CUTTING vs BULKING FIRST - We Had It All Wrong 

I love how you get more and more comfy with your videos!! More power to you! 💯

Great video. You’re exactly right yeah you don’t need to bulk or card you can Build muscle and just eat and slowly lower your bodyfat will building muscle at the same time. If you’re not overweight you don’t need to cut and if you’re not under wait you don’t need to book people are allowed to just leave their normalize and train and not worry about every little detail

In the past, I tried strength training with cutting, and I always quit because it is too hard. Now I am doing maintenance+ strength training for 7 months. I only lost 2 kg so far, but my body changed a lot. I can see muscle definition and my lifting improves. It is a slow process but like you said it is a lifestyle, no need to rush things.

My advice to a newby at the gym is don't bite off more than you can chew. I'm coming up to having been training for a year so I've recently moved past the newby phase. Prior to the last year, I'd tried getting into training loads of times. It tended to involve me investing loads of money into supplements, planning a 5 days a week routine, overdoing it the first few days and ending up with crippling DOMS, getting demoralised because I've already flopped my attempt at 5 days in the first week, then going back to the comfort of spending my evenings getting drunk instead of at the gym. This last time, I just told myself that going from 0 days training a week, even to 1, was an improvement. I started off aiming for 3 days a week, but not punishing myself if I did 2 or 1. for the first 3 months or so I did this, and even though my gains weren't as noticeable as they would have been with more consistency, they were there and it helped me get into the habit of going to the gym. After those 3 months i was consistently going 3 times a week, and aiming for 4 which i occasionally did. At this point people started commenting on my gains, and there is nothing better when you're first starting out than hearing 'have you been going to the gym?'. This gave me further motivation, and as i started hitting weights that I used to enviously watch other people lift, it just made me want to go more and more. Now I'm consistently going 5 or 6 days a week and have been for a few months (the only week I didn't was over Christmas). In terms of diet, my gains were most noticeable when i started maintaining my protein intake on my days off. Your body needs that consistent intake of protein, and it will do wonders for your gains.

Appreciate that you mentioned at the end that this advice is primarily for beginners and quite possibly suboptimal for anyone that has already gone through their newbie gains phase (intermediate/advanced lifters). -Someone who only added 10lbs to his bench in an ENTIRE YEAR of consistency while "maingaining"

Yes! I had this discussion the other day maintenance is the most crucial part of fitness and make bulking and cutting easier

Warning to anyone cutting. It sucks. I am fairly lean to start and had to drop about 10 lbs for a powerlifting competition. I found I was irritable, couldn't sleep and lost my drive. I was also very emotional and all around not myself.

Problem with maintenance for a beginner is it's so hard to gauge progress. I've just started back at the gym after a long long break. I started at 220lb 30% body fat, my plan was a body "recomp" with a slight deficit (250kcal). I know I've been making good progress because I've done this before, but on paper I've dropped about 4lb in two months... Seems like a body recomp should include things like measuring your waist; an idiots guide to body fat % etc

This video is so wholesome. I'm so happy you are talking about maintenance. I've applied for this 6 months ago and lost 30 pounds just by doing maintenance! 🥰

What a great topic. Just like from your other old videos I have not heard very much about these other variations of cut, maintenance, and bulk. I greatly appreciate more in depth info for all things fitness.❤️

Respect for admitting your wrongs, and providing your new knowledge. I highly recommend this for new peoole

It was so cool to drop by the live streams and see how your videos are made! Thanks for making so many helpful videos!

your channel has helped me with understanding the science behind fitness so much, thanks

I just started noticing my newbie gains and it is SOOOO motivating to see results I know they will slow down but it feels amazing

I love this channel. Your channel was one of the main sources of information I used when I started lifting. I wouldn't be where I am today without you. Thanks for everything!

It's funny that i stopped training around the time of your last video and started training around when you started uploading again. It's nice to see you back!

