One fitness sacred cow that needs slaughtering yesterday is the concept of “bulking and cutting”.
Why?
It is typically practiced in the manner designed by and for drug abusing bodybuilders. When used by those who are not part of this strange group, stress, frustration, and, often, illnesses physical and mental result.
Think about it:
Is it realistic to weigh and measure every morsel of food that passes your lips? Meticulously track every calorie you expend? Do both of these things indefinitely?
Obviously not.
And that alone should be sufficient for any person who wants training to enhance rather than rule their life to discount the idea altogether.
But.
It gets worse:
All but the most gifted and devoted natural (i.e. non-drug abusing) trainees just get fat when they “bulk” because their bodies cannot make good use of the extra food they are shovelling (sometimes unwillingly) down their gullets.
This has consequences, some obvious (nobody feels good when their waistband digs in every time they sit down), others less so (extra weight in the abdomen pulling the pelvis forward causing an unnatural exaggeration of the curve of the lower back, leading to pain and potentially injury).
What’s more, “cuts” seldom deliver results commensurate with the utterly herculean effort they involve.
Weeks, sometimes, months of extra cardio on top of your usual training, all while feeling constantly exhausted because you’re eating significantly less food than you need to fuel your furious activity.
And for what?
At best a nice set of abs that go bye-bye in what feels like a fraction of the time it took to gain them.
Then it’s back to “bulking” to begin the sorry cycle anew
Cannot say this is something I would ever want to engage in knowing that there is a different, better, saner, safer way.
Specifically, the methods practiced by the bodybuilders of the “Silver Era” (spanning the years 1940-1959) when attitudes towards training were a whole lot more balanced for reasons I am sure I will go into in future emails.
For now, if you are interested in learning these methods yourself so you can make steady progress in strength, aesthetic appeal, endurance, and more besides, email me your number one fitness goal (my address is phil at phil tyreman dot co dot uk), and I’ll respond personally and promptly to see if I can help you out.
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman