Help me estimate my bf% & a question!

Erik8484

Hoping you can help me with 2 things today:
1. What do you think my body fat % is? I took a couple of photos to help, in a bunch of different lighting because I am paler than pale.






2. My goals this year are to put on muscle, and to lift heavy things. But before I got to putting on muscle, I agreed with my trainer to cut some weight first (deficit, high protein, lifting heavy). Well, 2 months later and I've lost about 2kg (4.5lbs), I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things. In your internet opinion, do you think it would be a mistake to start a bulk before dropping any more weight?

FYI I'm 5'8 and between 145lbs and 150lbs.

Please and thank you!

queenliz99

15% or less

Erik8484

Thanks @queenliz99

codsterlaing95

10-12%

daz2270

I reckon 12-13%. Good starting point for slow bulk.

Erik8484

Thanks guys, really appreciate your input!

Jeffrey300050

0

Erik8484

Jeffrey300050 wrote: »

0

Sounds about right

Packerjohn

Agree with most of the others 12-15%

psuLemon

Yea i was thinking in the 12% ish range.

Springfield1970

12-13% looking great. Time to bulk Bulky Bulkerton.

pwillis20

I'm going to lean closer to the 10% range. I'd say finish your cut.
Reasons::
1 - You mentally grow stronger completing what you initially started out for.
2 - Makes sure your diet is in check, your dedicated, and have a lean base to start with, which allows for a more flexible diet and bulk when adding the weight back.
3 - Your body will be use to a deficit or catabolic state, when you reverse to a surplus, often times your body holds on to the surplus much better in an anabolic state (which promotes muscle gain) in fear of going back into starvation,, essentially.

pbryd

You could eat at maintenance for a few weeks, if you're getting sick of the diet. My opinion is, you should reverse diet out into a lean bulk.

Taking 8 weeks to lose 4.5lb seems a little long, maybe on your next cut you might consider lowering your calories further. Perhaps other forum members can give their opinion on this?

Evelinejedwab

Buy yourself a scale, you can get a good one that displays fat, bone and muscle percentage for about 25€.

pbryd

Evelinejedwab wrote: »

Buy yourself a scale, you can get a good one that displays fat, bone and muscle percentage for about 25€.

I would avoid these, they're terribly inaccurate. Some bodyfat calipers will give you a better idea, but in reality it doesn't matter what any scale says, it's whether you are happy with your appearance that counts.

Erik8484

pbryd wrote: »

You could eat at maintenance for a few weeks, if you're getting sick of the diet. My opinion is, you should reverse diet out into a lean bulk.

Taking 8 weeks to lose 4.5lb seems a little long, maybe on your next cut you might consider lowering your calories further. Perhaps other forum members can give their opinion on this?

Thats a fair point, i think i could have gone a bit more aggressive with it. I ended up at a deficit of about 10%-15% to my tdee. That was broadly my target going in, but I've since read that more aggressive cuts aren't necessarily a bad thing, and that over the short term you wont necessarily lose any more lbm. Ill definitely look at cutting more aggressively.

Evelinejedwab wrote: »

Buy yourself a scale, you can get a good one that displays fat, bone and muscle percentage for about 25€.

Scales unfortunately arent a reliable method of measuring body fat (which is a huge pet peeve of mine).

pwillis20 wrote: »

I'm going to lean closer to the 10% range. I'd say finish your cut.
Reasons::
1 - You mentally grow stronger completing what you initially started out for.
2 - Makes sure your diet is in check, your dedicated, and have a lean base to start with, which allows for a more flexible diet and bulk when adding the weight back.
3 - Your body will be use to a deficit or catabolic state, when you reverse to a surplus, often times your body holds on to the surplus much better in an anabolic state (which promotes muscle gain) in fear of going back into starvation,, essentially.

I do want to go a little bit leaner, i feel like absolutely garbage right now though (more likely from being sick than from my deficit i suspect). Im going to sit in maintenance for up to 2 weeks and reassess when i don't feel like im going to die anymore (exaggeration, its man flu).

Thanks again to everyone for your input.

psuLemon

I mean if you are comfortable, you could recomp for a bit until you can get back in mentally or even set a very small deficit.

diverroboz

Erik8484 wrote: »

Hoping you can help me with 2 things today:
1. What do you think my body fat % is? I took a couple of photos to help, in a bunch of different lighting because I am paler than pale.






2. My goals this year are to put on muscle, and to lift heavy things. But before I got to putting on muscle, I agreed with my trainer to cut some weight first (deficit, high protein, lifting heavy). Well, 2 months later and I've lost about 2kg (4.5lbs), I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things. In your internet opinion, do you think it would be a mistake to start a bulk before dropping any more weight?

FYI I'm 5'8 and between 145lbs and 150lbs.

Please and thank you!

Why not simply go to the US NAVY BODYFAT CCOMPOSITION Calculator? ThisIis very accurate, based on a few simple measurements! Simply Google it and take your numbers and apply them to the online calculator!
You can repeat the process as often as you like and boom!
Good hunting!

Erik8484

diverroboz wrote: »

Erik8484 wrote: »

Hoping you can help me with 2 things today:
1. What do you think my body fat % is? I took a couple of photos to help, in a bunch of different lighting because I am paler than pale.






2. My goals this year are to put on muscle, and to lift heavy things. But before I got to putting on muscle, I agreed with my trainer to cut some weight first (deficit, high protein, lifting heavy). Well, 2 months later and I've lost about 2kg (4.5lbs), I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things. In your internet opinion, do you think it would be a mistake to start a bulk before dropping any more weight?

FYI I'm 5'8 and between 145lbs and 150lbs.

Please and thank you!

Why not simply go to the US NAVY BODYFAT CCOMPOSITION Calculator? ThisIis very accurate, based on a few simple measurements! Simply Google it and take your numbers and apply them to the online calculator!
You can repeat the process as often as you like and boom!
Good hunting!

I don't think it's as accurate as you think it is, being based on your weight, height waist measurements and neck measurement only.

All body fat measurement techniques are subject to error. In my opinion the best thing to do is to estimate bf% using a number of different methods, to build a better picture of what your bf% is likely to be. Posting photos online for internet opinions is just one of those different methods.

diverroboz

Fair point, but the sample size is MASSIVE, quite accurate enough compared to other sketchy methods, and I'm guessing it would be interesting to give it a try!
Anyway, congrats on the results so far, keep it going!
I reckon from the photos you'd be a classic Australia Navy Clearance Diver physique!
Those guys can be thought of close to par with SEALS in physical fitness and toughness.
Please let us know what figure the US NAVY method gives you, assuming you try it, of course!

Jams009

I'd say around 12% ish. It's very difficult to get an accurate measurment. Looking good.

If you want to bulk, bulk. Personally I'd go a touch leaner, but it's just personal preference, so if you are eager to get on with packing on some muscle I'd say you're in a good place to start.

Don't go too crazy with your surplus btw, or you'll make your next cut very difficult. I'd use a very small surplus (200-300) and stop when you reach ~15-18% ish, then cut back down and repeat.

That said, there's no right or wrong way; just do whatever makes you happy. Good luck.