My BF% and Should I Bulk or Cut?

Training Beginners
41

That first picture is my favorite, interestingly enough.

Ok, think about it this way. You can reach your goal look faster if you shoot above it. So if you want to be around 220, but worked out and ate like your goal was to be 300, it would be really easy to get to 220 quickly and then stop, as opposed to slowly go up in 5 lb increments. Does that make sense? What I’m trying to say is go ball out to what you want, rather than hobble slowly towards it.

Your long loooong term goal could be done in 2 0r 3 years, if you do it right, your short term, 6 months. But those projections involve lots of lifting and lots of food.

Here’s my advice.

Set concrete goals. For instance, bench 225, have 16 inch arms and 20 inch legs. You will be much more successful if you do that than just say “I want to look like this.” Once you have specific goals you can devise specific plans to achieve them.

Step one, start eating 2500-3000 calories a day. Every sunday morning weigh yourself and make sure you are at least a pound heavier than you were last sunday, but no more than 3 pounds heavier. If you don’t weigh a pound more, up your calories by 500 per week, if you’re over three pounds, lower if by 500 per week.

Each meal should have protein
(preferably meat) some carb source, and some healthy fats. The exception to that is your PWO liquid meal which should only have protein and a fast-acting carb.

Make sure you get 8 hours of sleep a night.

Pick a basic lifting template where you focus on the three big lifts, squat, benching, and deadlifts. Rippetoes starting strength or Bill Starrs 5x5 are good places to start. Focus on heavy lifting, not 15 rep type stuff.

Read as many of the old articles here as you can. It’s a lot, but the more you read, the better you will be prepared to meat your goal. If you find something that doesn’t make sense, ask, but only after trying to figure it out on your own.

Start a log so that people can give you feedback on your diet and workouts.

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1652186

That is an example of a good log from someone who listened to advice and is now making great progress.

Don’t be afraid of getting a little fat, you can always get rid of it later with the v-diet or something similar. Once you have muscle, fat loss becomes waayy easier.

That’s it for now.

42

[quote]Orestes wrote:
and, also, Brant_Drake, you asked me what my goal is.

it is NOT this:


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

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

That doesn’t matter for now. Right now you NEED TO BE GETTING STRONGER AND PUTTING ON MUSCLE. There are three things you need to do:

  1. Eat more food. This means eat as much protein and veggies as you can. Save the carbs for breakfast and around your workout.

  2. Get Stronger! Stop thinking about ‘defining’ exercises and what types of curls will shape your biceps. I am not saying you are doing this, but a lot of newbies overcomplicate things. I was one of them. Instead, Stick to a handful of BIG lifts, rotate them throughout the week and aim to get as strong as possible on them for the next year at least.

  3. Do some cardio. I have realized that FFB’s (I am one of them) need to do SOME kind of cardio. Always. Just throw in some jogging 3 times a week. On your off-days for example.

That’s it. Eat BIG. Lift BIG.
This is the same advice that everyone on this thread is telling you. But it somehow doesn’t hit home. I understand. It’s not easy to get a completely new point of view. But you must understand that you are simply overcomplicating things. All the things you read about training (the articles etc) are worth NOTHING if you don’t know how to apply that knowledge to yourself. And at this stage, you don’t really need to know all those advanced things. All you need to learn right now is how to eat properly (clean and a lot), and lift consistently on a GOOD routine.

Talking about routines, I would suggest you take the time and actually READ and then DO THIS PROGRAM:

It’s a big thread. You don’t need to read it all at once. Read it throughout the week, piece by piece. Then read it again. And then APPLY IT. This will be your program:

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Power cleans OR Rows

You will train 3 days per week.

So week 1 might look like:
Monday - Workout A
Wednesday - Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:
Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

You may say that this is too simple! How can I grow on that?! Well this program has been incredibly successful. It has stood the test of time and works. Read the above thread that I linked for more information.

Hope I have helped.

43

:smiley: oh to have the will to believe a simple WO can be more efficient! but ok, I’ll try it. I thought about doing the ABBH, but I guess this is proven to work so…

and won’t I be over with a whole workout in like 20 minutes?

44

[quote]ska7e wrote:
sawadeekrob wrote:
TROLL!!!

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.[/quote]

I want to help because people took the time to help me when I started. I’d rather waste my time on one troll than call troll on someone that really needs some direction. Who knows, maybe some random lurker will read my response and that will help them, even though it wasen’t directed at them.

