Help needed, bulk or cut????

siv1979
siv1979 Posts: 32 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
After 3 or 4 months of lifting on stronglifts 5x5 my lifts have stalled

I am 6 foot 5 and weigh 92 kilos around 200lbs

I eat 2500 calories a day and believe I'm around 15 to 16 percent body fat

I wanted to cut down to around 12 percent before bulking but feel I'm not getting anywhere. Have stopped losing weight and not gain muscle

I would like a swimwear model body I get, médium muscle bulk and lean.....

Should I do maybe a small bulk? , I have very little muscle mass, and have never really bulked

I would want to keep it very clean within a few hundred cals of maintenance

How much should I eat 3000, 3500????.

Any help greatly appreciated

Thx

Replies

  • Justin_7272
    Justin_7272 Posts: 341 Member
    It sounds like you are eating around your maintenance level.

    Where are you at weight-wise with your SL lifts? If you're in a decent range I would try to maintain those lifts and and drop your calories to ~2000-2200. If you're not in a decent lifting range then other adjustments may be needed.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Why not recomp, lose a little body fat while adding muscle?
    Eat maintenance (should help lifts if eating at a deficit now)
    +Get adequate protein
    +Get Adequate rest
    +Give it time (as in months)
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    Why not recomp, lose a little body fat while adding muscle?
    Eat maintenance (should help lifts if eating at a deficit now)
    +Get adequate protein
    +Get Adequate rest
    +Give it time (as in months)

    All of this and what Justin said. Also, have you tried a deload yet?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    Why not recomp, lose a little body fat while adding muscle?
    Eat maintenance (should help lifts if eating at a deficit now)
    +Get adequate protein
    +Get Adequate rest
    +Give it time (as in months)

    All of this and what Justin said. Also, have you tried a deload yet?

    I didn't think of asking that... if not, try a deload and if you fail again at the same weight, if you are in a deficit, you may want to change to 3x5 higher volume of 5x5 makes it harder to recover in a deficit than a 3x5 protocol.
  • siv1979
    siv1979 Posts: 32 Member
    Justin_7272 wrote: »
    It sounds like you are eating around your maintenance level.

    Where are you at weight-wise with your SL lifts? If you're in a decent range I would try to maintain those lifts and and drop your calories to ~2000-2200. If you're not in a decent lifting range then other adjustments may be needed.

    I'm up to 80kg squat, 65 kilo bench...... I'm 92kg

    Thx for reply
  • siv1979
    siv1979 Posts: 32 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    Why not recomp, lose a little body fat while adding muscle?
    Eat maintenance (should help lifts if eating at a deficit now)
    +Get adequate protein
    +Get Adequate rest
    +Give it time (as in months)

    OK..... Maybe I de load 10 percent... To get to maintenance should i add maybe 250 cals

    See what happens?

    Thx
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Do you use the Stronglifts app? It tells you when and how to deload.
  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
    Over the last month how much weight have you lost?

    You should be able to get pretty close to figuring your maintenance calorie estimate based off how much you’d been losing previously.

    Add about 125 calories a day for each pound you’ve lost of the last month.
  • siv1979
    siv1979 Posts: 32 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Do you use the Stronglifts app? It tells you when and how to deload.

    Yep.... Ok cool
  • siv1979
    siv1979 Posts: 32 Member
    Rammer123 wrote: »
    Over the last month how much weight have you lost?

    You should be able to get pretty close to figuring your maintenance calorie estimate based off how much you’d been losing previously.

    Add about 125 calories a day for each pound you’ve lost of the last month.

    OK thx
  • Justin_7272
    Justin_7272 Posts: 341 Member
    siv1979 wrote: »
    Justin_7272 wrote: »
    It sounds like you are eating around your maintenance level.

    Where are you at weight-wise with your SL lifts? If you're in a decent range I would try to maintain those lifts and and drop your calories to ~2000-2200. If you're not in a decent lifting range then other adjustments may be needed.

    I'm up to 80kg squat, 65 kilo bench...... I'm 92kg

    Thx for reply

    I would suggest switching programs. Beginner programs should (at least) cap out around squat 150% body weight and bench ~100% body weight.

    Strong Lifts is a great program, but it has fast progression and is best suited for bulking. I'd recommend All Pros based on your goals; progression (weight-wise) is much slower and allows you to be at cut/maintenance. You can check it out here;

    https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=169172473&page=1

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