Bulk up or stay cutting?

[jaredb909]

First off let me say that i used to weight 300-310lbs and i was at about 40% body fat if not more.

Over the past 5 years i went up and down with weight and the last two years ive been hitting it hard since im wanting to compete some day.

I got my body fat tested November of 2010 and i was at 10% but i still didnt have abs. So i kept on cutting. I figured maybe i have to get down to 4 o 5 % for them to show.

Well i just got my body fat tested yesterday and i got 5.3%

5.3% BF
200.2 Lbs
10.67 Lbs of fat
189.53 LM

My abs still are not to my liking... Why?
I had two ideas. Either one i have extra skin from being so fat 4-5 years ago or two my abs are not big enough.

Let me know what you guys think and if i should keep cutting untill 3-4% or should i start bulking up.

Heres some pics, go easy on them lol.

[SlimJoe]

Your higher than 5% bro... What do u want to acheive? Also well done from getting down from that weight

[jaredb909]

The bodyfat test was the hydro static test which they say is the most accurate right? If thats correct they said I was 5.3 %. My main goal is to compete but right now I just want some freaky looking abs.

[SergeantCarbs]

If your not seeing the abs you want at 5%, its time to bulk buddy

[oldnsedentary]

You are not 5%. Looks more like 12-14% What was the method of measurement?

Nevermind. Hydrostatic I see in your next post. I don't get it, as I think you are more than twice what it says. Don't get offended. I think you look to be in great shape, and even more impressive considering what you said was your starting point, but I do not see how you can possibly be at 5%.

http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-p...nd-percentages

Scroll down at the link to see how various percentages appear. Note that none of the examples even go down as far as 5%. That is like ridiculously lean.

[oldnsedentary]

Just curious, how tall are you?

[jaredb909]

im 5 foot 11 inches. Honestly I was shocked that he said 5%. I guess I can get a second opinion.

[MBMETC]

ya sorry dude you not 5% more like 14% and by the way your skin looks tight for loosing that much weight. good job

[Gaspari1255]

I would shed off a few more %s until you bulk again. You're at about 14-15% bf.

This is one of my good friends who is around 5.5-6% bf..just to give you an idea of what 5% looks like: http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3987153_n.jpg

[FireGuy]

I realize you are only going by what the guy told you but as others have already stated you are nowhere close to 5% bodyfat. Being you are predisposed to attaining high levels of bodyfat I dont think I would ever consider bulking again. Not to mention your skin has already lost a great deal of it's elasticity and gaining more weight only to lose it again at some point down the line is only going to compound the problem. Great job on the weight loss though and good luck going forward.

[Standby]

I realize you are only going by what the guy told you but as others have already stated you are nowhere close to 5% bodyfat. Being you are predisposed to attaining high levels of bodyfat I dont think I would ever consider bulking again. Not to mention your skin has already lost a great deal of it's elasticity and gaining more weight only to lose it again at some point down the line is only going to compound the problem. Great job on the weight loss though and good luck going forward.

so what your saying is not a hard bulk but extremely lean mass? or just never again?

[mperk]

Hey bro
They got the numbers wrong. I gave up on bf tests cause I got such crazy answers- last time I did hydrostatic it came in at 27% which was ridiculous! Lots of room for error there. Anyways, I agree that you should cut down but do it slowly and with more card so you don't lose muscle as well as fat. I did a fast keto cut a couple of years ago- lost 15 lbs but only like 1% bf!

Overall you look great,, so keep doing what works! I'm sure you already figured this out but it's 70% diet and 30% hard work...

[27300man]

The majority of girls don't like bulky dudes, so if want the majority to dig you keep on cutting. If you want to be a huge mofo and get the chicks who want to be man handled, go that route.

[Gaspari1255]

The majority of girls don't like bulky dudes, so if want the majority to dig you keep on cutting. If you want to be a huge mofo and get the chicks who want to be man handled, go that route.

True story.

[mperk]

The majority of girls don't like bulky dudes, so if want the majority to dig you keep on cutting. If you want to be a huge mofo and get the chicks who want to be man handled, go that route.

LOL - too true - unfortuantely that includes my wife! she is so embarrassed that i have muscles - she'd rather i was a pencil neck like her dad/bro - Oh well - I'm fukked................

[FireGuy]

so what your saying is not a hard bulk but extremely lean mass? or just never again?