This is one of the most underrated fitness channel on RU-vid. Very useful content ❤️

One of the greatest fitness channels on RU-vid, love those vids, keep it up 👍

I’m currently one year n 5 months into lifting and I never liked the idea of bulking and cutting phases. I’m actually doing this approach and I feel much better. I think this is 100% the way to start off, and then doing a small lean bulk in the future

I think most people underestimate how much protein they need. When I was younger I used to work out super hard, and saw pretty minor gains (at least in size). 20 years later, I'm eating 2-3 times at much protein (>120g), doing a quarter of the work, and have actually seen significant muscle size increase.

Picture fit gives us his best and you can tell , his videos feel so authentic

Love the video for a complete beginner. Grateful for your content my boi

Love that you are back! I hope you will be very successful :)!

Thank you for this video, just today I checked out about cutting and bulking but this video really helped me, appreciate it mate.

I missed these videos, I'm glad you're back!

I’m glad you’re back to posting regularly bro !

i'm 12 days into my 6 week cut and thank you for this! I have been going to the gym for almost 3 months now (regularly, 3x a week) and I havent lost weight yet. But I see progress on my body. I cut because I wanted to shed pounds but I guess I'll just continue until 6th week and maintain my calories from then

Great video! I wonder how many youtuber actually critically re-evaluate old content. Think its a great idea to do so!!

Love the video.. I am 47 .. 5ft 7 and 275 and maintenance is were I am and need to be .. and I still getting stronger it's jest I am thinking about the long game. Please continue putting out very logical and informative content.

Totally agree with your point of view! Cutting and bulking are only really necessary in specific cases like if a person is morbidly obese or if you wanna reach an extreme high level of muscle mass and conditioning, thats why bodybuilders often use those two strategies. But for normal people that just wanna look and feel good, i'd totally recommend maintaining/gaintaining. Great video! :)

Picturefit is back at it!

Maintenance makes much more sense to me, since I think most of our fitness goals (and the first ones to be implemented) should be health related 👍🏼

A lot of people seem to be caught up on what constitutes a beginner in order to decide whether they should maintain or not. I think what is more important is your current body fat percentage. In my personal experience as a naturally lean guy with a small appetite, sometimes you do need to intentionally bulk. Ive stalled out plenty of times on my lifts, only to realize that If I had just ate more, I could have kept improving. The body has a really hard time giving up stored fat to build muscle if you are already skinny, and it can be really hard to gauge how much you need to eat to stay at maintenence without that crutch. There's also just the obvious note that you can't be 180lbs jacked if you never gain weight from 130.

This is where I am. 'Maintenance'. Works for me 💪🏾

You know what is really fun to watch and notice even though this is the first day I've actually watched your content because I'm doing workout stuff. Just how deep your voice was when you were doing the other video, compared to today. I don't mean that like as an insult or anything like that, but you can really tell you've been youtubing for a while and your increasing the pitch of your voice to become more appealing to a wider audience, and maybe there is some physiological changes in your own life that I'm unaware of or what-have-you, but I just like seeing that difference from a content creator perspective even if I haven't been with you for a long

If you want to start eating healthy food that is aligned with your fitness goal, be it bulking or losing fat, Next Level Diet has got you covered. It's not a secret that many guy who were searching for advice/knowledge about fitness here on youtube, just like you and me, got their first meal plan created on Next Level Diet. Drop a like if you are one of them 😀

Thanks for this quality information! Just told my experience about the things that you are saying on my channel and I do agree on everything!

Where my IFBB Pros at? lol Awesome video, PictureFit. Just wanted to share. I've been doing a clean (strict keto) bulk for the last 7 months. Just went to a clean bulk with carbs and the weight increase is insane, but the energy is too. That being said, bulk has certainly helped me to gain muscle and look better in the right places. The cut phases is going to be tough, but will really help those muscles pop. Love the content.

