First bulk- should I cut?

NicoleJo456

Hey y’all. For starters I’m 5’4 began my bulk in August at 111 pounds and currently at 119 pounds. I am 5 months in and feeling fluffy from the holidays. I feel like my bottom half is heavy and my top half is skinny ugh. And my tummy has accumulated some fat Should I start my cut? Or continue to bulk and only work on upper body workouts? I have no clue. My booty and hips are not small... while my upper body is. SO ANNOYING. Or if I do a mini cut what is ideally the best way to do that? I’m currently eating 2700 on workout days and 2300 on rest days. Lifting 5x a week and hot yoga 2-3 times a week.

sardelsa

If you feel like you've gained all of a sudden it could be extra water weight/bloat or extra fat gain from the holidays. How fast have you been gaining recently? I am a bit taller than you but I don't feel fluffy until around 12-15lbs gained (then again our definitions of fluffy might very well be different!) It also depends on how lean you started and your current bodyfat now. Keep in mind it's normal to gain some fat and lose definition when bulking, you don't have to stop as soon as this happens. If you truly feel uncomfortable and think your bodyfat is higher (over 25%) then you might want to think about a mini cut.

The mini cut is around two to six weeks of a slightly aggressive deficit, I've heard it's beneficial to decrease training volume a bit but you can try to maintain your numbers if you can. You will want to keep the protein up, at least 1g per lb bodyweight in this case.

Also it is normal for females to be more dominant in the lower body. What does your programming look like? Maybe try adding some extra upper volume, hit the upper body parts at least 2x per week.. high frequency and volume should help.

NicoleJo456

Can I message you a pic to help better assess if I should do a mini cut?

I don’t want to post on here and I know you’re a woman and understand the struggles. ❤️❤️

sardelsa

Yea for sure. You can add me too if you'd like