Muscle effecting Body Fat%? Please Help!

TheAmericanJedi

I'm 18, 148lbs, 6ft, and about 12%body fat. I was cutting to get rid of the fat until I get to 10% body fat, then starting a slow bulk. But I heard if you gain muscle your body fat will drop too? If I start to put on more LBM, will my body fat drop? (I'm just wanting to get the fat off my waist and lower stomach, that's about the only fat I have left. All advice is welcome!! Thank you! (I can post pics if needed.)

DopeItUp

When you gain muscle you will gain fat too, so the chances of your BF% dropping is fairly low. At best it might stay roughly the same for a while, but it will probably increase during your bulk.

Springfield1970

You should gain approx 50/50 muscle AND fat when you're bulking, providing you're doing the 3 x per week whole body lifting heavy thing, eating the correct amount of excess calories and eating adequate protein.

After you can do another slow cut to cut the fat, and keep most of the muscle.

You're skinny enough man! Get bulking, ASAP! Enjoy.

MityMax96

I'm 18, 148lbs, 6ft, and about 12%body fat. I was cutting to get rid of the fat until I get to 10% body fat, then starting a slow bulk. But I heard if you gain muscle your body fat will drop too? If I start to put on more LBM, will my body fat drop? (I'm just wanting to get the fat off my waist and lower stomach, that's about the only fat I have left. All advice is welcome!! Thank you! (I can post pics if needed.)

If you develop and work the muscle, then that will help w/ BF due to the energy requirement for repair of the muscle.
So your metabolism goes up.

You will probably not "put on" or "add" muscle unless you are in a caloric surplus.....
And if you are, then there will be body fat that is added as well....
How much??
Depends on your caloric surplus....

richardheath

I'm 18, 148lbs, 6ft, and about 12%body fat. I was cutting to get rid of the fat until I get to 10% body fat, then starting a slow bulk. But I heard if you gain muscle your body fat will drop too? If I start to put on more LBM, will my body fat drop? (I'm just wanting to get the fat off my waist and lower stomach, that's about the only fat I have left. All advice is welcome!! Thank you! (I can post pics if needed.)

Body fat % is just that - a percentage. If you increase the amount of muscle you have while maintaining the same absolute amount of fat, your weight will increase but your % body fat will drop.

e.g. at your current weight, you have almost 18 lb of fat. Add 10 lb of LBM and your weight will go up to 158 lb and your same 18 lb of fat will now be 11% body fat.

However, it is very hard (from what I understand) to a bulk and only put on muscle - there will be some fat too. So your % body fat will actually increase under most circumstances.

iow: add 10 lb of LBM PLUS 10 lb of fat and your weight will be 168 lb. 28 lb of fat is now 16% body fat. You'd then need to cut to remove those excess 10 lb of fat.

Topsking2010

Bump

BarbellCowgirl

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/reducing-body-fat-percentage-by-gaining-muscle-qa.html

SideSteel

No, your body fat will not drop and it won't likely drop as a percentage either, however that shouldn't have any bearing on your decision to add mass to your frame.

I know we all have different goals but if I were 6', 148 and 18 years old I'd be doing the following things:

1) Gaining weight.
2) Spending a lot of time under a barbell. (SS or a 5x5 most likely)