What Weight Should I Start Cutting At?

Hello im 5’8 a male weigh 145 and 10% bodyfat. I want to get Bigger and add muscle. I roughly want to be 170lbs of lean muscle. But my question is at what weight should i start cutting at i know im going to gain fat also So 180? 190? Any advice ? Thanks

When you decide to enter a meet, that’s when you cut.

You’re already worrying about when you should cut, and you havent even began to gain muscle.

You’re missing the point completely.

Start eating, lift big weights, and stop worrying about crap like this.

At 145 w/ 10% body fat you are 130.5 pounds of lean body mass(LBM).

You want to be 170 pounds of LBM.

We will assume you will maintain your current fat percentage of 10%.

190 - 19(10%) = 171

In summation you should be 190 pounds before you decide to cut. If you cut before you weigh 190 you will not have 170 pounds of lean mass when you are done. A couple variables to keep in mind will be losing lean mass when you cut and gaining fat % as you bulk. This is all pretty simple math though so I think you get the idea.

Now do as Chris87 suggested: “Start eating, lift big weights, and stop worrying about crap like this.”


Thiago Alves, in the pic above, is 5’9" and a lean 171. He’s known for being a heavier/more muscular fighter and usually walks around at 190-200ish.

You’re a young dude, so there’s no rush and definitely no reason to already be thinking three or four steps ahead. You’ve got your long-term goal, which is awesome. Focus on the shorter steps it’s going to take to get there, one of which is building the muscle and strength to get you to 155, and then 165, and then 175, etc.

Do you have a training and nutrition plan in mind?

At 192.983274 pounds.

do yourself a favor.

follow the advice in this thread.

make every meal a challenge to finish. aim to gain at least 1-2 lb every month but eat for more.

progress every month in your lifts. adding at least 10 lb a month to your working weights is a good place to start.

don’t be afraid to gain some fat as long as you’re getting stronger and bigger. staying lean while bulking is something that’s complicated to do and very easy for an inexperienced newb to mess up, often at the cost of growth.

don’t miss any meals. don’t miss any training sessions. being 100% consistent 100% of the time is what gets results.

before this past year, I’ve spun my wheels for 14 years going nowhere. ever since I started following the above principles, I finally started getting the results I wanted.