunately, bulk and cut dieting is NOT all it’s cracked up to be. And the number of people engaging in and supporting this approach across social and other media outlets are actually doing more harm than good to their health and the health of other workout warriors than not. Let me explain.

As the popularity of bodybuilding proliferated in the 60’s, bulking and cutting rose to the top as the BEST way to get muscular and lean. Today, as referenced in the above study published last year in 2022, it’s still the most popular approach. And you can walk into and talk with just about any gym goer at your local Planet Fitness, Crunch, LAFitness, or other neighborhood globo-gym and see for yourself. During a bulking phase, you consume a calorie surplus to enter an anabolic state so your body is in a position to build muscle tissue. With that, because bulking often encourages eating just about anything you can get your hands on, your fat mass inevitably increases, which is why the cutting phase follows. This involves eating at a calorie deficit to create a catabolic state in the body, ultimately leading to weight loss. That’s the gist. In most circles, bulking phases last around 4-6 weeks and cutting phases 6-8 weeks.

Sounds simple and glorious, right? In theory, heck yeah! However, more and more modern research shows bulking and cutting can cause some real, lasting problems, particularly if your overall goals are health, longevity and performance. If you want to feel good, have loads of energy, be active and engage in hobbies for a long time, maintain a healthy relationship with food, manage stress, stay lean as you age, and have the vitality to play with your kids and grandkids then this is NOT the best approach.

TLDR: Bulking and cutting has received a lot of hype recently, BUT more and more studies are showing this method of getting swole can cause serious long-term problems. Tread carefully, gym lords and ladies. Let’s peek at some of the more recent studies, lay out the bad stuff we’re seeing from this overrated approach, and finish by looking at an alternative solution (the one I use with all of my clients). Let’s go!

The journal referenced in the opening paragraph, Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, showed the “engagement in bulk and cut cycles was associated with stronger drive for muscularity across the sample, and more severe eating disorder and muscle dysmorphia psychopathology among men and women.” Simply, folks who engaged in bulking and cutting were more likely to have an eating disorder or were at higher risk for developing disordered eating down the line. This is no bueno. In my experience coaching hundreds of clients, working back from an eating disorder is a long and challenging road and can have serious ramifications on health, fitness and performance. The bulk and cut diet pushes many recreational athletes and exercisers down a frightening path, not to mention the other serious physical and performance-related impacts I’ve outlined below.

Physically, bulking increases your stores of fat, increases the number of fat cells in your body making it more challenging to lose weight in the future, and decreases your insulin sensitivity (your cells become less responsive to insulin, requiring more insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, often leading to elevated blood sugar levels) thus putting you at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer and other gnarly diseases. It doesn’t stop there: sub-optimal insulin sensitivity over longer periods of time also challenges your body’s ability to gain muscle (opposite of the goal of a bulk)! On the cut phase side, losing weight quickly (over 1 pound per week as most bulk and cut dieters aim for), both increases cortisol and decreases testosterone production in the body. Essentially, it causes a cascade of changes in the body, raising levels of stress and maiming our ability to maintain and grow healthy muscle tissue.

​As for performance, aerobic endurance and maximal oxygen uptake often suffer during bulking, while strength drops off during the cut phase. What’s more, injury risk increases dramatically as body mass fluctuates significantly, up during a bulk and down during a cut.

Bulking

• Increased risk of developing disordered eating
• Increased fat stores and number of fat cells
• Potential for easier future weight gain
• Decreased insulin sensitivity
• Increased risk of the following diseases and conditions:
• Cardiovascular disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Sleep apnea
• Certain types of cancer
• Metabolic syndrome
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Stroke
• Depression

Cutting

• Increased risk of developing disordered eating
• Increased cortisol production
• Decreased testosterone production
• Decreased strength levels and greater risk for injuries
• Potential decrease in resting metabolic rate

Ultimately, the severe weight fluctuations from bulking and cutting that we often see celebrated on Instagram and across social-media-land are closely linked to an increased risk of poor health and metabolic syndrome. And despite its recognition and popularity around fitness circles everywhere, there’s very little evidence to support the bulk and cut approach as the best way to build muscle and lose fat. Taking it a step further and placing the physical risks aside, adjusting your nutrition and training to the degree required to perform a bulk and cut is HARD. It requires a lot of time, planning and effort to execute, let alone to do it successfully. To be honest, in my experience, folks often find themselves at the same weight and shape they were before they ever bulked and cut. Or they jump into a “dirty bulk” (mass gainer shakes, no limits, eating everything in sight), gain weight and are fighting forevermore to get lean again.

