Hey guys, I have been bulking for the past 4-5 months and made some great strength gains. But I’ve also gained a decent amount of unwanted fat. After cutting for so long my metabolism was a slight bit affected, and even though I eased into a surplus, fat still seemed to build up. I’m thinking of starting a mini cut in March, after one more month of bulking, but worried. At my stage of training I’d rather not lose any strength or size that I have gained. Now, I know that a 4 week mini cut will not destroy my gains, but I am just curious as to how much strength I could/will lose. I am planning a 500-700 a day deficit and drop in my carb intake. Another question related to training on a mini cut, would it be valuable to bring the frequency down for a short time, due to the poor recovery with less calories? Thanks guys!

I wouldn't worry. Your body adapts and since you will not be doing a large caloric deficit you should see minimal reductions in strength. I say "should" because everyone is different and their body's responses are different. You need to maintain the training intensity to let the body know it needs to preserve muscle even when calories are lower. If you don't do this, the body could potentially eat into muscle tissue to make up for calorie deficits because it takes some time for the body to learn to tap into fat stores for energy (especially since you have been bulking and giving it lots of glucose).

If you keep eating nutritious foods and only run a 250-500 calorie deficit, you should be fine. You will possibly need more than 30 days, however, to see any measurable results. One pound of fat is 3,500 calories. Depending on how much unwanted body fat you have gained from bulking, you may need more than 30 days to lean out - even on a mini-cut. Doing a 500 calorie deficit per day will result in 1 pound of fat loss in 1 week. The max you will lose in 30 days is 4 pounds. That may or may not be enough to see a difference.

Also, I would not go higher than a 500 calorie deficit. Higher deficits could eat into more muscle. When natural, you will lose some size and strength when cutting. However, you can minimize these effects by staying in a 250-500 calorie range but you must be patient as it will take longer to lean out. If you are eating more than a 500 calorie surplus while you have been bulking, this would explain the extra fat gain. That is fine if your goal is purely to get big and strong but it makes it more challenging to lean out afterwards.

John

Thanks for the detailed respone, John! I have not gained "too" much fat, and i can still see my abs, slightly XD. My main goal is strength, so i do not care about being fluffy, which is why i am choosing such a short cut. My bulking surplus has never been above the 250-400 range, but as i said i rebounded a litle bit rough after cutting for such a long period. I think 4-6 lbs. of fat loss will be optimal for me, since that may be all that i have put on. Honestly, i didn't start my bulk as lean as i could have, so that also plays a part in things. Thanks again man!

I agree with John. If you don't want to lose too much muscle mass or strength, you don't want to run a deficit that is too high. You're probably better off sticking to about a 300 calorie deficit to really help you maintain as much muscle and strength as possible. Just drop those carbs down and make sure protein is at at least 1.5g per pound of lean body weight.

For your training, make sure you are still doing strength training if that is the main thing you want to keep up with. If you do things right, you can cut down some fat while losing little to none of your strength progress. So I wouldn't change your training much at all, just adjust the diet and maybe through in 1 or 2 days of HIIT if you're not doing it already.