Lean bulk and the role of extra fat stores

MassarDv

If a guy enters lean bulk with slight belly fat say above 15 percent and stays on lean bulk for 3 months .I want to know if he will come out with less fat and more flat belly ?
Example:
Say the guy is around 170 lbs with 15 percent body fat.
The guy will be eating above maintenance +300 cals on workout days and on rest days + 100 .

Example : 2500 *3 = 7500
2500 * 4 = 1000 cals

Macro split -25 protien 45 carb 30 fats

To build muscle per month he will be in surplus as shown above .

And say he gains 2 lb of muscle and 2 lb of fat
After 1 month he will be around 175 ( body weight considering water and glycogen he will be storing due to being in surplus).

As this guy has enough fat stores ,I m thinking he doesn’t need big surplus .And May be due to this and being on a strength training plan ( 3 non consecutive days per week ) his body will tap into fat stores and he may came out looking muscular and lean with a very minimal body fat .
What do you think what happens?
I understand you can’t do spot reduction but what I m thinking is that the body will tap in the extra fat stores during his muscle building phase of 3 months .

richln

MassarDv wrote: »

If a guy enters lean bulk with slight belly fat say above 15 percent and stays on lean bulk for 3 months .I want to know if he will come out with less fat and more flat belly ?
Example:
Say the guy is around 170 lbs with 15 percent body fat.
The guy will be eating above maintenance +300 cals on workout days and on rest days + 100 .

Example : 2500 *3 = 7500
2500 * 4 = 1000 cals

Depends. Technically if you are in a lean bulk you are not going to lose any body fat. You will slowly gain body fat. But what happens in practice when running a small surplus, is that you can actually end up in maintenance without realizing it. During a bulk, maintenance value often rises fairly significantly so that if you start out at 2500 and that is currently a surplus for you, your metabolism will ramp up as you gain weight (more mass=higher metabolism). If you are coming straight out of a deficit, you will also experience some metabolic adaptation so that your metabolism will become slightly less "efficient" and your maintenance value will rise. You will likely also experience some increase in NEAT as you will feel like you have more energy due to the surplus and you may be also able to train harder. So after a few months then you may find your maintenance value has risen from 2500 to 2700 or whatever it happens to end up at. In this case, you could experience some recomposition effects since you are not really in a surplus anymore, the extent of which depends on the oft-quoted conditions here such as newbie effects.

But in general, no, if you actually stay in surplus you are not going to lose fat. Another thing you may wish to consider is that if you start bulking at 15%+ body fat then a higher percentage of the surplus will be going to adding more fat than muscle. Nutrient partitioning effects favor people who are leaner starting a bulk around 12% or less (for males).

MassarDv wrote: »

Macro split -25 protien 45 carb 30 fats

To build muscle per month he will be in surplus as shown above .

Does not matter too much as long as you are hitting protein minimums and fat minimums and not trying to bulk on zero carbs. Most people find high carb helpful here as it provides lot of energy for workouts.

MassarDv wrote: »

And say he gains 2 lb of muscle and 2 lb of fat
After 1 month he will be around 175 ( body weight considering water and glycogen he will be storing due to being in surplus).

As this guy has enough fat stores ,I m thinking he doesn’t need big surplus .And May be due to this and being on a strength training plan ( 3 non consecutive days per week ) his body will tap into fat stores and he may came out looking muscular and lean with a very minimal body fat .
What do you think what happens?
I understand you can’t do spot reduction but what I m thinking is that the body will tap in the extra fat stores during his muscle building phase of 3 months .

No. You will look bigger but there is no need for the body to "tap into extra fat stores" since you will be time-average in calorie surplus. Again, it is not the best plan to start a bulk if you already 15%+ body fat because of p-ratio and nutrient partitioning.

GreatApe2017

Just bulk building muscle is harder than losing fat.

Bulk for 6+ months then do a cut. You aren't going to be the first person to discover a way to both bulk good and not gain fat

If you are after abs you need muscle and low body fat. Just low body fat with little muscle mass will mean you look skinny and thin.

Oh this is assuming you are already under 15% body fat. In my experience you know your getting below 15% when your friends and family start telling you your face has changed and is becoming skinny. At that point do a lean bulk until you get towards the 20% fat mark then cut back and repeat

jseams1234

Wut? It's been about two years since you've been on this board OP. Time enough for a few bulk/cut cycles and some serious gains. How's it been going? Are you still at square one?