Which is the first or the second depends substantially on the starting condition. It is obvious that, in the context of an advanced bodybuilder, the initial percentage of fat mass (FM) should already be quite low; for this reason, usually, the first step is the bulk one. Otherwise, it will be necessary first of all to lose weight up to a percentage of FM of about 10-12% - depending on the final goal.
In the hypertrophic phase, nutrition revolves around the mere goal of putting on as much muscle mass as possible, while in the definition phase we try to lose only the excess fat, accumulated as little as possible during the previous period, trying to "retain" the best possible precious lean mass (FFM) achieved and made up of real muscles Not everyone thinks so.
According to a particular current of thought, the protein synthesis capacity of muscle tissue could be limited, and certainly not linked to the excess of calories ingested with the diet.In fact, the energy taken (so we will define the energetic macronutrients introduced with food and supplements) that exceeds the organic capacity of new lean tissue synthesis would be inexorably destined to the accumulation of reserve fats in the adipose tissue.
Especially in the past years (the 80s, 90s and again in the early 2000s) during the bulk phase some bodybuilders even reached 20% body fat. This attitude is fundamentally counterproductive; first of all because it considerably lengthens the cutting period, which is a very critical phase as it places the organism in catabolic conditions, also putting FFM at risk, and secondly because it stresses the satellite cells (dormant, so to speak, because it does not still developed) positioned in the adipose tissue to specialize in adipocytes. Today we know that this phenomenon occurs mainly during development, or growth in childhood, but the organism, as we know, is a complex system that is easily adaptable, full of resources and above all designed to survive food shortages. The same happens with the muscle fiber cells, inside the muscle tissue, but we will talk about this later.
called "preadipocytes", stimulating their evolution into real adipocytes, to increase the storage capacity of the adipose tissue. Since it is not possible to induce apoptosis (cell death) of adipose cells - and, in a certain sense, fortunately - specialized preadipocytes will tend to remain active and above all "receptive". To be honest, it would be logical to deduce that, as happens for the muscle satellite cells, if totally unused, even the adipose cells should regress returning to the initial phase. However, it is only a "hypothesis and there are no certainties, even if experience teaches that every tissue has a" memory ", probably induced by modifications of an epigenetic nature - that is, not directly dependent on the DNA. In practice, those who repeatedly gain weight have more aptitude to do so, just as those who have always trained, even after a stop, have a greater predisposition to improve.that we introduce with the diet, between lean tissue and adipose tissue. This is closely linked to hormonal factors but, first of all, to the type and extent of the induced stimulus. Training tends to improve the caloric destination in favor of lean tissue and, above all, bulk protocols, thanks to a greater release of anabolic hormones, should promote protein synthesis.
Muscle protein synthesis, in the absence of doping - ie the use of AAS - is however rather limited. According to some "very optimistic" sources, until the plateau is reached (obviously, the ability to gain mass has a physiological limit), this should be around 250 g or 500 g per week Anything beyond these numbers almost always implies an accumulation of fat.
Read on: Thermodynamics and Training
