When to switch to surplus for muscle?

solman66

I'm a 6'0 male and have been fluctuating around 175 lbs for the past month. When I got under 200 I still had a pretty big beer gut and thought it would be diminished by the time I got to 185, at which point I was going to switch to a surplus and try to bulk up a bit. After I got to 185, I wasn't where I wanted, so I thought it would be gone by the time I got to 165 and changed my plan. Now I'm starting to think that isn't going to happen either as there feels like more than 10lbs of flab in my gut.
I have been lifting 3 days a week so I've been reducing the amount of muscle mass lost in my weight loss, but I feel like I need to build some new muscle. If I understand correctly, it's near impossible to build muscle while eating at a deficit.

Ideally I'd like to be close to the weight that I am currently, but more toned. Should I switch to a surplus now to build muscle and then cut again after I've added it? Or should I keep doing what I've been doing (adding more weights but eating at a deficit) and switch to a surplus later?

Determinednoob

Well it is kinda up to you and what would make you happiest, but a good rule of thumb I have seen would be to cut to 10-12% bf and bulk to 15-16% bf and repeat. FWIW In these pics of me you see here I was at ~12% which is as low as I got on my first big cut.

SideSteel

Generally speaking I would switch to a surplus if you want to gain lean mass.

If you are cutting and you "run out of real estate" so to speak (not enough LBM to effectively cut further without looking like a twig in certain areas) then either recomping or bulking would probably be a good idea.

If you are cutting and you are lean enough (for most people, ~10% is a good place), that's also a good reason to bulk back up if that fits your goals.

In your case it sounds like you could be reaching the first one. You still have a gut but your stats would indicate that you probably don't have the muscle mass to keep trying to reduce the gut without looking too "skinny" in the non-gut areas.

Ultimately, I'd let the mirror decide for you, but it sounds like you should bulk either now or very soon.

jacksonpt

It's almost entirely personal preference.

I like to bulk/cut so I hover around what I think is my ideal/target weight (170lbs)... so I'll cut to 165 and bulk to 180. I do that because it keeps me in a weight range I am reasonably happy with (not to thin, not too heavy), and it's something I can do/sustain.

Another thing to think about is that strength and size are interrelated. If you are focusing on one, then you should switch your focus when your gains/progress diminishes.

In your case, since it sounds like you are thinking mainly about being healthy and looking better, I'd switch to a surplus if/when you are looking to add muscle. If you are still trying to lose weight, stay on a deficit. It sounds obvious (surplus to gain, deficit to lose), but stay focused on 1 goal at a time. IMO, using body fat % as a determining factor can be hard because there's no telling how you'll look at a certain %. There are lots of people on this site who claim to be ~15% and look much better than I do at 12%.

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