Most bodybuilders go through two phases called bulking and cutting. During the bulking period, bodybuilders take in a caloric surplus by at least 500 calories above their daily needs to put on mass, build muscle and body fat as well.
Typically, most average people go for a leaner look, so you don’t see too many people trying to get beach-ready by eating five thousand calories. Cutting is when bodybuilders are in a 500 caloric deficit of their daily needs.
This is when they lower their carbs and begin to burn the fat to show the new muscle that they have built. Cutting is most likely what beachgoers and those getting ready for summer participate in to reveal their abs or lose a little bit of belly fat.
To successfully cut in the bodybuilding community, athletes must keep a close eye on their macronutrients and calories. You should be eating fewer grams of carbs than anything, and you should be eating at least your body weight in protein.
This might sound tricky to a beginner, but through high protein salads, meats, nuts, and shakes, a low carb diet is very manageable to pull off. When your body has fewer carbohydrates, it produces less glucose.
Glucose is what your body will burn as energy before it burns fat cells, meaning all that training and cardio could be less effective unless you have a low carb diet. By implementing a low carb diet into your training, your body will start to burn your fat cells directly as you begin to burn calories and work out.
By taking in fewer calories and burning more fat during their workouts, bodybuilders are able to shed their weight faster before their competitions. Cutting does take a toll on your overall strength.
As you’ll find in the gym, most bodybuilders lose strength when losing weight. If aesthetics is your goal, then don’t fear the strength losses, because you will actually look stronger when you’re lean and ripped than you will when you’re actually stronger with more body fat.
Always feel free to begin a bulking season after you’re done with your cutting and looking good for the summer, because after you repeat this cycle for a couple of years your leaner self will look stronger and stronger each time you cut!
Using a low carb diet doesn’t mean you can’t keep your calorie intake at higher levels, too. You can eat a 20-100 carb low level and still rack up plenty of calories consuming lean protein and healthy fats.