Liked the video bro!! Hey bro, do a video for the different types of workout splits

Amazing video!!!! And I'm. More of maintenance type of personne than a cut!/bulk person. Thanks again for this video

great video, feels like it clears more thing for me as someone who lost a good amount of weight but muscles as well as the same time (i shared my progress thru a short vid), i only started lifting when i finished my weight loss goal hence i was debating on either bulking up (im current 58kg at 163cm which is around my ideal weight already), but i would see my bones more visible than my muscles, on the other hand i also wanted to maintain and simply build muscles through lifting more and progressive overload while getting my protein and rest properly. tbh bulking kinda scares me considering that im no longer comfortable eating alot of food (i only eat 2 meals per day since im pretty much in front of my laptop most of the day and not hungry really), and another part is i feel guilty plugging in those calories in my fitness pal and seeing a little surplus in my intake

I’ve been on maintenance since I first started working out 6 months ago. I didn’t want to cut to hinder muscle growth and didn’t want to bulk since I’d be even more overweight. Recomp is slow but I have seen way more definition and slimming down even at the same weight now. I think a lot of newbies would benefit from this since they don’t have to dedicate themselves to multiple things at once. Yes it’s probably slower and if you’re overweight like me, you’ll probably be discouraged but I swear you’ll look better the longer you stick with it

Thank you for the update!!!

Amazing channel

We appreciate you too picture fit ❤️

A very good advise for everybody, I aprecciate the video

Since you asked for input, I'll oblige 😊 I think your point about adherence is probably the most important for any routine as you mentioned. As for whats best, I'd definitely lean towards lean-bulking and/or a recomp and here's why; - No major changes needed to current nutrition assuming they already were eating somewhere close to maintenance, just add some extra protein. The extra protein also has the added satiety benefit so they could be just ahove or below their maintenance, sort of like cycling but in a smaller window (hence L-B/mx) - Without having to focus on nutrition, they can focus on building the most important habit of showing up to exercise. For noobies especially I've always tried to convince them that even on days where they're struggling with motivation, they just need to show up. They don't have to crush a workout, they can do some light easy work just to maintain the habit of showing up, and if they're showing up but not putting in enough effort it's easier to give them some encouragement and nudge them to push on some days if they already have the foundation of being there and last, - The extra activity, combined with rhe extra new muscle even if it's not apparently visible, will ratchet up their TDEE. Any activity is better than none for starters and the caloric demands to maintain the new muscle might raise their BMR but a few tens or even a few hundred per day the longer they stick with it and the more they gain. Now, if they decide to bulk, they have a solid foundation of technique and strength to make their workouts more effective, and if they want to cut they'll be burning more calories by default just by nature of having a greater amount of muscle to keep the engine running so to speak Love your videos! I hope you see this 😊

This is what I was thinking today!!!

Great content 🔥

I’ve been weight training consistently since I was 13 and I’m 21 now, other then when I’ve been injured. I’ve learnt a lot from nutrition content on RU-vid like picture fit😆 so fairly experienced. I’ve done cuts and bulks and they have so many pros and cons….cutting you loose strength(become susceptible to injury) and have to watch what you eat all the time tracking them by weighing food…so boring and a means to an end. So it’s not to be made a sustainable healthy training lifestyle but you always look a lot leaner is the only reward🤔 where as bulking you become fairy fat and saturated, not as lean nor muscular. But your body is constantly nourished, so keeping up with training sessions demands for growth and strength. But I’ve now got to the point after about 3 consistent cuts and found the methods of the two not being long lasting as a consistent life style, incorporate regular training (consistent weekly), protein focused for food, be mindful of processed food consumption as they’re more dense in calories and make it easy to be in a surplus before you know it and become fatter. Replace with fruit for people with a sweet tooth and look for low calorie alternatives(be mindful). This has kept me lean but strong and I don’t look back, as soon as you’ve had a few cheat days be mindful and factor in few calories less a few days after and always go about it that way, don’t make it a chore, enjoy living a balanced life style to stay consistent with and progress in, I’m lean and strong just by estimated daily maintenance calories, it’s the best way I believe and don’t look back✌🏽

watch this video slowly or watch it twice. Good info, thank you! :)

I just watched both videos. I actually believe you got it right on the first video.

Awesome!

this is pretty cool Ill try it

consistent cardio really helps for a cut. not just for the deficit, but it also allows you to eat more food while still allowing you to create a deficit. i wasn't doing cardio and was on a cut with 1800 calories, felt like trash all the time. i added some low intensity cardio each day and was able to eat 2200 calories while keeping the same deficit and I felt a lot better, was failing lifts a lot less and felt a lot less hungry.

