I've been cutting forever...like a year. I was down to about 180 and now I'm back up to 200. I think I've been cutting for too long and it is catching up to me. I have lost a ton of strength over the last year and I think my metabolism has slowed to a turtles pace. I would like to bulk, but at the same time I don't like how I look at all. Given my situation is it advisable to swallow my pride and bulk or go ahead and cut till I'm down to a low body fat %.
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After a long cut
- Thread starter msunid83
- Start date
Your shouldnt have to be cutting for a year. Thats crazy. If youre cutting and gaining weight, dont kid yourself. Youre either consuming too many cals or not burning enough.
the weight i've gained is from going off my diet. but the damage is still done, i have lost a lot of muscle mass regardless of my gainback. I just gained back some fat and a little muscle perhaps. I'm not kidding myself.
i should say that I have no problem buckling down and cutting my cals again to cut, but I don't know if I'm just going to hurt myself since I have lost a lot of muscle in the last year without gaining any back. I know its possible for me to loose weight still as long as I eat the right amount and workout. I also know that I will continue to loose muscle mass if I do this till I'm down to below 180.
If your metabolism has slowed, you then require less calories to build muscle. It's all relative. Find your baseline, and adjust accordingly depending on your goals.
My goals are to look good. I know I require less cals to build muscle, but my question is should I go ahead and bulk given my circumstances. I don't mind cutting, but I've lost a ton of muscle without gaining any back for a long time. I', weak as hell, but i don't know if it is worth it to bulk if i don't like the way i look or if its worth it to cut since my i've basically torn my muscles apart over this last year.
msunid83 said:
Do what makes you happy. If you're not happy with how you look, fix it and make yourself happy; whether that's losing weight or gaining muscle. Some guys are happy lifting heavy shit, other guys are happy with a six-pack and 12 1/2" arms. Whatever floats your boat brother.
I know how to eat right. For a long time though, i didn't eat right to get faster result. I know it was wrong, but this is my situation...there is nothing that can change that. I'm just trying to figure out if i should bulk even though I am not satisfied with my BF%.
msunid83 said:
You're in a position where you can change your body composition without cutting, nor necessarily bulking. Clean up the diet, work out hard, adjust your macros appropriately, and you'll be fine. Eating a bunch of junk food to "achieve results quicker" though is stupid--gaining fat isn't the end goal, is it?
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/showthread.php?t=21113msunid83 said:
I never said I planned on eating a bunch of crap. I know how to eat clean and until recently my diet has been perfectly clean, though I was probably doing too much cardio. I don't eat junk food normally and until recently haven't cheated at all. I'm not looking for faster results. I thought my problem was pretty straightforward. I know how to do a proper diet whether I'm bulking, cutting, or maintaining. I just want to know if it is okay to cut given that I was cutting for a long time and lost a ton of muscle. I have no problem doing that and know how to do it properly. I don't think just eating clean is going to be the only thing I need to do to fix this problem. I either have to be below, at, or above maintenence calories and that would mean I am cutting, maintaining or bulking.
ForemanRules said:
listen...i know how to eat right. I just didn't for a while. I now just want to know what is most advisable for me to do (cut, bulk, or maintain). i read that thread months ago and simply didn't follow everything it advised. That article doesn't answer my question. It doesn't say "what to do when you f***ed up and ruined you muscle mass by being in a caloric deficit for too long". You obviously just don't want to give me advice though, so that's fine.
My advice is clear....learn to eat right and you wont need to do a 12 month cut. As for what you should do how the hell should we know???? We have no idea of how you look or what your BF% is.....since you have given us no information to go on.msunid83 said:
msunid83 said:
I dont think its like that man. I think that what these guys are trying to tell you is, just eat right and work out. Dont be bothered too much by all the cutting and bulking stuff. Thats for bodybuilders. Its not exactly the best for general health.
Youre asking if you should cut or bulk. These guys are telling you that you should workout.
fair enough. Of course I know I shouldn't have done a 12 month cut. I thought I made it clear that I recognized it was wrong and stupid. I understand that strict bodybuilders have more strict diets, but I believe anyone who wants to build muscle or loose fat has to in general go for cycles of bulking and cutting since you can't really loose fat and gain muscle at that same time after lifting for while. At least that's what I've always heard and read.
i also understand i haven't give you that much information about me, but i didn't know that that was what was preventing you from entertaining my question as I was hoping. I am about 200 lbs., 5'10'', and caliper measures are about 10mm at the belly button and 8mm suprailliac. I could be f***ing up the calipers though, i've never been really sure if i'm doing it right, but I've always just used it as a gauge that the BF was disappearing.
msunid83 said:
In bold.
musclepump said:
I understand what you thought i meant. I did not mean I was eating like crap to get faster results (i.e. gain mass). I meant I wasn't eating enough and doing excessive cardio to get faster results loosing fat. Of course I just ignored the fact that I was loosing muscle as I actually looked pretty good for a while. That was a honeymoon period however. When I was eating like crap and gained back the weight, that was just me being stupid in a different way. In both cases I knew what I SHOULD have done, but I just didn't do it because I was stubborn and ignorant. Now I'm just trying to make the best out of the situation. I want to bulk and get some strength back, but I don't think most people in my situation would bulk as I don't really look that good now at 200 lbs.
