Time to Bulk ?
Joseph94x
Posts: 25 Member
Hi there guys
I have been in a losing weight period "cutting" for the last 10 months
However starting up with that i dont feel like i have enough of muscle foundation.
Stats .. 166cm 63kg approx 16to20Bf (depending on which formula)
Im not gaining any strengh if any im losing some .. but the fact that i will gain fat as well is making me reculcant
I have been in a losing weight period "cutting" for the last 10 months
However starting up with that i dont feel like i have enough of muscle foundation.
Stats .. 166cm 63kg approx 16to20Bf (depending on which formula)
Im not gaining any strengh if any im losing some .. but the fact that i will gain fat as well is making me reculcant
2
Replies
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If you're happy with your belly fat increasing during a bulk, then bulk.
If you want to be leaner, but are sick of cutting, take a break and eat at maintenance for a few weeks. Then continue cutting.
Either way works.4 -
Honestly, I'd not bulk in the 16-20% bf range, but that's just me, and I now stay in the 10-15% area. However, if absolute strength is your sole focus, then yeah, have at it.3
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Do not bulk at your bodyfat! Diet down to nearer 12% and reassess.
Bulking when fat will make you even fatter3 -
Makes sense .. but im really feeling the effects of long period of cutting , guess im gonna go up to maintan for a few weeks n see what will happen1
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Not a bad idea. Ease up to maintenance for two weeks to a month, see how things feel, and if all is going well, drop back to a deficit for a bit.3
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Thnx guys .. guess i was only looking for an excuse to eat more0
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Thnx guys .. guess i was only looking for an excuse to eat more
You're only human. Unfortunately everyone is fatter than they think and wants to achieve unrealistic targets in unrealistic time frames.
Take 2-4 weeks at maintenance, don't use it as an excuse to binge and then get back on track feeling refreshed and with a healthy metabolism.2 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Not a bad idea. Ease up to maintenance for two weeks to a month, see how things feel, and if all is going well, drop back to a deficit for a bit.
Going up to maintenance and keeping your protein high, you should be able to gain muscle if your training is good. What are your macro numbers? I assume you are strength training?2 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Not a bad idea. Ease up to maintenance for two weeks to a month, see how things feel, and if all is going well, drop back to a deficit for a bit.
Going up to maintenance and keeping your protein high, you should be able to gain muscle if your training is good. What are your macro numbers? I assume you are strength training?
Yes i am .. actually i dont do any cardio just cause i dont like it
During my cut approx P120 , C200, F37
From yestarday i started going for 140P , C300 , F45 .. approx0 -
Your protein is far too low. Keep your protein around 2.4g/kg of body weight. Take away from your carbs and fat if you need to.4
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Your protein is far too low. Keep your protein around 2.4g/kg of body weight. Take away from your carbs and fat if you need to.
He said he is 63kg. 63x2.4 = 151.2 grams of protein. He also said he's upping to 140grams. That's only 10 grams off and I wouldn't categorize that as "far too low".
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TBH im not really 100% accuratly hitting my macros everyday .. its quite normal for me to eat 120P in a day and next day 180P .. its just in the range of 140P .. and this is just to start as im being cautions honestly i think i will still be losing weight with these macros .. just dosent want to go up to around 2500Cal from around 1700Cal suddenly0
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Makes sense .. but im really feeling the effects of long period of cutting , guess im gonna go up to maintan for a few weeks n see what will happen
Yeah, I'd do this too. A long cut like you've done has a greater chance of losing muscle mass than a short cut. Maintain for a month or so, see how you feel.
Mike Israetel likes to recommend that when you need to lose a lot of BF, that you do it in stages, then maintain, then cut again. He says there is evidence that over a long period of time the body develops "set-points", that are difficult to go beyond, either cutting or bulking, and using a staged approach is a good plan if #1 you don't want to balloon back up to your original weight, and #2, maybe you want to grow back up to one of your set-points.
I'm finding this right now. I spent 11 months dropping from 175 to 130, then bulked since Apr and am sitting at 145, but am finding I need to increase my calories much more, I've even lost a lb or two in the past two weeks. I look back at my last year and I find that on the way down (losing weight), I spent about 6 months hovering around 145, while losing 0.25 lbs per week or less. I don't think it's any coincidence that my body is wanting to stay at this weight at the moment. It's all due to hormones, but Mike says there's some evidence that these "set points" develop over months and years. Anyway I got side tracked.
Maintain until you're ready to cut again
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Your protein is far too low. Keep your protein around 2.4g/kg of body weight. Take away from your carbs and fat if you need to.
Sorry I have to disagree, you're protein is sufficient. Protein is somewhat overrated when it comes to building muscles, yes you need it for muscle building, but more protein isn't going to make it get faster.2 -
Hi there guys
I have been in a losing weight period "cutting" for the last 10 months
However starting up with that i dont feel like i have enough of muscle foundation.
Stats .. 166cm 63kg approx 16to20Bf (depending on which formula)
Im not gaining any strengh if any im losing some .. but the fact that i will gain fat as well is making me reculcant
If I were you I would maintain or even go 100 cal above maintenance but nothing more. You're bf might be on the high range bc you still need to build more muscle and a slight surplus will help build that muscle and hopefully not go too much over your current bf % if that makes sense. Just keep an eye on your weight and bf while you do this.1 -
Your protein is far too low. Keep your protein around 2.4g/kg of body weight. Take away from your carbs and fat if you need to.
Sorry I have to disagree, you're protein is sufficient. Protein is somewhat overrated when it comes to building muscles, yes you need it for muscle building, but more protein isn't going to make it get faster.
