Bulk or Cut ? Need advice! Been thinking too hard.

va_01

Noted. Changed to:

320 carbs
240 protein
107 fat

That seems to make more sense. The calories could indeed be too high, but i find it difficult to throw on .5 lb a week even on a 3,900 cal bulk. (Some days had to push +4000). I just don't want to lose any weight too quickly. If its not coming off quickly enough in the coming weeks, I will down the calories and readjust.

Brolympus

Thank you so much, everyone! Here's my plan, as I'm trying to keep it simple:

I currently eat ~3,900 cals/day, and gaining a roughly .5 a week (3 lbs a month).


I'm going to cut back my calories to ~3,200, as I believe my maintenance lies around 3,500. I will weigh myself weekly, aiming to lose no more than 1-2 lbs a week. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'll lose 5-6 lbs in the beginning, correct? Or is that something to not worry about)? I will keep my protein high (200 grams as I weigh 190) and cut down the carbs.

As far as my lifting routine, I will stick with my ICF 5x5 for the next 6-8 weeks (I hope to get to where I want to be by then). However, on major lifts that require 5x5, I will simple cut down to 3x5 or 4x5 if I'm feeling up to it. I will try to keep 3x8 for the accessory lifts. 2x8 if necessary.

At the end of all this, if all goes well, I hope to return to a bulk, using a strength/hypertrophy routine like PHAT or PHUL.


Does this sound like a good plan?

HOLY CRAP O_O. Dude that is WAYYYYYYYY too many calories. Your body can only produce about 1lb of muscle, per month. That is it. If you are gaining 3lbs a month, that is 2 lbs of fat and maybe a 1lb of muscle if you trained really hard and got plenty of sleep.

I am 6'4", I weigh 200 lbs, and my bulk calories right now are 2800. That puts me at about a 400-500 calorie surplus every day to build muscle from my BMR (I eat back all my exercise cals). Your body really doesn't need any more than that, it will just convert unused calories to fat.

Not sure what broscience you calculated your metrics from dude, but you should chop your calories down, you are just making a ton of work for yourself come cutting time. I would use the Katch-McCardle method to calculate your BMR (more accurate for people with higher lean body mass), assume a Sedentary activity level, and then religiously track any and all exercise you do to make sure you are getting exactly 400-500 calorie surplus at the end of the day and no more.

If you are having a hard time gaining weight, you probably need to look at your training program. Muscles don't grow without the right stimulus, and they adapt really quick to the same workout. You will have to change your workout routine and throw in new exercises, negative lifts, isolates, etc. every couple weeks to bust through plateaus.

Also, your reps need to be higher to induce hypertrophy in your muscles, 5x5 builds strength and increases your bodies ability to produce sharp spikes of ATP, but does not increase muscle volume or mass the way lifting for hypertrophy does. You should be shooting for sets/reps like 3x8, 3x10, 4x8, etc. You will progressively overload your muscles by adding either an extra rep to each set or adding more weight going back down to 8 reps every time you workout. You want to fail, and fail hard, when you hit that last couple of reps on your last set. Get a spotter, for sure.

JoRocka

Thank you so much, everyone! Here's my plan, as I'm trying to keep it simple:

I currently eat ~3,900 cals/day, and gaining a roughly .5 a week (3 lbs a month).


I'm going to cut back my calories to ~3,200, as I believe my maintenance lies around 3,500. I will weigh myself weekly, aiming to lose no more than 1-2 lbs a week. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'll lose 5-6 lbs in the beginning, correct? Or is that something to not worry about)? I will keep my protein high (200 grams as I weigh 190) and cut down the carbs.

As far as my lifting routine, I will stick with my ICF 5x5 for the next 6-8 weeks (I hope to get to where I want to be by then). However, on major lifts that require 5x5, I will simple cut down to 3x5 or 4x5 if I'm feeling up to it. I will try to keep 3x8 for the accessory lifts. 2x8 if necessary.

At the end of all this, if all goes well, I hope to return to a bulk, using a strength/hypertrophy routine like PHAT or PHUL.


Does this sound like a good plan?

HOLY CRAP O_O. Dude that is WAYYYYYYYY too many calories. Your body can only produce about 1lb of muscle, per month. That is it. If you are gaining 3lbs a month, that is 2 lbs of fat and maybe a 1lb of muscle if you trained really hard and got plenty of sleep.

