Help! Should I bulk or cut? Summer is coming 😮

NicoleJo456

Hi. My body fat is somewhere between 20-22% (goal is 19%). I am 5’4 and 115 pounds BMI 19.7. I have been working out for about a year but only in the last 2 months have I been going hard trying to tone for summer, which has lead me to gain 3 pounds. But I feel like the muscle is just going on top of the fat. Waist size is 26 hips are 37. I don’t look fat but I think I need to lose a lot more fat in order for my muscle to show more? Thoughts? Should I do a calorie deficit and then switch back to gaining muscle after summer, or would all my past hard work be gone?

Buff_Man

Post a pic so we can see what you mean, otherwise it's hard to say. Overall I prefer to be lean so even when bulking I try to lean bulk. Also what are your macros, workout and calories?

sardelsa

With your stats if you are not satisfied with your definition, it is likely you don't have adequate muscle base for it to show. I have been in that exact position and I decided to run several bulk cycles and now have definition when I cut and I don't have to go nearly as low in weight as I was before.

Since summer is coming you can maintain your weight and work on recomp, then I would recommend running a bulk at some point in the winter or fall.

When you say you are "toning for summer" and gained weight, are you trying to lose or maintain?

NicoleJo456

Wow. Thanks for the advice. I will try this. At first my goal was trying to gain muscle, but I had this thought that if I gained some muscle that my fat would burn off. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have lost an inch in my hips though so that’s good news.

I definitely would like to lose another inch in my waist and in my hips for sure. I was going to post a pic but I feel like I look fat in the pic 😩

Anyway. Thanks for the tip. I’ll maintain until summer is over and then bulk up a bit then cut later. Recovering anorexic here so this is all very new to me. I appreciate the help ❤️

mmapags

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats if you are not satisfied with your definition, it is likely you don't have adequate muscle base for it to show. I have been in that exact position and I decided to run several bulk cycles and now have definition when I cut and I don't have to go nearly as low in weight as I was before.

Since summer is coming you can maintain your weight and work on recomp, then I would recommend running a bulk at some point in the winter or fall.

When you say you are "toning for summer" and gained weight, are you trying to lose or maintain?

@sardelsa, do you think her body fat ought to be lower, like say 17-18% before starting to bulk? You are more familiar with these % for women than I am.

If it were me, I would be doing a slow cut, maybe 200 calories per day, over the summer. That should reveal some muscle and drop some fat. The either recomp or bulk come the fall. But I am a guy, so I would give more weight to sardelsa's opinion than mine. She has done amazing things with recomping her body comp with bulks and cuts.

sardelsa

mmapags wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats if you are not satisfied with your definition, it is likely you don't have adequate muscle base for it to show. I have been in that exact position and I decided to run several bulk cycles and now have definition when I cut and I don't have to go nearly as low in weight as I was before.

Since summer is coming you can maintain your weight and work on recomp, then I would recommend running a bulk at some point in the winter or fall.

When you say you are "toning for summer" and gained weight, are you trying to lose or maintain?

@sardelsa, do you think her body fat ought to be lower, like say 17-18% before starting to bulk? You are more familiar with these % for women than I am.

If it were me, I would be doing a slow cut, maybe 200 calories per day, over the summer. That should reveal some muscle and drop some fat. The either recomp or bulk come the fall. But I am a guy, so I would give more weight to sardelsa's opinion than mine. She has done amazing things with recomping her body comp with bulks and cuts.

I take both bodyfat and BMI into account usually. If she was at the higher end of a healthy weight cutting would work. But she is quite low and from personal experience as well as from what I've seen with others cutting at an already low weight unless it's for a competition or someone is very close to goal physique (ex. you have abs but just want cleaner lines etc) it usually doesn't go anywhere. So I would recomp to get the bodyfat down if desired then run a bulk. As I always say sometimes you have nowhere to go but up!

mmapags

sardelsa wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

With your stats if you are not satisfied with your definition, it is likely you don't have adequate muscle base for it to show. I have been in that exact position and I decided to run several bulk cycles and now have definition when I cut and I don't have to go nearly as low in weight as I was before.

Since summer is coming you can maintain your weight and work on recomp, then I would recommend running a bulk at some point in the winter or fall.

When you say you are "toning for summer" and gained weight, are you trying to lose or maintain?

@sardelsa, do you think her body fat ought to be lower, like say 17-18% before starting to bulk? You are more familiar with these % for women than I am.

If it were me, I would be doing a slow cut, maybe 200 calories per day, over the summer. That should reveal some muscle and drop some fat. The either recomp or bulk come the fall. But I am a guy, so I would give more weight to sardelsa's opinion than mine. She has done amazing things with recomping her body comp with bulks and cuts.

I take both bodyfat and BMI into account usually. If she was at the higher end of a healthy weight cutting would work. But she is quite low and from personal experience as well as from what I've seen with others cutting at an already low weight unless it's for a competition or someone is very close to goal physique (ex. you have abs but just want cleaner lines etc) it usually doesn't go anywhere. So I would recomp to get the bodyfat down if desired then run a bulk. As I always say sometimes you have nowhere to go but up!

Thanks!

staticsplit

NicoleJo456 wrote: »

Wow. Thanks for the advice. I will try this. At first my goal was trying to gain muscle, but I had this thought that if I gained some muscle that my fat would burn off. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have lost an inch in my hips though so that’s good news.

I definitely would like to lose another inch in my waist and in my hips for sure. I was going to post a pic but I feel like I look fat in the pic 😩

Anyway. Thanks for the tip. I’ll maintain until summer is over and then bulk up a bit then cut later. Recovering anorexic here so this is all very new to me. I appreciate the help ❤️

If you're a recovering anorexic it's also worth pointing out you might have body dysmorphia and not be seeing yourself accurately. You're under a 20 BMI so I wouldn't recommend losing weight, so maybe recomp would be the better option.