Cut --- Bulk --- Maintain

Bend_and_sway

If your are familiar with counting macros or the IIFYM style of dieting/living then you know the choices at hand, should I cut, bulk or maintain.

For the last year I have been maintaining my weight at 135 despite trying very hard to do something different. I keep refiguring my TDEE on different calculators or using different formulas. I generally eat about 1600 to 2000 calories per day depending on if I'm doing a carb cycle. My fat percent based off the machine at the gym that I use as a guide is 25%. I really want to grow big leg muscles. My body, by design, has very low muscle mass and holds fat stores in my legs. I went to reduce the fat in my legs but it will not go easily.

I have been in the gym five to six days a week for a year. I reduced my cardio, I was a distance runner before I took up weight lifting. My measurements and weight have not changed. I can see slight changes in my muscles but nothing dramatic. Something has to give.

TavistockToad

or do recomp....

MelissaPhippsFeagins

Maintain and lift heavier if you want to build your leg muscles. However, it is going to take a long time. Women don't build muscle as quickly as men and men don't build it fast. If you were to look at Dewayne Johnson (because the photos are easy to find) in 1997 he was a muscular 220. Today he is a muscular 280. It took 20 years of working on it as part of his job to get there and he has testosterone on his side.

sardelsa

You have a few options depending what you want to do.
As mentioned, you can recomp. So you continue to eat at maintenance and lift. While this takes time, you should have seen some improvements in the last year. But you may not see very significant differences especially in size. What program are you following? If you are not following a decent program or progressively adding weight to your lifts it can affect your results.

If you want to grow really big leg muscles you can consider bulking. However, I wouldn't go into it at your current BF%. First I would eat at a small deficit and continue to lift and to lower your BF% (females typically start bulking at 20% or less) then you can eat at surplus to bulk and gain weight. You will gain muscle and fat, so after your bulk you can cut to preserve the muscle and lose the fat.

Bend_and_sway

MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »

Maintain and lift heavier if you want to build your leg muscles. However, it is going to take a long time. Women don't build muscle as quickly as men and men don't build it fast. If you were to look at Dewayne Johnson (because the photos are easy to find) in 1997 he was a muscular 220. Today he is a muscular 280. It took 20 years of working on it as part of his job to get there and he has testosterone on his side.

It's going to take time, that is probably the reality of it. I can feel myself getting discouraged. All day long I see before and after's posted and after a while it starts to weigh on me. I need to step back and remember that I enjoy the journey.

trigden1991

Bend_and_sway wrote: »

MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »

Maintain and lift heavier if you want to build your leg muscles. However, it is going to take a long time. Women don't build muscle as quickly as men and men don't build it fast. If you were to look at Dewayne Johnson (because the photos are easy to find) in 1997 he was a muscular 220. Today he is a muscular 280. It took 20 years of working on it as part of his job to get there and he has testosterone on his side.

It's going to take time, that is probably the reality of it. I can feel myself getting discouraged. All day long I see before and after's posted and after a while it starts to weigh on me. I need to step back and remember that I enjoy the journey.

If you want to see fast progress then cut or bulk. Recomping is a slow process and it sounds like you lack the patience for it.

sardelsa

trigden1991 wrote: »

Bend_and_sway wrote: »

MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »

Maintain and lift heavier if you want to build your leg muscles. However, it is going to take a long time. Women don't build muscle as quickly as men and men don't build it fast. If you were to look at Dewayne Johnson (because the photos are easy to find) in 1997 he was a muscular 220. Today he is a muscular 280. It took 20 years of working on it as part of his job to get there and he has testosterone on his side.

It's going to take time, that is probably the reality of it. I can feel myself getting discouraged. All day long I see before and after's posted and after a while it starts to weigh on me. I need to step back and remember that I enjoy the journey.

If you want to see fast progress then cut or bulk. Recomping is a slow process and it sounds like you lack the patience for it.

Although the whole process of cutting, then bulking and cutting again are quicker (results wise), it still takes lots of time. I have been running this cycle for almost a year. However, if I was recomping for that same amount of time would I currently have the same results ? Nope.

Bend_and_sway

When I have done cutting calories for a while in the past I find that I spoil the cut by overeating one day a week which negates the deficit from the past several days. I have a lot of discipline and control but minor errors can spoil a cut quickly. Here are a few pictures so you can see that my arms have started to build but my legs aren't responding the way I want.

sardelsa wrote: »

You have a few options depending what you want to do.
As mentioned, you can recomp. So you continue to eat at maintenance and lift. While this takes time, you should have seen some improvements in the last year. But you may not see very significant differences especially in size. What program are you following? If you are not following a decent program or progressively adding weight to your lifts it can affect your results.

If you want to grow really big leg muscles you can consider bulking. However, I wouldn't go into it at your current BF%. First I would eat at a small deficit and continue to lift and to lower your BF% (females typically start bulking at 20% or less) then you can eat at surplus to bulk and gain weight. You will gain muscle and fat, so after your bulk you can cut to preserve the muscle and lose the fat.

Bend_and_sway wrote: »

MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »

Maintain and lift heavier if you want to build your leg muscles. However, it is going to take a long time. Women don't build muscle as quickly as men and men don't build it fast. If you were to look at Dewayne Johnson (because the photos are easy to find) in 1997 he was a muscular 220. Today he is a muscular 280. It took 20 years of working on it as part of his job to get there and he has testosterone on his side.

It's going to take time, that is probably the reality of it. I can feel myself getting discouraged. All day long I see before and after's posted and after a while it starts to weigh on me. I need to step back and remember that I enjoy the journey.

Bend_and_sway

Just FYI: I am following the Thinner Leaner Stronger five day split program but I have added in an extra leg day since it only had one leg day. Thinner Leaner Stronger is from Mike Matthews and focuses on compound movements and progressive overload basically.

sardelsa

While I have heard great things about TLS, I didn't realize it was a split program. For me if I wanted to grow the legs, one leg day would not cut it. So maybe a change in your programming can help.

Your look great though! Your arms look fantastic. I do see quite a bit of muscle in your legs and glutes too.

Bend_and_sway

Thank you. I think I will continue eating on the low end of maintenance and try to reduce my BF until maybe 18% and then reassess my legs. I have to realize that I can't pout and throw in the towel. If I can't hack doing a legit cut then slow and steady is my option.

sardelsa

If you have issues cutting, I probably wouldn't recommend bulk/cut cycles for you. I think even just eating at maintenance like you are doing but maybe thinking about incorporating more leg work into your program or switching to a program that does will likely benefit you.

yoherbs421

Nice pics @Bend_and_sway you look good!

For the legs, squats and deadlifts are good. They get you strong fast and get your heart rate up.

Have you thought about HIIT? Gotta warn you though, the exercises I mentioned will raise your testosterone level, meaning you might get aggressive lol could be a good thing sometimes!