How to cut
-To cut or to reduce body fat simply eat in a calorie deficit, train with weights to preserve Muscle, If u want to be skinny and thats your body type or best for your sport u can just eat in a calorie deficit and do cardio, Cardio is for the heart and to burn extra calories but cardio will not replace diet ever, the nutrition is the foundation for health, longevity, and fuel, food is fuel, water is fuel, black coffee's for caffeine etc, supplements are extra and i use and am not against powders or extra supplements but nothing will replace the core NUTRITION
How to bulk
-To bulk or gain muscle with fat, which is a given over time, u need to eat in a calorie surplus, now u can not lift but of course lifting weights at least 2 times a week will be fantastic and best way for muscle growth, not only way, but most efficient way, whether it's bodybuilding, powerlifting, general weight training, or sports weight training, weights are the best way to grow muscle, IF the NUTRITION is there, u can increase calories by 200 calories a day and wait a week or 2, see how much weight u gain, and if it's more than 1.5Lbs a week MAXIMUM id recommend, if u hit a plateau up it again, see a week if u gain weight too fast or too slow adjust as needed up or down, if u eat 3k calories a day, eat 3,200 a week for example see how your body, looks, performs, and reacts
-Most bulks take time especially to build quality muscle, but cutting the fat is way quicker, especially the more muscle you build after each bulk, u will be able to eat more calories and hence your cut will be less brutal and u will be able to cut on higher calories, (except for competitions specifically they will usually be much deeper of deficits especially bodybuilding competitions)
How to train with weights and stimulate growth
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Once again it is simple but not easy, takes a while to take a long time to build proper muscle and reveal it as well on a “cut” but let's talk training stimulus to grow first, some believe u can “main-gain” or “lean Bulk” but after a period of time, energy cannot be created or destroyed as we discussed earlier, so by scientific laws of nature and matter, u need to have some surplus of calories for muscle growth, especially if you are not new to training, this could be a 50 calorie surplus or 300 starting, regardless u need A surplus of calories in general to create new tissue, if u have no extra fat to use as energy, u 100% need extra calories
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Now that we sorted that basic law out, now u can train in whatever style u like personally as long as u are getting stronger over time and gaining weight over time, if u prefer a strict old school bodybuilding training like arnold, mike mentzer, frank zane, to more modern such as ronnie coleman, kevion levrone, or current bodybuilders such as chris bumstead, ramon dino etc, u need to realize take these styles with a grain of salt, most bodybuilders, especially today are openly or hiddenly Un-natural even in the men's physique or womans divisions like “bikini”, the basics still apply nonetheless, train minimum 2 days per week with a basic program, train with intent and intensely, the programs may vary and nutrition will vary based off how many days u train, how intense, and how many rest/recovery days u chose to take. Still remain in a surplus of calories as a weekly whole as needed for growth.
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I will explain a basic split that almost everyone can do, 4 day upper lower split is very easy as u can mess around and have 4 days of week with 3 days to relax/recover, or if u have a busy schedule, take more focus on your other aspects of life like children, marriage, job/career/business etc.
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In a 4 day split, for example of this paper only not my personal recommendation, u can mix up the body parts clear as day, 2 days for upper and 2 for lower body or mix it up, train shoulders one leg/lower day and arms the other leg/lower day, or stick to the name as strictly upper 2 days, lower another, u can also mix match such as, {Upper, Lower, Arms, Upper again} or however u want to make that a combination of 4 days
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What i recommend is to train each muscle on your body with a variety of compound and isolation movements to strengthen the ligaments, joints, and each muscle group individually and as a collective unit (I will go into further detail as to why nut for right now i’ll leave it at that) Train the muscles with frequency and intensity toi grow, this means pushing yourself more than just to mild discomfort, the longer u have been training the more u will actually have to put effort into each muscles growth.
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Train each muscle feeling a squeeze, stretch to some extent and also a pump, I think all are equally important for muscle growth, strength, and hypertrophy, to grow/become stronger {As strength and size are usually correlated and one comes with the other to some extent inevitably} but to also strengthen the joint and ligaments. This is because to keep from having any injuries strong joints, ligaments and also muscles of course all protect each other as u lift heavier weights your ligaments and joints will taker a hit if not also strengthened through proper training, of course i dont think a super slow stretch and super light weight is always more efficient then heavy weight for your own strength at that current time, but sometimes making sure your stretch and form being proper is very good for preventing injury as well as lagging muscle groups.
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Now this is a more advanced tip so u can skip this for now if u are a beginner but i would recommend u dont for future purposes, but for intermediate and especially advanced lifters, {im sure most advanced lifters would know by now}, if u have improper form on certain lifts or train overly sloppy u may create future imbalances or injuries such as shoulder pain for example if u hunch forward and don't retract your scapula before u bench and many other examples, I would recommend u record yourself and see how your form looks, and adjust as needed.
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On a cut just to reiterate just try to maintain your muscle and train as heavy as u a can with proper form as in a cut your goal is to MAINTAIN as much muscle as u can, not BUILD.