Skinny fat?

deadybai

Ok so after six months of being a lazy bastrad im going to get off my ass and get in shape.

Up until six months ago I ate relatively healthy and was in average Joe shape. Then I just decided one day to stop exercising and put anything in to my body. It was great for the first few months because I gave up stressing what is going into my body and I enjoyed myself for a while.

Six months and one stone later and I decided enough is enough. The thing is though where do I begin? My ultimate goal is to basically be built like a athletic rugby player but I have a bit of a gut.

I've always had this but now it's a bit bigger. I always end up giving up time and time again because I'm stuck in he limbo of should I bulk or cut ? UnderNeath the fat I would say I have decent bit of muscle as a base. I'm currently 14 stone and 6"2. .

What I'm trying to ask is where do I begin? Should I do a calorie surplus or deficit?

Alf Veedersane

You're better off starting with a deficit. It's likely your bodyfat is above say ~15% and it just means that you'll put on proportionally more fat than muscle. Cutting gets you to a better starting point.

Slow steady cut -> slow, steady bulk.

b_mac2

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Slow steady cut -> slow, steady bulk.

Not a formula for everyone IMO. I see too many young lads going on cuts when there is nothing at all on them, then going on a "slow bulk" and they keep repeating this until they give up out of frustration or they jump on gear.

I'm a serious advocate for eating big for at least 6 months, while consistently training heavy compound lifts at least three times a week. When I say big, i'd aim for 1500+ calorie surplus a day. Then take stock and see about cutting.

People who want to get big can't be afraid of a bit of fat.

Alf Veedersane

b_mac2 wrote: »

Not a formula for everyone IMO. I see too many young lads going on cuts when there is nothing at all on them, then going on a "slow bulk" and they keep repeating this until they give up out of frustration or they jump on gear.

I'm a serious advocate for eating big for at least 6 months, while consistently training heavy compound lifts at least three times a week. When I say big, i'd aim for 1500+ calorie surplus a day. Then take stock and see about cutting.

People who want to get big can't be afraid of a bit of fat.

The OP said they had a reasonable muscle base. They're likely to have a highwe level of body fat based on their OP. Loading on fat now isn't necessarily smart primarily because it reduces insulin sensitivity and that makes building muscle harder.

I don't disagree that some fat gain is to be expected when building muscle but it's also not an excuse to become fat.

b_mac2

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The OP said they had a reasonable muscle base. They're likely to have a highwe level of body fat based on their OP. Loading on fat now isn't necessarily smart primarily because it reduces insulin sensitivity and that makes building muscle harder.

I don't disagree that some fat gain is to be expected when building muscle but it's also not an excuse to become fat.

Sorry I wasn't aiming at the OP, it was just to go against the common theme around here about "slow steady bulking" which I was refuting.

Alf Veedersane

b_mac2 wrote: »

Sorry I wasn't aiming at the OP, it was just to go against the common theme around here about "slow steady bulking" which I was refuting.

Because science

http://strengtheory.com/being-strong-is-not-an-excuse-to-be-fat-and-being-fat-is-probably-holding-you-back/

Zillah

b_mac2 wrote: »

When I say big, i'd aim for 1500+ calorie surplus a day.

Ah here.


Personally I would do a fairly drastic cut and then lean bulk from there. But I hate having bodyfat above minimum.

TimeToShine

b_mac2 wrote: »

Not a formula for everyone IMO. I see too many young lads going on cuts when there is nothing at all on them, then going on a "slow bulk" and they keep repeating this until they give up out of frustration or they jump on gear.

I'm a serious advocate for eating big for at least 6 months, while consistently training heavy compound lifts at least three times a week. When I say big, i'd aim for 1500+ calorie surplus a day. Then take stock and see about cutting.

People who want to get big can't be afraid of a bit of fat.

Madness. OP is fat. The solution is not to get fatter.

He needs to eat a clean, high protein diet at a 300-400 calorie deficit for a few months. He'll see the fat slide off and look better in the mirror. This will give him the confidence to keep going to the gym and before you know it he has dropped the bodyfat and looks "in shape", all due to significant yet livable lifestyle changes - not some crazy bulking diet that is doomed to end in frustration and failure.

JJayoo

Cut first, but use the cut to

A) lower bodyfat
learn/perfect form on lifts
C) understand your calorie needs, work.out your cutting/maintenance/bulk calories
D) learn which programme works for you, full body/splits
E) Create your bulking plan
F) learn about foods/Marcos/food prep

Think of it as preseason preparing you for an intelligent bulk.

deadybai

JJayoo wrote: »

Cut first, but use the cut to

A) lower bodyfat
learn/perfect form on lifts
C) understand your calorie needs, work.out your cutting/maintenance/bulk calories
D) learn which programme works for you, full body/splits
E) Create your bulking plan
F) learn about foods/Marcos/food prep

Think of it as preseason preparing you for an intelligent bulk.

And how much of a deficit and roughly for how long?

JJayoo

First thing is to find your maintenance calories, there are a number of different calculaters online for this (Omar isuf has a handy one if someone could insert the video)

So let's say the calculaters says your maintenance calories are 2500, well then -250 calories and hit this for 3/4 weeks.

If you find that you are consistently losing weight then excellent stay with it.

If you find that your weight is staying the same then -another 250 calories

A small deficit will equal a small gradual consistent weight loss and it will also enable you to push yourself hard in the gym.

And by doing the above, tracking calories, once the bulk arrives you will have a much better understanding of your calories.

If you fall.into the trap of lowering calories too much and adding lots of additional exercise you will lose more than just fat and will feel like sh1t after a few weeks

Alf Veedersane

JJayoo wrote: »

First thing is to find your maintenance calories, there are a number of different calculaters online for this (Omar isuf has a handy one if someone could insert the video)

I'll go with this one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kw9ekkuEJI0

b_mac2

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Because science

http://strengtheory.com/being-strong-is-not-an-excuse-to-be-fat-and-being-fat-is-probably-holding-you-back/

Mmmm... maybe this is why you have tiny legs? Too much reading the vast mis/information on the internet and not enough eating.

Alf Veedersane

b_mac2 wrote: »

Mmmm... maybe this is why you have tiny legs? Too much reading the vast mis/information on the internet and not enough eating.

If you think Greg Nuckols is a peddler of nonsense then we'll just stop there.

Thanks for checking my legs out though x

b_mac2

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

If you think Greg Nuckols is a peddler of nonsense then we'll just stop there.

Thanks for checking my legs out though x

No probs hun xoxox