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Why do most people "cut" (lose fat) and then bulk (gain muscle) instead of doing both at once?
That is the dream, isn't it? The great myth so we don't have to get disciplined and watch our nutrition ... ahh ... just eat and lift. I know, I've hoped for that as well. Practical experience says otherwise. In my years of training, knowing trainers, and knowing people who have had remarkable transformations, I've met maybe 2 - 5 percent who can truly gain muscle and lose fat through the same cycle. The rest all lean down then bulk.
One major benefit of this is that you are more likely to gain muscle when you start out lean. In other words, all things being the same, if you gain 2 pounds at 8% body fat and if you gain 2 pounds at 18% body fat, you are more likely to gave gained closer to 2 pounds of muscle in the first case and closer to 2 pounds of fat in the latter case. This is something that I learned from John Berardi and he had some clinical trials he showed me (I know, science) so I adopted that philosophy and then it turns out every natural bodybuilder I've met who has won hardware at a show does that ... leaning down then slowly bulking.
I really think a lot of times we want to have this holy grail of gaining muscle and automatically having the fat fall off just because psychologically we don't want to have to manage our calories. I could be wrong, but it seems most of the time the people who say they are ready to bulk when they are not yet cut are the ones who are tired of the discipline they've been following for months trying to lose fat.