If you’ve hit a clean bulking plateau, then this is for you. I’m going to show you how you can not only stay leaner during bulking season, but also speed up your strength and size gains while boosting testosterone at the same time.
The reason you’d want to incorporate “mini cuts” into your bulking season is very simple. You are no doubt going to pack on a lot of body fat during your bulk and if you end up bulking for 16-24 straight weeks like a lot of guys, then you are going to have a ton of body fat to lose.
Throwing in a “mini cut” for 1-4 weeks throughout your bulking cycle can help you in the following ways:
- Lose a lot of body fat in a very short period of time (mini cuts are more aggressive).
- Increase your testosterone during bulking season because the leaner you are, the higher your T levels are. This helps to increase strength.
- Help you “stay ripped” even in the middle of a bulk.
In the following sections I’m going to break down the exact definition of a mini cut, as well as the ideal length of time, calories on a mini cut, and last but not least the “x factors” that will help you get optimal results.
What Is A Mini Cut?
A mini cut can be defined as a shorter and more aggressive cutting period where you can lose the optimal amount of body fat without causing metabolic damage in the form of a sluggish metabolism like you do with traditional cutting diet’s that run 12-16 weeks long.
Think of a mini cut as like robbing a bank – you’re in and out before any damage occurs!
When you implement a mini cut, the total calorie restriction is more intense than a traditional cutting diet, so you burn as much fat in a period of say 1 month than you normally would in a period of 8-10 weeks.
This shorter and more intense “mini cut” is perfect to throw in during a bulk because you can shed several unwanted lbs. of body fat, and you won’t mess up your metabolism along the way so you can go right back into your bulk with a vengeance and start putting on slabs of lean muscle!
Length Of Time And Calories On A Mini Cut
Now we need to talk about the length of time and the number of calories on a mini cut.
The length of time you stay on your mini cut will vary depending on how much body fat you’ve gained and what your individual goals are.
If you want to reap the maximum fat loss results without messing up your metabolism you can do a “mini cut” for a period of 4 weeks.
If you want to just do it for a very short period of time and you aren’t that concerned with packing on extra body fat I recommend you do a mini cut for about 1-2 weeks.
Another thing to consider is how lean you want to get in the spring and summer time. If your goal is 5-7 percent body fat you absolutely have to keep your body fat levels around 10-12 percent during your mass-gaining phase, so you can use the power of the mini cut accordingly to stay around this percentage.
For me personally I am going to start incorporating the “mini cut” every 6 weeks for a period of 2-3 weeks until I start my aggressive cut.
So what do your calorie numbers look like on a mini cut?
I recommend that you eat your total bodyweight x 10 on a mini cut if you want “aggressive results” – and if you are a serious hard gainer without much body fat to lose you can take your total body weight x 12.
Here would be an example for a 190 lb. guy:
- 190 x 10 = 1,900 calories
- 190 x 12 = 2,080 calories
Pretty simple math, right?
Now that we know what a mini cut is, and the amount of calories and length of time, we need to cover a few “mini cut x factors!”
X Factors On Your Mini Cut
Okay, here are a few tips that will take your mini cut to the next level.
Tip number one is going to be intermittent fasting, as this will make it really easy to get into an extreme calorie deficit, and it also has powerful testosterone boosting benefits.
Intermittent fasting simply means that you have an “eating window” for only 6-8 hours per day, and the other 16-18 hours you are fasting. This gives your body a chance to improve its metabolism, and also secrete more Testosterone and HGH.
Another X factor to consider is that you need to eat enough protein so you don’t lose muscle mass. This means about 1 gram of protein per lb. of body weight.
One last tip is don’t completely eliminate carbohydrates on your mini cut. You want to consume some carbs around your workouts so you can maximize your workout intensity and not put your body in a catabolic state.
By eliminating carbs altogether your body will tap into its amino acids and protein and you will start to lose size and strength.
That is the power of a mini cut in a nut shell! Have any questions? Make sure to watch the video to get all the details, and I’d love to hear from you in the YouTube comments!
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