Body fat percentages

jackhansford579

Hey guys, so far I've lost 7 stone 3lbs (just under 5 stone on this diet). I want to start bulking and gaining muscle mass however my body fat percentage is higher than I would like it to be at 18%. Would it be more beneficial to start bulking now or drop my body fat percentage first? Also apart from HIIT training accompanied with weight lifting are there any other effective ways at lowering my body fat percentage

GauchoMark

That decision is pretty much up to you and what your goals are.

Since you have lost about 101 lbs (sorry, I can't think in stones! Kg's or Lbs only!), you might consider doing a clean bulk or recomp for a while just to give your body a break. However, if the weight is still coming off pretty easy, I'd just keep leaning out and then bulk at the end. Either way, you'll probably end up cutting again after you do the bulk, so its just a decision about now or later.

Personally, if you are still losing easy, I'd just keep losing while watching your muscle mass. If you start seeing that the fat loss is coming at too much muscle loss, recomp or bulk for a month or two then cut again.

jackhansford579

I feel like cutting for longer than I have too after I've bulked would mean I'll lose too much muscle. Thanks for the advice the weight is still come off quite easy so I think I'll stick with cutting for a little longer.

Sued0nim

1) 18% is too high to bulk from

But

2) how do you know you're 18%

jackhansford579

i used this electronic body fat monitor that told me i was 18%. Its probably unreliable but its all I have to go by so im taking it as a rough estimation for the time being.

trigden1991

18% is way too high to start bulking. Cut to sub 15% or as low as you can stand and then slowly increase calories.

StealthHealth

Another vote for continue to cut.

Keep lifting, ensure adequate protein whilst you cut and continually review.

It's worth taking some body measurements (I routinely measure chest (can very massively but the trend is the key point), waist, bicep (flexed gives less variation) and thigh. These can help you understand if you are losing muscle or fat (since for men, thighs and biceps seem to hold little fat once you start getting in the teen BF%). So, if you're seeing the scales god down, your waist go down but your thigh and bicep measurement hold steady that is an indication that you are not losing muscle.

Obviously all this needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and healthy dose of common sense but they can be very useful metrics.

jasmon

Cut until 10-12% then bulk to 15%. Repeat till the desired look.