You CAN get muscular, lean AND have a healthy relationship with your nutrition that supports your goals for health, fitness and performance over the long-term. The key is to establish nutrition habits you feel good about, can be consistent with, and that allow you to make progress in the gym, whether your primary goal is aesthetics, strength, athletic performance-based, or something else! As a performance and nutrition coach working with clients, my focus is to get them to this point at a slight caloric surplus that we can monitor together every 4-6 weeks without having to stress about MyFitnessPal, Whoop, or any other fitness tracker.

I typically recommend the “Clean Gain” method for clients I work with! Again, the focus is promoting a healthy, long-term nutrition approach where clients see the results they want (weight loss, muscle gain, sports performance, etc) while avoiding the severe fluctuations in weight and consequent adverse effects we see with the popular bulk and cut approach.

Here’s how it works:

1. Establish a longer term period of muscle gain, 8-12 weeks, and mark an end date on your calendar.
2. During this time, prioritize nutritious foods and avoid processed foods and those with added sugars.
3. Increase calories moderately (250 to 500 calories), in order to avoid excessive weight and fat gain.
4. Follow a structured strength and conditioning program that you enjoy and can be consistent with. Ideally, under the eyes of a qualified performance coach.
5. Assess progress at the 8-12 week mark when your calendar reminder from step 1 indicates!
6. If you’re happy with progress then reset your calendar reminder for another 8-12 weeks and continue!
7. If you’re not gaining muscle at 0.25% to 0.5% of your total bodyweight per week, then increase your calories by about 250 and reassess in 4 weeks. Once you’re gaining at the appropriate rate then start back at step 1.
8. If you want to lean out a bit, then decrease your calories moderately (250 to 500 calories) and aim to lose 0.5% to 1% of your bodyweight per week and reassess in 4 weeks. Once you're leaning at the appropriate rate, set your calendar reminder for 4 weeks at a time and when you’re ready to gain again just start back at step 1.
9. If you reach a weight and level of body fat you want to maintain, set your calories at a slight 250 calorie surplus and schedule your calendar reminder 6 weeks out to reassess. This will give you the surplus needed to live a fun and active lifestyle and allow for strength and muscle gain while minimizing any accumulation of fat. If and when you’re ready to start gaining again, just return to step 1!

Now, there are many caveats to this advice. The most common answer to questions in health, fitness and performance is “it depends,” and I’d be wary of any coach, trainer or guru who speaks in absolutes. The bulk and cut diet has worked for some but that doesn’t mean it’s the only approach, and it’s certainly not the best one. Find a performance coach who can answer your questions in a way you can understand and who can help you find the best starting place and approach for your lifestyle.

If you made it this far and my article resonated with you I want to gift you a complimentary resource that’ll help you get started on your Clean Gain journey! It’s my Sexy Shopping List and it’s FREE for you if you head over to my contact page and write me a quick message! This is a resource normally reserved for my private clients that you can keep on your fridge, throw in your purse or wallet, and take with you on your next visit to the grocery store. It lays out the categories, approved foods and healthy snacks I use with my clients. And it includes additional keys for success and shopping tips! Just tap the link HERE, input your name and email and I’ll have it sent to your inbox in no time!

Thank you for reading! Please share this with anyone you think it could help. And most importantly, LET ME KNOW if and when you’re going to jump on the Clean Gain train! I’d love to hear from you and offer guidance if I can. Always happy to help!

​Cutoff holiday sweater season is in full swing. It’s dark most of the time. Comfort foods abound. Instagram is overflowing with cringy ski and snowboard fail videos. And hammering a dry scoop of preworkout then jumping right into 225# bench presses isn’t quite enough to warmup now that it’s a balmy 30 degrees in the gym. Winter is upon us, the holidays are here and 2023 is right around the corner! 

This is the time of year I always recommend folks start thinking about getting back to the basics with training, revisiting core movements and taking care of lagging body parts. Every year in December I throw my clients into a GPP & Foundations phase of training to firm up that fitness foundation for bigger gainz down the line and into the new year. This includes training segments for lagging body parts, addressing imbalances, and building armor. One of my all-time crowd faves is the 8 Week Juicy Arms Protocol!

FIRST, measure your arms with tailor’s tape, make note of the date and size, and snap a quick starting pic to compare to at the end. You can buy a tape measure on amazon HERE for $4.

