White-Tiger
05-12-2009, 11:28 AM
Hey guys,
I dont post very often but I lurk on here quite a lot. Used to be part of ***************, MuscleNexus and now here. So I've been around lol.
I'm a little depressed about my current state of body. I'll start by giving you a little bit of history. I first started working out seriously about 5 years ago. I started off at 6'0" 165 and likely 18-19% BF. At the time I was beginning university and going a bachelor's degree and had quite a lot of free time in my hands. I eventually worked myself up to 200lbs at 11-12% BF. At this time I was very happy with my body, and it took quite a bit of work to get there (specially diet wise).
This is where the problem comes in. After graduating from my bachelor's degree I got into a professional program which is VERY demanding (probably the most demanding professional program out there, i'll let you guess which). This was 3 years ago. It all went downhill from there. I've had less time to hit the gym, going inconsistantly because of both a rough courseload, exam schedule and "internships". Diet over these 3 years has been quite crap. I live in an appartment within my parent's house so I resorted back to just eating whatever they eat and trying to make myself healthy lunches.
Long story short. I am now 190lbs at 18%BF. I want to fix that. The problem is I have a screwed up schedule that changes every month or two. I am currently working pretty much 9am-5pm with a 1h commute am/pm. However, in a week I'll be doing 6:30am to 6:30pm for a month, then I'll be spending two months in the great white north (Chisasibi and Val D'or) where training will likely be inconsistant although I do think there's a gym in both locations, opening hours might be a problem for me.
The good news is...after I come back from the North in mid-March, my schedules should be less demanding and I'll be stable in terms of location. I'll also have access to a good 24-hour gym so even if my schedules are little screwy I should be able to train consistently.
Anyhoo, enough ranting, I was just wondering...At 190lbs 18%BF would you guys recommend I try to cut down to 10-11% BF then try to add lean muscle mass? Or should I try to build muscle mass first, even though it means I might go over the 20% BF mark (I don't really like that concept, would make a future cutting cycle so long and painful).
Opinions?
I dont post very often but I lurk on here quite a lot. Used to be part of ***************, MuscleNexus and now here. So I've been around lol.
I'm a little depressed about my current state of body. I'll start by giving you a little bit of history. I first started working out seriously about 5 years ago. I started off at 6'0" 165 and likely 18-19% BF. At the time I was beginning university and going a bachelor's degree and had quite a lot of free time in my hands. I eventually worked myself up to 200lbs at 11-12% BF. At this time I was very happy with my body, and it took quite a bit of work to get there (specially diet wise).
This is where the problem comes in. After graduating from my bachelor's degree I got into a professional program which is VERY demanding (probably the most demanding professional program out there, i'll let you guess which). This was 3 years ago. It all went downhill from there. I've had less time to hit the gym, going inconsistantly because of both a rough courseload, exam schedule and "internships". Diet over these 3 years has been quite crap. I live in an appartment within my parent's house so I resorted back to just eating whatever they eat and trying to make myself healthy lunches.
Long story short. I am now 190lbs at 18%BF. I want to fix that. The problem is I have a screwed up schedule that changes every month or two. I am currently working pretty much 9am-5pm with a 1h commute am/pm. However, in a week I'll be doing 6:30am to 6:30pm for a month, then I'll be spending two months in the great white north (Chisasibi and Val D'or) where training will likely be inconsistant although I do think there's a gym in both locations, opening hours might be a problem for me.
The good news is...after I come back from the North in mid-March, my schedules should be less demanding and I'll be stable in terms of location. I'll also have access to a good 24-hour gym so even if my schedules are little screwy I should be able to train consistently.
Anyhoo, enough ranting, I was just wondering...At 190lbs 18%BF would you guys recommend I try to cut down to 10-11% BF then try to add lean muscle mass? Or should I try to build muscle mass first, even though it means I might go over the 20% BF mark (I don't really like that concept, would make a future cutting cycle so long and painful).
Opinions?