Body fat or bigger muscle?

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CsCamachoV
CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hope you are all good, Im going straight to the problem, I honestly don't know if I had to lose or gain weight, my body fat is 13.9%. I currently do calisthenics and weightlifting. I wanna see my abs quite defined, but Idk if I had to lose body fat to be able to see them good or gain muscle to get them bigger. To finish I dont know if my chest is just small or it would look bigger if I lose that body fatsm8wz4zwn0x2.jpg

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  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,978 Member
    edited November 2019
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    How did you measure your BF?

    FEIW, it doesn't look like 13.9% to me especially due to the lack of muscle dfn and vascularity in your arms & legs.
  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,416 Member
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    Second for a bit more muscle, unless you have a performance advantage by maintaining a lighter weight at your prefered job/sport/lifestyle. More muscle will make a better show through slightly thicker fat layer, and the slightly thicker fat layer (like you have now) will help keep your hormones working the way you want. Dropping your fat too much below where your at now can start making things a little weird with moods and behaviors. I think below 11% body fat or so for men is where things start getting a bit rough, though I'm betting a man can give you more specifics.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    If you lose the BF, what's going to show underneath?

    If there was muscle to show, it would appear bigger with some fat on top.
    Losing fat on top of muscle isn't going to make the muscle look bigger.

    If you are at healthy weight - and you probably are - it's time for a known progressive lifting program that will be asking the body to get stronger and use the muscle it's got, and then grow more when needed.
    While eating at maintenance to keep weight the same.

    When you have better definition - then look into slow bulk to increase weight and muscle mass.
  • CsCamachoV
    CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
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    mom23mangos wrote: »
    I think you'd be better served building more muscle. Especially in your chest. Your abs are already peeking through and they'd be more visible if you were a little leaner, but I don't know if you want to go there. You could honestly go either direction depending on your goals. Are you goals more performance based or aesthetic? I would lean towards just continuing to work out hard and progressively where you are at or at a small surplus. You look great however and have a lot of options.

    PS - Nice L-sit in your profile pic! That's one of the best ways to get those abs poppin'.

    I remember when you first commented on my first post, like 8 months ago.

    My goal is to look aesthetic, but now that Ive read all this I think I might go for a bigger chest and shoulders, and after that start a deficit to lose fat
  • CsCamachoV
    CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
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    sgt1372 wrote: »
    How did you measure your BF?

    FEIW, it doesn't look like 13.9% to me especially due to the lack of muscle dfn and vascularity in your arms & legs.

    SECA mBCA
  • CsCamachoV
    CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
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    ElizabethKalmbach wrote: »
    Second for a bit more muscle, unless you have a performance advantage by maintaining a lighter weight at your prefered job/sport/lifestyle. More muscle will make a better show through slightly thicker fat layer, and the slightly thicker fat layer (like you have now) will help keep your hormones working the way you want. Dropping your fat too much below where your at now can start making things a little weird with moods and behaviors. I think below 11% body fat or so for men is where things start getting a bit rough, though I'm betting a man can give you more specifics.

    Thanks! I think getting muscle will be a better option, cheers
  • CsCamachoV
    CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    If you lose the BF, what's going to show underneath?

    If there was muscle to show, it would appear bigger with some fat on top.
    Losing fat on top of muscle isn't going to make the muscle look bigger.

    If you are at healthy weight - and you probably are - it's time for a known progressive lifting program that will be asking the body to get stronger and use the muscle it's got, and then grow more when needed.
    While eating at maintenance to keep weight the same.

    When you have better definition - then look into slow bulk to increase weight and muscle mass.

    I didnt mean that my muscle would look bigger, but more defined with less bf

    So r u saying that keeping my calories at maintenance but working my muscles harder will increase them? Cheers
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Good Video
  • Tic78
    Tic78 Posts: 232 Member
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    What weight and height are you? I'd be tempted to go either with a recomp or with a small surplus and do a slow bulk.
  • CsCamachoV
    CsCamachoV Posts: 12 Member
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    Tic78 wrote: »
    What weight and height are you? I'd be tempted to go either with a recomp or with a small surplus and do a slow bulk.

    Currently 76kg 183cm
  • giancarlov1191
    giancarlov1191 Posts: 493 Member
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    I agree with the above. I think you'd be better served with a solid bulking phase. You're body weight is probably pretty low already so you might not be able to lose much more fat and like the others said, you'll need to put on some muscle in order to get that definition.
  • Buff_Man
    Buff_Man Posts: 622 Member
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    Do a recomp as suggested in Jeff Nippard's video. It's basically a slow progressive bulk without putting on a lot of fat. Be patient and you'll soon see the results. A traditional bulk/cut cycle isn't necessary to build muscle. Also a recomp will be easier to maintain since you can eat at a surplus and make good progress on your lifts. It's simple but not easy. Consistency in the gym and in the kitchen are the key

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