Trouble with Bulk or Cut Decision

Hi, Im having some trouble in deciding on whether or not to cut off some more bodyfat, or to just say fuck it and bulk up, eat clean but like a house. Im currently 18, 5 foot 10, and teeter between 185-190 pounds depending on how many carbs I eat.

I was thinking that for the winter I could try to get to around 205 pounds than as soon as I reach my goal weight, cut down to around 175 extremely lean instead of trying to get to 175 in my current state.

I am unsure of my bf% but the caliper formulas I’ve used give me numbers ranging from 11-16%. I posted a few pics and was wondering if I could get some good feedback on making my decision.

well you really don’t have all that much size at the moment so if i were you i’d try to put on as much LMM as i possibly could til spring of 09 then start cutting in time for beach weather.

I agree with 1morerep - bulk for a long time.

Yeah thats what im going to do. Im actually glad that was the response that I had gotten because I have no desire to try and cut and i love every aspect of eating.

Bulking doesn’t mean getting fat. Keep that in mind.

I agree with what’s been said… You sure you weigh 190 though?

Anyway, start eating big and at your stage, you should easily be able to double your training poundages on just about anything within a year or two…

As said, I’d keep bulking.

Depending on how big you want to be, putting on another 15-25 lbs then cutting would probably result in a nice physique.

Get big baby!

You look a bit lighter than 185-190 lb, but i think it’s just your bodytype. Looks like you have pretty long arms and i suppose long legs too. Long-legged people usually look lighter than they are.

Anyway, i think you should definitely bulk, no question about it. However, do it smartly and eat clean for the most part. Nutrition is of paramount importance here and as far as training goes, you should aim at good strength gains, because that’s the only way to build a good, solid base.

It also depends on your goals, whether you wanna do it naturally or not etc, but if you just want a stronger and bigger body then i’d suggest you do not cut to a
6-8% body fat level for another 2 years. Get to around 220lb or so for the next two years, but do it gradually and slowly, and then you’ll be surprised to see that even though you’ll gain some fat, your muscles will look not only bigger but harder as well.

You;r a newbie and you have to give it some time until you reach your goals, but if you train consistently, with a smart plan and a good nutrition you will achieve alot.

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
As said, I’d keep bulking.

Depending on how big you want to be, putting on another 15-25 lbs then cutting would probably result in a nice physique.[/quote]

I’d say another 50 pounds at least… but that’s just me…
One thing I’d really like to know: Does the op want to look like some fitness model, like a stripper, or like a bodybuilder ?

my scale usually reads 185-192 based on how much and what I eat the day before and I usually drink about 3 gallons of water a day. My strength is decent now but I deffinitly want it to improve over the upcoming winter months. My PR for RDL is 355, Squat to parallel for 3 reps is 395, bench is 255 im hoping to get that to the higher 2’s.

I personally think your 10-rep strength should be of more interest to you at this stage than your 2-3-rep strength…
Or do you want to go into powerlifting ?

yeah i want to go into powerlifting.

well actually I just want to incorporate more of the powerlifting types of exercises into my routine. I had been training in the 3-5 rep range because I was trying to cut down for the summer and wanted to keep as much strength as possible.