# Better to bulk or cut if skinny fat...pics included



## ddawg (Jun 6, 2006)

I lost a lot of weight over the last two years but for the first year I went about it the wrong way with improper nutrition and not lifting weights.  As a result I lost a lot of weight, but a lot of it was muscle.  I went from about 290 to where I am at right now, 170.  Now I'm basically suffering from being skinny fat.  I still have fat to lose, but I also have some loose skin.....thankfully it isn't noticable when I'm standing but only when I bend over or do something like a push up where it can just sag.  I don't look fat standing up (although I still have some love handles) but when I sit I still have fat rolls.  Also my stomach is really wierd....if I'm laying down and kind of flex my abs, it's like my stomach makes a hill from left to right....the middle protrudes out but the oblique areas get sucked in.   I'm 20 years old and right at 6' tall and I'm not sure what I should be trying to do right now.  Should I cut and try to lose this fat/tighten up skin or should I look to put on some muscle and bulk up?  I included some pics.  The first one is of me just standing straight up and flexing.  The second one is of me sitting and showing the fat rolls.  The third one is of me in a push up position showing the loose skin and the fourth one is of me pinching my fat while sitting.  I put all these so you guys could really see where I'm at.  What do you think I should do???


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## myCATpowerlifts (Jun 6, 2006)

Just start bulking.
Do a relatively clean bulk.
The skin, you can't really do anything about. Just use the vitamin e and aloe cremes and it will get better.

You made an amazing transformation.
Losing over 100 lbs is great.
Just focus on adding muscle now.
My 2 cents.


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## GoLdeN M 07 (Jun 6, 2006)

Yea just build muscle.


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## Gazhole (Jun 6, 2006)

Nice going, i cant even tell on the standing up pic.

With a good bulk itll be even less noticable.

Keep it up!


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## Pirate! (Jun 6, 2006)

It takes years for the skin to catch up to an extent. You did a great job losing all that weight. Use that self-discipline and your expanding knowledge of proper diet and exercise to put on some muscle. Also, getting a tan helps make the skin look firmer.


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## MCx2 (Jun 6, 2006)

I'm in the same boat dude. When I was 16 I was 5'7" 245lbs with a 42 inch waist. By the time I hit 18 I was 5'9" 180 with a 34 inch waist. I had the same problems you do and I gave up. I sure wish I hadn't. Now I'm 26 5'9" and I weigh 205 lbs with a 34 inch waist. I realized that all the dieting and the cardio in the world wouldn't be enough to tighten up that loose skin. So now I'm on a quest to build as much muscle as possible to try and grow into it. I still have a little extra skin but it's slowly getting tighter. Had I stuck with it all those years I'd probably be in great shape now. Don't get discouraged man, keep up the good work.


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## assassin (Jun 6, 2006)

fill it with muscles when u bulk muscles will fill those areas gradually


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## VanessaNicole (Jun 7, 2006)

I just want to say good for you.

VanessaNicole


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## ddawg (Jun 8, 2006)

What weight do you guys think I should bulk to until I start cutting again....right now I'm 170.  Also, what would be a good bf % estimate?


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## assassin (Jun 8, 2006)

if u are an endo and u don't easily lose fat so don't ever get more than 25-27% fats if u are an ecto i think that's not a problem to bother ur self thinking of .....


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## Squaggleboggin (Jun 8, 2006)

ddawg said:
			
		

> What weight do you guys think I should bulk to until I start cutting again....right now I'm 170. Also, what would be a good bf % estimate?



You could, theoretically, almost indefinitely do a clean bulk. That is, if you gain almost all muscle and very little fat, you won't really need a cut. It's a slow and tedious process, but possible and probably plausible for a beginner to lifting. I honestly would just start packing on the muscle - it'll fill in whatever you have left over. Besides, you're young, so it most likely won't be much of a problem.


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## Seanp156 (Jun 8, 2006)

assassin said:
			
		

> if u are an endo and u don't easily lose fat so don't ever get more than 25-27% fats if u are an ecto i think that's not a problem to bother ur self thinking of .....



Are you talking about % fat in the diet, or % BF?


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## assassin (Jun 8, 2006)

no % bf


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## assassin (Jun 8, 2006)

i mean ppl always gain fat while they are bulking......even if it is a clean bulk if his body type tends to gain fat he'll gain fat as long he eats over his maintanance then he must stop at 25 % bf point not to suffer when he begins cutting


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## CowPimp (Jun 9, 2006)

I usually suggest stopping a bulk when you hit 15% body fat or so (For males) to maintain a better hormonal profile and health status.


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## assassin (Jun 9, 2006)

is that even for ppl who gain fats easily?? i mean ppl like me will hit the 15% line in a short time .........or shall i use a very clean bulk and make it very slowly


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## CowPimp (Jun 9, 2006)

assassin said:
			
		

> is that even for ppl who gain fats easily?? i mean ppl like me will hit the 15% line in a short time .........or shall i use a very clean bulk and make it very slowly



I would just be less aggressive with your bulks.  If you are gaining more fat than muscle then you are doing something wrong, or you aren't being consistent enough.


