I’d vary this one pound plus or minus given individual differences, I think 2 pounds a week is
the best benchmark for bulking up.
MASS PHASE DURATION CAN VARY
Not that the mass phase can’t be hurried, but you always want to maintain right about 10
percent bodyfat. That way you can get in contest shape fast. I’ve seen people go through a 20-
week cycle in which they’ve bulked up for 8 weeks (3 pounds a week) and then use 12 weeks for
cutting (1–2 pounds a week). Though they bulked for only 8 weeks and cut for 12, their weight
was still above what it was for the contest before. And they were as cut, if not more so.
The whole goal here is to come into a contest a little better than before you were on the diet.
This may mean only 3–4 pounds. Or, in more long-term training, it could be 25. The big thing
is, EVERYBODY MAKES PROGRESS WITH THIS DIET. To those people who’ve been
the same for 15 years, I say here’s a way to break out.
Some bodybuilders prefer to point for a big contest, like a Mr. Olympia, and take the whole
year to do it. That can easily be done on this diet, too. You may want to mass for 30 weeks and
cut for 20, gaining 60 pounds and losing 40 over the course of a year. You’ll come in 20 pounds
ahead of where you were last year and be looking great.
Keep in mind that you may also want to utilize the “start up” or “maintenance” phase described
above as you go from mass to cutting phases. Let’s say you’ve got a contest in 30 weeks. You’ve
gained all the body mass you want in 10 weeks, but you don’t want to go to the cutting phase.
You can maintain your gains by staying on the “maintenance” phase for 6–8 weeks. Then, when
you’re ready, you can go into the cutting phase in preparation for the contest.
WEEKLY WEIGHT GAINS
You may see big fluctuations in weight, especially at the beginning of the diet, as a result of
your weekly carb loads. All that extra sugar and water can make for a gain of from 5–10 pounds
between Friday and Monday.
If this happens, don’t stress out. It’s natural. When you go back on the high fat diet on Monday,
you’ll immediately begin shedding those pounds, which are mostly water. Monday–Wednesday
you’ll be cleaning out much of what you put into your body on the weekend. By Wednesday, the
water should be pretty well flushed out. Depending on what phase of the diet you’re on, you can
manipulate calories so you get either the weekly weight gain or loss you’re looking for by Friday.
The “Cutting Phase”
Again, we don’t change the mechanics of the Anabolic Diet in any phase. It’s always 5 days
high fat, followed by 36–48 hours of carb loading. The only thing we change is the amount of
calories we eat.
In the “Cutting Phase” we’ll be cutting calories as a way of trimming fat off the body. As a rule
of thumb, you should cut 1,000 calories a day from your diet the first week. If you were at 6,000
during the “Mass Phase,” cut it to 5,000 per day during the first week of your cutting. The next
THE ANABOLIC DIET — HOW AND WHY IT WORKS 41