Hi, so basically I was 148lbs in January doing starting strength, then by june I was 157lbs with low strength numbers. So deciding to up my calories and got really fat while making decent strength progress. I’m now 183lbs with a 35 inch waist, with a low 200lb squat and deadlift due to low back pain, 185lbs x 4 bench and 140 x 5 overhead press. I feel fat but undermuscled as well. My goal is to be big strong and lean.
The skinny pic is me in January, the fat ones are today.
What actions are you taking to combat the back pain?
Think it would prob be best for you to get the back issue sorted and figure out your diet.
What do you macros look like. What does your training/cardio look like?
Lowered weight on squats and deadlifts and slowly built back up. Pain is less than before but still present, confused on what’s next.
Back pain only really on dead’s now but a little bit present on squats, hoping it goes away soon. I don’t track macros just eat what my mom makes. Do you think I should cut or do like a slow lean bulk?
Instead of doing the exact same thing you did last time that got you here, have you considered diagnosing and treating the issue?
Cut. You’ve got love handles.
I think you should not do what hurts . Find out why it hurts. Injury? Form?
Then you have 0 idea if you are in a surplus or deficit. You need to have an understanding of what you are eating if you want to be productive in this game.
I think you should diet because you’ve accumulated quite a bit of fat. I think you should build because you don’t have much muscle.
That being said, if you get your diet squared away and change your training style a bit and do some cardio you could build some muscle and drop some of the fat you’ve put on. The only way this will happen though is to start eating the proper foods at the proper amounts. Mom’s cooking is not working.
I too think you should learn to eat and lift, you don’t need a “cut” or “bulk”.
Starting strength has run its course, and it sounds like a poor choice for you as it’s based on barbell lifts you can’t currently perform. I don’t know if you have a disc pathology or something similar, but I’d recommend you find different main lifts to get after your legs while still leaving some “practice” time to learn to squat and deadlift.
I haven’t done them, but the Jordan Peters’ programs get a lot of love on here lately and would likely go a pretty long way in teaching you intensity of effort and picking your movements (two glaring areas of opportunity for starting strength).
Are you doing any conditioning? My guess is no, but you need to be. These days I like a bunch of walking, but when I was your age I loved hill sprints, stairs, and track work.
What’s your outside of the gym life like? Are you employed? Is there stress? Tons of free time?
answer is always in the question.
if you are ‘fat’, your word, not mine, why would you purposely gain more weight?
Does your mother have a physique that you want to emulate?
Depending on your age (under 18), this may not be a bad thing… the problem lies in the quantity of food you eat.
Tons of free time
Thanks for reply. How much should I cut?
I’m 21
Added some more pics btw if it changes anything
For most, I would say cut to 10% bodyfat, bulk to 15%, rinse and repeat. In a world where you are aiming to push your body to it’s extreme limits, this is the advice I would give.
The reason for this is mostly so that you can actually stay looking good year round, but also that when you are very lean - you have better nutrient partitioning. Meaning that if eating in a surplus, more of those surplus calories go to muscle and less go to fat.
I cut to 140lbs summer 2023 down from 173lbs in two months time by fasting. I was lifting during that time and hated how I looked so wanted to cut hard. Then started lifting again in January at 148 like I mentioned it sucks I gotta lose weight again, my strength gets impacted quickly when I cut cals. Any idea how much weight I should lose? And btw did I gain any muscle in comparison to that last pic of me skinny?
I’m in starting strength rn btw. Could you coach me or something i wanna get strong and look good, really tired of spinning my wheels.
I actually reached out to people at starting strength forum. These were replies.
It’s not about simply losing weight. It’s about losing fat.
