How do you guys know when its time to cut or staying at your weight to do body recomposition?
when you start noticing that instead of banging you, chicks start avoiding you
When you stop feeling good about how huge your getting…you just feel like your getting fat
^^ The thing is that’s rather subjective.
Some people may get the “I’m getting fat!” panic attack just too early, where all they’d have to do to feel better is do cardio for 30 minutes and drink soy milk (not saying it will help, but those people may ‘feel’ better if they did that) and then continue to lift hard and eat enough.
I have to resist the urge because right now I’m trying to get up to 275 ( and thus helping to see my lifts go up)…I’m at 260 now, at 6’ and yes, I’m not entirely comfortable with my stomach right now. I’ve never had the whole 6 pack anyway, just the top two and the sides, but I know that because I’m eating 5 or 6 meals a day that my stomach will protrude (to put it nicely) but it’s relatively flat in the morning or after doing my ‘necesarries’ in the bathroom.
I’d like to know more about the OP, but you really shouldn’t bulk (not that he said he was) if you think you’ll stop when you feel bloated, which will likely happen starting day one.
When you feel like you can’t live with yourself if you bulked another day. Don’t make it a set date, it happen when it happens. Hopefully it will be a long time from now.
Some people would always rather kid themselves by prolonging bulks. Thinking that they’re going to keep adding muscle indefinitely, and that once they finally cut down, they’ll look amazing. Usually these are people who have never cut down before, and think it’s a quick and simple process. I figure this is why there are so many fat-asses walking around with their arms jutted out to the sides in my current gym -lol. Look in the mirror, and HONESTLY ask yourself if you’ve reached the point where you have put on a decent amount of muscle, but the fat gain is at a level where you’re starting to get uncomfortable with it.
S
IMO The only reason you should need to cut is for some type of bodybuilding competition (or some other reason for why you need to look good… maybe beach day or something, who knows lol). If you’d need to lose some fat, though, this usually is not just a cutting/builking issue, but just cleaning up your diet a bit. I.e. better quality food choices, nutrient timing/carb cutoffs, etc (but still keeping protein/calories high). Check out way’s thread, carb experiment or whatever it was in T-cell alpha.
[quote]elano wrote:
When you feel like you can’t live with yourself if you bulked another day. Don’t make it a set date, it happen when it happens. Hopefully it will be a long time from now.[/quote]
This; rather than arbitrary markers on your body, do it when your mind and ego make you.
Well, if I’m becoming too unfunctional, I know it’s time to cut the shit until I can do backflips and all that cool ninja stuff, again.
But usually, a look into the mirror and how my pants fit are good indicators.
It’s simple, really: if your pants won’t fit anymore due to an embiggened belly without your pants’ seems being stretched to the max due to added thigh muscle and your pullovers are looking like spandex courtesy of added upper body mass, you’re doing something wrong and should reevaluate. Oh, and you should’ve become noticeably stronger.
I mean: you can’t flex fat, right? It shouldn’t be too hard to assess your own muscle-to-fat gain ratio. Perhaps not to the gram, but to an accurate enough detail as to be able to decide if you should change things or keep on trucking.
[quote]HolyMac wrote:
when you start noticing that instead of banging you, chicks start avoiding you
[/quote]
Aww, come on. FattyFat could always slick-talk his way into a woman’s…heart. Even at his fattiest.
It’s all about the mind-‘muscle’ connection. And a matter of the tongues you’re proficient in.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Some people would always rather kid themselves by prolonging bulks. Thinking that they’re going to keep adding muscle indefinitely, and that once they finally cut down, they’ll look amazing. Usually these are people who have never cut down before, and think it’s a quick and simple process. I figure this is why there are so many fat-asses walking around with their arms jutted out to the sides in my current gym -lol. Look in the mirror, and HONESTLY ask yourself if you’ve reached the point where you have put on a decent amount of muscle, but the fat gain is at a level where you’re starting to get uncomfortable with it.
S
[/quote]
On one hand, I agree with you that some fool themselves into thinking that just because they’re showing up at the gym, they have full reign to wontonly eat everything in site. There are some real fat asses in the gym who don’t break a sweat over an hour. They’re not going anywhere with body comp changes (fat loss OR muscle gain).
On the other hand, if someone does have a goal in mind, then dealing with some ‘unsightly’ fat is a means to an end. I always think of that picture of Lee Priest eating that pile of fried chicken. Of course, that’s extreme and Lee Priest isn’t normal, but he wasn’t winning any contests the day they took that picture. I think it’s different than the first example above when you see a ‘soft’ dude racking up poundage week after week where, you can tell that he lifts is serious and trying to put on size.
