Time to bulk?

[6SIXTHVS]

So, I'm relatively new at this and seem to get a ton of mixed thoughts in my head and info from others on what to do and how to do it.

So here is my question..

I've cut since January... I'm 165 now, was 210. I've been hitting the gym, building some muscle, but still have some mid section fat around the lower
stomach and sides mostly. I wouldn't mind a 6pack, but to be honest, its getting later in the year, i can wait for that, it will come.

Now I'm wondering if i should jump my calories from 1900 or so up to around 2300-2500 and start putting on a pound or two a month... Get some
energy and such for my muscles to grow, to make gains and feel good... keep the fat gaining on a low hopefully.

Currently i consume about 45% of my diet as protein, sometimes more. Low carb, 20% and the rest as fats. I seem to be losing at a decent rate,
any faster and i'd be concerned lol. The thing is, I don't know if I should bulk, or keep cutting till all the fat is gone. I'd guess my LBM is close to 145-150,
which is getting pretty light as I'm 5'10". I don't want to look anorexic. lol

Someone help me :(

[TT Eric]

Congrats for going down from 210 to 165.

If you LBM is 145-150, then at 165lbs it means you are at around 10%BF. At 10%, you should see the 6 packs... and 10% is fine to begin to slowly re-introduce more cal and bulk. But if you don't see your abs, you might be more then 10%BF ...?

Eric

[6SIXTHVS]

I could be more than 10%. i believe I'm about 13% or so.

I don't really do many concentrated ab movements, I'm starting do do more, which could be the cause of the
lack of a 6pack... lol but I'm working on it now.

But yea, I'm about 13-14% at most I'd say... its mostly lower stomach and sides that hold fat on me, i still look
slimmer than i have in the past, but its not as tight around that area as I would like.

[Wildo]

Winter is a great time to bulk!
But as said by Eric, I agree you should drop more weight till you are, say 158lbs. Revise your nutrition to a point where you can flex, and see that 6 pack appear (10%~).
This will be your starting diet and begin phase two (bulk).

Seeing that you're eating 1900 calories, which is odd because i use to eat around 2000 and i'm 5'6 @ 145 lbs and still looked pretty lean.
Perhaps you need to let go of your old "fat" habits, whether its ketchup, mayo, bbq sauce, candy, chips, cookies, cut down on the cheating, etc..
I have since upped my calories to 2350 and will keep it that way.. so for a person like you.. 2300 should be your lean diet, 2700 should be your bulk diet..

[6SIXTHVS]

I don't really give into any of my old "fat" habits. lol

my diet:

Breakfast -
Shake w/2 scoops
Coffee

Lunch -
Salad
2 Chicken Breast
Light Dressing

Pre Workout -
2 Scoop Shake
C4 w/ added Creatine

Intra Workout -
BCAA's

Post Workout -
Creatine
Shake w/ 2 Scoops

Dinner -
This meal is the only meal thats not the same
every day. It's normally mixed veggies of some sort, a carb and protein.

[Skailes]

Well that is a good start with your diet. I would advise you to try and take in protein every 2-2.5 hours and add some EFAs to your morning shake, and also take in some type of fish oil as well. You're on the right track though and once you've gained some muscle you'll find it much easier to get leaner than you did this time out, just don't gain to much fat during your bulk.

[6SIXTHVS]

Should i bulk now or wait till i get down to about 10% and can see some more stomach definition while flexing?

As I said, now its a bit flabby around the mid section, but I'm told more muscle will help me burn fat, so i was
thinking, bulk till the new year, clean.. 1-2lbs a month maybe of weight... and then do another couple month cut in the
new year...

[Frostbite]

Wait until your 10% or under. If your already at 13-14% ish it should not take too long if you stay dedicated. Once at/under 10% you will be in a much better place to bulk.

[6SIXTHVS]

Shouldn't I bulk now for a few months and then cut in the new year when I have more muscle to support a better, quicker cut?

[Frostbite]

If you bulk now your going to store more bodyfat than you would starting at 10% making the cutting process much longer and annoying in the future. If you are that close ( 13-14% ) than you should be down to 10% in no time definitely by the end of October with a solid workout and nutrtion plan. Leaving you plenty of time to bulk over the winter months. Just my 2 cents.