Personally, i believe a lean bulk is the best, because you are gaining slightly more muscle than a maintenance phase and also having higher strength gains due to the extra nutrients giving you more energy. The stronger you get, the more you can progressively overload, so it seems like a better option

Greg Doucette is rejoicing. "I fricken told you!" 😂

when i started off, i was 150lbs/71in. i had a technically healthy bmi but my actual body fat % was around 25%. a very undesirable amount. and for the first three months of my training, when i didn’t understand calorie deficit, i was eating about 600 cals a day. so while i was happy to go from 150-135/136 in a couple months, i regret doing it that way because it severely impacted my newbie gains. moral of the story: even if you’re cutting, please eat enough.

Fully agree, all the points you made are totally valid including caveats for beginners vs non beginners. All that may be missing is when can people consider themselves a beginner? I would say one is no longer a beginner if one where to train seriously for about 3 years and made significant progress would be a decent ball park estimate. For people who have been going to the gym and abandoning training or not making much or any progress in 3 years or having lots of plateaus without progress, these people would still be considered beginners and having a good sleep/eat/training program would again help them progress and get those sweet newbie gains.

I’m 6 months in and I’ve been recomping and it’s been working really well so far I’ve been at 185 the whole time and it looks way better now

Wow! I have just learnt something 🤩 So cool~ love the way you present it, sounds interesting and fun😎👍🏼 looking forward to your next video♥️

Do a video about diferent types of split training and pro and cons of each type

Body recomp = the dream

I love the animations

Broooo I waited for you sooo soo fucking long missed you

5:40 seriously great man😂!! Thanks

Started off the first year of lifting stuck in limbo between cutting and bulking. I just made the switch to eating a lot more healthy, fresh foods, which kind of made the decision for me lol. Wasn't till I had some experience with the lifts that I decided I wanted to chase the numbers, so I started bumping up my bodyweight

It Pisses me off that people need to explain this simple concept so thoroughly. Like bro, is it that hard to comprehend for real?

Depends on what you want. I for one enjoy being moderately strong while looking decent. So I've been somewhere between a bulk and maintenance since Thanksgiving. My goal is a 405 bench. @168 I maxed at 340. So I gained weight. @183 I maxed at 385. I'm at 200 as of today and still decently vascular

I suggest using a scale that reads body composition

Greg must be so proud 👏

Thank you for this video I always thought I needed to bulk up even though my weight was ok but I don't look the way I want to. I'm planning on trying this

Ayyyy nice

Thank you

Intermitting fasting + 3-4 cups of diluted apple cider vinegar a day + full body workout helped me out. Also cut out high insulin diet is a key

I liked and commented for the algo. You go man

I think another great thing to point out is that a better way to gauge once progress is body fat % rather than weight. Just because you gain weight doesn't mean you've lost progress. The weight could be mostly muscle. And losing weight could mostly be fat loss and not muscle. You could stay at the same weight when "Main gaining" but it could just mean that you lost some weight in fat and gained the roughly the same in muscle.

Nice vid

I am two weeks at cominh back to working out. I always lose motivation because it was too hard and I push myself to lose weight but now. I am starting to enjoy by going to the gym and keeping my food normal. it is more fun and less stress and pressure that I put on myself. before I can't even last 30mins because I keep having "I need to burn fats" and get exhausted. Maintenance is so much help for me. it may be slower but it feels better. when I get my strength. I will take that good cut and feel the results of my hardwork

Nice vídeo

maintenance does make sense. I’d say it depends on the plans of the beginner. Are you starting at a higher weight? Then cut first. If you’re at a much lower weight and don’t wanna get too fluffy then maintenance. So basically it depends on the beginner.

Thank you.

