Short story, I lift for around 2 years, taking into account that I suffer anorexia so I start at 44 kg (98lbs) for 1.70 meter (5.7) so was a long way to go.
I recently get to 64kg but I had accumulated some fat in the process, not that much cause it was very hard for me to eat at the beginning and to accept my recovery and transformation.
My current stats for 5 reps :
squat 100kg (220lbs)
Dead 120kg (265lbs)
BP 80kg (180lbs)
OHP 50 kg (115lbs)
Pull-ups : 10 reps at BW
I follow Wendler after the advice of some people here.
I recently start a little cut and get down to 61 kg, my current macro are : 170c/170p/50f for a total of 1750kcal.
I follow IF and a clean IIFYM, I mean by that I can little variation from one meal to another for instance if I’m really hungry at lunch I will add 20g of rice and not eat them on the evening.
However, I eat 100% clean so only “bro food” :
brocoli, spinach, coliflower, green bean,
chicken/turkey, low fat beef, tuna, tilapia, salmon, BCAA and whey protein
I lost around 2lbs (0.5kg) per week with that without losing strength so I guess I did ok.
Now I post some pictures and would love to have your opinion if I should keep cutting for a month in order to lose 1 to 2% bf before lean bulk or if I’m lean enough and I should start to lean bulk right now.
I know that my physique is **** but, without trying to look for excuse, I had a really hard time at beginning due to ostheoporosis and it was phsychologic difficult to accept the gain of weight. So yeah I ****ed up but did not have all the odds with me.
Anyway, be honest and don’t fear to be brutal, I prefer a straitgh opinion so speak your mind
Thanks in advance for all the people who will take the time to help me
Awesome job on recovering from anorexia. I say go ahead and bulk. Being lean right now serves you no good in my opinion unless you’re already where you want to be, physique-wise but you wouldn’t be asking if you were. Put more muscle on that frame. And nice squat and bench, too, imo.
You should gain muscle. I hate the term ‘bulk’, because it implies that you have to gain fat in the process. This is not the case. I definitely don’t think you should cut right now. You’re very, very lean.
I stay at the bodyfat level in my picture pretty much all the time. You can definitely get bigger and stronger without getting fat.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
You should gain muscle. I hate the term ‘bulk’, because it implies that you have to gain fat in the process. This is not the case. I definitely don’t think you should cut right now. You’re very, very lean.[/quote]
x2 all of this.
You look great right now, and you’ve come a huge way, so congrats on that. I do think you’d benefit more from a, let’s call it a “building phase”, rather than dropping more fat/weight. You are lean right now, absolutely not “skinny fat”, and your strength is solid so far, so you’re in a perfect position to gradually bump up your calories, buckle down on the training, and put on some good muscle.
In a thread a few weeks ago, you said you were going to start 5/3/1, and that program works “best” when it’s followed for a while, not just 4-6 weeks then jump to a whole new routine. So if you’re still on track with that, I’d stick with it and just tweak the accessory work to Boring But Big or another size-focused plan.
What’s your actual goal for the short or long term?
Thanks a lot to have take time to read my post and give me some advice.
I will follow them and start to “lean bulk” in order to slowly get stronger and adding some muscles while avoiding to get fat.
If I’m not asking too much, I would love if you can critic my diet.
I plan to start at 2.000 kcal (I was at 1750 for my little “cut”) with the following macro (c/p/f) : 215/175/50
If It’s possible I would prefer stick to IF but if it’s not I can change.
Lunch (1-2pm) (32/50/25):
200g red beans
200g brocoli or other veggies
150g white fish (tilapia/cod/bass) or white meat (chicken/turkey) or tuna
25g olive oil
Pre workout (5-6pm) (30/15/0):
1 banana (around 150g)
15g bcaa
Post workout (8-9pm) (160/80/15):
protein shake just after the workout
120g rice
100g red beans
2 eggs
150g white fish (tilapia/cod/bass) or white meat (chicken/turkey) or tuna
200g appel sauce
I also consume 1.000 ui of vitamin D, 2 fish oil caps (530mg EPA and 90 mg DHA) and 3 caps of ZMA.
I heard there were good and non fancy supplements that were beneficial for lifting and general health.
@ Chris Colucci : Concerning my goal I don’t really have one apart the general one of adding a little size while not getting fat ^^’ I plan to do Wendler for at least 12 weeks. After I will see if I do other things.
My medium/long term goal would be to add 5 kilos (10lbs) of lean mass for next year (august 2016) and concerning the lift try to get a 3 plates squat and dead, a 2 plate bench press and be able to lift my own bw at the OHP. I would also love to progress on traction and maybe be able to achieve a muscle up.
I don’t know if that’s too ambitious. I think that with luck (meaning no injuries) it does not sound impossible cause I manage to make good progress despite numerous injuries (broken wrist, low back injuries and so on) because my body was weak after my 8 years illness, I got osteporosis and all that kind of stuff.
Again really appreciate your advice and support guys, you are the best
If 1750 kcals was low enough to cut, 2000 kcals will not be enough to gain. That would likely be a maintenance level. I’d shoot for at least 2300 kcal. You could definitely add some healthy fat to your diet, and probably raise the carbs a bit as well.
Just a quick word on the thread title: you are neither skinny not fat. No, you’re not pre-contest ripped or jacked like The Rock but you’ve built a very good base. Don’t understate your achievements.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
You should gain muscle. I hate the term ‘bulk’, because it implies that you have to gain fat in the process. This is not the case. I definitely don’t think you should cut right now. You’re very, very lean.
I stay at the bodyfat level in my picture pretty much all the time. You can definitely get bigger and stronger without getting fat. [/quote]
Couldn’t agree more, I went from 195-200 to 275 now in about 4 years without doing any kind of drastically stupid “bulk” diet people think they need to do.
Thanks a lot for all the answers guys, really appreciate your advice
I will slowly add a bit of fat and carbs into the diet until I reach 2300 kcal. I will aim for 1g of fat per bw and the rest in carb.
Another question, do you need to eat less carb on non training days like going to maintenance on rest days (so 2000kcal) and a bit over (2300) on lifting days or should I eat always the same on rest and lifting days ?
[quote]azkean wrote:
Thanks a lot for all the answers guys, really appreciate your advice
I will slowly add a bit of fat and carbs into the diet until I reach 2300 kcal. I will aim for 1g of fat per bw and the rest in carb.
Another question, do you need to eat less carb on non training days like going to maintenance on rest days (so 2000kcal) and a bit over (2300) on lifting days or should I eat always the same on rest and lifting days ?[/quote]
Well you might hear conflicting things but I would just say go ahead and eat the same amount of carbs, you have a good frame and broad shoulders the extra mass will look good.
