I have been bulking for 12 weeks and I have went from 170 lbs to 185. Should I cut for the summer or should I just keep bulking to 200 or more and then cut.
Me at 180 lbs
That pic is when I was 180 lbs, the other one wouldn’t go through
Some of my lifts, bench-250 deadlift-490 ATG squat-310 front squat-255
Pic of my legs- 25.5 inches
How tall are you? Age? You added 15lbs in 3 months, why would you stop that progress? What were your strenth gains in that time? Good progress, I say keep it up!
[quote]animalmj wrote:
How tall are you? Age? You added 15lbs in 3 months, why would you stop that progress? What were your strenth gains in that time? Good progress, I say keep it up![/quote]
I’m 5’8" 18 years old
Squat-270 to 310
Bench press- 225 to 250
Deadlift-450 to 490
Row- 190 to 240
I guess I should keep bulking, I wanted to look good for the beach in a month. Do you think I will look okay if I keep on bulking the whole summer
Like he just said, keep on putting on size. If you started cutting down you’d def. not be happy with your size. That layer of fat you are carrying makes you look bigger than you really are. Hold on to it and keep busting ass.
Getting worried about the summer months? 
You still look fairly lean. I’d keep bulking if I were you. Even if you just wanted to clean up your diet a little but still keep calories high, you’d still keep your size.
At 18 you have scores of summers ahead to look lean, but this is the best time to add Lean Body Mass. You might even decide that 200 is an arbitrary number and there’s no need to stop there, so long as you feel you’re still adding muscle.
Think about it, how fast do you think you could cut to where you’re satisfied? Min 8-12 weeks? Summer’s practically over then! …and then you’re gonna bulk again? Very counter productive, don’t you think? Don’t lose sight of your main goal, which sounds to me, like you want to be bigger and stronger. Just one opinion, anyway good luck and train hard!
[quote]jeromeTERRIBLE wrote:
Like he just said, keep on putting on size. If you started cutting down you’d def. not be happy with your size. That layer of fat you are carrying makes you look bigger than you really are. Hold on to it and keep busting ass.
Getting worried about the summer months? :-)[/quote]
Thanks for your advise, its so hard for me to not cut during the summer, I do it every year, but not this year, I am going to keep bulking for another 9 months. After that do you think a cut would be a good idea if I got to 200-215 lbs and 15% plus body fat.
Just wondering does anyone have a guess what my bodyfat % is now, so I can know when I get to 15%( doen’t want to be more than that, hope I’m not that now!)
[quote]Ape Escape wrote:
jeromeTERRIBLE wrote:
Like he just said, keep on putting on size. If you started cutting down you’d def. not be happy with your size. That layer of fat you are carrying makes you look bigger than you really are. Hold on to it and keep busting ass.
Getting worried about the summer months?
Thanks for your advise, its so hard for me to not cut during the summer, I do it every year, but not this year, I am going to keep bulking for another 9 months. After that do you think a cut would be a good idea if I got to 200-215 lbs and 15% plus body fat.
Just wondering does anyone have a guess what my bodyfat % is now, so I can know when I get to 15%( doen’t want to be more than that, hope I’m not that now!)[/quote]
you need a shoe for us to judge
HW
[quote]Ape Escape wrote:
Thanks for your advise, its so hard for me to not cut during the summer, I do it every year, but not this year, I am going to keep bulking for another 9 months. After that do you think a cut would be a good idea if I got to 200-215 lbs and 15% plus body fat.
Just wondering does anyone have a guess what my bodyfat % is now, so I can know when I get to 15%( doen’t want to be more than that, hope I’m not that now!)[/quote]
Are you interested in your body fat or your muscle? If you’re interested in muscle gains, STOP thinking or worrying about your body fat. Ignore it. Completely. Why do you care what % you are? Why not care about the muscle you put on?
I say go for 250, then cut. You just may end up around 215. I think that’s small, but maybe you don’t.
Your spine looks weird.
[quote]kroby wrote:
Are you interested in your body fat or your muscle? If you’re interested in muscle gains, STOP thinking or worrying about your body fat. Ignore it. Completely. Why do you care what % you are? Why not care about the muscle you put on?
I say go for 250, then cut. You just may end up around 215. I think that’s small, but maybe you don’t.[/quote]
I care what my bodyfat% is because once you reach 17% you reach a point of diminishing returns( instead of gaining 1 lbs of fat for every pound of muscle you gain 3 lbs of fat for every pound of muscle)
You think 215 is small, you weigh less than that?!
[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Your spine looks weird. [/quote]
Ok, I can barely see it in the pic, what is weird obout it?
Instead of getting larger at the top where your traps are it’s like upside down.
I see what you mean by the spinal erectors. Pretty darn thick towards the bottom relative to the top. My guess is its that massive DL (relative to other lifts) that you’ve got. Don’t worry about it though. The DL is probably a big reason why you are putting on your mass! Keep at it!
[quote]jeromeTERRIBLE wrote:
I see what you mean by the spinal erectors. Pretty darn thick towards the bottom relative to the top. My guess is its that massive DL (relative to other lifts) that you’ve got. Don’t worry about it though. The DL is probably a big reason why you are putting on your mass! Keep at it![/quote]
Do you have more movement during the deadlift at your lower back than your upper back? If so, it would explain the higher development in the lower back. Perhaps try to keep the lower back static and focus movement in your torso to the Thoracic spine. Check out Cressey’s Deadlift articles posted recently.
Hmmmm… NO ONE advised him to cut!
Whooda Thunkit?
Option C: Just Lift!
You should cut.
People will think I am mad but here are my reasons:
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you obviously want to cut, for summer, and get the chics
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if you cut down, and THEN start a bulk, it is far more effective than if you simply start a bulk from previously bulking / eating well.
So I say cut for 4 weeks, you will look great, do a lot of GPP work, enjoy the summer, prepare for your mother of all bulks to start in say 8 weeks. By prepare I mean really nail down where the calories will come from and accumulate the food e.g peanut butter etc… whey etc… deep freeze full of meat.
If you are cut and done lots of GPP at the start of the bulk, then the bulking will go real well.