Body fat or bigger muscle?
CsCamachoV
Posts: 12 Member
Hope you are all good, Im going straight to the problem, I honestly don't know if I had to lose or gain weight, my body fat is 13.9%. I currently do calisthenics and weightlifting. I wanna see my abs quite defined, but Idk if I had to lose body fat to be able to see them good or gain muscle to get them bigger. To finish I dont know if my chest is just small or it would look bigger if I lose that body fat
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Replies
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I think you'd be better served building more muscle. Especially in your chest. Your abs are already peeking through and they'd be more visible if you were a little leaner, but I don't know if you want to go there. You could honestly go either direction depending on your goals. Are you goals more performance based or aesthetic? I would lean towards just continuing to work out hard and progressively where you are at or at a small surplus. You look great however and have a lot of options.
PS - Nice L-sit in your profile pic! That's one of the best ways to get those abs poppin'.10 -
How did you measure your BF?
FEIW, it doesn't look like 13.9% to me especially due to the lack of muscle dfn and vascularity in your arms & legs.2 -
Second for a bit more muscle, unless you have a performance advantage by maintaining a lighter weight at your prefered job/sport/lifestyle. More muscle will make a better show through slightly thicker fat layer, and the slightly thicker fat layer (like you have now) will help keep your hormones working the way you want. Dropping your fat too much below where your at now can start making things a little weird with moods and behaviors. I think below 11% body fat or so for men is where things start getting a bit rough, though I'm betting a man can give you more specifics.1
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If you lose the BF, what's going to show underneath?
If there was muscle to show, it would appear bigger with some fat on top.
Losing fat on top of muscle isn't going to make the muscle look bigger.
If you are at healthy weight - and you probably are - it's time for a known progressive lifting program that will be asking the body to get stronger and use the muscle it's got, and then grow more when needed.
While eating at maintenance to keep weight the same.
When you have better definition - then look into slow bulk to increase weight and muscle mass.3 -
mom23mangos wrote: »I think you'd be better served building more muscle. Especially in your chest. Your abs are already peeking through and they'd be more visible if you were a little leaner, but I don't know if you want to go there. You could honestly go either direction depending on your goals. Are you goals more performance based or aesthetic? I would lean towards just continuing to work out hard and progressively where you are at or at a small surplus. You look great however and have a lot of options.
PS - Nice L-sit in your profile pic! That's one of the best ways to get those abs poppin'.
I remember when you first commented on my first post, like 8 months ago.
My goal is to look aesthetic, but now that Ive read all this I think I might go for a bigger chest and shoulders, and after that start a deficit to lose fat2 -
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ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »Second for a bit more muscle, unless you have a performance advantage by maintaining a lighter weight at your prefered job/sport/lifestyle. More muscle will make a better show through slightly thicker fat layer, and the slightly thicker fat layer (like you have now) will help keep your hormones working the way you want. Dropping your fat too much below where your at now can start making things a little weird with moods and behaviors. I think below 11% body fat or so for men is where things start getting a bit rough, though I'm betting a man can give you more specifics.
Thanks! I think getting muscle will be a better option, cheers0 -
If you lose the BF, what's going to show underneath?
If there was muscle to show, it would appear bigger with some fat on top.
Losing fat on top of muscle isn't going to make the muscle look bigger.
If you are at healthy weight - and you probably are - it's time for a known progressive lifting program that will be asking the body to get stronger and use the muscle it's got, and then grow more when needed.
While eating at maintenance to keep weight the same.
When you have better definition - then look into slow bulk to increase weight and muscle mass.
I didnt mean that my muscle would look bigger, but more defined with less bf
So r u saying that keeping my calories at maintenance but working my muscles harder will increase them? Cheers0 -
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Good Video0
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What weight and height are you? I'd be tempted to go either with a recomp or with a small surplus and do a slow bulk.0
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I agree with the above. I think you'd be better served with a solid bulking phase. You're body weight is probably pretty low already so you might not be able to lose much more fat and like the others said, you'll need to put on some muscle in order to get that definition.0
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Do a recomp as suggested in Jeff Nippard's video. It's basically a slow progressive bulk without putting on a lot of fat. Be patient and you'll soon see the results. A traditional bulk/cut cycle isn't necessary to build muscle. Also a recomp will be easier to maintain since you can eat at a surplus and make good progress on your lifts. It's simple but not easy. Consistency in the gym and in the kitchen are the key4
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Do a recomp as suggested in Jeff Nippard's video. It's basically a slow progressive bulk without putting on a lot of fat. Be patient and you'll soon see the results. A traditional bulk/cut cycle isn't necessary to build muscle. Also a recomp will be easier to maintain since you can eat at a surplus and make good progress on your lifts. It's simple but not easy. Consistency in the gym and in the kitchen are the key
A recomp wouldn't mean eating at a surplus, it would be eating at maintenance. Unless I am misunderstanding what you are meaning, what you are suggesting would be a bulk, or a slow bulk depending on the surplus.6
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