The bottom line though is that if you’ve reached a point where you’re genuinely unhappy with how much fat you’re carrying and are losing the motivation to bulk further as a result, shifting into a brief calorie deficit is probably a good idea.Īlso keep in mind that the more fat you allow yourself to gain during your bulking phase, the longer you’ll need to spend dieting it off later on. Going slightly higher can be fine depending on the person (since everyone will look different at varying body fat percentages), but it’s around 15% or higher where your abs will begin fading into the background and your clearly visible “4-pack” will gradually dissolve into a blurry “2-pack”. That said, assuming you’re going for the traditional “aesthetic” look and want to be both muscular and lean year round, I wouldn’t recommend allowing your body fat levels to drift much beyond the 15% mark without inserting a mini cut into the mix. The “best time” to do a mini cut is partly a matter of personal preference, since it can vary depending on your goals and on how much body fat you’re ultimately comfortable carrying. So, if you’ve been maintaining a calorie surplus over a prolonged period of time and your body fat levels have shot up a bit too high, mini-cutting can be used to bring those levels back under control so you can continue to focus on bulking and still stay lean.
This is a normal part of the muscle building process and is to be expected, since it simply isn’t possible to divert 100% of your calorie surplus to pure muscle growth only. There are a few important steps you can follow in order to minimize fat gains while bulking, but you’ll always put on some fat regardless. Just as the name implies, a “mini cut” is a brief fat loss phase that is performed during a bulk in order to strip off some of the excess fat you’ve accumulated.Īny time you eat in a calorie surplus in order to maximize muscle growth, a certain amount of fat gain is inevitable. What’s the best course of action at this point?Įnter the “Mini Cut”.
Your main focus is still to pack on muscle, but at the same time you’re feeling hesitant because you really don’t want to gain any more fat. You’re starting to feel excessively “soft” around the midsection and your overall body fat levels are beginning to climb to a level that you’re just not comfortable with. You’re midway through your bulk and are happy with the progress you’ve been making… You’ve been gaining noticeable size and strength consistently from week to week…
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