Traditional "bulking" consist of putting on large amounts of bodyweight by eating well over your TDEE. At best this is usually 60/40 muscle/fat and many times closer to 50/50 or worse. Unless you are an offensive lineman, powerlifter or just a guy who wants to look big in clothes and fat out of them this isnt a good idea IMHO. A diet dialed in with less calories and some cardio would have provided all the muscle growth without the fat gain. In the instance of the OP I think we can safely assume from his history he has a higher fat cell count than the average person and is predisposed to obesity as well to a larger degree than most of us. When he blew up to over 300lbs he added even more fat cells than he had already. Muscle cell hyperplasia is extremely difficult to attain and many say it's impossible although peptides and GH are changing that. Fat cell hyperplasia on the other hand (adding new fat cells) can be done by simply overeating for a large period of time. Now, unless the OP has undergone liposuction he still is carrying every single fat cell he had when he was over 300lbs. The only difference is they are now smaller in size. If he starts eating much over TDEE he is extremely likely to get real fat real quick again. This is why so many people who lose hundreds of pounds so often gain it all back and then some.

The best thing he can do is stay lean and try to very slowly add muscle if that's his goal. Also, as I pointed out in my original post. It's evident his skin has already lost a good amount of its elasticity. The last thing he needs to do is stretch it out again with a 25-35lb bulking program again.

[Standby]

Traditional "bulking" consist of putting on large amounts of bodyweight by eating well over your TDEE. At best this is usually 60/40 muscle/fat and many times closer to 50/50 or worse. Unless you are an offensive lineman, powerlifter or just a guy who wants to look big in clothes and fat out of them this isnt a good idea IMHO. A diet dialed in with less calories and some cardio would have provided all the muscle growth without the fat gain. In the instance of the OP I think we can safely assume from his history he has a higher fat cell count than the average person and is predisposed to obesity as well to a larger degree than most of us. When he blew up to over 300lbs he added even more fat cells than he had already. Muscle cell hyperplasia is extremely difficult to attain and many say it's impossible although peptides and GH are changing that. Fat cell hyperplasia on the other hand (adding new fat cells) can be done by simply overeating for a large period of time. Now, unless the OP has undergone liposuction he still is carrying every single fat cell he had when he was over 300lbs. The only difference is they are now smaller in size. If he starts eating much over TDEE he is extremely likely to get real fat real quick again. This is why so many people who lose hundreds of pounds so often gain it all back and then some.

The best thing he can do is stay lean and try to very slowly add muscle if that's his goal. Also, as I pointed out in my original post. It's evident his skin has already lost a good amount of its elasticity. The last thing he needs to do is stretch it out again with a 25-35lb bulking program again.

thanks for that fireguy

now with your last part this might sound stupid but with how much his skin is saggy wouldnt he have alittle bit of room where he could fill that with out stretchiing it more? mind you its not what i would do just kind of a curious question i got

[gbrice75]

I realize you are only going by what the guy told you but as others have already stated you are nowhere close to 5% bodyfat. Being you are predisposed to attaining high levels of bodyfat I dont think I would ever consider bulking again. Not to mention your skin has already lost a great deal of it's elasticity and gaining more weight only to lose it again at some point down the line is only going to compound the problem. Great job on the weight loss though and good luck going forward.

Excellent and responsible advice.

[dec11]

First off let me say that i used to weight 300-310lbs and i was at about 40% body fat if not more.

Over the past 5 years i went up and down with weight and the last two years ive been hitting it hard since im wanting to compete some day.

I got my body fat tested November of 2010 and i was at 10% but i still didnt have abs. So i kept on cutting. I figured maybe i have to get down to 4 o 5 % for them to show.

Well i just got my body fat tested yesterday and i got 5.3%

5.3% BF
200.2 Lbs
10.67 Lbs of fat
189.53 LM

My abs still are not to my liking... Why?
I had two ideas. Either one i have extra skin from being so fat 4-5 years ago or two my abs are not big enough.

Let me know what you guys think and if i should keep cutting untill 3-4% or should i start bulking up.

Heres some pics, go easy on them lol.

you do realise that this is pro stage % ? and isnt maintainable, anything below 5-6% isnt good for your health.

well done on the loss, id just concentrate on clean slow bulks

[vishus]

looking good, keep up the weight loss. have patience! it takes time to lose fat and clean bulk