I’m convinced that if someone has the drive, patience, and ability to put on some muscle poundage through consistent, hard work, then they’ll have the same when it’s time to take some fat off.
I absolutely agree that one has to be honest with themselves, and most of all comfortable with themselves.
[quote]FattyFat wrote:
It’s simple, really: if your pants won’t fit anymore due to an embiggened belly without your pants’ seems being stretched to the max due to added thigh muscle and your pullovers are looking like spandex courtesy of added upper body mass, you’re doing something wrong and should reevaluate. Oh, and you should’ve become noticeably stronger.
[/quote]
‘embiggened’
Awesome
Yeah. Stole that one from Pat Rothfuss. He’s such a dandy, what with all those words he knows. Boggles your mind.
When you can’t see your dick.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Some people would always rather kid themselves by prolonging bulks. Thinking that they’re going to keep adding muscle indefinitely, and that once they finally cut down, they’ll look amazing. Usually these are people who have never cut down before, and think it’s a quick and simple process. I figure this is why there are so many fat-asses walking around with their arms jutted out to the sides in my current gym -lol. Look in the mirror, and HONESTLY ask yourself if you’ve reached the point where you have put on a decent amount of muscle, but the fat gain is at a level where you’re starting to get uncomfortable with it.
S
[/quote]
On one hand, I agree with you that some fool themselves into thinking that just because they’re showing up at the gym, they have full reign to wontonly eat everything in site. There are some real fat asses in the gym who don’t break a sweat over an hour. They’re not going anywhere with body comp changes (fat loss OR muscle gain).
On the other hand, if someone does have a goal in mind, then dealing with some ‘unsightly’ fat is a means to an end. I always think of that picture of Lee Priest eating that pile of fried chicken. Of course, that’s extreme and Lee Priest isn’t normal, but he wasn’t winning any contests the day they took that picture. I think it’s different than the first example above when you see a ‘soft’ dude racking up poundage week after week where, you can tell that he lifts is serious and trying to put on size.
I’m convinced that if someone has the drive, patience, and ability to put on some muscle poundage through consistent, hard work, then they’ll have the same when it’s time to take some fat off.
I absolutely agree that one has to be honest with themselves, and most of all comfortable with themselves. [/quote]
Well said. It comes down to progress. I get the feeling some here are the type to lodge insults at the guy who is 20% body fat even if he has gained 100lbs of muscle. That makes no sense.
We all have different standards for how we look and we all hold fat differently.
There is a rather huge difference between the obese guy who eats like a powerlifter but trains like a girl scout…and the “soft” guy who is pushing some serious weight and making more progress than the guys trying to make fun of him.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Some people would always rather kid themselves by prolonging bulks. Thinking that they’re going to keep adding muscle indefinitely, and that once they finally cut down, they’ll look amazing. Usually these are people who have never cut down before, and think it’s a quick and simple process. I figure this is why there are so many fat-asses walking around with their arms jutted out to the sides in my current gym -lol. Look in the mirror, and HONESTLY ask yourself if you’ve reached the point where you have put on a decent amount of muscle, but the fat gain is at a level where you’re starting to get uncomfortable with it.
S
[/quote]
On one hand, I agree with you that some fool themselves into thinking that just because they’re showing up at the gym, they have full reign to wontonly eat everything in site. There are some real fat asses in the gym who don’t break a sweat over an hour. They’re not going anywhere with body comp changes (fat loss OR muscle gain).
On the other hand, if someone does have a goal in mind, then dealing with some ‘unsightly’ fat is a means to an end. I always think of that picture of Lee Priest eating that pile of fried chicken. Of course, that’s extreme and Lee Priest isn’t normal, but he wasn’t winning any contests the day they took that picture. I think it’s different than the first example above when you see a ‘soft’ dude racking up poundage week after week where, you can tell that he lifts is serious and trying to put on size.
I’m convinced that if someone has the drive, patience, and ability to put on some muscle poundage through consistent, hard work, then they’ll have the same when it’s time to take some fat off.
I absolutely agree that one has to be honest with themselves, and most of all comfortable with themselves. [/quote]
Well said. It comes down to progress. I get the feeling some here are the type to lodge insults at the guy who is 20% body fat even if he has gained 100lbs of muscle. That makes no sense.
We all have different standards for how we look and we all hold fat differently.
There is a rather huge difference between the obese guy who eats like a powerlifter but trains like a girl scout…and the “soft” guy who is pushing some serious weight and making more progress than the guys trying to make fun of him.