Besides, if it is a troll, do you think that a thread full of helpful responses is what they would want? I think if that was the standard reply, troll threads would die out really quickly.

Maybe that’s just me though. I do hope this guy is legit and comes back a year later with 50 more quality lbs.

45

[quote]Orestes wrote:
:smiley: oh to have the will to believe a simple WO can be more efficient! but ok, I’ll try it. I thought about doing the ABBH, but I guess this is proven to work so…

and won’t I be over with a whole workout in like 20 minutes?
[/quote]

Yes. The idea is not to annihilate yourself in one workout with 10 exercises. You are going to be gradually adding weight onto your main lifts, which will be trained frequently. The thread I linked above answers many questions like this. Please read it. You will only benefit.

You must understand that building strength and muscle is a very long term process. I had to learn this. I was originally doing set after set of arm work every workout, doing complicate exercises and intensity methods. I did this for a year. I looke like shit after that year. I have since started a MUCH more abbreviated, back to basics program and I have been making a lot better and more consistent progress.

Good luck.

46

[quote]Orestes wrote:
:smiley: oh to have the will to believe a simple WO can be more efficient! but ok, I’ll try it. I thought about doing the ABBH, but I guess this is proven to work so…

and won’t I be over with a whole workout in like 20 minutes?
[/quote]

1.) Not if you’re using sufficiently heavy weights.
2.) You can have a great workout in 20 minutes.

47

Ok then, I’m set to go then, I believe. And Brant_Drake, if I have any mindboggling questions, which I will have most probably, I’ll turn to you for help, somehow you seem the least pompous around here. Thank you x1000.

Thanks to everyone else, der candy et al. :smiley:

48

You seem motivated, the only problem with motivation amoung young guys is they tend to lose it, I know lots who have. Keep checking this site out, it’ll give you lots of new ideas all the time and you’ll want to try, hell I want to try new things all the time I look forward to it and keeps me motivated. Keep the motivation, let people here be your motivation, I do not believe you are a troll people are pretty lose with that word around here.

Congrats on the weight loss, now putting in back on is your new goal, except this time in muscle. That’s a good long term goal, keep it to keep you motivated, imagine how happy (and arrogant :slight_smile: you’ll be when you look like that.

49

[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
Cut what??? [/quote]

His forearm. With a knife. This has to be a troll job. I laughed.

50

should I hold a shoe up? -_-

51

Pile on the clean carbs, dude. Trust me, you won’t get fat.

52

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
Cut what???

His forearm. With a knife. This has to be a troll job. I laughed.[/quote]

This deff. is a troll job.

liekz omgzz d00dz thatz workoutz routinezz is watebreyyz, and wont take 2 hourzz, like oh nozz!

53

wtf. when did being a completely unskilled beginner become being a troll?

I don’t know what I could do to prove I ain’t a troll.

54

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

  1. What’s my estimated body fat percentage?
  2. 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?

Here are some pics for you to decide upon: [/quote]

  1. Percentages aside, you’re not fat at all. Congrats on dropping the 50 pounds and keeping it off by the way.

  2. In terms of bulking and not gaining bodyfat, Check out this article from Tony Gentilcore… http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1654364&cr=dietAndNutrition

If you followed those guidelines and train hard with a good program and proper intensity, you won’t gain a significant amount of fat while bulking.

In terms of a good template that’s about 4 days per week, Dr. Clay Hyght wrote a really good article this past week, Blending Size and Strength, Version 2.0 Give that one a read.

Good luck with your goals man.

-Greg

55

I highly doubt you are endomorph. I think that your hip bones are just wider than anything else on you.

56

[quote]Orestes wrote:
wtf. when did being a completely unskilled beginner become being a troll?

I don’t know what I could do to prove I ain’t a troll.[/quote]

If it is not a troll job then it is one of the dumbest questions I have seen in a long time. You do not need to cut. You need to add muscle mass. You can take a slow approach or a fast approach but don’t even dream of cutting.

57

ok, i think I got that. and yes, I can be pretty dumb when uneducated. :smiley:

58

[quote]Orestes wrote:
ok, i think I got that. and yes, I can be pretty dumb when uneducated. :D[/quote]

I don’t mean to bust your chops (too much) but this site has been trolled by people posting pics of skinny guys looking for advice on cutting many times in the past.

59

whats the fun in that? :-/

60

[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
Cut what??? [/quote]

foreskin