Bulking and cutting are the two main phases of a bodybuilding cycle. The bulking phase is where you intentionally build muscle mass and, in doing so, gain a little bit of fat as well. The cutting phase is where you get rid of the excess body fat you gained during your bulk. During the cut, you want to ensure that your protein intake is high enough so that your muscles are preserved during the cut. In addition, you’ll want to incorporate regular cardio and HIIT workouts to boost your calorie burning and help you lose fat faster.
There are a lot of ways you can go about cutting, but most people do it by reducing their daily calorie intake to create a calorie deficit. This allows your body to burn its fat stores for energy and ultimately lose weight. Ideally, you want to reduce your calories to around 250 below the amount of calories you consume daily during the bulking phase. Anything lower than that and you may start losing muscle in addition to fat, which can be detrimental to your progress.
During the cut, it’s also important to make sure you’re following a properly structured training program and consuming plenty of protein so that your muscle mass doesn’t get wiped out during the cutting process. If you don’t follow a good training plan and keep your protein intake up, your body will look for any unneeded muscle to burn as fuel, which can cause you to lose strength in addition to body fat.