Originally Posted by vtec to vvel

I keep logs of each cut/bulk phases and goes back about 10 years. Whether I cut from a clean or dirty bulk, the misery is almost the same. The most recent cut phase was a bit more difficult because my only source of carbs came from fruits/veggies and cut out anything processed, whereas before I would incorporate rice cakes/wheat bread.

I've noticed that a clean bulk takes me twice as long to get the gains I target, though there are pro's/con's to both types of bulking. For my particular goals, a clean bulk would have meant eating about 6 meals a day (and for a longer duration), whereas a dirty bulk meant less meals with more calories and hitting my macro's. I also saw a pattern of being able lift more weight and with more reps/sets on a dirty bulk than clean.

In regards to age and metabolism, there has been many new studies that a person's metabolism doesn't start to decline until the 60's. Perhaps it's different for each individual person, but looking back at my records, my calorie surplus/deficit for bulking/cutting have been consistent so far.

https://www.healthline.com/health-ne...than-you-think