When to bulk, when to cut?

[PowerBuilder]

My stats are:

25 yo
220 lbs
6'
20 % body fat - accurate: measured with my new calibrator
been lifting last 2 months,
also lifted when I was 15-18 yo

Eventually I would like to get big and cut/vascular. My question is, how should I decide when to bulk, and when to try to loose fat? I know most people with 20% bf would be trying to loose the fat now. But since I just started lifting, I feel like I would be wasting the initial natural shock of growth that you can get when you begin training. I calculated that without exercise, I burn about 2600 calories. My workouts add another 500 calories (guess). How many calories a day should I go for? Should I have about 3,500 ( 4,000?) for a couple more months, and then try to loose bodyfat?

Thanks for any suggestions.

PowerBuilder

 

[Kim the Swede]

I wouldnt worry about bodyfat now. I know it sux but i would try go gain some mass right now.
You are 220lbs and 6'....thats equals out to around 190lb weight around 6% bodyfat which is a really nice body. So if I were you I would gain mass on areas you need the most for the next 6 months, and thereafter start to cut.

 

[FreakkreW]

any good bulking training and eating advise ,,, i been working out for 3 Mon. ...i started @165lbs now IM weighting @ 180 i eat 4-5 times a day and work out 5 days a week ...i need advise on what other meal can be healthy

 

[BigDogg]

IMO I would not bulk right now at 20%bf I would diet down do cardio and maybe some clen and ECA. If you try to bulk now you will gain more BF. Try to get down to at least 12% BF and then do bulk up. You will put on more lean mass IMO if you have less fat to begin with.

 

[iplaybass123]

I would have to say not to bulk right now either at 20%. My stats are the same as yours are. In fact I'm at 216 lbs, and 16% body fat and still not looking that great. As far as cla...I've been using it and it's been working out for me. I've started cutting as of 2 weeks ago and for my cardio I've been doing 80 - 100 yard sprints rather than running longer distances and have noticed a huge change in my body. And my body is starting to get a little more cut than it was 2 weeks ago.

 

[iplaybass123]

sorry...didn't mean to say cla...meant eca

 

[Feli Fly]

You are at 20%bf... cut. I feel sorry for the guys in the gym who try to make up for huge guts just by lifting heavy weights...

Do high reps and lots of volume while on the diet since you are an obvious endomorph. If you diet down for at least a couple months, you will then be depleted and have a great tendency to put on weight when you begin bulking again. When you start bulking again, then go to low weights and high reps. I think you will be pleased.

Feel free to Pm me with your email addy if you want any tips or help...

 

[PowerBuilder]

Thank you everyone for your replies. The majority says I should cut so I will. Can't wait untill I have abs and veins. I started on creatine but that shouldn't effect fat loss and may prevent some srength/muscle loss. But it has increased my weight some, I now weigh 227.

Now, since I'm so fat, can I be pretty abitious and try to loose about 2 1/2 pounds/week for the first month without much muscle loss? That would be 10 lbs in the first month with a diet of 1900 cal/day. Should I try to loose more/less? If I do use clen, I should wait until I have lost a good amount without it first right?

 

[PowerBuilder]

I just took my measurements again and thought I'd share my progress. This was while gaining ~ 8 lbs. I know my waist is big, thats why I'm going to start cutting, but I wasn't sucking it in or anything. When I get down to 10-12 % I'll post before and after pictures. I took my before pics today.

6-16-03

chest 46
right arm 16
waist 41.5


8-5-03

chest 47.75
right arm 17
waist 40.75

 

[DJ_rockett]

I just took my measurements again and thought I'd share my progress. This was while gaining ~ 8 lbs. I know my waist is big, thats why I'm going to start cutting, but I wasn't sucking it in or anything. When I get down to 10-12 % I'll post before and after pictures. I took my before pics today.

6-16-03

chest 46
right arm 16
waist 41.5


8-5-03

chest 47.75
right arm 17
waist 40.75

Nice work Bro

 

[PowerBuilder]

update

I am getting closer to my goal of 10-12% bf (or enough to start bulking again.)


8-5-03

weight 227 bf 23% <-- probably better estimate of bf than the 20% I said before.

chest 47.75"
right arm 17"
waist 40.75"


8-30-01

weight 216 bf 17%

chest 48.8"
right arm 16.5"
waist 39"


I am basing bf on three skinfold measurements, last time was:
chest 15 mm
abdomen 26 mm
thigh 20 mm

before it was
chest 28 mm
abdomen 30 mm
thigh 30 mm


If I did the bodyfat calulations correctly, this means that while I lost 11 lbs of bodyweight, I lost 16 lbs of fat and gained 5 lbs of lean body mass over the past month. My plan was just to loose 2.5 lbs of fat a week. My strenght also continued to increase.

I plan to continue to loose 2.5lbs a week, so I am now only consuming 1750 calories a day and I hope to reach 200 lbs bodyweight by mid october.

 

[Got Fina?]

I would definately no bulk...

IMO i think u should tone down a little as stated above with a nice low carb diet and eating nice and clean.

Once ur around 10-15% bf then i would go for the bulker..

A bulker at this stage would only make u look like a bag of chips....