What's Harder: Bulking or Cutting?

Which is harder?

  • Total voters
    64
I'm suprised at the number of people claming to starve themselves and be hungry when shedding bodyfat. I mean, unless you're in a competition where its imperative to cut weight (ie, bodybuilding, MMA, modelling etc.) i don't see the point in putting your body through such lengths. Sure, you might look great, but at what cost? Well, personally not for me anyway, although the hard bit about losing weight is actually controlling what you eat.

My nutrition teacher told me and the rest of my class that suddenly changing to an absolute clean diet can produce withdrawl symptoms because your body feels that it needs the food it was previously getting (similar to giving up smoking or pills). It's probably what alot of you go through in those first couple of weeks around summer time when you want to get the 6 pack going? I know that i do, but you adjust to it over time. Also, once you start to visibly see a difference in your bodys muscular definition, it motivates you to keep the diet going.

Am i still on topic? Tough question, im suprised its never been brought up before....I think for the reasons i just stated, losing weight is psychologically harder than gaining weight but only initially. So short term, losing is harder...long term, gaining. I assume you're talking about long term results so i vote for bulking.
 
Derwyddon said:
You know, when Dave Tate started trying to cut fat,
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Just the thought of how much he'd have to eat while bulking makes me feel sick, lol
 
Streamline said:
Also, once you start to visibly see a difference in your bodys muscular definition, it motivates you to keep the diet going.
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Def got that right man.

I think the majority of people pick cutting because of, as you said, the mental/physical aspect of eating less calories than what the body is used to. I think the first 2 weeks are the hardest but you adapt to the daily routine after that.
 
I say cutting. Bulking is easy. I eat my ass off, my body responds well to it, no sleeping problems or comfort problems, and I only HAVE to go to the gym 3 times week, with gains coming steadily.

Cutting, I have very little room for cheats, gotta lift heavy, accept that I will not see significant gains or no gains, and run my ass off, do HIIT...

I suppose I can see both sides. They have their ups and downs, that's for damn sure.
 
I change my vote to bulking. Stream was right, the first 2 weeks of cutting are the hardest. While it is harder to gain muscle ( for me anyway ) than it is to lose fat, when you bulk you have to deal with the constant mental battle's of body image and keep pushing yourself to keep going.
 
MarkMyWords said:
I say cutting. Bulking is easy. I eat my ass off, my body responds well to it, no sleeping problems or comfort problems, and I only HAVE to go to the gym 3 times week, with gains coming steadily.

Cutting, I have very little room for cheats, gotta lift heavy, accept that I will not see significant gains or no gains, and run my ass off, do HIIT...

I suppose I can see both sides. They have their ups and downs, that's for damn sure.
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damn right man, this is exactly what I think too.

When i'm cutting i'm all freaking sluggish all the time because of the lack of calories, I have to do HIIT all the time, I am constantly thinking about calories to make sure I don't go over my limit... it just sucks.
 
Derwyddon said:
I actually really liked that post, streamline.
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Thanks...I mean, i like being an arsehole on here, but i am capable of pulling off a good post ;).

Evolution said:
I know we were on the same boat! Can you imagine teh horror of two weeks with no beer???
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LOL! Dude, call me whatever you like but i don't even like beer that much! It's not that i don't drink it at all, it's just not my drink of choice. A bottle of fruitwood (cheap, easy to drink wine) and a 4 pack of cruiser blacks normally does me before i head into town on saturday night. Point being, you don't have to give up drinking, although beer has alot of carbs so drinking that late at night, trying to lose weight probably isn't the BEST choice.
 
Don't get me wrong, i still drink beer it's just not my drink of choice. Most of the time, i drink to drunk...Beer doesn't do the job for me and the strong ones like tooheys extra dry taste like absolute arse! I'll drink beer when i'm out but for pre drinks i like to stick to stuff that's easy to drink, thus gets me going easily. And to be honest, i don't know many people my age that drink alot of beer. I do like coronas though, i'll drink those bad boys when i'm out even if they are $7 a pop! For now, i'll stick to my smirnoff, my rum, my cruisers, my schnapps and my cheap wine.
 
Cutting. I'm an easy gainer. I can put on weight quickly, but it takes a lot of seriouse dedication to take any off. Muscle and fat almost want to grow on me. It's nice.

I'm not too worried about looks right now anyway, i don't want to cut. I'm just working towards impressive, overall strength.
 
CCR said:
:eek:
Beer is the closest thing we have to proof of a God
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AMEN! Streamline, where are you from. I'm also 18 in college, and I would probably say beer is the drink of choice! :beerchug:

Ha, anyway I said cutting also. I can bulk relatively easily, but that psychological factor of hunger when your on a cut really gets to me. However, I have never done a "true" cut, just a lot of weight at one point, so we shall see what happens in a few months when I start to cut.
 
It will be cutting for most people, including me! even tho iv not yet been on a cut, i do know that it will be much harder. I can eat like an idiot when bulking and its easy :)

With cutting i would have to be a lot more strict.
 
easy one for me: bulking
due to my hectic schedule its very hard not to skip meals on my bulking diet plus i naturally dont eat very much
 
For me:

Bulking physically more comfortable (never hungry), mentally more uncomfortable (looking fat)

Cutting physically more uncomfortable (always hungry), mentally more comfortable (looking leaner quickly)


I would probably say Bulking as harder because it takes more patience.
 
As a woman who teaches fitness classes such as Cycling, Step, Kickboxing, I actually find it very hard to cut! It's easier for me to bulk and with all that working out the nutrition side can be tough to get down.
 
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