How to Properly Bulk, Cut, and Eliminate Fatigue in the Gym

When it comes to building a more athletic and aesthetically pleasing physique, traditional thinking favors the bulk-and-cut method. The first step involves lifting progressively heavier weights to force your muscles to grow while also consuming massive amounts of calories to provide the ready material needed to shore up these gains. In the cut stage, you’ll reduce calories drastically and usually up cardio in an attempt to reduce any fat gained from the bulking stage and uncover the glorious new muscles beneath. Ideally, you’ll need to get down to at least 12 per cent body fat for abs to start showing.How far you want to go with either stage is up to you. Just keep in mind—it's not going to be fun. You are, after all, talking about over- and then under-eating for extensive periods of time and dedicating your life to the gym for a months or even a year-plus. Of course, getting in top shape can be a confidence booster, a way to shed bad habits, and uncover a healthier, happier version of ourselves.Davide’s story is a similar one. A self-confessed gym obsessive, he lifted weights most days, but he wasn’t really seeing results because of his diet. And so he turned to Adam Enaz, physical trainer and registered dietician and embarked on a bulk and cut journey. With Enaz’s help, he would finally have the knowledge required to transform his body, safely and reliably.Davide started one year before this interview, with a six-month bulking phase. “Davide wanted to get big because he felt skinny, so we put him straight onto 3,000 calories,” Enaz explains. After bulking, Davide reduced his daily calorie intake to 1,900 calories to help unearth his abs.“It hasn’t been straightforward,” says Enaz. “Davide has shown amazing commitment. He had lots of struggles with nausea from overeating, injuries from heavy weight training and strength building at lower rep ranges, and still managed to bulk up. Then he really struggled to lose fat because he was so used to overeating and his cardio wasn't as good, so we had to really push him.”But, as the picture above shows, Davide stuck it out. He peaked at a little over 190 pounds, then brought his weight to about 180, losing more than an inch and a half from his waist. Here’s how he did it, in his own words.The motivation“I'm 30 years old next month and it was time to do something drastic. I decided to meet with Adam because I couldn't put on any sort of weight, and I needed guidance in my training. Before this, I used to spend a lot of time working out at the gym without getting any results.“I used to split the workout between muscle groups, so chest with biceps or triceps, leg day, back and tris etc. But nothing was working, so I decided to reach out for help. I’d seen a few transformations that Adam did online and thought he was the guy for me.”The new plan“Instead of dividing workouts between muscle groups, now we do a total body workout every session. I think it's much better this way, because rather than focusing on chest and becoming fatigued quickly, and being unable to push every exercise to the limit, now I still have the energy to push.“My diet before was really dirty. I was still focusing on eating the right amount of proteins, but I was also eating lots of carbs and lots of fat as well. That is why I wasn't gaining weight. Adam asked me to start tracking everything that I was eating so we could adjust my macros to my goals.Enaz says: “The reason he wasn’t gaining weight was that he was only eating around 2,500 calories, which is his maintenance level, even though he believed he was eating much more. It wasn't until he started tracking his intake that he realized this.”Bulking season“At the beginning I was really, really struggling because I had to eat a lot. I wasn’t that hungry, and I was eating more fat than carbs. So I really pushed myself to stay motivated because I wanted to finally achieve results. I finally started to gain weight, and my energy level increased too.“I was seeing some great results in the first three months, but at the same time, I was probably pushing too hard with the weights. We were doing low rep, heavy weights and I loved it, but I ended up having a few injuries just as I was starting to feel good and had to have time off. Lower back pain was the big one, and it really slowed me down. But, once I was healed up, I was back and ready to push again.“The food was hard, but I loved the process of heavy weights. I think it's the best way to grow: push yourself to the limit and go the closest you can to failure so you stress that muscle and promote growth. I loved the squat, but I can’t do it anymore unfortunately because of my lower back injury, which means the bench press became my favorite.”Enaz says: “He wasn't pushing himself to failure in the gym until we began training together. I showed him that he was capable of lifting 20-30 per cent heavier than he had been. As a result, any extra calories he consumed didn’t lead to muscle gain when he was working on his own because he wasn't tracking his weights and reps closely and lacked a systematic approach to increasing weight. With our system, once he hits 12 reps on an exercise, the extra calories during his bulk have effectively helped him gain muscle.“To facilitate bulking, we introduced foods higher in fats, since fats contain nine calories per gram compared to carbs and proteins, which have four calories per gram This approach made it easier to increase overall caloric intake. We also incorporated a high-calorie shake consisting of 75g of whey protein, powdered oats, fruits, and cocoa powder. This shake provided 1,200 calories and consuming calories in liquid form proved to be much easier, especially in managing nausea.”The cut begins“It was only at the start of this year that I said to Adam I wanted to start the cut. Over Christmas I’d gone back to my home in Italy and I ate quite a lot, so I wanted to get rid of the fat on my belly. Adam decreased my calorie intake so we could lose the fat without losing the muscle I had built up.“I was still eating a lot of protein, but the overall calorie intake was really low. I was maybe having 100 grams of rice or pasta per day, which was nothing, because during the bulk stage I was used to eating something like 250 grams of pasta. It was really, really, really difficult at the beginning. But then I began eating lots of veg and some fruit to fill me up and it got easier. A big thing that really helped was removing breakfast. Lunch at work is a set menu so I have less control over it, but cutting out breakfast completely was a huge help—usually I can get by on coffee until midday. If I do get hungry before lunch, I’ll have a protein shake with water.“Changing up the exercises was also difficult. Because I was used to doing lower, heavier reps, I found it difficult to now have to do higher reps. I think it's related to the fact that my energy levels at the beginning, when we cut calories, were very low. I also hate cardio because I have no breath. Every time we did jump rope or something, or ran for five minutes, I’d be tired.“Despite the difficulties, I managed to lose five kilos in just the last couple of months.”Enaz says: “We reduced the fat intake to help significantly reduce calories. We also prioritized foods that are filling but low in calories, like leafy greens, vegetables, and lean meats, as well as ‘high satiety’ foods such as boiled potatoes, oatmeal, brown pasta and baked beans.“Since he wasn’t a fan of traditional cardio, we incorporated drop sets at the end of our sessions. These mimic the effects of cardio by involving 3-4 continuous sets with progressively lighter weights, providing a similar cardiovascular benefit.”The future“I’ve been working with Adam for a year and I'm quite happy. I’m not in a rush to reach my final result. I know it comes with time. Already I’ve achieved a huge result and I’m so happy. People are telling me I look leaner, which is nice.“I haven’t discussed this with Adam yet but I think the next step might be to bulk again. Now I’ve been working with a professional I’ve really learned a lot and I want to keep tinkering with it, to see how far we can push it and what we can achieve.”This story originally appeared on British GQ.