I dont have much experince but i found carb to have the most impact on my mood , energy and gym performance .. most of the online calculators advice between 110P n 140P *for my stats* .. im at least hitting the max of that daily0 -
IMO the three most important factors in building muscle are 1) resistance training 2) protein intake 3) carbohydrate intake. When you were cutting you should have had a protein intake of around 150g-160g of protein. For maintenance and bulking it can be a little lower. You can maintain muscle with resistance training and low protein but it is hard to build unless you bump the protein up.1
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IMO the three most important factors in building muscle are 1) resistance training 2) protein intake 3) carbohydrate intake. When you were cutting you should have had a protein intake of around 150g-160g of protein. For maintenance and bulking it can be a little lower. You can maintain muscle with resistance training and low protein but it is hard to build unless you bump the protein up.
Probably i could have .. but going low on carb for that long wouldnt workout for me , i looked weak and tired .. as soon as i went back to +180C everything went better except the "weight loss"0 -
This is what happens when you cut for too long/large deficit or don't cut the 'right way' IMO. You have to work in reverse. IMO you shouldn't be cutting any longer, time to seriously put on some muscle mass. Once you have a good foundation you can cut back down again.1
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I am saying you need protein and carbs to build muscle, not that you should reduce the carbs. The only macro left is fat and you would have to reduce that to get in your calories from protein and carbs. But that is to build muscle most efficiently, you can loose body fat with any macro combination.1
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IMO the three most important factors in building muscle are 1) resistance training 2) protein intake 3) carbohydrate intake. When you were cutting you should have had a protein intake of around 150g-160g of protein. For maintenance and bulking it can be a little lower. You can maintain muscle with resistance training and low protein but it is hard to build unless you bump the protein up.
Probably i could have .. but going low on carb for that long wouldnt workout for me , i looked weak and tired .. as soon as i went back to +180C everything went better except the "weight loss"
The bold isn't true (just FYI) it's backwards, but I think it's just a typo, but on a separate note, 180C is probably just fine for you on a cut, but you'll still need to reduce total calories to lose weight. To keep the muscle you have, keep protein at least 1g/lb bodyweight while cutting (it's just a nice round number that also keeps you full, but 0.8 will work too), keep lifting, get at least the minimum amount of fat 0.45 g/lb, and then do whatever you want with the rest of your calories.0 -
IMO the three most important factors in building muscle are 1) resistance training 2) protein intake 3) carbohydrate intake. When you were cutting you should have had a protein intake of around 150g-160g of protein. For maintenance and bulking it can be a little lower. You can maintain muscle with resistance training and low protein but it is hard to build unless you bump the protein up.
Probably i could have .. but going low on carb for that long wouldnt workout for me , i looked weak and tired .. as soon as i went back to +180C everything went better except the "weight loss"
The bold isn't true (just FYI) it's backwards, but I think it's just a typo, but on a separate note, 180C is probably just fine for you on a cut, but you'll still need to reduce total calories to lose weight. To keep the muscle you have, keep protein at least 1g/lb bodyweight while cutting (it's just a nice round number that also keeps you full, but 0.8 will work too), keep lifting, get at least the minimum amount of fat 0.45 g/lb, and then do whatever you want with the rest of your calories.
A quick calculation on what u recommand it will be around 1850Cal .. i used to cut as low as 1500Cal .. keep in mind im only 5'6 *a bit of a large frame tho*
Thats why i said i went back to 180C .. approx 1900 to 2100Cal0 -
I'm 5'6" too. The most I could consistently maintain was 1600 at 130 lbs with 35% protein. What got the extra few pounds off was intermittent fasting. I just skipped breakfast, but I had plenty of black coffee in the morning (3 cups or so). This allowed me to come within my calorie goals effectively and the last 8.5 lbs or so came off within about 6 weeks.1
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I'd be fed up after a 10 month cut too. You could follow Layne Norton's advice and do a reverse diet, just up to your maintenance calories, Pause for a couple weeks, and continue your cut down to 10-12%3
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Skip any bro scinence about "belly fat " and "macros " just eat smart and lift man listen to your body your a man don't count calories just listen to ur hunger and fullness and focus on building up your strength and increasing ur weak body parts to build a well balanced physique worrying about belly fat will only stall you for a long time trust me . Good luck !7
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With your body fat being at 16-20 % I would stay away from bulking for the time being. I personally get down to about 7-8% before I start a bulk and once I hit about 15 I go back to cutting. When I'm maintaining weight I like to stay around 9%. Being at 63kg though you will really want to keep your protein intake high enough to retain as much muscle mass as possible. To lose that body fat you will need to get into a caloric deficit. Once you get to a desired body fat percentage and feel you want to start bulking up just make sure to do a clean bulk. Too many people think bulking is just consume as many calories as possible no matter where you get them from but this is not true. This will only make you reach a higher fat percentage before a desired muscle gain has been made. Bulking does mean a caloric surplus but nothing too crazy just enough to support hypertrophy and it needs to be with nutrient dense foods.1
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HungryasFuark wrote: »Skip any bro scinence about "belly fat " and "macros " just eat smart and lift man listen to your body your a man don't count calories just listen to ur hunger and fullness and focus on building up your strength and increasing ur weak body parts to build a well balanced physique worrying about belly fat will only stall you for a long time trust me . Good luck !
I would love to do that , honestly i would .. but my apetite is big and if i did that i will be back to where i started just with a bit more of a muscle foundation0 -
Ok after 12 days i started feeling like im gaining weight .. 1kg = 2lbs , is thats normal ? Or im i possibly over eating ! Which is highly unlikly * ok other than one day where i binged *0
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Update 13th of sep .. i feel like im gaining weight while eating at maintenance , it may be caused by water retention but my waist is upto 80cm from 78cm ! Is it normal ? Any ideas ?0
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