My BF% and Should I Bulk or Cut?

Training Beginners
21

[quote]Orestes wrote:
Yes. And I did read. I read and I read and I read all day long. And I see:

-Cut cause you’ve got fat around your stomach.

and stuff like that. :-/[/quote]

Alright, Orestes. I’m getting convinced that you’re not a troll and that you’re misguided. It’s clear that you’re a beginner. Your bodyfat percentage is most likely more than 12 but is surely under 17. But at this point in the game that’s not important. What’s important is for you to get big and strong.

Jim Wendler, a man who knows what he’s talking about, said that how you train when you’re a beginner really doesn’t matter as long as you’re in the gym doing something. You can go to Joe DeFranco’s website and start the Westside for Skinny Bastards template. You can do a strict Olympic Weightlifting routine. Hell, you can even do the workout out of Men’s Health they have for this month.

But until you’re big and strong enough to decide what you want to specialize in, be it Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Athletics, or looking good naked, all you should really worry about is lifting progressively heavier weights and force feeding yourself at every meal.

22

Another bodybuilding.com transplant, I presume.

As it’s been said before, read all of John Berardi’s articles ASAP.

Don’t be manorexic bro, it’s not a good look.

23

ok, i’ll start a classic 3 or 4 day upper/lower program (perhaps, will look into that some more), buy some creatine and start to eat some more. is that ok?

24

What were you doing before for a lifting program, and could you outline your diet? Both what you’ve been doing and what changes you plan on making?

25

I did a 3 day split for a couple of months, and tried a TBT for ~a month.

diet - low carb, high protein. I mostly ate chicken, cottage cheese, brown rice with occasional weekend cheating (family lunch :-/)

but I started eating and training after I lost 50 pounds in less than a year by dieting (low… well low-everything).

26

I should have been more explicit. I meant exercises, weights used, sets, reps, like

Monday chest; bench press 3 sets 10 reps each, 135 lbs
Tuesday legs: squat 8 sets, 20 reps, 900 lbs

You get the idea.

And a daily breakdown of what you would eat and when, like

8 am: 4 strips bacon, 6 eggs, miller light
10 am: Ham sandwich on rye and beef jerkey
12 pm: Chicken caesar salad and a twinkie

And so forth.

Before people can offer useful suggestions we need to know specifics about you also, like age, height, how long you have been working out, any injuries/medical conditions, your goals, both short term and long term, and so on. The fact that you already lost 50 lbs is an example of an important fact we need to know. It takes you from random skinny dude, to FFB (former fat boy) which is relevant to the diet advice given to you.

Also if you haven’t already, look through the top three threads in the beginner forum. They have a bunch of great info and good links to diet regimens, training programs, etc.

You actually got a nice reaction. Look what happened to this guy when he asked about his bodyfat!

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=868493

27

i got a great idea, how about you just eat 3000-4000 calories a day, and lift weights. thats all you have to do.

28

ok, here’s a daily food breakdown:

7am: oats (50g) with milk (lowfat)
9am: chicken breast sandwich (with appropriate bread ofcourse, and without cheese)
12am: cottage cheese (200g)
2pm: roasted chicken breasts (300g) w/ brown rice and/or veggies
3pm: PreWM Optimum whey, workout, PWM Whey w/ glucose (i know now it’s a bad choice for a PWM, will look into better options)
7pm: cottage cheese (200g)
9pm: whey/cottage cheese (200g)
after 9pm: ~20g almonds

If I get can’t supply myself with a proper meal, I would eat Labrada’s Lean Body Bars, no more than one per day.

As for a workout breakdown, I dont want to translate the whole thing from croatian but something along the lines of:

DAY 1 CHEST/TRIC
3x12 bench press (40 lbs)
3x12 same but incline (30lbs)
3x15 pec deck (50lbs)
3x15 tric pulldown (50 lbs)
3x12 skull crushers (30lbs)

DAY 2 BACK/BIC
3x15 hyperextension
3x15 seated rows (50 lbs)
3x15 dumbell bentower rows (15lbs db)
3x15 preacher curls (20 lbs)
3x15 db curls (2x15 lbs)
3x15 hammer curls (2x15 lbs)

DAY 3 SHOULDERS
3x15 of shrugs (2x20lbs), lateral front raises, side raises etc.

