Yet Another Bulk or Cut (with pictures). Help me out guys.

anask4
anask4 Posts: 86 Member
edited November 17 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I am 5’6, 20 year old male. I started my weight loss journey in 2013 and lost about 60 lbs. Long story short, I ended up skinny fat. I’ve been lifting for about a year now (Started off with SL along with accessory work, and now follow the 3 Day Power Muscle Burn plan (https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/3-day-power-muscle-burn) along with accessory work. I also do HIIT for 10-12 min twice a week after lifting. At the end of my cut in the beginning of February, I weighed 144 lbs. At that point, it was becoming very hard to keep cutting, probably due to my lack of lean body mass. Since then, I have been eating at maintenance and then a small surplus, around 250-300 calories (I think my maintenance is around 2300 so I have been eating 2500-2600 cals a day). I now weigh around 152-153 lbs. It has been great shifting my focus to eating and killing it at the gym.

My plan is to keep eating at a surplus until August, cut for 2-3 months, and then bulk through next winter. I am worried that I may not be lean enough to be bulking. Based on the attached pictures, should I stick with my plan or cut first?

As usual, thanks for the great advice.
Front unflexed
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Front Flexed
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Side Unflexed
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Side Flexed
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Backik6f78apzrk8.jpg

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Hold on let me walk 2 miles away from my computer and look at the pics so they are the right size. All I see is a nipple.

    (srs though you should resize the pics).
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    SideSteel wrote: »
    Hold on let me walk 2 miles away from my computer and look at the pics so they are the right size. All I see is a nipple.

    (srs though you should resize the pics).

    Really? They look fine on my computer and phone. How exactly should I resize them? Do I have to repost?
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    SideSteel wrote: »
    Hold on let me walk 2 miles away from my computer and look at the pics so they are the right size. All I see is a nipple.

    (srs though you should resize the pics).

    legit lol

    The pics are showing up ok on my computer, OP.

    I'd recomp if I were you.
  • video939
    video939 Posts: 1 Member
    edited April 2015
    Bro when you were losing weight and lifting on the 3 days power what were you eatting like? Did you keep your protein high? Are you strong? How is your squat, bench, deadlift? if you want to get stronger and more muscular get your n00b gains out of the way.

    You are obviously a beginner i don't recommend doing a intermediate plan. More is not always better. Some times you gotta start out slow and work your way up. You will be more happy in the long run.

    Workout Plan:
    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=159678631

    try this on for size. Start bulking up use this to figure out what you need to eat..

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=156380183

    Run this program as stated until you fail on 2 of the major compound lifts by then your strength will be up and so will your lean body mass from there start cutting. Keep protein high follow the 2nd link again and you'll be on your way to be a champion.

  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    id really appreciate some more feedback
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    You can gain muscle in any weight bracket, but you will gain it faster at a leaner body mass for sure. This is called the P-ratio.

    I would put you at somewhere around 25%+ body fat range, which is considered the upper limit for effective bulking. It would be most beneficial to keep trimming down over the summer I think. If you can drop to 15-17% range by then (so if I did the math right, about 15-20lbs), that will give you plenty of time to keep bulking (assuming you are smart about it and bulk at a modest calorie surplus) before you need to stop your progress to drop bodfat again.

    You can still neurally adapt your muscles and squeeze some more strength gains out of them while you drop weight (you just won't gain any new lean mass), and then in a couple months when your cut is over, you will be primed for muscle growth.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    You should be cutting in my opinion. You are still in the mid to high 20's BF%.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    Keep cutting and perfecting your form on all lifts ready for when you bulk in the Autumn. You can then cut again after a nice long winter bulk. Keep us posted with pics!
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    edited April 2015
    thanks everyone, this pretty much confirms what i was thinking so im prepared for it. How big should my deficit be? Also, should i keep my workouts exactly the same or should I switch back to something like SL5x5.
    This is what my workouts look like at the moment (3 days a week):

    Shoulders + arms Day
    Close grip bench press-115(smith machine)
    Seated overhead press- 75 (smith machine)
    Upright row-60 (smith machine)

    Seated Arnold press-30
    Pinwheel curl-30 for 2 sets and 25 for 1
    Dumbbell Curl-2x5 with 30 and 2x8 with 25
    hammer curls- 25

    Barbell Skull crushers-40
    Barbell curl-40
    Forearm barbell curl-40 for 3x5

    Cable tricep push down (with metal handle)-50
    Cable tricep overhead extension-30
    Cable reverse curl-35
    Cable shoulder raises-50
    Cable forearm curls-50

    12 minutes HIIT cardio.

