I found a lot of difference in opinion when it comes to how the average skinny fat guy should start to get in shape. Some say bulk first others say cut. I’m just over a month into training now and decided to start by leaning out. I’ve been cleaning up my diet, working out 4 days a week focusing on major muscle group training and improving my cardio. I’m 30 yo, 6’ tall currently 175lbs. Been using a vegan protein supplement, a multivitamin and in caloric deficit consuming 2000 cal/day. I’m content with my results so far (pic’s) but pretty soon I’ll be moving into a bulking phase and I don’t want to bring back the gut! I understand I’ll have to up my caloric intake and I think creatine would be beneficial but any help with mass building from the been there done that guys would be appreciated, routine, diet or otherwise.
The only people on this forum who say to cut first are teenagers tho.
You seem old enough to know better, so I won’t tell you how to live your life. But if you don’t have experience building muscle, how do you expect to maintain muscle during your cut? Unless your goals involve looking like a MySpace era emo dude, bad call.
I don’t know how long you been doing this, but just eat intuitively if you’re worried about a gut. Stay on top of whatever cardio you enjoy, lift heavy, and eat when you’re hungry till you’re full.
I’m pretty far removed from my teens and I tend to vote with fat loss first. I find most folks want to look better sooner rather than later, and in those cases, dropping the excess fat is a better first step vs accumulating even MORE and then trying to put on muscle. With so much of the initial growth of training being more neurological adaptations, I find trying to engage in a surplus during that time just results in good amounts of fat gained with little muscle.
@matteo1 Moving forward, remember that the purpose of food is to recover from training. If you aren’t training hard enough to require eating more food, you don’t need to eat a surplus. This means you need to push the training hard if you want to push the calories and make some muscle. Spend a good amount of time out of your comfort zone in your training.
True that. My outlook is that 5lbs of muscle gained would look better than 10lbs lost. The extra bodyfat will probably have them thicc in the right parts too.
Are you intending to pursue this hobby for 3 months or for aslong as you are able?
If you “bulk”, you’ll get fat again. If you cut, you’ll be small. Skinnyfat implies fatness AND weakness. Strip away the fat, you’ll have weakness. Add to the fat, you’ll get fat.
Give yourself adequate protein, choose to keep carbs or fat fairly low (both will work, depends on your personal preference), pick a routine with a good amount of volume.
Your body is going to adjust to your 2000 cal diet in no time, and there’s only so low you can go.
TL;DR: Don’t cut, don’t bulk, eat healthy food around maintenance with a healthy macro ratio and get a program with lots of volume.
I appreciate the posts guys, thanks for the feedback.
@SOUL_FIGHTER I am “old enough to know better” about a lot of things… like how online forums work so I’ll skip your extra comments but I can appreciate your perspective on cardio. What would a Myspace era emo workout/diet plan look like “tho” lol.
@strongmangoals This started with me quitting smoking, chronic and drinking over the last 6 months, now I’m 5 weeks in with training. The intention is to continue with this lifestyle change.
@T3hPwnisher and @flappinit Sounds like solid advice, the diet I’m on now is already made up of higher protein and lower carbs but keeping total cal’s lower to burn off the extra fat. Now that I’m looking to start mass training soon what I’m getting is be mindful of how much I increase my caloric intake while still eating clean, and up the volume and intensity in my training.
Prolly low calories and a lot of cardio.
I am a big fan of Clay and his programming, I highly recommend reading this article and structuring a plan around it, as well as the preceding articles. A Tried and True Bodybuilding Program Template
Or, you could start with the “Indigo” Programs. That was the first program I ever did once stepping foot in the gym, lays a fantastic foundation for strength, and mass. Indigo Project Training Programs
Diet - will be the most important factor in whether you gain excess fat or not. You really don’t burn a ton of calories training. You burn more doing cardio, but, if your goal is to put on muscle, you shouldn’t be doing much cardio. So, the best thing to do is eat slightly above maintenance calories (like 10-15%) on training days and eat at maintenance on training days. Maybe one day a week on an off day even have a slight deficit. Train hard and train for strength, and mass, by hitting a variety of rep ranges and exercises during your training (as per the articles I posted.) If you’re serious about gaining muscle and not wanting to get a gut while doing it, you’ll have to take your nutrition as seriously as your training. There are not shortage of articles you can find on this website detailing smart nutrition plans and how to eat.
Any more questions, be sure to post them!
Good links, good info. I’ll definitely continue to post comments, questions etc as I progress and navigate through the site. Good vibe for the most part around here.
I would say work towards the habits that would make up your target lifestyle and your body composition will follow.