Bodyfat estimate, too damn high

[AnabolicMasochist]

I'm 25 years old, 5'11 245 pounds. Arms are 18 inches. I'm guessing my bodyfat to be around 22-23% possibly higher? How much weight do you think I'd need to lose before looking decent. I'm wanting to start my first test cycle by November. Think if my diet is in check I can be at a reasonable bodyfat by then? I'm addicted to get stronger but I want to be more aesthetic so Ive started doing more reps 12-14 vs 6-8. And I'll be doing cardio 5 days a week. Thinking 2800 calories as a starting point

Max bench - 225x16 365x1 Max deadlift - 315x10 415x1 Max seated overhead press 185x8 235x1 Max squat 315x10

[AnabolicMasochist]

Another

[Back In Black]

Over 20% yes. Don't up your reps though, whatever built your muscle will help you keep it when you cut.

Maybe post your diet in the diet section for critique.

[SEOINAGE]

Gotta agree, upping your reps won't be what makes you more aesthetic. Your bodyfat guess is probably relatively close. Could be mid 20s. I personally would say give yourself enough time to bring the body fat down, so push that november start date back a ways. Make some more specific goals for the fat loss, and forget the cycle for a bit.
If you are at 25% bf, that puts your LBM at roughly 184 lbs. Most people need to get into their teens in the bf to start really looking good. And if you want to look amazing you gotta drop below the 10% mark. I'm not positive but it looks like you have somewhat decent fat distribution, so you won't need to be as low to look as good to the general public.
10% would put you at a bodyweight of 204 lbs, That's given no LBM loss, so likely you would be dieting to well below that, since you will be depleted and gain a good 10lbs or so back when you bring calories back in. So maybe dropping down to 190 lbs.


10% might be a bit lofty for goals right now, but if you can get in the low teens before running your cycle you will have room to eat. And even better off if you are something even lower where you can really not worry about ending your cycle with way too much fat on you.

Don't worry too much about strength and muscle loss, have a solid plan so it isn't detrimental, but anything lost will come back when you cycle. I would even consider some gradual weight loss, get to where you are comfortable and happy with how you look, possibly maintain it for a bit, then do a 4 week or so prime to really drop some weight before jumping right on cycle.

[AnabolicMasochist]

I'd like to get down to 12% before starting the cycle. I'm going to try and accomplish this with a ketogenic diet and lots of cardio, I'm not really worried about muscle loss too much. I can always gain it back.

[Back In Black]

I'd like to get down to 12% before starting the cycle. I'm going to try and accomplish this with a ketogenic diet and lots of cardio, I'm not really worried about muscle loss too much. I can always gain it back.

It's not as though muscle is easy to gain. Muscle retention should be at the forefront of your cutting plan. I dislike your plan but hey, if you lose 20lbs of fat and don't mind losing 20lbs muscle that's ok. You won't look like you lift though and will have a poorer base to cycle off.

As I suggested, post your diet in the correct forum for critique.

[itsmybody]

It's not as though muscle is easy to gain. Muscle retention should be at the forefront of your cutting plan. I dislike your plan but hey, if you lose 20lbs of fat and don't mind losing 20lbs muscle that's ok. You won't look like you lift though and will have a poorer base to cycle off. As I suggested, post your diet in the correct forum for critique.

Whoaaaaaa!!!!!?????!!!!!! WTH????? Agree 5 BILLION PERCENT WITH @BIB! Muscle retention is imperative, shift your priorities, reduce bf correctly, post diet in correct forum. Before doing anything do a lot more research.

[bobtail]

Dude, your kind of chubby. 25% is most likely. You have a good 30-35 pounds to lose. Ain't going to happen by November. It's going to take 6 months if you want to do it right.
Your calories are too high. That's probably over your maintenance. Try dropping it down to 2200 to 2300 and see how that works.
Personally, I wouldn't even think about doing keto until your close to 12-15%. If you stop losing, do a cheat meal AT MAINTENANCE. Don't go hog wild at the buffet. If your doing this more than every couple of weeks, re-evaluate your diet.
Keep working hard and you will still get stronger. Focus on that and don't change your routine. Makes it easier mentally when your shrinking.
I just went from 20% plus down to 10% and did it just like this except for some calorie cycling towards the end. It took 6 months.
Take your time and really think about the test cycle. Are you sure you want to do this at 25? Have you even come close to maxing out what you can do naturally? Just a little fatherly advice.

[AnabolicMasochist]

Heres one from a side angle just for the hell of it

[AnabolicMasochist]

I feel like I can achieve my goals in 3-4 months. I'm pretty knowledgable when it comes to nutrition and I know how my body reacts to different things. As far as the test cycle goes, I'm not sure if I've reached my max genetic potential, size? Probably not, strength wise maybe. I benched 395 at 220 last year. I know that isn't incredibly heavy but it's decent for a natural guy.