Perform the below before training and after training. The A1, A2, and A3 indicate a superset so you’ll do set 1 of bicep curls, then set 1 of tricep extensions, followed by set 1 of hammer curls and repeat for sets 2 and 3.

A1- 3x8e Standing Alternating Bicep Curls
A2- 3x8 Lying Tricep Extensions
A3- 3x8e Standing Alternating Hammer Curls

​A1- 3x8 Standing Hammer Curls
A2- 3x8e Standing Single Arm Tricep Extensions
A3- 3x8e Standing Single Arm Concentration Curls

​A1- 4x8e Standing Single Arm Zottman Curls
A2- 4x8 Seated Bench Dips
A3- 4x8 Seated Hammer Curls

​We’re halfway! Keep working! Remember that dream? The one where YOUR ARMS got a nod from the gods? Channel that motivation and finish the second half of the protocol, STRONG!

​Once you’ve finished this final week, snag your tape measure, take that final picture and smile!

• Remember, to keep the same movements and arrangement for the entire cycle. The only variation comes from the increase in reps over the course of the 8 weeks.
• If you want more then find a slightly heavier set of dumbbells and start the program over again!
• I perform a variation of this program every December and January (sometimes I apply it to my calf training too)! In 2017 I trained for a fitness photoshoot and sculpted a very respectable set of arms (below). The shoot went very well. 

Share this with anyone who wants (or needs) JUICY arms! If you enjoyed this, you’ll get MUCH MORE out of my EXPLORE PERFORMANCE Online program. The easiest way to get started is by shooting me a message or going through my website below. Most importantly, LET ME KNOW if you give this a try, how it works for you, and how it improves your performance!

You can find me @tomanocy on Instagram and through my business site exploreperformancehq.com. Feel free to reach out to me for any training, nutrition or coffee thoughts and be sure to tag me in any pics of your doggos! I’m a sucker for a light roast with half & half, and a good time at the dog park. Cheers!

​We all love treating ourselves to a meal out with fam and friends, or taking a well-deserved vacation chock full of treats and social media-led food excursions to try purple banana coffee pancakes with fruity pebbles sprinkles, pizza, donuts or all of the above! When you have health, fitness and performance goals and are following a nutrition and training program these are often the times things go off the rails. We go from a week of feeling good, sticking to our training sessions, and eating healthy with 2 pounds down to a wild Saturday night out, an extra 3 cookies, drunk pizza and a ride home with our pants unbuttoned. Now the scale shows 3 pounds gained...

Eating out is strongly linked to overeating and making poor food choices. Nights out on the town and vacations are TOUGH because they break our routine. And when we’re out of this routine we tend to opt for what looks good, what’s easy, or what’s convenient. BUT, worry not, because there ARE strategies out there that you can use to ensure you’re not compromising progress you've made or wasting any hard work you've put in. In this guide I’ll share some of my best practices for eating healthy at restaurants and on vacation so you can both enjoy yourself AND continue making progress towards your goals!

Let's take 5 minutes to run through these strategies that’ll help you navigate the delicious and dangerous options at your restaurant of choice next time you're out on the town or when you escape for adventure on that well-deserved getaway!

PSA: Eating out is hands-down one of mine and Jen's (my wife!) favorite things to do together so I'm not going to take that away from anyone! Fortunately, just because I might be trying to lose fat for a photoshoot OR add quality muscle tissue for a competition DOES NOT mean I can't make fun choices that won't impact my health and fitness results when Jen and I hit up her favorite gnocchi spot!

• French Fries: Swap these out for an extra portion of veggies or for potatoes that are steamed, baked or boiled.
• Fatty Meats: Try a leaner cut like sirloin or opt for poultry, or fish.
• Creamy Sauces: Look for a tomato or vegetable based sauce.
• Soda: I love sparkling water with lemon or lime. Ask if the bartender can make you a lower calorie version of a drink you want!
• Alcohol: Ask your bartender for soda water with bitters! Bitters is great for your digestion and gives us that herbal, alcohol-like flavor.
• Fried Foods: Ask for baked, boiled or steamed alternatives.

PLEASE share this today with anyone you think it could help! Most importantly, LET ME KNOW what you try, what works for you, what doesn’t, and how it’s improved your life, health, fitness and performance!

You can find me @tomanocy on Instagram and through my business site exploreperformancehq.com. Feel free to reach out to me for any training, nutrition or coffee thoughts and make sure to tag me in any pics of your doggos! I’m a sucker for a light roast with half & half, and a good time at the dog park. Cheers!