Training Guides / Nutrition basics
Cutting, bulking and recomposition
How to lose fat while keeping muscle, how to gain muscle without too much fat, and when body recomposition makes sense, with target rates and a comparison table.
Lifters usually describe their nutrition phases in three ways. Cutting means eating below maintenance to lose body fat. Bulking means eating above maintenance to support muscle gain. Recomposition means eating around maintenance and slowly losing fat while gaining muscle. Each has its place.
General nutrition education only. People with medical conditions, those who are pregnant, under 18, or with a history of disordered eating should work with a doctor or registered dietitian before changing their diet.
The three approaches compared
| Cut | Bulk | Recomposition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | About 300 to 500 below TDEE | About 200 to 300 above TDEE | Around TDEE |
| Target rate | About 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight lost per week | About 0.25 to 0.5 percent gained per week | Scale weight roughly stable |
| Protein | High, about 1.8 to 2.2 g/kg | About 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg | About 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg |
| Best for | Higher body fat, event deadlines | Lean lifters wanting size | Beginners, returning lifters, higher body fat |
| Typical length | 8 to 16 weeks | Several months or longer | Ongoing |
These numbers are common guidelines, not exact prescriptions. Find your starting point using TDEE and calories.
Cutting well
- Keep lifting heavy. The training signal tells your body to hold on to muscle. Do not switch to "light weights for toning."
- Keep protein high. It helps preserve muscle and keeps you full. See protein.
- Do not crash diet. Losing more than about 1 percent of body weight per week raises the risk of losing muscle, feeling terrible and rebounding.
- Add steps before adding lots of hard cardio.
- Expect strength to plateau rather than rise, especially late in a cut.
- Take breaks. A week or two at maintenance during a long diet can make it easier to stick with.
Bulking well
- Gain slowly. Beginners can gain muscle faster than experienced lifters, but nobody builds muscle as fast as fat can accumulate in a big surplus.
- Track the trend of your weekly average body weight.
- Keep training progressive. Extra calories without harder training mostly add fat.
- Watch the waist. If the waist measurement is climbing fast, reduce the surplus.
Recomposition
Gaining muscle while losing fat at the same time is realistic for beginners, people returning after a break, and people with higher body fat. Eat close to maintenance, keep protein high, train with progressive overload and expect the scale to move slowly while measurements and strength improve. Experienced lean lifters usually progress faster with distinct cut and bulk phases.
How to judge progress
Scale weight alone can mislead. Combine weekly average weight, waist measurement, progress photos and gym performance. Our guide to measuring body changes explains how.
If dieting starts to dominate your thoughts, causes anxiety around food or leads to bingeing, pause the diet and talk to a healthcare professional.