    Back + chest Day
    Bench press:110
    Shrugs:160 (smith machine)
    Rows:130 (smith machine)
    Deadlifts:200 (smith machine)

    Incline dumbbell bench:30
    Dumbbell bench:30
    One arm Dumbbell row:40
    Dumbbell shrug:45

    Chest press:110
    Lat pull down:100
    Rear delts/row machine:85

    cable flys: 20 lbs each side

    12 minutes HIIT cardio.

    Leg/Ab day
    Squat-160 (smith machine)
    Front squat-130 (smith machine)
    Stiff leg deadlift-200 (smith machine)

    Leg press-230
    Leg press calf raise-230

    Leg curl-90
    Calf extension-230
    Leg extension-170

    Leg raises
    Weighted decline sit ups-24 lb Dumbbells
    Torso rotation-140

    EDIT- Everything is 3 sets of 8-12 reps and occasionally a drop set. The numbers listed are the weight used for each exercise.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    edited April 2015
    Perhaps aim to lose 10lb over 20 weeks, so half a pound a week. 250 c under tdee. Eat .8g per pound of body weight in protein and keep lifting to minimize muscle loss. Do a period of maintenance at the end to get your figures spot on then go for the bulk. 500 cals extra a day for a pound a week gain.
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    edited April 2015
    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    Perhaps aim to lose 10lb over 20 weeks, so half a pound a week. 250 c under tdee. Eat .8g per pound of body weight in protein and keep lifting to minimize muscle loss. Do a period of maintenance at the end to get your figures spot on then go for the bulk. 500 cals extra a day for a pound a week gain.

    +1.

    Yup. 0.5lbs/week is about the max you can lose before you start sacrificing lean mass. You may find you need to set your calorie goal lower than TDEE-250 though, as it is normal to have some logging error in your calories every day; It's impossible to measure them exactly. You might have to keep calibrating down cals by 100 every two weeks until you see that consistent 0.5lbs/week loss.
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    Perhaps aim to lose 10lb over 20 weeks, so half a pound a week. 250 c under tdee. Eat .8g per pound of body weight in protein and keep lifting to minimize muscle loss. Do a period of maintenance at the end to get your figures spot on then go for the bulk. 500 cals extra a day for a pound a week gain.
    Brolympus wrote: »
    +1.

    Yup. 0.5lbs/week is about the max you can lose before you start sacrificing lean mass. You may find you need to set your calorie goal lower than TDEE-250 though, as it is normal to have some logging error in your calories every day; It's impossible to measure them exactly. You might have to keep calibrating down cals by 100 every two weeks until you see that consistent 0.5lbs/week loss.

    Thanks! Ill log at a 300 calorie deficit and go from there
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
    Regarding your workout, so you only lift 3x per week with the 3 day split you listed? If so, I would switch to a full body workout 3x per week.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,993 Member
    You're still a novice and don't need a split. And get off the Smith machine and stick to compound lifts requiring free weights.
    Full body workout till you master lifts correctly and gain a little more muscle.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    _benjammin wrote: »
    Regarding your workout, so you only lift 3x per week with the 3 day split you listed? If so, I would switch to a full body workout 3x per week.
    I'm a college student so I can only get to the gym 3 days. the semester ends in a week though so I will probably go back to 4 days a week.


    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You're still a novice and don't need a split. And get off the Smith machine and stick to compound lifts requiring free weights.
    Full body workout till you master lifts correctly and gain a little more muscle.
    I go to planet fitness so I'm stuck with the smith. Barbells only go up to 60lbs. It sucks but it's my only option
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    anask4 wrote: »
    _benjammin wrote: »
    Regarding your workout, so you only lift 3x per week with the 3 day split you listed? If so, I would switch to a full body workout 3x per week.
    I'm a college student so I can only get to the gym 3 days. the semester ends in a week though so I will probably go back to 4 days a week.


    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You're still a novice and don't need a split. And get off the Smith machine and stick to compound lifts requiring free weights.
    Full body workout till you master lifts correctly and gain a little more muscle.
    I go to planet fitness so I'm stuck with the smith. Barbells only go up to 60lbs. It sucks but it's my only option

    Have you looked to see if your college has a gym you can lift in?
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