Bulking & shredding ?

wargrrl

hey, so i've been working out for 3 and a half months now. ive been working with a trainer since i started, and my main goal has been to bulk up on my bum. ive seen great improvements since i started.

my trainer told me that i should start shredding next month. is this because it's almost summer? i'm fairly small (5'0", 100lbs) and i'm not really concerned about what little fat i have on my body. although it would be nice to get a flatter, toned tummy.

if i start shredding, does that mean i put a hold on bulking up my butt/legs? because while my bum has been getting curvier and bigger, it's not exactly where i want it to be yet.
and how do i maintain my gains while shredding?

steve0820

If it's only been over 3 months, bulk and cuts are really something you need to worry about.

So this "trainer" said you should do a "shredd", but also, doesn't explain why? Doesn't seem like you would have anything to lose.

If you're goal is to add muscle to your legs/butt, a resistance program (hopefully with squats and deadlifts) and a slight surplus in cals, should get your there.

wargrrl

If it's only been over 3 months, bulk and cuts are really something you need to worry about.

So this "trainer" said you should do a "shredd", but also, doesn't explain why? Doesn't seem like you would have anything to lose.

If you're goal is to add muscle to your legs/butt, a resistance program (hopefully with squats and deadlifts) and a slight surplus in cals, should get your there.

why is cutting/shredding something i should worry about right now? is it something i should do aftr a certain period of time? or something i do once ive reached my goals in terms of how big i want my muscles to be?

mortuseon

If you still want to gain some muscle for a perkier bottom or whatever, I'd keep on bulking (strength training, adequate protein + caloric surplus) to put on some more mass. You'll gain a bit of fat whilst this happens but when you're happy with the amount of muscle, maybe a bit over actually, then you can start your cut to reduce that amount of fat (you may lose some muscle gains too).

likitisplit

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html

If you’re above 15% body fat (about 24-27% for women), diet first. If you can get to the 10-12% (19-24%) body fat range or so, I think you’ll be in an overall better position to gain mass. Trying to get super lean will probably end up screwing you in the long run because your body will be primed to put back fat on (and most other physiological systems are screwed up as well) when you get super lean.

After finishing your diet, regardless of how lean you get, take 2 weeks to eat at roughly maintenance calorie levels before starting your mass gaining phase. The reason has to do with the physiological adaptations to dieting described briefly above. Although you can’t reverse all of them short of getting fat again (or fixing the problem pharmaceutically), 2 weeks at maintenance, which by definition should be higher calories than you were eating on your diet, will help to normalize some of them. Leptin, thyroid, SNS output should improve a bit, along with other hormones, putting you in a better place to gain mass without super excessive fat gain. Make sure to get at least 100 grams of carbs/day or more during this phase so that thyroid will come back up.

Only try to add mass/bulk until you hit the top end body fat percentage listed in #1 above. So that’s about 15% body fat for men and 24-27% body fat for women. What this would mean in practice is that you diet to 10-12% body fat for men (22-24% for women), eat at maintenance for two weeks to try and normalize things, and then add mass until you hit 15% body fat for men (22-24% for women) and then diet back down. Over a number of cycles, you should be able to increase your muscle mass while keeping body fat under control.

steve0820

If it's only been over 3 months, bulk and cuts are really something you need to worry about.

So this "trainer" said you should do a "shredd", but also, doesn't explain why? Doesn't seem like you would have anything to lose.

If you're goal is to add muscle to your legs/butt, a resistance program (hopefully with squats and deadlifts) and a slight surplus in cals, should get your there.

why is cutting/shredding something i should worry about right now? is it something i should do aftr a certain period of time? or something i do once ive reached my goals in terms of how big i want my muscles to be?

Yup exactly, I will be less frustrating in the long run. As others have posted, think of it more as body recomp.