[6SIXTHVS]

Sounds ideal to me... lol
my workout partner wouldn't agree.. says

"i hate scronny bitches, bulk now, cut later when its easier when you have more muscle to help you"

[Skailes]

Guys all of you young 'uns see bulking in the totally wrong light.....all bulking is really is ensuring you're taking in enough macro's to allow for maximum muscle gains with minimal gains in BF. Bulking IS NOT just gaining weight for the sake of moving the scale so if you're bulking and you gain 20 lbs in a month most if not all of that will be fat and water, unless you just finished a BBing show and then it's just going to be mostly water. If you can gain 10 solid pounds in a year and by that I mean muscle then you're doing great. So as far as you bulking 6 sure go for it and next year/spring if you were smart in how you gained/bulked you should have no issues leaning out and seeing your abs for summer.

[6SIXTHVS]

oh i realize what bulking is, but basically I'm not sure if i should try to bulk to increase size so that its easier to cut back the fat..

or,

if i should continue cutting fat, then when I'm around 10% start eating a bit more to gain more muscle... if a little fat comes with that
which i suspect it will, then so be it...

[Wildo]

I think you're missing the point in Skaile's posts.
I believe he advises you to study your nutrition better.

In my opinion, you should not be bulking until you know what your macro is @ 10% BF.

[Skailes]

oh i realize what bulking is, but basically I'm not sure if i should try to bulk to increase size so that its easier to cut back the fat..

or,

if i should continue cutting fat, then when I'm around 10% start eating a bit more to gain more muscle... if a little fat comes with that
which i suspect it will, then so be it...Ugh! 6 you ask so many questions here and on CJM about this bulking/cutting shit, and all you're doing is confusing yourself. Look why not just leave your carbs and fats as you have them and just add in more protein/whey to your diet. There have been more than a few studies done in the real world (not a petri dish or using mice) that have shown that if all other dietary variables remain the same than just adding in two extra servings of whey to a persons diet will cause an increase in lean mass as well as a decrease in BF. So an increase in muscle mass will in and of itself lower your BF% and then add in an actual lowering of BF and you'll be at whatever magic number you feel you need to be at soon enough.

[6SIXTHVS]

I just think I'm too indecisive. lol

Anyhow, seems like the best advice I've gotten so far... Thank you Skailes.

[Skailes]

I just think I'm too indecisive. lol

Anyhow, seems like the best advice I've gotten so far... Thank you Skailes.6 always follow the K.I.S.S. principle and don't over complicate things or you're just setting yourself up for failure, so bump up your protein and see how you do over the next few weeks/month and then go from there.

[Praetorian]

Totally agree with Skailes, bulking is outdated and unnecessary to gain optimal mass...it is an excuse to eat crap like fast food and when all is said and done how much have you really gained...very little. Simply look at many logs posted by BB year to year and see how fat they get off season only to end up the same weight or (heavier with less conditioning= same thing) a year later.
Many negative things happen when your BF starts to rise over 10%...insulin resistance increases causing most(carbs) of what you eat to be converted to fat, hormones such as testosterone and thyroid drop leaving you depositing even more fat.
Here are some anti-bulking tips taken from CP.
P


ANTI-BULKING FACT #1. Bulking-up diet programs won’t produce any more muscle growth than ingesting an ideal amount of nutrients. Sorry, but it’s simply not possible to force additional muscle growth by overfeeding.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #2. Bulking up develops insulin resistance, which makes it harder in the long run to gain muscle. What happens when you bulk up is that carbohydrates will go preferentially to fat stores, not to muscle tissue.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #3. Bulking up will make it harder for you to get leaner because insulin resistance is hard to reverse. The fatter you get, the harder it becomes to get lean. Female bodybuilders learn this fact quickly, as it is considerably harder for women to reach the low body-fat levels required for competition.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #4. The fatter you get, the more aromatase enzyme your body will produce. In the extreme, getting fat could be considered a form of self-castration, as your own testosterone will be converted into the female hormone estrogen and you will suffer many unwanted side effects. If you’re a man and you enjoy wearing a bra, go right ahead and get fatter.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #5. Getting fatter will ramp down the effectiveness of your thyroid hormone production – not a good thing, because thyroid production is essential for fat loss. The fatter your abdominal wall becomes, the less conversion there will be of T4 to T3, the metabolically active form of thyroid.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #6. The lower your percentage of body fat, the better your body becomes at nutrient partitioning. This means individuals with low body fat are more effective at storing the ingested nutrients in the muscle (as muscle tissue or glycogen) or in the liver (as glycogen) and less effective at storing nutrients as body fat. To put it in simpler terms, leaner individuals can eat more nutrients without gaining fat.

ANTI-BULKING FACT #7. The idea that “a calorie is a calorie” is a bunch of bunk. Calories from sweet potatoes are great for building muscle; calories from beer are not. For that matter, getting fat increases the risk of dying from any cause, even terrorist attacks. I’m serious – you’re a bigger target and you can’t get out of danger as fast.