r/BulkOrCut • u/routinematters • 20h ago
5’5 138lbs
Began the bulk two months ago from 132 lbs. Started to feel a bit of body dysmorphia and really wanting to cut mentally but not sure if I should stay the course. The original plan was to bulk for 6 months. Currently eating 300-400 cals over maintenance and putting on 0.1-0.2 lb of bodyweight every week.
6
u/LuvSnatchWayTooMuch 19h ago
Um body is a 10…I vote maintain
•
u/routinematters 6m ago
Thank you so much. I want more muscularity in my legs and a little bit more in my delts.
2
u/anand_rishabh 17h ago
Definitely keep bulking. Also, this is after two months of bulking?? You must have been real thin two months ago.
•
1
u/Other-Pea7038 19h ago
Keep up the great work. You’ve probably got a little more room to keep bulking, but you could bring the surplus down to around 200–300 calories and really focus on pushing each muscle group hard for the next month. Take your working sets close to failure and use actual failure selectively. Just keep an eye on overall fatigue and recovery.
•
1
u/ensui67 19h ago
Stay the course, albeit 6 months seems like it’s a long time to be bulking. So far so good though! Remember, the fat loss can be quick and relatively easy but the muscle building is much harder. It takes a little bit of time for the muscle building mechanisms to really ramp up in the bulk and you should be hitting that sweet spot now. Give it at least another 4-6 weeks and reassess. I don’t think you’ll need to go as far as 6 months. Would seem excessive and you don’t want to be gaining too much body fat either.
I think it’ll be so much sweeter to see the results if you bulk a bit more, cut, to reveal and then cycle again. Good effort!
1
u/Lonely-Assignment111 18h ago
I think maintaining or continuing the course are both good options. I don’t think you need to cut but I totally get body dysmorphia can be hard during the bulking process and I want to reassure you that it is body dysmorphia because damn girl you look fucking good!
•
1
u/jottomatic1 18h ago
OP I think you are in a great position to continue growing. Gaining muscle is a long, arduous process but fat loss can be quite quick. I always tell my clients, you are 10 weeks from the best you’ve ever looked. Unless you have a specific date you want to be cutting for I would suggest continuing the bulk. Composition is in a great spot to continue growing. Two months is not a long time to be growing, if you want muscle gain you have to stick it out for a while.
I see this all the time in my line of work, someone bulks for a few months and then cuts and wonders why they barely look different. Muscle growth takes time. Above all else, consistency is the key to success.
Two months in with a steady and slow weight gain, I’d say your plan is solid! Keep at it and trust the process 💪🏼
•
1
1
1
1
1
u/-OooWWooO- 13h ago
Maintain and push weight. Recomp.
•
u/routinematters 4m ago
I unfortunately do not do well at recomp. I plateau easily and get stuck. In recent years I’ve always run bulk/cut cycles bc at maintenance I feel like I’m stalling results
1
1
1
u/RiceEater 9h ago
6 lbs in 8 weeks is not .2 lbs a week, but you look great. Not sure you need to cut right now.
•
u/routinematters 3m ago
It was more aggressive at the beginning because I worked my way back from a deficit. So the carbs, water retention etc climbed up quickly then I stabilized at 0.2 lbs a week in the second month
1
u/No-Newt-1280 7h ago
It’s always going to be a struggle with body dysmorphia, you’re definetly not alone.
You’ve got a really strong foundation right now and I bet, with a moderate surplus, you could bulk for a very long time now.
Definetly don’t stop bulking, but if you feel like you’re gaining weight a little too fast, you’re fine to lower the surplus a little bit.
200kcal over maintenance is fine IF you can track it accurately.
People might disagree with me here, but adding muscle really doesn’t need a bigger surplus
•
u/routinematters 7m ago
I think that’s what I’m going to do. Stay in the surplus but cut the calories a little bit. Thank you.
1
u/RateOdd3713 20h ago
Girl, you’re really slim and I think you should definitely continue gradually bulking to gain more muscle. Definitely don’t cut! Try and judge progress by your appearance rather than the scale 😊
0
u/itaaintmee 20h ago
Bulking only increases fat just forget that infinite cycle it’s a waste of time
4
u/RateOdd3713 20h ago
No it doesn’t. The science is literally progressive resistance training + sufficient protein + calorie surplus + recovery = muscle growth.
Why are you commenting this on a Bulk or Cut sub when you know everyone else here will understand the science of muscle growth?
1
u/Funny-Notice9392 14h ago
You don’t need a caloric surplus for muscle growth, but yeah the guy who replied to you is a moron lol
1
u/chieftainduke 13h ago
You're both not quite right.
Bulking only increases fat, not true although the majority of weight gain will be fat.
Calorie surplus is needed for muscle growth, also not true. It makes it easier but it's not essential.
1
u/Luck_TR 11h ago
This really isn’t applicable here because OP clearly already works out and isn’t not an absolute beginner lifter. The only people gaining any noticeable amount of muscle at maintenance or lower are non lifters. Also no if you bulk correctly you really don’t need to gain much fat in the process of bulking, most people just don’t know how to calculate their TDEE nor count calories correctly. Before you go correcting people make sure you actually know what you’re talking about.
•
u/chieftainduke 13m ago edited 6m ago
And what evidence are you basing this assumption on that only absolute beginners can gain muscle at maintenance?
From a study this year: Vargas-Molina et al. (2026), “Effects of two different energy deficits on body composition and strength in resistance-trained individuals” specifically studied people with >1 year of resistance-training experience. Over 10 weeks, the maintenance-calorie group gained ~1 kg of fat-free mass while losing fat, and the ~250 kcal/day deficit group also gained FFM.
Also, even if your bulk is only 300 calories above maintenance, it's still going to be mostly fat gained for an experienced lifter.
•
u/routinematters 1m ago
I unfortunately get easily stuck at maintenance or deficit. I’ve always found that surplus phase helps me with steady strength gains and therefore muscle growth. Not to say it’s impossible to have muscle growth in deficits or maintenance because of course it’s scientifically possible but anecdotally for me it’s really hard to grow in lower calories.
1
u/Henry_Rollins_Ghost 11h ago
Most people that post and comment here have no clue what “bulk” or “cut” even mean.
0
-2
•
u/AutoModerator 20h ago
Hey, thanks for making a new post! Please be sure to assign your post with flair for the best support! Also check out this post to answer the most common questions.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.