Take a gander at my fb%

[Shroud83]

My trainer used the calipers and says 15%. I personally think it's a low number and think I may be higher. Comments?



Also is it okay for me to stay on a bulking routing for the next 8 months or so before I go into a cutting cycle?

5'6", 27, 185lbs.

[FireGuy]

No offense but whoever calipered you did not do a good job. How many sites did he measure? I would say you are on the wrong side of 20% for sure. As far as what you do for the next 8 months that is really dependant on your goals. Personally I would cut some calories and add in some cardio, you will look better, feel better and be healthier as well. 8 months of bulking will likely push you near obese levels of bodyfat.

[big_ron]

Defiantly time for a cut. dont take offense but your not 15% at all. as fire guy said, you will feel alot better when you have a lower bf% dont think of it as loosing size. work out your diet to maintain size and use cardio to burn the fat

[Shroud83]

He measured belly, bicep, tricep, and clavicle if I recall correctly. No offense taken, you'll note in my original post I too believe it is not that low.

My goal is to weigh 205-210 with 12-15% bf.

Based on my current numbers and my goal should I:

1. Clean bulk for the next 8 months (including one 10-week aas cycle geared towards bulking) and then start cutting <--currently this is my plan
2. Do an all-natural cutting cycle until I reach 12%-15% bf and then start bulking again
3. Do a cutting cycle until I reach 12% (including one 10-week aas cycle geared towards cutting) and then start bulking again

In all of the above options I'm adding cardio in either way, the objective, however, is cardiovascular health rather than burning fat. In the end I'll decide but I'm open to reasonable opinions and comments.

-Shroud

[FireGuy]

OK, a 4pt caliper is worthless, it needs to be at least a 7 preferably a 9pt. At 185lbs you would need a total mm measurement of 103 to be at 15% from all 9 sites. Your Kidney, Suprailliac and Adominal measurements alone are going to total near 100. Remember there are 28 mm to an inch and your kidney (low back fat alone is going to be over 2 inches on it's own). I tell you this for the following reasons. Lets assume you are actually 20% bodyfat. I think you are probably a tad over that but lets use 20% as a reference point.

At 185lbs that means you are carrying 148lbs of lean mass and 37lbs of bodyfat. To reach your intended goal, lets use 207lbs and 13% you will need to have 180lbs of lean and 27lbs of fat. This means you are going to need to add 32lbs of muscle and lose 10lbs of fat to accomplish this. If your diet is dialed in perfect and you are 100% committed that is something that is done in years (plural) not months. I am not trying to bring you down I just want you to have realistic expectations.

[Shroud83]

Not at all, I've planned on reaching this goal in the next 3 years. Reasonable? So what should I be doing right now? Cut first and then bulk again, or keep bulking and then cut?

[FireGuy]

If it were me I would take the word bulk out of my vocabulary. Adding more bodyfat isnt going to help you gain any more muscle. I would also try and do away with the whole cut/bulk/cut/bulk mentallity.

[bodybuilder]

I agree well over 20% bf bro. Time to cut

[Shroud83]

Well shit. This isn't what I wanted to hear but I know you guys are right. Thanks for the tips FireGuy. If you have some links or more information on getting away from the cut/bulk/cut/bulk mentality, I'd hear it. I've always read that you can't gain serious muscle if you're not in a positive calorie state.

[bodybuilder]

I know how you feel bro i thought i was pretty lean myself until i found out i was around 18%. Don't loss hope my friend get your diet in check and hit the cardio machine. You will be surprised at how fast you can shed that extra fat. The key is diet once i got my diet in check i drooped down rapidly.

[sixoner]

i'm same height, over a year ago I was estimated with the calipers at 19% and it was hard to do at that body fat so could have been a bit more. @19% I didn't have all that hanging over the sides of my board shorts.

im @ 158 10-11% now preparing for a lean bulk took me a year or hard work to see my abs i'm not ready to watch them go away...good luck with your progress bro, i agree with the guys youre over 20%

just to give you an idea you can cut 40lb off of that i went from 198-58

[Shroud83]

Sounds like I need to lose 20lbs. I sure as hell don't want to go below 165 (my weight at 17 y/o).

-Shroud

[gbrice75]

Definitely over 20%. The good news is you look like you might have a good solid base under there. Don't be stupid and starve yourself, you'll wind up losing any hard earned LBM you already have.

Get your ass over to the diet section, post yours up for critique and we'll help get you sorted.

[FireGuy]

Well shit. This isn't what I wanted to hear but I know you guys are right. Thanks for the tips FireGuy. If you have some links or more information on getting away from the cut/bulk/cut/bulk mentality, I'd hear it. I've always read that you can't gain serious muscle if you're not in a positive calorie state.

All the extra fat you are carrying was put on after your body was supplied with all the energy it needed and after it took care of any muscle growth that was induced. In other words you could have all the muscle you have now minus quite a bit of the fat had you simply had a lower calorie intake.

Read post #8 here to save me from retyping please.
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...n-and-fat-loss

[CMB]

Listen to fireguy you can trust his advice!

Just get a diet down, and start getting serious and cut. Then you might want to do a LEAN bulk later down the road but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.