Skinny Fat and Dont Know What to Do

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anask4
anask4 Posts: 86 Member
Currently, I weight 134 lbs (down from 189 a year ago). Im 19 years old, male, and a little over 5'6". I have very little muscle mass and a lot of fat around my midsection. I calculated my body fat to be around 21.3% (measured waist, navel, neck, wrists, forearms, thighs, and hips). I also calculated my TDEE to be around 2200. I am not sure what to do next. I eat 1700-1900 calories a day, although I do bank calories for a weekly cheat day (I still stay under my weekly calorie goal). I workout 3-4 times a week, which includes 30 min of cardio followed by lifting. I workout biceps and chest one day, triceps and back the next. I also try to get in a leg day weekly.

I am getting frustrated and dont know what to do next. While I do have a good amount of belly fat, I am skinny, maybe a little too skinny, everywhere else, especially my arms. I want to build muscle but dont know if a bulk is a good idea considering my body fat. Should I eat at a slight deficit (like I am currently), eat at maintenance, or at a surplus to build muscle? As far as my workouts go, should I decrease my cardio and focus on lifting heavy? Please help me out guys

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  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Assuming your TDEE of 2200 is accurate, eat 2400 calories per day and lift heavy as in low volume high weight ~5 rep.

    Build muscle rather than worry about losing fat. You are at the perfect age to be putting on some muscle, do it now...worry about the layer of fat later. Eating at a deficit won't get you what you want.
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
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    You really want to work on lowering your BF%, and at the weight you're currently at that means building some muscle. The good news is that because of your gender and age you have the potential from seriously fantastic results! Here is what I would do if I were you:

    -Eat a small excess of calories (10% more than your TDEE)
    -Lift for hypertrophy (8-12 rep sets)
    -The muscles with the biggest growth potential are all in the lower body (glutes, quads, hamstrings). Do lower body stuff, especially squats, 2x a week and deadlifts once a week.
    -Biceps (curls) and pecs (bench), no matter how big you get them, are little babies compared to your shoulders (overhead press) and back (pull ups, rows). Don't waste a whole day on them.

    Do this until you build an amount of muscle you're happy with, then focus on losing whatever fat you gained in the process afterwards.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    If you want to build muscle, you need to focus on lifting. I would eat at maintenance, or just over so that you are gaining ~0.5 lb/week. You'll need to lift hard though, and not do as much cardio. Gaining muscle is tough, but it can be done for sure.

    Please let me know if you have more questions.

    Allan
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
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    Thanks for the advice, ill be sure to shoot u a message if i have any questions
  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
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    I'd eat at maintenance, lift heavy (SLs style), and do tons of pull ups/ chin ups (build those lats up). Make your back look wider up top to lessen the effects of your body type (if your are a small shoulder/wide waist guy).

    If you're just a normal body type with some extra weight in the belly and love handles, keep burning the fat off. It will come off eventually. It's usually the last parts to lose for men.

    Also, these are two former skinny fat guys who know their stuff.

    http://anthonymychal.com/

    http://skinnyfattransformation.com/
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
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    Muscle is optimally gained while in a calorie surplus: fat is optimally lost while in a calorie deficit. Generally, the advice is to chose one or the other and do that first. The third option is called a body recomposition, where you eat right at maintenance calories (so you don't gain or lose weight) and slowly build some muscle while losing the fat.

    Gaining muscle while losing fat is fairly hard. The exceptions are for new lifters, those returning to lifting after a few years off, and obese people.

    If you take the bulking advice given above, you will gain muscle fastest. BUT you will also gain about the same amount of fat. If you put on 10 lb of muscle (which is achievable in about 20 weeks) you'll also have another ~10 lbs of fat. Given your lean mass now is about 106 lb, adding 10 lb muscle and 10 lb of fat would put you at 154 lb on the scale with a lean mass of 116 and 38 lb of fat for body fat of almost 25%. Shedding 20 lb of fat during a subsequent cut to get back to your current weight would put you at 13% body fat.

    A body recomp that increases your lean mass by the same amount would take longer (at least twice as long I guess), but would leave you at the same weight (134 lb) but with a body fat % of closer to 13%. Your abs should be clearly visible at that % bf.

    To get to 13% bf at your current lean mass, you'd have to weight about 122 lb (losing 12 lb of fat from current)

    Obviously, it is your decision which route you take. I'm just trying to give you some idea of what it involves! But people often start to bulk when they get down to their lowest comfortable % body fat, so they finish at their highest comfortable %. If you are comfortable getting up to 25% bf, then by all means bulk. If you'd rather lose bf%, then you need to either first continue to cut, or do the re-comp. Personally, I might recommend the re-comp for right now.

    Regardless: you should lift heavy! I would recommend a program like Stronglifts or Starting Strength to get you going. You need a good progressive lifting routine, ideally using a barbell. If you only have dumbbells available, then look into All Pro's Simple Beginners Routine (or join a gym). Gaining muscle requires that you continue to put stress on them, so get on a proper program if you are not already! And don't forget legs: activating muscles helps stimulate testosterone production, which helps grow muscles too. Since the leg muscles are the biggest, you'll get the most T induction. Being young and male of course already gives you a nice boost!

    Eat enough protein as well! You should be aiming for at least 106 g protein per day (1 g/lb LBM). Muscles need protein.

    Her's a link to give you some background: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html

    Good luck!
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
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    EDIT: The body fat I calculated was actually 19% (using navy circumference method)