Newbie question on cycling bulking and cutting

[sh0plifter]

Hi, everyone! This is my first post at your forum, and first of all I'd like to say that there're tons of great info here, and I've already inspected a lot of topics. But I have some kind of a specific question which isn't discussed a lot.

I'm 26 yo, 5'11", 202 lbs, BF ~20%.
Actually, I have 2 questions:
1) During my not-so-long BB history I've had several periods of going to gym, the longest one before was about 5 months. But I've never really had any outrageous results. I've managed to get my weight from 145 to 163 lbs, and that was all.
In March I started my last training period and now I'm very serious about my training
I'm training naturally, with no steroids, just sports nutrition (protein, gainer, bcaa, creatine), and I've gained 40 pounds over 4 months of training. But during last month my appetite was kinda low, I eat at my TDEE level, and my weight is stalling. It's obvious that those 40 pounds were not a lean mass but had a certain percent of fat which I'd like to cut.

My question is - should I start cutting now or maybe it's better to get some supplement to gain appetite and try to bulk mass while I could? Basically, I'd like to undestand - when to start cutting if I'm not on steroid cycle? Working on your mass all time isn't that cool

2) If I decide to cut after all... Of course, the fat % will get lower. But how will my muscle growth process work when after cutting I'll decide to get to my mass bulking cycle? I mean, for example, if I get to 10% of BF, and after a couple of months start bulking, my muscles will start to grow simultaneously with BF level increase? Or because of significant increase in calories intake, my fat cells will grow back and I'll return to my current form, and only after that my muscles will continue to grow?

I'd be very grateful for all your explanatory comments.

PS. I hope that I explained my questions correctly because English isn't my first language Sorry, if I was unclear somewhere.

[Times Roman]

1- cut now

2 - this is a little confusing. so what I would suggest, is to get to the physique you want first (bf%) (ignore size for now) and then once you get there, clean bulk to the size you want. I'm confused because you seem to suggest that going from 20% to 10% is an easy task. It may be for you. And if you can adjust your BF% easily and that quickly, more power to you. But for some of us, getting to 10% is difficult, and due to the degree of difficulty, some would want to protect that investment and not go back up to 20% again. Or even 15% again. You are only invested a few months in the gym, so just take it slow and make your goals one at a time. this will minimize discouragement. If you want to get to 10%, then make that your goal. And once there, assess your situation and then consider another goal. Too many times I've seen newbs make too many goals, get impatient, and then think they can start shortcutting their way to goal by taking drugs.

Make sense?

---Roman

[sh0plifter]

Sure thing, and thanks a lot for your answer.
10% that I mentioned were more like an example. I really wanted to imply that I'm scared that on a bulking phase after cutting all the fat will come back before muscles will continue to grow. Because, AFAIK it's very hard to gain lean mass, so most of the time it comes with fat, that you have to burn afterwards.
Maybe I'm wrong and it's possible to gain lean mass when exercising without steroids. If so, I'm sorry. The more you know...

[Times Roman]

Sure thing, and thanks a lot for your answer.
10% that I mentioned were more like an example. I really wanted to imply that I'm scared that on a bulking phase after cutting all the fat will come back before muscles will continue to grow. Because, AFAIK it's very hard to gain lean mass, so most of the time it comes with fat, that you have to burn afterwards.
Maybe I'm wrong and it's possible to gain lean mass when exercising without steroids. If so, I'm sorry. The more you know...

if it were me, and I'm apparently repeating a little, I'd cut to your bf% goal, and then keep it there as you slowly clean bulk up to your goal weight. Others may tell you to cut and then bulk and then followed by cutting, etc. Dynamic weight changes is hard on the body, but it does work for many.

The key here mate, is you really need to understand body building nutrition. Use the macro calculator, record every bite, if you are not already doing so, and see just how clean your diet really is. Day in and day out. For months. This is the discipline part. You will be able to know when you need more protein by the end of the day, and when to stop. This is quantifiable hard data, something you can analyze, and a great technique on how to learn your body. It's very tedious, and it's the way I have to do it. But the longer you do it, the better you get.

[sh0plifter]

Thank you. I think I'll stick to your advices
I always thought that gaining mass is the key to get a great body, but after gaining 40 lbs I didn't saw significant differences. And now I understand that the key is time, knowledge and dedication. Unfortunately, you can't get a nice relief after 6 months in gym

[sh0plifter]

And 1 more question arised - should I use Austinite's advices and start cutting along with famous Fat Loss Protocol or simply start with diet and cardio? Without any supplements, and see if it gives decent results?