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  • bulking/cutting/body fat%--what to do?

    I have a question and don't know where to post it.

    I'm new to this and I have done a lot of reading. I've started a beginners routine that seems to be working for building muscle as I am beginning to see a difference, but I have a question about nutrition. I understand I need to have a calorie surplus to gain muscle and deficit to lose fat, so I have the basics of bulking and cutting figured out. I started out eating an additional 300 - 500 calories/day to start my bulking phase and my weight has been pretty steady at 161-163 lbs.

    My question....My body fat remains at about 15%. Since my weight hasn't gone up or BF % decreased what am I doing wrong. Should I be bulking, maintaining, or cutting? I've read you should bulk until you get to 15% body fat, then cut to 10% body fat, and cycle back and forth. At 15% BF, if I start to cut, do I maintain my progressive resistance training to build muscle or switch to strength training to maintain the lean muscle mass? I don't want to get heavy and have to lose a lot fat, but I still want to gain lean muscle. My goal is to have a muscular model body type like a lot of the other members here have. I would appreciate any help that was offered.

  • #2
    I think I've been following your recommended food list you mentioned. I've been eating:

    lean chicken
    lean pork
    beef
    fish
    cottage cheese
    almonds
    whey protein isolate

    rice
    sweet potatoes
    whole grain bread
    oatmeal

    Broccoli
    Cauliflower
    Carrots
    lettuce
    spinach
    cabbage

    I do eat peanut butter and protein bars (0 trans fat), but no sugary drinks.
    I've been measuring the best I can and am pretty close to 200g protein, 240g carbs, and 70g fat. My weight is 161 lbs. and I'm eating ~2500 calories/day in 5 meals.

    I train 3 days a week and I just started using the JEFit timer. In my old routine I was doing twice as many exercises and was spending 90 min per workout. Everywhere I read someone has a different idea. I was only exercising each muscle group 1 time/week and each exercise building to 1 work set. Now it will be fewer exercises with 3 work sets every 3-4 days, with the progressive warm-up.

    I don't do any cardio and my latest workout routine is on my home page. Maybe I just need to give the new routine a couple of weeks. I am building some muscle, but not as fast as most of the other people on here, and my weight doesn't seem to be doing anything. Maybe take more pictures and measure myself again. I don't know.

    Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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    • #3
      Would ideally need to see a picture to see exactly where you are. People tend to over or under state their body fat. Do you know your actual BMR / RMR? Have you done measurements and ACTUALLY measured how many calories you are eating and in what ratios of protiens fats and carbs if you have which what program and for how long did you measure it? Most of the time i find the person is eating too little. So they don't gain any mass. Although i don't 100% agree with robert about the clean eating. I would recommend staying with in the list he give you.

      I would also recommend you go for one goal at a time , So either shred or bulk. If you haven't got the muscle mass to begin with i wouldn't bother trying to cut. If you are cutting. Do some HiiT sprints. That is how i get myself shredded quick. Just 12-20 after a workout or on a rest day i would do 20-25 minutes. It's worth it.

      As for the routine. Everyone responds to different stimuluses. This is why there is a million different opinions on it. I find i gain the most mass with a mixture of very heavy weights. Then i will go back to moderate weight with long tension times.
      Last edited by kow; 08-29-2014, 08:06 PM.

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      • #4
        I used calipers I purchased from GNC to measure the body fat.

        I measure just about everything I eat and I use the nutrition logger from [url]http://gymtracker.motivatedbodybuilding.com/nutrition[/url] and have been using it since the beginning of May. I'm using the bulking recommendations of:
        31% protein 211g
        49% carb 341 g
        20% fat 61g
        for 2750 calories/day.

        thoughts?

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        • #5
          I sent you a comment. You are 52 so i think your BMR is lower than you think I am not sure your height and weight though. I would up your fat you need to for nervous system support and testosterone production. Fat is not your enemy. Decrease the carbs to a 40% protein 30% Carb and 30% Fat.

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          • #6
            How long are you doing this since now?
            If nothing happens after let's say 2-3 weeks, then you have to increase your calories again. But if you get stronger, then you don't have to increase your calories. In the very beginning it's possible to gain strength and muscles and loose some fat.
            I don't know when you started, but if you do a radical change in training and eating, then your body is completely confused and it has to accustom himself.

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            • #7
              I've started what Kow has suggested. I'll wait a couple of weeks before I make any more changes. Thanks for your input.

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