Bulk or Cut?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Hi,

I’ve just been reading the article on 150lbs skinny fat guys wanting to go on a cut and its made me rethink my own planned cut.

Current stats (No pictures I’m afraid so these will have to make do):
Height - 5’9"
Weight - 176lbs
Age - 18
BF - 18%
Lean Mass - 144lbs
Chest - 40.5"
Waist - 34.5"
Bench - 67.5kg [149lbs] (8x3)
Squat - 80kg [176lbs] (8x3)
Deadlift - 95kg [209lbs] (8x3)

I was originally 205lbs and about 30% BF, then ran and cycled myself down to 154lbs and 18% BF before realizing that I was skinny fat. So about 3 months ago I stopped the excessive cardio and started lifting (those low lifts above are actually an improvement from my even more embarrassing base). After a month or so I got my lean mass back up to what it was when I weighed 205, but then I had to take a 2 month break whilst I went traveling.

Well the time has come to resume my training and make it my priority. The problem is that I really don’t like the fat on my chest and my love handles, but I don’t know whether I have enough lean mass to be able to go on a cut without looking emaciated. My plan was to get to 12% body fat (164lbs) and then start a clean bulk until this time next year. Is this a good idea?

Any opinions would be much appreciated.

2

Just start training and eat according to basic principles, especially protein and veg 6 times a day. Make sure your eat to fuel your workouts and get proper nutrition during and immediately after and the first full meal after your workout should be high carb. Make the rest of your meals relatively low-carb and you will gain muscle and if you’re reasonable you could lose fat as well.

Stu

3

forget about the concept of “bulking” and “cutting”, focus on increasing your lifts

Just erase those words form your memory.

get your diet in order, eat clean, maybe try to lower your carb intake as it works for some people (but do not go too low on calories !). When your lifts stop going up, increase calories by a reasonable amount

come back when you have around 2.5xBW DL, 2xBW squat and 1.5xBW bench. If you still don’t like your physique by then, revaluate your diet