Reasonable bodyfat

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RealWorldStrengthLLC
RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Due to my last major depressive episode where I went from 205 to 300lbs in the span of about a year, I have some stretch marks/saggy skin. It's not bad, currently I'm 230 and most of the stretch marks are hidden by tattoos (that's just how it worked out)...the only really noticeable thing is I have a bit of a saggy bellybutton but whatever. Luckily I carry a lot of muscle so on my chest and leg area it's not that noticeable, and I didn't carry the weight for that long - maybe a year and a half overall.

Anyways- because of this, I don't really want to cut much more. Currently I'm at 6'1, 230 and probably about 22-23% bf. I'm going to cut to around 220ish maybe 210, and stop, lowest bf I want is about 17%. Unfortunately, I pretty much screwed myself out of ever being able to have visible abs again but that's the price of gaining so much. My fault.



Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Is these a middle ground I can hope to be mildly aesthetic? I wear the whole "burly/strong but 20+ bf" thing really well but I'd like to cut just a bit more into looking straight up athletic.

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  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    You could have visible abs at a lower bf% even with some saggy skin. Never mind the weight per se, but if you want to focus on cutting a bit more you already know a deficit is needed and strength train to support the look you're going for.

    "Middle ground" just means you're at a place where you could still be putting in work, but you don't really want to or have to. Maybe the deficit doesn't need to be as large as before, and maybe you need to lift a bit more frequently with additional accessory work, but it doesn't hurt to have a goal of looking absolutely aesthetic, because you'll get to where you really want to be anyway.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    You have done so well, and come so far both mentally and physically.

    Re the saggy skin thing.

    It can take a couple of years for the skin to catch up with your weight loss so don’t think what it looks like now is what it will look like a couple of years from now.
    Of course genetics, age, and nutrition come into play as well.

    Maybe do a few months at the weight you are now, recomping, then reassess.

    Nothing is written in stone, so you can carry on losing and if you don’t like the result, gain the weight back doing a bulk.
    Or you can do as above and maintain for a while.

    Any visible stretch marks will fade with time, they are there for life though.

    Cheers, h.
  • RealWorldStrengthLLC
    RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
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    Unforyionately, it's not going to catch up, I've already maintained at 230 for 6 months. Trust me I know my body really well, and this isn't the first time this has happened it's just that the last time was 150 drug skinny to 230 fat to 190-200 fit. Over the course of about 2 years - That was a LONG time ago...but that gave me a saggy bellybutton that never disappeared so I know it's the same this time.

    At this point I'm just trying to find as low as I can go without it being terrible looking. If I gotta walk around with a 38 inch waist and some subcutaneous fat so I'm basically just "builtfat" body type but I look big in a shirt and ok without one, so be it.
  • RealWorldStrengthLLC
    RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
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    @anubis609
    I really cant lift more, already do strongman training 5x a week and cycling 2x a week..in a deficit, working 12 hour days too. Theres only so much time in a day.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    youcantflexcardio wrote: »
    @anubis609
    I really cant lift more, already do strongman training 5x a week and cycling 2x a week..in a deficit, working 12 hour days too. Theres only so much time in a day.

    Welp, not having any context to your regular routine leads to a generalized response from me. Given your workload, you'll likely have to either keep your current deficit and wait a while, since I assume your strongman training incorporates progressive overload by nature of the sport, or cut it a bit more to attain the look you want a bit sooner without compromising your performance too badly.

    You could run a rapid fat loss/psmf phase during your deload block since it would be less physically taxing during that time, but your recovery may take a hit from the significant calorie decrease.
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,096 Member
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    I think you have to decide if you want to go for it or not. Whether getting to a low enough body fat to really see your abs is worth the trade off. And can you maintain there very long or is there a risk you may have a big rebound weight wise if you have a history of gaining a lot. I don’t know the answers to those questions for you. Especially with a depressive episode in the recent past.

    The saggy skin will hopefully start to look a bit better with time. I’ve seen some amateur body builders with stretch marks and saggy skin and they still look amazing. Not airbrushed magazine folk but real people.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    youcantflexcardio wrote: »
    Unforyionately, it's not going to catch up, I've already maintained at 230 for 6 months. Trust me I know my body really well, and this isn't the first time this has happened it's just that the last time was 150 drug skinny to 230 fat to 190-200 fit. Over the course of about 2 years - That was a LONG time ago...but that gave me a saggy bellybutton that never disappeared so I know it's the same this time.

    At this point I'm just trying to find as low as I can go without it being terrible looking. If I gotta walk around with a 38 inch waist and some subcutaneous fat so I'm basically just "builtfat" body type but I look big in a shirt and ok without one, so be it.

    Aww sorry things have been up and down for a while. I was just going off the initial post.

    This isn’t ‘you have to do this’ advice, but, if I were in your place, I think I would continue with a slow cut and see where I landed.

    If my mental health, physical health, or strength started to suffer, I would stop and maintain.

    If it was a road I could travel with reasonable comfort, I would do it out of curiosity, even if it meant I would decide I was happier at a higher weight and regained some.

    Just food for though.

    Cheers, h.

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