Bulk or cut

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jschaaf1999
jschaaf1999 Posts: 11 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm 18 around 5foot 9 and I way 150lbs I want to start gaining muscle but I still have some belly fat I would like to cut down on aswell should I continue to stay in a slight surplus or should I go on a cut thank you for your help

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  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Lift heavy using a proven progressive lifting program and eat at maintenance or just a bit above.
  • bcradio1
    bcradio1 Posts: 43 Member
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    Cut to 10-12% bodyfat and then do a slow lean bulk of 100-200 calories over your TDEE.
  • ent3rsandman
    ent3rsandman Posts: 170 Member
    edited October 2017
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    jschaaf1999 wrote: »
    I'm 18 around 5foot 9 and I way 150lbs I want to start gaining muscle but I still have some belly fat I would like to cut down on aswell should I continue to stay in a slight surplus or should I go on a cut thank you for your help

    That's up to you. There are many paths you can take:
    1. Lean bulk at TDEE+300 - Your belly fat won't go away as you won't lose weight on a caloric surplus, but you will fill out with muscle, add minimal fat, and have something to cut down to later so that you won't look like a skeleton.
    2. Recomp - Eat at maintenance and follow a program. You can either get one from /r/fitness's (Reddit's) wiki or the sticky in this sub-forum, but make sure you stick with it for at least a few months. Your progress will be slow, but it keeps you from having to go through a cut & bulk cycle for the same results, thought it'll take 3x longer to get there.
    3. Cut at TDEE-300 - I'm gonna be honest, 150 at 5'9 isn't a lot of weight, and I think if you cut you're just going to end up looking thin. Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing; but I'm assuming you want to look like you lift. If that belly is something that absolutely has to go away, lift on a cut.

    Which path you take really depends on your goals. If you want abs ASAP, you'd probably be better off with either option 3. If you know you're not going to take your shirt off until the summer, go with option 1 while you still have time to build up some decent mass. Lastly, most people are going to tell you to cut to a specific bodyfat % and then bulk from there. Do what you want. If you just want to look big, lift big, and don't care about abs, you can shoot for bearmode territory which is around 16-20% bodyfat. If you want abs, 10-12% bodyfat is going to be your friend, and from there you can lean bulk until they begin to disappear (usually around 15%).

    Also make sure you keep track of your macros. 0.8g of protein per lb of lean body mass is typically considered the minimum to be safe, but if you want to eat more then go for it.
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Lift heavy using a proven progressive lifting program and eat at maintenance or just a bit above.

    yes do this - don't forget to squat - Eastcoast Jim
  • BritishSpy007
    BritishSpy007 Posts: 431 Member
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    Cut what?

    Bulk, bulk, bulk... at least until you are over 200, then maybe think about cutting...
  • BritishSpy007
    BritishSpy007 Posts: 431 Member
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    you can count!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    At 18 you can make amazing progress - I certainly don't think cutting would be sensible with your stats and at your age unless you put leanness ahead of strength and muscle building which doesn't seem to be your priority from your OP.

    Make sure you lift effectively by following a sensibly designed program and not just endless varieties of curls like the majority of 18 year olds in my gym. Don't waste your golden years, you won't realise it until later but these are the best years when progress comes easily and quickly.

    Small surplus (a slow rate of weight gain), train hard but if aesthetics (right now) are very important to you start with a spell at maintenance to lose your belly.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    At 18 you can make amazing progress - I certainly don't think cutting would be sensible with your stats and at your age unless you put leanness ahead of strength and muscle building which doesn't seem to be your priority from your OP.

    Make sure you lift effectively by following a sensibly designed program and not just endless varieties of curls like the majority of 18 year olds in my gym. Don't waste your golden years, you won't realise it until later but these are the best years when progress comes easily and quickly.

    Small surplus (a slow rate of weight gain), train hard but if aesthetics (right now) are very important to you start with a spell at maintenance to lose your belly.

    This. Don't waste being 18, follow a good program, hit it hard and take advantage of your situation.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    BritishSpy007 wrote: »
    Cut what?

    Bulk, bulk, bulk... at least until you are over 200, then maybe think about cutting...

    Don't follow this horrible advice unless you want to get fat OP.


    OP, you need to figure out what is the priority for you.. belly fat or muscle gain. If you want, you can cut down a bit to lose the fat while following a structure program like below. Since you are young, and probably new to lifting, you might see some noob gains if you have a moderate deficit and adequate protein.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

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