when to stop cutting and start bulking?

Ooter · 29-Mar-04, 07:48 PM

Hi guys, I started cutting back in January from essentially never having lifted before (5'11" around 195+ lbs)

In the past 2 months I've cut down to 183 lbs and have gone up in weight about 10 to 15% in all of my exercises. However, for the last 3 weeks (still cutting) I haven't seen any improvement in how much I lift, although I still have some fat to cut.

Should I bulk now and try to add muscle, or should I continue to cut until I'm more defined? My shoulders, back, arms are all defined, but my chest is only half there or so and I still have a little gut left. Prior to my lifting in January I was basically sedentary - hey, i'm a computer science student after all, that's what we do!

My ultimate goal isn't to be a skinny guy, so I'm thinking I should start eating more than the ~1600 cals i'm eating now. What do you all think I should do?

mesomorph · 30-Mar-04, 02:12 AM

G'day Ooter. If your goal is to be bigger then why do you want to cut yet?
Start tweaking your diet to minimise fat gains and to maximise and protect muscle growth. 1600 cals is not enough for a weight trainer, even during cutting.Of course keep working heavy. Your gains were quite solid.
Progress, as measured by lift improvement, will stagnate somewhat as the cutting phase takes effect. Remember you are decreasing cals (less energy to work plus less nutrients available to protect or promote growth) Could I suggest - try expending more ie increase cardio sessions etc, rather than chop cals right back.
Essentially, cutting is for show, reward for effort.

**Lady C** · 30-Mar-04, 08:42 AM

That last bit of fat loss is all about the diet, man! Get your intake in check and you should be able to lose that last bit of fat while still working on the muscles.

Ooter · 30-Mar-04, 08:53 AM

Thanks for the replies everyone

I was cutting because before, I had basically no significant muscle and all fat so primarily I wanted to cut so that I wouldn't look so terrible

What type of calorie intake would you recommend? Is 2500 enough for someone lifting 4 times a week?

Thanks again, much help as usual!

tweeter · 30-Mar-04, 09:49 AM

i think most people do the bulking when its winter(if you dont live where it snows, well then you SUCK,lol) and then cut right before summer so you look like one sexy beast!

sublime_4_ · 31-Mar-04, 06:44 PM

Hey man i was in the same boat as you. I started out 2 months ago at 5'11 180-185 and probably around 20-22% BF, just my guess though. Anyways after cutting i became a lot more defined (actually had the v shape in my shoulders and my back was quite a bit more noticable) I still have fat around my stomache area though and i wanted to keep cutting to get rid of it...then i thought...well if i keep cutting, sure i wont have a gut no more and that will be nice, but ill be like 5'11 140 lbs...aka a scrawny dude. Eventhough i have muscle i would still look skinny. So ithen decided i would try to bulk up while i still have some meat on me lol. Its a hard choice cause summer is coming up soon and i would love to be looking great but honesly i dont want to look anorexic ya know? So im bulking now, went from roughly 2000 cals per day to 3000 cals (over time) with a 50/30/20 (c/p/f) diet. I just told myself i will be where i want "next" year and this year during summer i wont look as good as next summer. Im looking into the future...its really hard to get over that idea but in the end i think it will be worth it. Hope this helps in your decision though, it was tough for me too (especially after seeing myself not a fat boy anymore hahah) but for me i think this is a better choice. Good luck either way bro

nate · 31-Mar-04, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tweeter

i think most people do the bulking when its winter(if you dont live where it snows, well then you SUCK,lol) and then cut right before summer so you look like one sexy beast!

thats how i do it.

Sull · 02-Apr-04, 01:50 PM

It's really your choice. Personally, I'd keep cutting until you are closer to where you want to be. There is no rush to bulk up. You're bulking gains will be that much better if you start out with a low BF. Whatever fat you put on bulking will only be minimal (if you're doing it right) and when you need to cut again, you won't have to do it for so long. I say get the most difficult cutting stage out of the way first, and then go from there. Not to say everything else afterwards will be easy, but I think your BF will be more manageable. It's like starting with a clean slate.

Emilio · 13-Apr-04, 10:15 AM

I was not gaining any muscle so I decided to bulk last winter. I weight about 185 pounds and my height is 6'2. This spring I wieght 217 pounds and I have noticed every time I go to the gym I lift more weights than ever before. I have noticed good muscle gains especially in my arms and also I added squats and deadlifts to my workouts since I was not doing these major exercise. So I decide that I am not going to start cutting anytime soon because I want to gain more muscle because still I am not satisfied. Do you guys think I am doing the right choice. I have been on a stict diet with high clean protein, although I have noticed some fat around my stomach but it is normal since I am bulking. Any suggestions would help.