I am 6'4", I weigh 200 lbs, and my bulk calories right now are 2800. That puts me at about a 400-500 calorie surplus every day to build muscle from my BMR (I eat back all my exercise cals). Your body really doesn't need any more than that, it will just convert unused calories to fat.

Not sure what broscience you calculated your metrics from dude, but you should chop your calories down, you are just making a ton of work for yourself come cutting time. I would use the Katch-McCardle method to calculate your BMR (more accurate for people with higher lean body mass), assume a Sedentary activity level, and then religiously track any and all exercise you do to make sure you are getting exactly 400-500 calorie surplus at the end of the day and no more.

If you are having a hard time gaining weight, you probably need to look at your training program. Muscles don't grow without the right stimulus, and they adapt really quick to the same workout. You will have to change your workout routine and throw in new exercises, negative lifts, isolates, etc. every couple weeks to bust through plateaus.

Also, your reps need to be higher to induce hypertrophy in your muscles, 5x5 builds strength and increases your bodies ability to produce sharp spikes of ATP, but does not increase muscle volume or mass the way lifting for hypertrophy does. You should be shooting for sets/reps like 3x8, 3x10, 4x8, etc. You will progressively overload your muscles by adding either an extra rep to each set or adding more weight going back down to 8 reps every time you workout. You want to fail, and fail hard, when you hit that last couple of reps on your last set. Get a spotter, for sure.

missed this one did you???

Thanks so much guys.

A question on my macros. I have cut down to:

3200 Calories

240 CARBS
240 PROTEIN
142 FAT

Does this look OK? I'm not sure if this is the perfect # for me to lose the right amount of weight on (I might need to lower by another 100-200 calories in a week or two).

I'm just nervous about losing muscle. I don't want to lose weight too quickly, and i'm worried I'll see a -5 lb drop on the scale right away, and it's all eating at my muscle. How do I ensure I am going slow and steady? This is my first cut, and I want to make sure I keep as much muscle as possible.

Val8less

Are Male or Female...I'm sorry ...I could not tell...

_benjammin

I am 6'4", I weigh 200 lbs, and my bulk calories right now are 2800.

Sounds LOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW to me.
Everyone's different. I'm 5'10" and have gone from 151 to 159 over 4 months while daily average calories have gone from 2,900 to 3,150. I consider my daily activity to be relatively sedentary and only lift 3X/per week and less than 1.5 hours per workout.

xmichaelyx

I'll give a slightly different opinion: Almost everyone who asks, "Should I cut or bulk" get the same answer: Long, slow bulk (about 200 - 300 cals. over maintenance, while lifting heavy).

The reason for this is simple: If you were experienced enough to have a lot of strength and muscle, you'd already know exactly how to reach your goals. So start by getting some muscle on (in a smart way - without getting fat), and then you can think about cutting. To agree with another poster, if you're gaining 3 pounds per month, you're putting on more fat than you need.

I'm happy to be proven wrong by seeing some pics, but let's face it: If you had muscle, you'd have posted pics already.

FitnessTrainer69

I would say you have the best plan. You went with same workout and dropped your calories to little above MX. If all works out as advertised you should cut up a little while still adding clean weight.

34blast

I'm a similar build to you 6'1" 196. I spun my wheels many years not getting stronger and not losing fat until I went to bulking and cutting phases. Pick one and do it. Eat at maintenance for a week to two weeks then transition to the other.

I used two methodologies to get over the hump on bulking
1). Starting Strength (continue linear progression eating at a caloric surplus until it ends. Do not stop until you have to reset weights, if you follow this you will have a good strength base and should carry more muscle than you are right now)
2). HST as outlined before for bulking (linear progression, but focus on compound lifts like Starting Strength)

For Cutting, I've seen various ways work, this works for me
Use MFP, track everything
If above 20% body fat 500 calorie deficit per day
if less than 20% body fat 250 calorie deficit per day
Lift full body, compound lifts 2 - 3 times per week
Cardio 3 times per week, 1 long slow steady run (40 minutes), 1 interval training, 1 what ever I'm in the mood for
Weight under the same conditions each week if not losing after two weeks take off 250 more calories per day, if losing to fast reduce by 250 calories or so
Measure yourself each couple of weeks and check( Neck, chest, fattest part of belly, where you were your jeans, tighs, calf, bicep, etc)
If you have a way to measure body fat frequently under exactly the same conditions, do that weekly are bi-weekly to monitor changes

kirkor

Based on your pic I'd say cut a few more months.