DAY 4 LEGS
3x15 leg press (200 lbs)
3x15 leg curl (40 lbs)
3x15 leg extension (30 lbs)

also, Info:

  • 6ft2, 174lbs, 17 yo
  • working out for ~5 months
  • lost 50 pounds prior to starting to WO
  • before that I was a 235lbs FAAAAT pig
  • quite low strength level
  • highly endomorphic, very prone to gaining fat (as seen from above “235lbs of FAAAT”)
  • no injuries, but I even avoided doing the riskier exercices like squats or deadlifts until I was familiar with the environment

P.S. LOL so thats what the shoe comment was about! :smiley:

29

[quote]jck524 wrote:
i got a great idea, how about you just eat 3000-4000 calories a day, and lift weights. thats all you have to do.[/quote]

4000 calories. for an endomorph. won’t turn (mostly) into muscle. not even if I work out 10 times a week. which I cant. it’ll just turn into fat.

I’m just trying to say it’s not that much of a ~horror~ if these tens of thousands of calories turn into fat, I won’t start crying and throwing up in the bathroom :D, it just seems pointless to start with…

30

[quote]Orestes wrote:
jck524 wrote:
i got a great idea, how about you just eat 3000-4000 calories a day, and lift weights. thats all you have to do.

4000 calories. for an endomorph. won’t turn (mostly) into muscle. not even if I work out 10 times a week. which I cant. it’ll just turn into fat.

I’m just trying to say it’s not that much of a ~horror~ if these tens of thousands of calories turn into fat, I won’t start crying and throwing up in the bathroom :D, it just seems pointless to start with…[/quote]

fuck that, just eat 3000-4000 calories, eating like a bird wont do shit either. and you need to fix your diet again that you just posted you arent eating enough. understand that if it you gain fat its not that big of a deal you can lose fat much faster than you can lose muscle so just bulk and stop making excuses.

31

and also i dont believe you are 175 lbs. Im 6 1 and 175-180 and i dont look that small.

32

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Orestes wrote:
Please help with two things:

  1. What’s my estimated body fat percentage?

Impossible to say really. We will need a picture of you holding a shoe. j/k

Seriously, if you want to know then either have someone who knows what they’re doing do a “skin fold” test on you. Or, if you can find one try using a “bio impedance” device (these are handheld devices that will give you a ball park body fat reading).

  1. I personally think I need to cut some more b/c I still have fat around my abs and obliques, but most people online tell me I should start bulking (which will probably end up with me gaining simple fat cause I’m endo). I want YOUR opinion on this?

First, you have no muscle that’s why you can’t see your abs, not because you are fat, do not cut. And to be honest, don’t “bulk” either. That term has been sort of bastardized and it gives people the impression that they need to get sumo wrestler fat in order to gain muscle, you don’t.

Instead read John Berardi’s “Massive Eating Reloaded” series, learn how to eat clean and healthy and as Pozzska suggested, get yourself on a good strength/muscle building program. Try to add as much weight to every exercise that the program calls for (while keeping good form of course) and continue eating enough to support growth and your abs will “magically” appear.

On top of that you’ll build muscle over your entire body, improve your “shape”, become more healthy than you are right now, and heck might even turn some heads.

Here are some pics for you to decide upon:

First, don’t worry so much about classifying yourself into any category of body types. Yes, you have certain characteristics of certain phenotypes (though I wouldn’t say that endo is where I’d place you). But worrying about things like that only serves to overcomplicate things and put preconceived notions into your head.

Focus on getting stronger on the basics and eating enough for YOU to continue to grow (while not getting obese). [/quote]

Good post. Listen to this

33

TROLL!!!

34

[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
TROLL!!![/quote]

Exactly, dunno why people are actually taking time to offer advice. “IF” this guy is legit, he can find all he needs in past threads and articles. All he has is skin and bones, yet he somehow feels the need to “cut” and wants to know his “BF%”. “Eating 3000-4000 calories will only turn to fat”. If that isn’t troll material I don’t know what is. If its pure ignorance, then he needs mental help, not physical.

35

Cut what???

36

Man eat alot of food and fast…BULK. Don’t worry about your fat, just GFH (Get Fucking HUGE).

37

and, also, Brant_Drake, you asked me what my goal is.

it is NOT this:

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4064/712662origbz8.jpg
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/9611/n2357236414918052301vp0.jpg

short term:
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/5724/sec1id6.jpg

long loooong term:
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/3979/sideview2jd8.jpg

38

OMG this must be a troll. Hes asking if he should cut. Think about cutting when your a 250lb bodybuilder, not a 50lb child. Why should you have the need to cut anyway, you can gain muscle and keep lean, read up on articles.

39

[quote]Orestes wrote:
long loooong term:
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/3979/sideview2jd8.jpg
[/quote]

truely long term. You should try and put on muscle whilst keeping lean. This is a good goal, but you just need ot put on weight (hopefully muscle, and a bit of fat), and keep up cardio activities.

40

Oh man, it’s been too long since we had this question asked, I was beginning to worry.

Your hips are broader that your shoulders - don’t lie you’ve never been in a kitchen or even looked at a weight.