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## assassin (Jun 9, 2006)

CowPimp said:
			
		

> I would just be less aggressive with your bulks.  If you are gaining more fat than muscle then you are doing something wrong, or you aren't being consistent enough.



yeah i understand your point now .... maybe it's true it's the dirty kind of bulk with much junk and stuff wich make fast fat gains .. i think when i come to my bulking period i will do as u said and i won't go more than 15% fats....


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## Seanp156 (Jun 9, 2006)

assassin said:
			
		

> is that even for ppl who gain fats easily?? i mean ppl like me will hit the 15% line in a short time .........or shall i use a very clean bulk and make it very slowly


For people who gain fat easily (and have difficulty losing it), it would be even more importent to stay leaner on a bulk than it would for anyone else. I'm an ecto (lose fat easily, but slow to build muscle), and I'd never even THINK about going above 20% bf.


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## ironmanstan (Jun 17, 2010)

i basically have the same problem i dont know if i should bulk up or cut fat ..im worried about getting really fat looking if i bulk up as i was fairly heavy before but im your size and have the same stomach   lol i was going to ask what i should do but this thread answered my question i guess lol and you should definatly bulk up


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## ironmanstan (Jun 17, 2010)

is there anyway to not get fat while building muscle or can anyone answer this..d you get really fat looking while bulking up?


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## gtbmed (Jun 17, 2010)

It depends what level of body fat you start with really.  Obviously if you start at a low BF%, even if you bulk you are still going to look pretty cut at the end.

If you're into bodybuilding you're going to have to live with the idea that you're going to be cut up for part of the year and bigger at other times.  It's just a fact of the sport that's unavoidable.

The thing is, though, and I'm by no means an expert on this, but I believe your body is much better at directing nutrients to the muscular tissue once you've dieted down to a lower BF%.  I know that one of the reasons people cite for daily intermittent fasting is that in a fasted state, your body is ready to distribute the food you get to the correct places instead of storing it.


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## Phineas (Jun 18, 2010)

assassin said:


> is that even for ppl who gain fats easily?? i mean ppl like me will hit the 15% line in a short time .........or shall i use a very clean bulk and make it very slowly





CowPimp said:


> I would just be less aggressive with your bulks.  If you are gaining more fat than muscle then you are doing something wrong, or you aren't being consistent enough.



I agree with CowPimp. To get to over 15% would require a very aggresive bulk. When the body exceeds a certain BF you begin to produce estrogen. As CowPimp said, maintain a relatively modest BF keeps hormones in check.

I bulked pretty aggressively. I ate a hell of a lot of dense foods, and the highest I ever got was about 15-16%. I usually sat around 13%.

While it's nice to create the BF surplus for ease of mind -- not to mention allowing you to develop lean mass faster -- you don't really needd to exceed a certain BF. Keep in mind that lean mass can develop only so fast. A "clean" bulk would keep you at a much lower BF than 12-15%. People can bulk in the 7-10%. Theoretically, as long as you're creating a surplus, even if it's only 200 calories a day, you're in a positive nitrogen balance, and thus able to create new tissue. At 13-15% BF I was constantly gaining, and maintained excellent health as well as cardio condition.

A lot of people want to use bulking as an excuse to let themselves go. Granted, you will have a lot more leeway with cheat meals. However, you still need to ensure you have a solid diet foundation. One way to look at bulking is it's the same foods as you eat on a cut, only more of it and, depending on your cutting approach, lots of carbs, as well.

Here's a typical rookie bulking meal (this is what I ate every morning when I first started BB'ing in Sept 2008...I was just trying to put on weight with no rhyme or reason). There's good to this, but also isn't the most well-thought out meal:

-3 eggs (good  )
-toasted PB and J sandwich: 2 slices extra thick raisin bread w/ approx 4-5 tbs natral PB and approx 2.5 tbs jam
-3 packs quaker flavoured oatmeal mixed w/ approx 1.5 cups skim milk
-1 cup OJ

As you can see, there's some good in there, but there's a lot of fluff. I was just eating tons and tons. I was also doing 20 ounce steaks literally every night. At the time, me, a 145 lb, 7% BF distance runner, couldn't handle much protein at once, and I would get horrendous gas after all my meals.

With time, research, and, in this case especially, EXPERIENCE, you learn to diet and bulk properly. Bulking is about much more than providing a calorie surplus; it's about providing the suitable resources your body needs to create new muscle tissue.

As Gaz once said, if you feed your body crap you will turn into crap.


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## Viciony (Jun 18, 2010)

bulk cycle -> cut cycle. Rinse and repeat


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## alterntego (Jun 19, 2010)

assassin said:


> fill it with muscles when u bulk muscles will fill those areas gradually



couldnt agree more . fill it w/ muscle


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## Built (Jun 19, 2010)

Way to bump a thread from 2006.


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## gtbmed (Jun 19, 2010)

That wouldn't really be a problem if people realized that they are quoting and responding to others who likely aren't around anymore.

Ironmanstan's question is still valid though.  We need a lot more information from him in order to answer it correctly.


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## alterntego (Jun 20, 2010)

gtbmed said:


> That wouldn't really be a problem if people realized that they are quoting and responding to others who likely aren't around anymore.
> 
> Ironmanstan's question is still valid though.  We need a lot more information from him in order to answer it correctly.



agreed , whether a thread is old or new we all read them and they are still around because they will have an impact for someone who needs the info . thats why we record history .


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