First Cut Ever. Advice Appreciated

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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Hello there! I am a guy that started training around 18 months ago with ups and downs in the training, but normally training from 3 to 5 times/week depending on the period we look at. So having said that, I am going to cut because I want to look better(summer is coming), and because I want to be leaner so in the bulk I don´t get too flufly.

I went from 171 lb (78kg) to 184 lb(84kg) in my bulk in around 7 months. I could not eat as I wanted to,and I couldn´t train as much as I wanted so I am happy with the progress. I plan to go down every week from 1 lb(0.5kg) to 1.7 lb (0.8kg).

I plan to eat 2800 kcal on training days/2500 non training days with a refeed every 1-2 weeks.
In the training I will start with the basics movements trying to improve/keep strength,follow by some supersets/HIIT depending on the day.

SQ: 308 (140kG)-I had a injury that didnt let me go on with the progress
Bench: 402 (110kg)
Dl: 374 (170kg)

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What is your question?

(also re: your bench press 110 kg does not equal 402 lbs.)

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Bulk for no less than one year. 13 lbs is not that big of difference. Your body will not see substantial improvement from 13 lbs and then a cut. Whats the physique you are going for? If you simply wanted to be shredded then go ahead but if you bulked because you wanted to add some serious thickness to you, then continue bulking for another 6 months or so.

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[quote]twodiverse wrote:
I am going to cut because I want to look better(summer is coming), and because I want to be leaner so in the bulk I don�?�´t get too flufly.[/quote]
How lean are you right now? Can you see ab definition, do you have fat hanging over your belt, or something inbetween? A pic would be useful for reference.

Very important: How tall are you?

I don’t see how you’re happy with the half-assed results you got from half-assed effort, but, whatever floats your boat. If anything, the lousy training and insufficient diet is why you ended up wanting to drop fat, because odds are you gained more fat than necessary.

Okay, so in 8 to 10 weeks, you’ll have completely undone 7 months of “bulking”. I think there’s a flaw in that logic.

What were your daily calories during the “bulk”?

I really, really think you’d benefit from sticking to a pre-designed routine. Almost any plan on this site will get you on track.

[quote]SQ: 308 (140kG)-I had a injury that didnt let me go on with the progress
Bench: 402 (110kg)
Dl: 374 (170kg)[/quote]
What were these lifts 7 months ago? (And like Craze said, your bench conversion is noticeable wrong. But I blame the metric system, not you.)

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@craze9 there would not be a question but more of an advice towards a cut :smiley: Yeah I messed up with the number I wish I had that bench.242 I meant.
@jtamez17 13 lb is not a big change I am aware of that, but if its not likely(lets not say not possible) to gain 2 lb of muscle a month,why would gain more weight than 2 lb? Looking for an honest answer, for me it doesn’t make any sense,but again,I am not a pro by any means. Although I have been reading a couple of years already about fitness.
@Chris Colucci I will post pictures now after this! I am 5,10. I am “happy” because I have seen improvements in arms 1.5 cm (little bit more than half inch),legs in every part,and of course fat gain in the abs,but I take it after those “gains” which don’t seem to be much fat. I plan to lose the gain and be learner and bigger than I was. Didn’t count kcal during bulk. I am following a routine indeed! Cannot really tell you the improvements in the numbers but I think there was not much,before this bulk I did little volume and now I am doing higher volume.

After having said all this,I think I can sound a little bit cocky,but I tell you,it is not my intention,it is not my mother tongue so I cannot really express myself as would as I would like. Thanks for the time taken.

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Pictures are not straight as you can see,although I think I am not straight neither

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Font flexed

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back double biceps

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back

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Continue to bulk. Yes you can gain say 2 lbs of muscle a month but if you actually did gain that amount every month then you wouldn’t need to cut you would be shredded. Lets just say you gained 8 lbs of muscle and 5 lbs of fat. The average person when the cut, ups the cardio, ups the intensity techniques, doesn’t follow a program, doesn’t get stronger. Say you get down to the same weight you were before you may end up with a 3-5 lbs of muscle increase from your 171 lbs weight. Thats not really noticeable of an increase to me to justify cutting now.

Now if you hire a knowledgable contest prep coach then you can cut now. I get the same thing Im seeing here with my clients, were you are almost scared to gain fat even though are gaining more muscle, getting a little antsy with the end goal.

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[quote]zapata1 wrote:
Continue to bulk. Yes you can gain say 2 lbs of muscle a month but if you actually did gain that amount every month then you wouldn’t need to cut you would be shredded. Lets just say you gained 8 lbs of muscle and 5 lbs of fat. The average person when the cut, ups the cardio, ups the intensity techniques, doesn’t follow a program, doesn’t get stronger. Say you get down to the same weight you were before you may end up with a 3-5 lbs of muscle increase from your 171 lbs weight. Thats not really noticeable of an increase to me to justify cutting now.

