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Inside This Issue
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2020: The Year We Start Embracing Change Are New Year’s Resolutions a Waste of Time? Time to Embrace the 4-Day Work Week Make Better Team-Building a 2020 Resolution Traditional Korean Kimchi How to Choose the Right Fitness Strategy for You
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Choosing the Right Fitness Strategy for You To Bulk or Shred? If you make gym time a habit, then you’ve probably already heard the words “bulk” and “shred” tossed around over the racks of free weights, sweaty benches, and squat machines.Those terms might sound like meaningless jargon to the uninitiated, but they represent two different, equally valid approaches to fitness that anyone — not just bodybuilders — can use to their advantage. To put it simply, bulking is the process of building up muscle, and shredding (or “cutting,” as it’s sometimes called) is the practice of dropping body fat.When training for a competition, bodybuilders often “bulk” and “shred” in phases, changing their workout style and diet to match their current goal.As PureGym. com puts it, “At any given time on your journey to jackedness, you’ll either be aiming to cut body fat or to build muscle … it’s impossible to do both at the same time.” So, if you’re not a bodybuilder, what does this have to do with you?Well, one of these approaches could be the framework you’ve been looking for to guide your quest for peak fitness. Here’s the rundown on each style.
lots of protein.While bulking, you should also minimize cardio and focus on compound movement exercises (like squats, deadlifts, barbell presses, and military presses) with heavy weights to rapidly build muscle.
The Struggle to Shred
Shredding is everything that bulking isn’t. During a shred, MaxiMuscle recommends focusing on cardio exercises like running, cycling, and swimming and eating at a calorie deficit. Perhaps the most important aspect of this phase is diet because the point is to reveal your muscle, producing a “chiseled” effect. If you’d like to try cutting like a bodybuilder, websites like BodyBuilding.com and LiveStrong.com offer meal guides and tips on staying motivated. Whichever path you choose, remember to maintain a healthy balance as you pursue your goals. As tempting as it is to focus on the gym in exclusion of all else, there’s more to life than pumping iron!
The Battle to Bulk
Bulking is the “go big or go home” fitness strategy because it focuses on consuming a lot of calories and lifting heavy weights. BodyBuilding.com advises bulkers to eat 6–8 meals per day and to aim for a calorie surplus along with
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