Best strategy for slow bulk after cut

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Dear doctors

Been a follower of your content for years. Excellent stuff!

I’m a 35 year old male, training for about 10 years on and off. I’d class myself as a beginner/intermediate lifter.

Current stats: 5ft 9, 80kg/176lbs.

Current 1RM…

Bench: 100kg
Squat: 130kg
Deadlift: 160kg

I’ve always been fairly stocky, I’ve cut a few times but never really followed any consistent bulking/cutting cycles. Just eating whatever! I’d like to get bigger but I’m not really happy with my current body fat levels so I decided to cut first before focusing on a clean bulk.

Around August I weighed 90kg before cutting. I’m now 80kg (lost around a pound a week) and feel comfortable with my current body fat. Fairly lean and managed to maintain most of my muscle mass.

I am now planning to put on more muscle mass by adding in additional calories. I plan to do a slow controlled bulk for a full year. Which of these strategies do you feel would be best to support muscle growth whilst keeping fat gain to a minimum… 1. Aim for a pound a month. Currently at 176 pounds so after a year I will be at 188 pounds
2. Aim for 2 pounds a month with quarterly maintenance breaks during the year (E.g. put on 6 pounds in 3 months, then maintain that weight for a month, then repeat).
3. Just go for 2 pounds a month. So after 12 months, I’ll weigh 200 pounds

I’ve never really done a controlled/slow/lean bulk and I am in no rush either so interested to hear your advice on the best way to do it.

Thanks in advance.

2

MM,

Thanks for the kind words and nice work on your cut.

My plan would be to gain ~ 0.5-2lbs per month, which is unlikely to be linear, until your waist goes up over 33-34" or you reach the end of the year, whichever comes first.

No ned to take quarterly “maintenance breaks” IMO.

-Jordan

3

Thanks Jordan for confirming.

Regarding your waist comment, I am currently 33". I can’t remember ever going below this. The max it’s been is 36" when i’ve weighed around 90kg at much higher body fat.

So based on my waist currently being 33", should I maybe use 34-35" as a upper limit?

4

I’d probably use 34" in this case then.

5

Hi Jordan. I’m mid-bulk right now and just came across this old thread. I’m wondering why you recommended 34" as the upper limit here instead of 37 (or 35 for people of asian descent). My understanding from other BBM materials is that those are the points where risks start to increase.