Cutting Question for Small guy

[gstatefaith]

hi guys, i appreciate you taking the time to answer my newbie question. I'm 5'11, 165 pounds. I'm pretty skinny but lack any real definition as I have a high body fat percentage. I used to be 130 pounds and gained over 30 pounds mostly through the massive consumption of weight gain shakes. I was a super noob and did not know about this site during that period of massive shake consumption. I have since become wiser about dieting. Here is my question.

I'm thin already but my goal is to achieve a lean body type that is very very defined/cut. I play a lot of basketball and am a guard so it helps being mobile and i do not desire the huge bodies that you beastly brothers achieve. It is quite impressive but not for me. During the period of gaining weight through weight gain shake consumption, a lot of the fat i gained went directly to my face. I want to get rid of the baby fat and get back to a more chiseled look in the face. Am I too small to cut? I havn't done much weight work so I am worried that if I cut there will be no muscle under my fat? Will I look defined despite the lack of history of weight work? I plan on lifting during this diet, playing basketball, and cardio...should I bulk first? I'm confused, any help would be nice...thanks.

[dece870717]

Start doing low intensity cardio every other day with weight training on the days not doing cardio. 5'11 and you used to be 130lbs that is horribly skinny and now 165lbs and now your fat? Man that seems so weird cause I'm the same height and I wouldn't weight 165lbs even if I had 0% bodyfat. You do the weight training and you should be able to add a bit of mass cause you definetly need it.

[scottish]

I would think at your height, 165 should fit you pretty good.

[Serotonin]

My entire family on my Dad's side are very ectomorphic. My Uncle is like 165 and most of it is a**ominal fat from too much alcohol consumption and a really shitty diet. So, I can understand weight gain on a thin body... not the good weight gain.

If those shakes went straight into adipose tissue, and they probably did if you weren't doing some serious weight training while sucking down all those calories, then yes if you lose the fat you will probably not look any different than you did before. The upside is that if you cut out those shakes and adjust to a better whole food diet and incorporate a nice weight lifting routine mixed with cardio you can shed those pounds for two reasons:

1) Lean mass, namely skeletal muscle, burns more calories than anything else on your body and increases basal metabolic rate a lot.

2) The correct diet coupled with cardio will leave a calorie deficit if done correctly and lead to lipolysis, shedding the fat. Another great way to burn fat is doing cardio after weight training since you've probably ***leted the glycogen stores in your body, the cardio will induce lipolysis to supply the cells with the energy the cardio will demand.

So, instead of just attempting to cut I'd try to put on some lean mass with a good lifting split incorporated with cardio. The muscle you gain will look really good and serve you much better as an athlete when you lose the fat.