Am I ready to bulk? Can you estimate my BF%?

Brynich
Brynich Posts: 65 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone! I've been maintaining for about a month after coming off of a cut for approximately a year in which I lost about 80 pounds (235 lbs to 157 lbs). I am 6 ft, male, 20 y-o, and weigh around 157 pounds. I would like to know if I'm ready to bulk yet, or if I should continue cutting for a little bit longer. Also, can you please estimate my bf%, I don't have any fat calipers to measure it myself. Thanks for any help and advice :) Please see my attached photos below:

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Replies

  • tinbru
    tinbru Posts: 47 Member
    You're skinny af... I'm 5'6" and 185 I'd start a bulk
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    It's hard to tell. You be the judge: http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Yes. You are ready to bulk.
  • madrose0715
    madrose0715 Posts: 463 Member
    yup
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
    Definitely bulk. It looks to me more like your stomach is more loose skin than actual fat. I'd estimate maybe 15%-17% but it's hard to say as you weigh so little. Just for perspective, I'm 5'8" and 185 at about 17-19%. My lean body mass is almost as much as you weigh total. At 6' you should really be able to put some muscle on your frame and at 20 years old, now is the time to take advantage of your upped testosterone!
  • Brynich
    Brynich Posts: 65 Member
    edited January 2015
    Thank you all. Based on the link zipa78 posted, I would have guessed it to be at around 20%. If I am at around 15% however, wouldn't it be better to cut down to about 10% before starting to bulk? My original plan was to get down to the lower end of the healthy spectrum on the BMI scale before beginning to bulk (as I'm pretty much at the exact center right now), but everyone's been saying I look very skinny and "like a stick", even though to me I feel like there's a whole lot more fat that could be lost. Regardless, seeing as though literally everyone else already thinks that I am so slim I thought maybe losing 15 more pounds may be a little bit too much.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Read this:

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    If you're at 15%, BULK!!!!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited January 2015
    Bulk!

    The bulk will help with the skin. Waldo talks about it some here:

    http://strengthunbound.com/bulking-complete-guide-for-beginners/


    http://strengthunbound.com/why-you-should-be-bulking/
  • Brynich
    Brynich Posts: 65 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Read this:

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

    Thanks for the link. I have a question however: It says that I should eat a slight deficit while still working out my abdominal area to tone the area. Wouldn't that be counterproductive? Don't you need a calorie surplus to build muscle (thereby making working out that area while on a deficit futile)?

  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    You need to bulk. Your muscles are NOT big enough to show through so I wouldn't recommend continuing with a calorie deficit. You are a 6' tall 20 year old male. You weigh less than I do. BULK.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Seriously dude?

    now you're just trolling.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    dude you already posted in the gaining forum ...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    also I think this is a breech of community guidelines.

    9. Do Not Post the Same Topic on Multiple Boards or Groups

    Please choose the most appropriate board or group for your post and post it once. Posting the same message to multiple boards or multiple groups is a form of spam. Please note that this is NOT a guideline against inadvertently posting a question another member has asked before. We explicitly allow members to post questions that have been asked previously by other members. If you see a member post a topic that you think has been asked before by another member, please respond politely or simply move on. However, the same member cannot ask the same question or post the same topic more than once.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    Jason?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • Brynich
    Brynich Posts: 65 Member
    edited January 2015
    JoRocka wrote: »
    Seriously dude?

    now you're just trolling.

    I'm sorry but I don't realize how I did anything wrong. Moreover, I am not a troll. I've been using this site religiously for over a year to lose weight (you can search for my previous posts which date back to 2013) and after hitting my original goal of weight loss and leaving the realm of obesity, I'm now ready to do the considerably more complex process of bulking. After being bombarded with a plethora of sources of information, I was merely looking for some help in sifting through what's "bro-science" versus established fact, and in deciding what specific path to take at this moment in time and the necessary steps to accomplish my new goal.
    JoRocka wrote: »
    also I think this is a breech of community guidelines.

    9. Do Not Post the Same Topic on Multiple Boards or Groups

    Please choose the most appropriate board or group for your post and post it once. Posting the same message to multiple boards or multiple groups is a form of spam. Please note that this is NOT a guideline against inadvertently posting a question another member has asked before. We explicitly allow members to post questions that have been asked previously by other members. If you see a member post a topic that you think has been asked before by another member, please respond politely or simply move on. However, the same member cannot ask the same question or post the same topic more than once.

    I thought these were 2 completely separate topics (one about being able to gain on a deficit, the other asking if I'm ready to bulk or need to cut some more [while asking for a BF% estimation as I do not currently have access to fat calipers nor dexa scan, bod pod, etc.]). I truly apologize if I did somehow breach forum rules but these were 2 distinct areas from my point of view.
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    dude you already posted in the gaining forum ...

    See note above regarding the post in the gaining forum. Also, I made this post before I got the solid pieces of advice from my other post in the weight gain forum..
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Jason?

    Who? In any case, no my name is not Jason.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Jason?

    BAW HA HA HA HA HA
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited January 2015
    Brynich wrote: »
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Jason?

    Who? In any case, no my name is not Jason.
    Lol, don't worry about it. People are just making a joke because I happen to also be a 20 year old African American guy. Otherwise, your stats are plenty different from mine so it's not like there could really be any confusion.

    Also wanted to add, disregard the negative comments. IMO I don't see anything wrong with what you've posted.
  • Brynich
    Brynich Posts: 65 Member
    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    Lol, don't worry about it. People are just making a joke because I happen to also be a 20 year old African American guy. Otherwise, your stats are plenty different from mine so it's not like there could really be any confusion.

    Also wanted to add, disregard the negative comments. IMO I don't see anything wrong with what you've posted.

    Okay then... I'm not even American but that's beside the point.

    Thanks, I honestly don't see how what I did could even considered "trolling". I even posted pictures of myself, so obviously I'm seeking legitimate advice and not conjuring up unrealistic scenarios for entertainment purposes. Anyway, I will ignore the unnecessarily disrespectful comments and focus on the constructive advice that was given in the rest of this thread.
  • Brynich
    Brynich Posts: 65 Member
    To everyone else, thank you for your advice. I've taken everything you have said into consideration and decided to commit myself to bulking. Would a surplus of 250 calories per day be sufficient?

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