Noob: Do I really need to bulk to get goal body? PICS

gbasurto10

One big peace of advice that I wish someone with experience would have told me when I first started bodybuilding. Try your hardest not to do a dirty bulk. This doesn't mean stay away from "bad" foods. it just means keep track of what you eat on a day to day basis. Tracking food has helped me learn what my body response to the most. By tracking how many calories you're eating on a bulk it'll be much easier for you to know how many calories you'll need when you start to cut. But, in order to gain muscle you have to sacrifice adding some body fat for some time. The best approach I've found that's worked for me (I do bodybuilding competitions) is doing 3 month bulk cycles with a 90 day cut. I repeat this until I've reached my desired look or weight. I cut a bulk cycle if I ever go over 15% body fat. Just some food for thought.

waldo56

The best approach I've found that's worked for me (I do bodybuilding competitions) is doing 3 month bulk cycles with a 90 day cut.

Is there a typo here?

1:1 seems a bit extreme on the cutting side of things.

I'm experimenting with 8 weeks bulking followed by 2 weeks cutting with a 1 week ramp back up (11 week cycles)

brdnw

i havn't bulked yet.

CrusaderSam

I think the problem here is a lack of understanding. The basic fact, muscle is built very, very, slowly over a very, long amount of time. It doesn't matter if you if you bulk or re-comp or what ever, it will be slow. Now this is where things get messed up, I know a lot of guys will use a bulk cycle to hide the fact they did a cycle of a different kind. So there it is, do what ever it is you want, don't worry it will be slow. Bulking cutting will only be a tiny bit faster then re-comping.

trojan_bb

Those guys probably have at least 20-25lbs of muscle on you. It will take years to get to that size. What better time to start now?

(PS - they're all on test/steroids/etc too, keep that in mind)

What?

The goal pictures are all guys at like 170lbs 12% bodyfat. That's a totally average male that workouts. The OP could reach that body in 1-2 years easily with little thought or advanced techniques.

OP, you also stated you wanted to look like an Aussie rugbie player. Most of them are considerably larger than the guys in your pics. To hit that level, yes you will need many bulks for many years.

Rayman79

What?

The goal pictures are all guys at like 170lbs 12% bodyfat. That's a totally average male that workouts. The OP could reach that body in 1-2 years easily with little thought or advanced techniques.

OP, you also stated you wanted to look like an Aussie rugbie player. Most of them are considerably larger than the guys in your pics. To hit that level, yes you will need many bulks for many years.

Actually he said he wanted to look like an AFL player, not a rugbie (sic) player. These are very different sports and the average physique is very different. AFL has more of an emphasis on aerobic conditioning and requires players to be leaner to be competitive. As an all round sport it is one of the most demanding in the world.

With that said it is definitely an attainable physique goal and most guys will actually be able to do it more efficiently because they don't have such a huge focus on maintaining elite explosive power and endurance and can concentrate more specifically on the strength and hypertrophy components of training.

trojan_bb

Oh, misread it.

That's an easy physique to attain . Minor bulking needed for 1-2 years from where you're at

waldo56

Bulking cutting will only be a tiny bit faster then re-comping.

Wat?

Bulking-cutting is WAY faster than recomping.

Recomping really only works for noobs anyway. As you build more muscle, the signal needed to build more gets increasingly stronger.