When to bulk?

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

Well some people would say cut down to 10-12% bodyfat and then bulk. Some people would say don't bother cutting if you have nothing to cut down to. I would recommend eating at maintenance or slightly below until your lifts stall and then evaluate and decide at that time. Here is a ton more info http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

Well you can cut but if you have nothing to cut to.....why bother? Perso, I cut for 2 years and was still not happy with the results. I am now bulking and while it is hard to see the scale go up, I know that is what I need to do in order to have the results I want. I just wish I didn't wait that long.

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

WAT??????

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

WAT??????

???????????????? Strong enough to actually gain some muscle??

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

WAT??????

???????????????? Strong enough to actually gain some muscle??

Oddly enough, that's the one part that I understood. Sounds weird but I know what he means. It's only about 50% correct tho.

If you want to put on lean mass, then lift weights. Big heavy compound lifts.

The stronglifts 5x5 programme is a great place to start. Very straight forward to follow, and will deliver results.

Lifting weights will increase your muscle mass, which will help you get that more muscular look you are going for

I once read a really good article about this, but now I can't find it. This one is okay.

http://truehealthandfitness101.blogspot.com/2012/04/anorexic-ripped-is-not-same-as-swoll.html

You don't want to be this guy, or i hope you don't:

What a ridiculous comment! If you look carefully (for example his traps) the guy is actually in pretty good shape. But to link a blog with the title "anorexic ripped" is beyond the pale.

I once read a really good article about this, but now I can't find it. This one is okay.

http://truehealthandfitness101.blogspot.com/2012/04/anorexic-ripped-is-not-same-as-swoll.html

You don't want to be this guy, or i hope you don't:

What a ridiculous comment! If you look carefully (for example his traps) the guy is actually in pretty good shape. But to link a blog with the title "anorexic ripped" is beyond the pale.

Oh come on......I have bigger pecs than this guy!!!!

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

WAT??????

???????????????? Strong enough to actually gain some muscle??

Oddly enough, that's the one part that I understood. Sounds weird but I know what he means. It's only about 50% correct tho.

Strong enough to gain some muscle.....

If you are squatting say 0.75x BW for example, unless you look like a competitive marathoner, your are so neurologically inefficeint with your strength that you aren't strong enough to really work your muscles all that well. When you are in the noob gains area, able to make rapid session to session strength gains on a linear progression, you're muscles aren't really getting worked as well as you think they are. The gains come fast and furious whether on a surplus or deficit diet-wise. It is only once you get strong enough to start really accounting for fatigue, where lifts begin stalling, that you are working your muscles with high enough neural effiency to really start packing on mass at an efficient rate.

Here's a good article by Lyle McDonald on why you should diet down first.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html

Basically, muscle gain is most efficient in the 10-15% BF area. Above and below that a greater % of your surplus tends to go to fat.

The shortest distance between point A and B, when fat loss and muscle gain is the goal, is to lose most of the fat first before beginning to eat for muscle gain.

it depends on your goals.

if you want to be bigger, go ahead and bulk.
if you want to be skinny with a 6 pack and no muscles, then cut.

This is the exact reason why alot of guys that want a 6 pack never get one. At 6"4 and 223lbs and skinny fat he needs to actually have ab's before he can have a 6-pack, He needs to add LM. develop his abs and then cut.

everyone has a six pack pretty much.......you just have to diet.

I wasn't reccommending that he cuts, but it depends on his goals. if he wants to look like a soccer player and just be lean, he should probably cut. if he wants to be jacked and strong he should probably bulk..

it depends on your goals.

if you want to be bigger, go ahead and bulk.
if you want to be skinny with a 6 pack and no muscles, then cut.

This is the exact reason why alot of guys that want a 6 pack never get one. At 6"4 and 223lbs and skinny fat he needs to actually have ab's before he can have a 6-pack, He needs to add LM. develop his abs and then cut.

everyone has a six pack pretty much.......you just have to diet.

I wasn't reccommending that he cuts, but it depends on his goals. if he wants to look like a soccer player and just be lean, he should probably cut. if he wants to be jacked and strong he should probably bulk..

No they dont, I didnt prior to gaining weight. Most guys never have visable abs regardless of their age or how low their BF% is. How many guys have you known that were slim, thin etc. didnt workout and had a 6 pack?

I would base it on a few things:

1) If you're nearing ~10-11% bodyfat you might want to bulk.
or
2) In some situations with skinny-fat, bulking may be a better decision than cutting, but you can't really assess this without scrutinizing physique as stats won't always tell you the full story.

Just as an example, when I was skinny fat, I took a few months at maintenance and lifted heavy, and I decided that I had enough LBM to do a short cut phase. However, there's some physiques (also skinny fat) with so little lean mass that even with a small gut, you just have nothing to cut to and doing a short bulk cycle makes sense.

In both cases I'd keep calories not too far off of maintenance and probably do something less aggressive.

I once read a really good article about this, but now I can't find it. This one is okay.

http://truehealthandfitness101.blogspot.com/2012/04/anorexic-ripped-is-not-same-as-swoll.html

You don't want to be this guy, or i hope you don't:

What a ridiculous comment! If you look carefully (for example his traps) the guy is actually in pretty good shape. But to link a blog with the title "anorexic ripped" is beyond the pale.

And just to throw my two cents in here, I don't think the comment was as ridiculous as you think. That guy is in reasonable shape compared to someone who is obese or skinny-fat, but there's not a lot of lean mass there at all.

You shouldn't be thinking about bulking until you've got visible abs.

Bulking = calorie suplus and gaining fat along with muscle.

The metabolism raising effects of more muscle are grossly overstated.

Take advantage of your noob strength gains while cutting down the first time. Whe you switch over to bulking then you should be strong enough to actually gain some muscle.

WAT??????

???????????????? Strong enough to actually gain some muscle??

Oddly enough, that's the one part that I understood. Sounds weird but I know what he means. It's only about 50% correct tho.

Strong enough to gain some muscle.....

If you are squatting say 0.75x BW for example, unless you look like a competitive marathoner, your are so neurologically inefficeint with your strength that you aren't strong enough to really work your muscles all that well. When you are in the noob gains area, able to make rapid session to session strength gains on a linear progression, you're muscles aren't really getting worked as well as you think they are. The gains come fast and furious whether on a surplus or deficit diet-wise. It is only once you get strong enough to start really accounting for fatigue, where lifts begin stalling, that you are working your muscles with high enough neural effiency to really start packing on mass at an efficient rate.

Here's a good article by Lyle McDonald on why you should diet down first.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/initial-body-fat-and-body-composition-changes.html

Basically, muscle gain is most efficient in the 10-15% BF area. Above and below that a greater % of your surplus tends to go to fat.

The shortest distance between point A and B, when fat loss and muscle gain is the goal, is to lose most of the fat first before beginning to eat for muscle gain.

I would have to totally disagree with this, most men and women who lift heavy prove it wrong each and every day. I gained more LM. above 15% BF. than I have since I dropped below 15% BF. If I listened to you I wouldnt be anywhere close to were I am today and I had to lose 83 lbs.

I disagree with your disagreement. Yes total noobs gain visual size to their muscles when they start out, but it is mostly due to increased water and nutrient storage, not actual muscle tissue. The best muscle gains come after neural gains.

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