[/quote]
Exactly. That’s why I think it is extremely important to set goals, both for the weight your pushing and the weight that you are carrying around. By setting goals and taking progress pictures, you hold yourself accountable, and when it comes time to check in on your progress, you have a surefire way to check and see where you fall.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Some people would always rather kid themselves by prolonging bulks. Thinking that they’re going to keep adding muscle indefinitely, and that once they finally cut down, they’ll look amazing. Usually these are people who have never cut down before, and think it’s a quick and simple process. I figure this is why there are so many fat-asses walking around with their arms jutted out to the sides in my current gym -lol. Look in the mirror, and HONESTLY ask yourself if you’ve reached the point where you have put on a decent amount of muscle, but the fat gain is at a level where you’re starting to get uncomfortable with it.
S
[/quote]
On one hand, I agree with you that some fool themselves into thinking that just because they’re showing up at the gym, they have full reign to wontonly eat everything in site. There are some real fat asses in the gym who don’t break a sweat over an hour. They’re not going anywhere with body comp changes (fat loss OR muscle gain).
On the other hand, if someone does have a goal in mind, then dealing with some ‘unsightly’ fat is a means to an end. I always think of that picture of Lee Priest eating that pile of fried chicken. Of course, that’s extreme and Lee Priest isn’t normal, but he wasn’t winning any contests the day they took that picture. I think it’s different than the first example above when you see a ‘soft’ dude racking up poundage week after week where, you can tell that he lifts is serious and trying to put on size.
I’m convinced that if someone has the drive, patience, and ability to put on some muscle poundage through consistent, hard work, then they’ll have the same when it’s time to take some fat off.
I absolutely agree that one has to be honest with themselves, and most of all comfortable with themselves. [/quote]
Well said. It comes down to progress. I get the feeling some here are the type to lodge insults at the guy who is 20% body fat even if he has gained 100lbs of muscle. That makes no sense.
We all have different standards for how we look and we all hold fat differently.
There is a rather huge difference between the obese guy who eats like a powerlifter but trains like a girl scout…and the “soft” guy who is pushing some serious weight and making more progress than the guys trying to make fun of him.
[/quote]
lol’d at you justifying being at 20%+ bodyfat for over a decade.
Cutting is mad easy. ECA stack has anti-catabolic properties and the verdict is still out on if its even slightly anabolic. I just set 2 prs on bench and one on curls even when im 11 days into a hardcore cut. 7 weeks to go.
Lost 2 inches off my waist already.
[quote]celtics2022 wrote:
Cutting is mad easy. ECA stack has anti-catabolic properties and the verdict is still out on if its even slightly anabolic. I just set 2 prs on bench and one on curls even when im 11 days into a hardcore cut. 7 weeks to go.
Lost 2 inches off my waist already.[/quote]
I would imagine it is easy to continue PR’ing during a cut if you were really only benching 225 and curling 40’s while bulking.
That being said, I recommend to never cut. Ever. Just buy bigger T-shirts.
[quote]anonym wrote:
[quote]celtics2022 wrote:
Cutting is mad easy. ECA stack has anti-catabolic properties and the verdict is still out on if its even slightly anabolic. I just set 2 prs on bench and one on curls even when im 11 days into a hardcore cut. 7 weeks to go.
Lost 2 inches off my waist already.[/quote]
I would imagine it is easy to continue PR’ing during a cut if you were really only benching 225 and curling 40’s while bulking.
That being said, I recommend to never cut. Ever. Just buy bigger T-shirts.[/quote]
I did 220 for 3x3 on a 45 incline. Shit was so cash
Well at high school I started out at 155 as a junior in high school joined football and got up to a pudgy 190(had no idea how to eat back then recovery was shit), my senior year I had to focus more on academics so I didn’t workout that year and went back to a lean 170 ish. When I got to college was working out with a friend who philosophy was abs get the girls, quite a bit later I found out how to eat and worked out really hard got to a leaner 190 then I was in High school. I ate like a monster during summer and fall to break the 200 pound barrier and now I am 210. Quite a few people commented positively on how I gained size on my chest, upper body region but my friend who has a 6 pack made comments on how I should lose weight even though I went from a 4 pack to a 2 pack and doesn’t believe in bulking even though my lifts went up significantly from their craptastic beginnings. I actually get approached more by women now at this weight then I was when I was skinny and leaner.
Obviously if you’re still making gains in strength and muscle, then bf% takes a back seat,… but after a while, I think it can get ridiculous, and that there are a lot of people over-justifying just being slobs (says the guy eating two pizzas: “I’m bulking up” -lol)
S