Am I skinny fat? Been lifting for a year, which way to go now?

rodrigueskevin
rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'6''. Been lifting consistently for a year now. I went on a bulk from 123lbs to 135lbs for 8 months. Now I have cut in the last 100 days to 118lbs.

Here are some pictures:
http://imgur.com/a/JOX6e#0

Am I skinny fat? This is the leanest I have been in my life.

The problem is I still see quite a bit of fat on my waist (even have love handles). If I continue to cut I will get even more leaner which I don't think is healthy as I am already way below the expected weight for my height.

Another problem to cut is I am approaching my breaking point in how much I can lower my food intake.

So should I again go on a one year lean bulk and build more muscle and then cut or should I keep cutting till I drop to lower levels of body fat?

Replies

  • justcat206
    justcat206 Posts: 716 Member
    What are your goals? To gain strength? To lose the love handles? If you're afraid of being too thin right now, perhaps it's better to set non-appearance based goals (i.e. deadlift x amount or run x fast) and focus on that instead of how you look for a bit and see how things change.
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    justcat206 wrote: »
    What are your goals? To gain strength? To lose the love handles? If you're afraid of being too thin right now, perhaps it's better to set non-appearance based goals (i.e. deadlift x amount or run x fast) and focus on that instead of how you look for a bit and see how things change.

    I want to gain strength but I don't like to have fat on my stomach. I had tried to focus on strength and bulk for 8-9 months but I gained more fat around my stomach. So i went on a cut. The idea was to get lean enough and then start a long clean bulk.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
    If you're just coming off Thanksgiving, you could just have a little post holiday bloat. In my opinion, 118 lb. is very light for a male of your height. It's a BMI of around 19, and even a woman that height and weight would be fairly thin. I'm only 5'1.5" and around 118 myself, but I carry some muscle as well as female body fat. At 118, I would think you've lost a lot of muscle. I'm not a body builder, so I'm not familiar with the science of "cut and bulk", but I didn't think cutting involved going to extremely low body weights, just increasing lean mass.
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    rosebette wrote: »
    If you're just coming off Thanksgiving, you could just have a little post holiday bloat. In my opinion, 118 lb. is very light for a male of your height. It's a BMI of around 19, and even a woman that height and weight would be fairly thin. I'm only 5'1.5" and around 118 myself, but I carry some muscle as well as female body fat. At 118, I would think you've lost a lot of muscle. I'm not a body builder, so I'm not familiar with the science of "cut and bulk", but I didn't think cutting involved going to extremely low body weights, just increasing lean mass.

    Thanks. No. I've been quite strict with my food. I agree 118 lbs is very light. It's not my long term goal. My final goal would be to hit 150lbs muscular in a few years. I don't think I have lost a lot of muscle because my strength is almost the same before I went on a cut. Cutting basically means dropping body fat and reaching around 10-12% body fat levels before you can go on a bulk. Many fitness experts don't recommend a bulk unless you are 10-12% body fat. That's the reason I went on this cut as I have lots of body fat if you check my pictures.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Time to bulk again.
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Time to bulk again.

    Thanks
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    rodrigueskevin wrote: »
    I'm 5'6''. Been lifting consistently for a year now. I went on a bulk from 123lbs to 135lbs for 8 months. Now I have cut in the last 100 days to 118lbs.

    Here are some pictures:
    http://imgur.com/a/JOX6e#0

    Am I skinny fat? This is the leanest I have been in my life.

    The problem is I still see quite a bit of fat on my waist (even have love handles). If I continue to cut I will get even more leaner which I don't think is healthy as I am already way below the expected weight for my height.

    Another problem to cut is I am approaching my breaking point in how much I can lower my food intake.

    So should I again go on a one year lean bulk and build more muscle and then cut or should I keep cutting till I drop to lower levels of body fat?
    You don't look skinny fat. Skinny fat guys don't really have any muscle to speak of. You look like a guy who has been lifting for about a year. Keep doing the bulk cut cycles and you'll continue improving your physique. It can take years to really look good lean. At this point I would bulk for several months and maybe start a cut in time to get lean again for summer.

  • julzwild
    julzwild Posts: 42 Member
    When I think of skinny fat, you're not it. You look lean- not skinny.
  • Nicola0000
    Nicola0000 Posts: 531 Member
    Have you had your body fat measured? Most gyms will do this. Not 100% accurate, but it will give you a gauge each month on whats going on
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    vismal wrote: »
    rodrigueskevin wrote: »
    I'm 5'6''. Been lifting consistently for a year now. I went on a bulk from 123lbs to 135lbs for 8 months. Now I have cut in the last 100 days to 118lbs.

    Here are some pictures:
    http://imgur.com/a/JOX6e#0

    Am I skinny fat? This is the leanest I have been in my life.

    The problem is I still see quite a bit of fat on my waist (even have love handles). If I continue to cut I will get even more leaner which I don't think is healthy as I am already way below the expected weight for my height.

    Another problem to cut is I am approaching my breaking point in how much I can lower my food intake.

    So should I again go on a one year lean bulk and build more muscle and then cut or should I keep cutting till I drop to lower levels of body fat?
    You don't look skinny fat. Skinny fat guys don't really have any muscle to speak of. You look like a guy who has been lifting for about a year. Keep doing the bulk cut cycles and you'll continue improving your physique. It can take years to really look good lean. At this point I would bulk for several months and maybe start a cut in time to get lean again for summer.


    Thanks. I'm definitely going on a long bulk. Just wanted to know if I should cut a few more pounds before I start as a few fitness guys mentioned that one should not bulk unless one is really lean with visible abs which I am not.
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    Nicola0000 wrote: »
    Have you had your body fat measured? Most gyms will do this. Not 100% accurate, but it will give you a gauge each month on whats going on

    Unfortunately, the gym I go to is my office gym where there are no trainers who will measure body fat.
  • rodrigueskevin
    rodrigueskevin Posts: 7 Member
    julzwild wrote: »
    When I think of skinny fat, you're not it. You look lean- not skinny.

    Thanks.
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