Being an endomorph, and someone who returned to the iron after years away from the gym primarily to lose fat, I made gains into my fat loss goals but ended up on a perpetual run of ‘fat loss’ programmes. The result was decent shape but I had neither the six-pack or the 16-inch arms I craved. Yet I was wary of attempting any serious hypertrophy phase for fear of gaining flab, as well as being mindful of the T-Nation mantra of coaches stating you must get lean BEFORE you get big.
This resulted in a type of limbo, where my progress in all departments either wavered slightly or halted. I then posed the following to Chris Shugart, and have included his response below, basically asking when is it safe to move from fat loss to hypertrophy mode. His response helped me decide to try the latter, and six months later I’ve added 16lbs, most of which, I’m confident, is lean mass.
JamesBrawn007 wrote:
Hi Coach
I wondered what your thoughts were regarding how long one should adhere to fat loss programmes before switching to hypertrophy mode.
I realise that may seem akin to how long is a ball of string and that it largely depends on the goals of the individual, etc.
However I wondered whether you had a general bodyfat percentage equation you work to, e.g. get to at least 10% then switch to lean mass programme allowing no more thn 2% fat gain before swtiching back, etc.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
JB
Chris Shugart:
"Yes, very tricky question, and there’s some individual variation to consider.
Personally, I go with the thoughts of Dr. Berardi and Coach Poliquin in that it’s never a good idea to “bulk” if you’re already carrying around a lot of fat. You’ll just add a whole lot more fat and not that much muscle. The ratio just stinks.
I don’t like to toss out body fat percentage numbers much because most people aren’t measuring their body fat correctly anyway, but generally speaking, I think that excess fat should be dropped first before a mass diet is attempted. The muscle:fat gain ratio will be better.
Very roughly speaking, I think someone should be 10-12% or lower in body fat before bulking. How “fat” should they get before cutting again? Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to get fat just to gain muscle. Generally, I go my the mirror rather than the calipers or scale here.
There are just so many psychological components involved, the whole issue is muddled. For example, I know dozens of fat guys who think they’re “oh, about 12% body fat.” They think they look muscular but they just look fat (and are probably more like 20% body fat.) But the moment they diet and lose some of the bulk (not muscle loss, but fat and water weight) they panic because they’re getting “smaller.” Even if it’s just fat loss all they know is they’re not “big” anymore. The fact that they look more muscular is lost on them. So, given all this, even going by the mirror is tricky.
All that said, I guess my summary is 1) Don’t bulk if you already have a gut and love handles and 2) There’s no reason to get fat just to gain muscle. You may not be able to have a shredded 6-pack on a mass phase, but there’s no reason to just eat like crap and get fat either."