I think this does overlook the varied starting points of beginners. I was pretty athletic in highschool but never lifted, now in my early 30's I was sitting around 30% body fat and about 65lbs heavier than when I graduated high school. maintenance really wasn't on the table if I wanted to get healthy and be happy about how I looked. Even in a pretty steep calorie deficit, I'm feeling strength gains and muscle growth while losing about 1-2lbs a week. This obviously isn't sustainable, but for me personally I know that I'm WAY more motivated to stick to my fitness goals when I see and feel a rapid change in body composition early. even if I'm not maximizing my muscle and strength gains, I know I'll be able to do more cardio activities like rock climbing and mountain biking consistently if I just shed a bunch of weight first. in the long run, I'll have more access to things that were restricted by my size and composition. I'd imagine that someone starting from a super lean but weak body comp would probably have more success with the exact opposite. ramping up the calories and gaining size and mass to feel and look better, even at the cost of a slightly higher body fat % early on.

Bulking first is always the best option unless you’re obese or naturally carry a lot of muscle.

did this man just watch a shit ton of Greg deucette

When you are eating and training at a maintenance you will actually see changes on the scale. You will put on muscle and muscle weighs.

Hi Picturefit, I have a question. Would you say eating on maintenance is optimal as well for a person who has high bf% (33%) as well? I am just starting to go to the gym regularly and would like to start eating at maintenence for maybe 6 months before I decide to lose weight. My reasoning for this is that I believe eating at maintenence will support muscle gains and strength gains at a more effective rate than just lifting on a deficit. I would like to use my newbie gains to advantage to gain a lot of muscle while on maintenance for a few months so that when I decide to cut after a few months, I will have packed a lot of muscle and strength. It will reduce my bf% as my body gradually recomps and by the time I cut, I won't have to lose as much weight show definition since I have gained muscle from the 6 month maintenence weightlifting. Is this thought process effective? Thank you. P.S. Thank you for coming back. I loved your videos back then and was sad to see that you weren't posting anmore but that turned into joy once I found out you started posting videos again. They are short, concise, and backed with peer-reviewed research which I love to see and I would reccomend this channel to anybody who wants to learn about anything fitness related.

Every time I hear a content creator mention newbie gains I lose part of my soul cuz like many others I've learned all this new stuff way too late into my training years.

I asked what business you started over the p@nd3mic and got put in time out in your stream lol

im 190 cm tall and weigh 70 Kg and have 50% of muscle mass and 12 BF%, Im doing a slight calorie excess diet and training 5-6 days per week. I increased in the past month from 66 kg to 70 kg where i gained 2 kg of muscle and fat each. Eating alot is so much harder than training but im trying to get used to it. This is my first time ever bulking, and im excited for it. My goal is to reach 75 kg in 1.5/2 months. Gudluck for everyone who's bulking as well.

i've been doing maintenance since 5 months. and ngl i lost only around 2kgs but lot's of muscle gain and improvement on abs chest and biceps. i currently have 14% bodyfat with good amount of muscle. i'm an indian and i eat home food always. my daily intake calories will be around 2000 cal, 130g of protein, 250g of carbs and 40g of fat and 32g of fiber. i eat lots of fruits and even ragi malt. and doing good amount of training and trust me i never felt this better. and my abs are popping out too. maintenance is the key guys! it surely works for lifetime body! let ur body get used to good foods and boom!

Nice, an update

thanks for not forgetting about my 6kg calf raises

How long would you say someone is in the beginner phase? I’ve been working out consistently for 10 months. Should I still consider myself a beginner?

I am 36, Male. I was 245 lbs at most. I did my own maintenance and adherence; I am 184 lbs now, after 1 year of just eating high quality protein and fats, very few carbs, NO SUGAR and NO GYM. I look and feel great. Better than my 20's. I will now go to the gym to show some definition, but more importantly, to build more strength. I am living proof that you are 100% correct! Thank you!

3:35-This explains how my benchpress weight almost DOUBLED withought significant muscle growth coming with it.

Maintenance is certainly the hardest. So practice it first.

I started going to the gym for the first time lastweek. This is good for me.

Coach Greg Would be Proud 💐🤝🏼

I wouldn’t put recomp at maintenance but at cutting it’s like adding cardio to burn fat but in this case you add muscle