Help me estimate my bf% & a question!

eeejer

12%. Slowly add calories back. Do a lean bulk. http://rippedbody.jp/how-to-bulk/

trigden1991

If you want to get leaner but mentally and physically are feeling it, then I'd say take a week or 2 at maintenance and then get back into a deficit. Look into Lyle Mcdonalds diet breaks

StealthHealth

My estimation 11.654%

It's immaterial what the number is really - there is some anecdotal evidence that lower %BF do better in muscle gain on a bulk than others but in my limited searches on the subject I could find no studies at all - let alone any that supported the theory (often called the theory of partition) and, given the massive inaccuracies of BF guestimation/estimation/measurement anyone who says "you need to be at x % BF before a bulk" is talking out of their hat because the anecdotal evidence is further flawed by the unreliable %BF data that those anecdotes are based upon.

My opinion, you can bulk for muscle growth at any %BF and the muscle gain to fat gain ratio will be dependent upon the surplus, the training regime, the macro nutritional profile of the diet, and the rest/recuperation - in that order of importance*

If anyone has science on the effects of starting %BF on muscle to fat partition in bulk I'm genuinely interested in reading that - I'm happy to change my opinion on that basis.

*for natural trainees who are not subject to newbie gainz, or 18YO males.

In your case, I'd be recommending a slow ramp into surplus primarily because:

Erik8484 wrote: »

I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things.

Not that I agree with your perception by the way: you do not look small.

TR0berts

diverroboz wrote: »

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!

I've found it to be very inaccurate. It gives me a BF% of about 13%. I'm nowhere near 13% - more like 18-20% currently. Covert-Bailey, which put me at 16.5%, is closer.

Erik8484

StealthHealth wrote: »

My estimation 11.654%

It's immaterial what the number is really - there is some anecdotal evidence that lower %BF do better in muscle gain on a bulk than others but in my limited searches on the subject I could find no studies at all - let alone any that supported the theory (often called the theory of partition) and, given the massive inaccuracies of BF guestimation/estimation/measurement anyone who says "you need to be at x % BF before a bulk" is talking out of their hat because the anecdotal evidence is further flawed by the unreliable %BF data that those anecdotes are based upon.

My opinion, you can bulk for muscle growth at any %BF and the muscle gain to fat gain ratio will be dependent upon the surplus, the training regime, the macro nutritional profile of the diet, and the rest/recuperation - in that order of importance*

If anyone has science on the effects of starting %BF on muscle to fat partition in bulk I'm genuinely interested in reading that - I'm happy to change my opinion on that basis.

*for natural trainees who are not subject to newbie gainz, or 18YO males.

In your case, I'd be recommending a slow ramp into surplus primarily because:

Erik8484 wrote: »

I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things.

Not that I agree with your perception by the way: you do not look small.

This was a really good post, thanks.

After posting (1 month ago) i ended up losing 2kg more. Im now at maintenance, and ill be looking to hit a small surplus over the next few weeks.

rainbowbow

I was going to estimate just around 13% or so, but maybe the range 12-15% like others have been saying are more accurate.

Start bulking now, you're well within the range where you can see where you stand muscle-mass wise. I generally recommend men start bulking once they're able to see clearly where they're at. Sometimes it's easy to see they need to bulk even before they've reached the sub 15% range.

StealthHealth

Erik8484 wrote: »

StealthHealth wrote: »

My estimation 11.654%

It's immaterial what the number is really - there is some anecdotal evidence that lower %BF do better in muscle gain on a bulk than others but in my limited searches on the subject I could find no studies at all - let alone any that supported the theory (often called the theory of partition) and, given the massive inaccuracies of BF guestimation/estimation/measurement anyone who says "you need to be at x % BF before a bulk" is talking out of their hat because the anecdotal evidence is further flawed by the unreliable %BF data that those anecdotes are based upon.

My opinion, you can bulk for muscle growth at any %BF and the muscle gain to fat gain ratio will be dependent upon the surplus, the training regime, the macro nutritional profile of the diet, and the rest/recuperation - in that order of importance*

If anyone has science on the effects of starting %BF on muscle to fat partition in bulk I'm genuinely interested in reading that - I'm happy to change my opinion on that basis.

*for natural trainees who are not subject to newbie gainz, or 18YO males.

In your case, I'd be recommending a slow ramp into surplus primarily because:

Erik8484 wrote: »

I feel depressingly small and am anxious to get on with things.

Not that I agree with your perception by the way: you do not look small.

This was a really good post, thanks.

After posting (1 month ago) i ended up losing 2kg more. Im now at maintenance, and ill be looking to hit a small surplus over the next few weeks.

Thanks for the positive reply. After a long cut, you're going to love a slight surplus of cals - bring on the gainz!