mini cuts and mini bulks?
An easier way to your goal physique or just yo-yo dieting by another name?
What are mini cuts and bulks?
To level-set the terminology here, we will define mini-cut and bulk cycles.
As popularized by Layne Norton, mini cuts and bulks are much smaller cycles than your traditional 3-6 month builds, followed by 8-12+ week cuts.
These are usually executed by:
3-6 week bulk phase
1-2 week cut phase
Repeat
However, one important caveat was that this was specifically proposed for very lean males, not the general population, and here’s why 👉
6-Months spent in mini cycles
Let’s take a 140lb Female Avatar example:
Currently eating 2200 calories but doesn’t know that her maintenance range is 2050-2250 and metabolically healthy.
Plans to spend the next 6 months doing 3-week bulks & 1-week cuts.
She sets her cut calories at 1900 and her build calories at 2350.
After 6 months, she has spent 6 weeks collectively in a deficit and 18 weeks in a build.
Due to the water swings of carb/glycogen depletion and replenishment, she assumed each deficit was very effective; however, here’s where she’s sitting:
6 Weeks total Deficit = ⬇️ 1.8 lbs fat
18 Week total Build = ⬆️ 3.6 lbs*
*Assume for every 1 lb of muscle built, 0.5 lbs of fat is simultaneously gained
6-Months of Traditional periodization
Now, let’s take that same female through the same amount of time in surplus and deficit but structure it as an 18-week build followed by a 6-week cut.
In the build:
After tracking her data for 3-4 weeks, she realizes the top of her maintenance range is 2250 and adjusts calories up accordingly.
18 Week Build = ⬆️ 5.0lbs
(same muscle-to-fat gain ratio as previously assumed)
In the deficit:
After the initial water woosh, at the end of the second week, she makes an adjustment and finds that the bottom of her maintenance is 2050.
6 Weeks total Deficit = ⬇️ 3 lbs fat
Comparing the two paths
Assuming she adhered to the plan, she ultimately achieved more by the end of the traditional approach, both in terms of building more muscle mass and losing more body fat.
Mini Bulk/Cut Cycles 6-Month Results:
⬆️ 2.4 lbs muscle + ⬇️ 0.6 lbs fat
⬇️ -0.6% body fat
Traditional Approach Results:
⬆️ 3.3 lbs muscle + ⬇️ 1.3 lbs fat
⬇️ -1.1% body fat
Note: This is the best-case scenario, given that she is in a good spot metabolically and is not coming off years of yo-yo dieting.
Scenario #2
Now, if the same woman...
Assumed 2100 cals were her maintenance, but her maintenance range = 2050-2250
Set build targets at 2250, deficit targets at 1800
Mini Bulk/Cut Cycles 6-Month Results:
⬆️ 0lbs muscle & ⬇️ 3.0 lbs fat
Traditional Approach Results:
⬆️ 3.3lbs muscle & ⬇️ 1.3 lbs fat
In the mini-cycles, she essentially spent 6 months spreading out a 6-week fat loss phase while gaining zero muscle. Given the water fluctuations between phases, she assumed she was gaining muscle when it was actually just glycogen levels fluctuating.
This is the most likely scenario, given that very few actually know the top of their maintenance range.
So what’s the takeaway?
While the idea of mini-cut and bulk cycles may seem appealing to those who shy away from a traditional build phase because of the stigma around it, they are really difficult to execute if you don’t know your exact targets.
And for females layering in water fluctuations?
It’s nearly impossible to assess if you’re making any sort of progress.
It usually takes 2-4 weeks of solid data collection and consistency to determine whether we’re even in the ballpark of the targets we need to hit.
Additionally, some people may over-rotate in order to see progress and increase calories dramatically over necessary levels to minimize body fat gain, resulting in excess body fat gain compared to a traditional lean-building phase.
Net Net: This is not a strategy we recommend or implement for our clients.
