Hey guys,
So I have been training natural on and off for about 5 years now.
I am trying to decide if I should cut down or bulk up right now.
My age is 23, my height is 5'11, my weight is 198lbs, and my body fat is about 15%
My goals are probably to get to around 215lbs at 10% body fat, hopefully staying all natural.
I would love some opinions?
Hold up there - that's not necessarily true. allnaturalkid87 has a hard time dropping fat, plus he's currently 15% bodyfat - probably the top end of bodyfat most guys would want to see on a bulk. See, the fatter you get, the more insulin-resistant you become. This inhibits muscle-gains, and promotes fat-gains. Short story long - the fatter you are while gaining, the fatter you get while bulking.If your goal 215lbs and 10% bodyfat, and you are shy of about 25-30 lbs of muscle until you accomplish that goal, what sense would it make cutting?
In no way would cutting put you any closer to your goal...
I have a really hard time losing fat. I'm hoping as I increase my LBM, fat loss will become easier. Funny thing for me is, I am increasing my LBM, but every time I think my legs can't get any bigger they keep growing twice as fast as every other body part of mine. My friends always joke and call me "horse legs."
I have tried many variations of training for adding size, strength, endurance, etc... and when I find something that works, I get happy and stick with it. But no matter what I have found, nothing on my upper body compares to the progress I make on my lower body.
I'm not complaining or anything, because I love the feeling I get from a legs day. But it would be nice to have big arms, big chest, big shoulders as well. But I am probably going to wait until at least 25 - 26 years old before I try any AAS. I have been doing research on them since age 21, and I know quite a bit about AAS, including PCT, ancillaries, blast/cruise, blood work, etc...
The only way I will bulk is clean bulking, because fat loss is an absolute nightmare for me. I will keep you all updated on my progress
Hold up there - that's not necessarily true. allnaturalkid87 has a hard time dropping fat, plus he's currently 15% bodyfat - probably the top end of bodyfat most guys would want to see on a bulk. See, the fatter you get, the more insulin-resistant you become. This inhibits muscle-gains, and promotes fat-gains. Short story long - the fatter you are while gaining, the fatter you get while bulking.
The tricky part of course is that if you diet down, then switch to bulking, you'll also tend to pack on fat.
A reasonable strategy is to kinda "ride the wave" - aim to keep bodyfat at or near 12% - 15-16% while gaining. When you start to notice bodyfat levels getting slightly out of control - pull back, drop a few pounds, let your body recompose a bit, then gradually creep up the calories while watching the iron getting heavier on the bar.
It's a slow way to gain, but there are fewer wardrobe changes.
Here's the other thing - allnaturalkid87 says why, below - the man has wheels:
allnatural, I'm like you a bit - I gain muscle well, but I gain fat REALLY well and there's hell to pay when I need to cut. I can help you with that part - and I respect the hell out of you for wanting to wait until you're ready to use AAS, and for having horse-legs.
Now, let's get you on track for this. Here's my suggestion to you now: drop a little bit of fat, slowly, until you're down to about 12% bodyfat - which should happen at about 190 - 192 lbs. Once you get there, gradually increase your calories - just an extra 200 calories a day for a week, then add another 200 a day the next week until you start gaining again - then back it off by 200 calories and HOLD it there for no more than a month. Ramp up your training and you'll find your body hardening up and your appetite increasing. When this happens, ramp the daily calories up 200 for a week, then another 200 for another week, then hold it there for a few weeks.
Do you know your current macronutrient mix and calories?