Now if you hire a knowledgable contest prep coach then you can cut now. I get the same thing Im seeing here with my clients, were you are almost scared to gain fat even though are gaining more muscle, getting a little antsy with the end goal. [/quote]

I have the knowledge myself of how to cut,but still I bet you guys with years of experience have tips for me. I said that,yes,but obviously I am not gonna gain only muscle and not fat, i would be a freak. I believe that at my level I think I can keep most of the mass I´ve gained. What´s the benefit of keeping myself on bulking when after that I will have to take that fat off,wouldn´t be better to keep myself leaner? And in the pictures it looks better than it actually is because I suffer from hiperlordosis so my belly pops out and my butt sticks out. If i had a normal body I could allow myself to bulk without losing aesthetics. Greetings!

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[quote]twodiverse wrote:
Cannot really tell you the improvements in the numbers but I think there was not much[/quote]
This is a generally bad sign. When you’re bulking, you should pretty much always have a noticeable strength increase, especially when you’re “bulking” for seven months. However, since you didn’t gain much bodyweight overall, it makes sense that your strength didn’t really change much.

You’re really not in bad shape at all based on your pics. You’re certainly not what I’d consider fat. Your goals are your own thing, so do what you want. But I still think a major cut right now isn’t the right approach because you’ll be undoing the work you already put in.

I’d get your calories in line to actually gain weight gradually and get your training dialed in (which means consistent strength and/or volume progression). If it’s absolutely necessary, you could incorporate some cardio throughout the week to keep fat gains in check, but I’d still work to add muscle.

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[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]twodiverse wrote:
Cannot really tell you the improvements in the numbers but I think there was not much[/quote]
This is a generally bad sign. When you’re bulking, you should pretty much always have a noticeable strength increase, especially when you’re “bulking” for seven months. However, since you didn’t gain much bodyweight overall, it makes sense that your strength didn’t really change much.

You’re really not in bad shape at all based on your pics. You’re certainly not what I’d consider fat. Your goals are your own thing, so do what you want. But I still think a major cut right now isn’t the right approach because you’ll be undoing the work you already put in.

I’d get your calories in line to actually gain weight gradually and get your training dialed in (which means consistent strength and/or volume progression). If it’s absolutely necessary, you could incorporate some cardio throughout the week to keep fat gains in check, but I’d still work to add muscle.[/quote]

I dont see how cutting would be undoing what I have done :confused: Eventually I will have to do it, so why not not and keep looking better ?
For articles like this I dont think gaining more than 2-3 pounds a month is it not worth it .

https://www.T-Nation.com/diet-fat-loss/bulking-diet-delusion

Btw I dont understand how my arms and other parts have gotten bigger,maybe I did use the same weight but did more volume , maybe was that, dont know. Thanks for the feedback!

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The bulk just seemed sloppy and half assed to me. You didn’t eat right, you didn’t notice improvement in strengths, a 13lbs gain on a bulk is below average, but you should have noticed a good improvement. especially the bench which is usually tied to your bodyweight a little bit more. If your numbers didnt improve much if at all this is a bad sign.

You really should just focus on building strength, eating clean and eating the right amounts. One of the reasons I think you should keep bulking is I prefer the more steady clean bulk not the dirty bulk that the article rights about. As long as you keep getting stronger, adding volume or whatever your program is based on, eat at a slight surplus, I do not think you will get fat. I would do a 12 month good clean strength bulk and gain about 15 more lbs.

This is just my opinion. Its your ideal body, not mine. I just don’t want you cut to early in the game and realize you are to skinny, or don’t like the way you look, which is what i think is gonna happen and why we are saying to continue bulking

If you want to cut really focus on maintaining strength levels, do not let the dip much if at all so keep track of your numbers better.

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[quote]zapata1 wrote:
The bulk just seemed sloppy and half assed to me. You didn’t eat right, you didn’t notice improvement in strengths, a 13lbs gain on a bulk is below average, but you should have noticed a good improvement. especially the bench which is usually tied to your bodyweight a little bit more. If your numbers didnt improve much if at all this is a bad sign.

You really should just focus on building strength, eating clean and eating the right amounts. One of the reasons I think you should keep bulking is I prefer the more steady clean bulk not the dirty bulk that the article rights about. As long as you keep getting stronger, adding volume or whatever your program is based on, eat at a slight surplus, I do not think you will get fat. I would do a 12 month good clean strength bulk and gain about 15 more lbs.

This is just my opinion. Its your ideal body, not mine. I just don’t want you cut to early in the game and realize you are to skinny, or don’t like the way you look, which is what i think is gonna happen and why we are saying to continue bulking

If you want to cut really focus on maintaining strength levels, do not let the dip much if at all so keep track of your numbers better. [/quote]

I will start saying thank you because I really liked the way you expressed yourself,really nicely! The thing is that when I was in 171 I “looked good”,I looked a lot better with the abs,because I have such wide waist and narrow shoulders(It sucks so much) so from the moment I gain a little bit of weight,all the fat goes to he obliques and it doenst look good.

I really dont know how that happened(the numbers),I moved to another country and was hard at the begining cause I didnt have money for the food so I ate shit(worked at MC Donalds for those 6 months) and not even close the protein I needed for maybe 3-4 months of those 6. Still trained my ass off and recover some of the gains, and maybe from the moment I start taking more protein,eating better(Around January).

Thanks for the feedback,but I will be cuting anyway,I will post pictures in 2 weeks or so,lets see how it goes. Thanks again!