How to know when to bulk ?

weedspot
weedspot Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!

I started cutting last September. So far I lost a little under 25lbs, so around 1lbs a week.

I wanna start bulking but I’m not sure that my body fat is low enough for it.

I’m 5’7 and 152lbs. I tried several methods to determine my body fat. The impedance scale says I’m at 21%. The navy method says 14% and calipers say 11-12%.

The general consensus seems to be that you should preferably be under 15% body fat before bulking.

Is there any way to determine your body fat percentage that actually works or is closest to reality ?

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Post a picture. There's at least one PT on here who is very good at estimating BF by eye. @ninerbuff
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    weedspot wrote: »
    Hi!

    I started cutting last September. So far I lost a little under 25lbs, so around 1lbs a week.

    I wanna start bulking but I’m not sure that my body fat is low enough for it.

    I’m 5’7 and 152lbs. I tried several methods to determine my body fat. The impedance scale says I’m at 21%. The navy method says 14% and calipers say 11-12%.

    The general consensus seems to be that you should preferably be under 15% body fat before bulking.

    Is there any way to determine your body fat percentage that actually works or is closest to reality ?

    I'd say 15% is still to high...namely because you're just not going to be able to run a surplus for all that long before you get too fat again. I don't do bulk/cut cycles, but pretty much everything I've read and heard is sub 10%. There are also hormonal things going on sub 10% vs 15%+ where you effectively put on more muscle starting leaner whereas you put on fat faster starting at a higher BF%.

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