Should I be bulking or cutting right now?

[Krayvax]

Hey I’m looking for some advice on if I should currently be bulking or cutting right now? I used to lift 225 on bench I’m currently only 20 years old but I’ve been off the gym for like 1.5 years and been eating junk food all that time so basically I fell off on my training and now I want to get back to it. I currently weigh 250lbs and I tried lifting at the gym and I could barely even lift the bar so basically I lost my strength.

What should my plan be right now to get my strength back? Should I start with bulking with a high protein intake to get my strength up again or should I start cutting first on a deficit to lose my fat? As I’m sure those 250lbs are mostly a lot of fat as I’m not currently lean.

 

[kira1357]

cut with a clean high protein diet and 500kc/day deficit, get back into training regularly and you'll recomp just fine with your experience and age. should be easy to gradually regain strength on a moderate deficit after not training for a year and a half

 

[ZLB70]

If you could barely lift the bar while weighing 250 definitely do not bulk

 

[AwakeningAlpha]

Establish healthy eating habits and a lifting routine and you will improve. Don't oversimplify with a bulk or cut mindset, which really should come after you have a better baseline. High protein, real food choices eaten around your workouts- and limiting calories and junk overall will get you further.

 

[Darkhorse192]

need pics to advise

 

[Smont]

I was gonna say, a picture would help determine a bulk or cut. Can you see your abs? If no then cut. If you got a 6 pack then bulk

 

[Mathb33]

I was gonna say, a picture would help determine a bulk or cut. Can you see your abs? If no then cut. If you got a 6 pack then bulk

As simple as this. Most people start a bull at a BF where you would want your cut to end or even way above that. If you’re above 15% it’s a shitty spot to start a bulk. Except if you’re a powerlifter, I suppose.

 

[Krayvax]

I’m currently not very lean at all I’m going to guess and say I’m somewhere around 25% body fat currently, maybe a little higher then that. I’ve been eating junk food and haven’t been working out for 1.5 years. I asked someone I used to workout with and he told me that I should recomp so basically don’t worry about cutting and bulking and to eat at my maintenance calories, train consistently with a clean diet and he says my strength will come back and I’ll lose fat regardless.

 

[khall1974]

I’m currently not very lean at all I’m going to guess and say I’m somewhere around 25% body fat currently, maybe a little higher then that. I’ve been eating junk food and haven’t been working out for 1.5 years. I asked someone I used to workout with and he told me that I should recomp so basically don’t worry about cutting and bulking and to eat at my maintenance calories, train consistently with a clean diet and he says my strength will come back and I’ll lose fat regardless.

Recomping is a hard and very slow process. Everything needs to be dialed in and like I stated above....a very long process.

 

[Darkhorse192]

I’m currently not very lean at all I’m going to guess and say I’m somewhere around 25% body fat currently, maybe a little higher then that. I’ve been eating junk food and haven’t been working out for 1.5 years. I asked someone I used to workout with and he told me that I should recomp so basically don’t worry about cutting and bulking and to eat at my maintenance calories, train consistently with a clean diet and he says my strength will come back and I’ll lose fat regardless.

given this set of details, I would absolutely cut. 25% is way too high to be adding anything. The thing is, as others have mentioned, a "dedicated" recomp has its issues, but you are going to recomp by default if you just start loss phase and start resistance training again. Your body will regain lost muscle when you begin to resistance train again, despite you being in a deficit. Focus on fat loss, and some / a lot of the lost muscle will still come back nd pretty quickly.

My advice is to set up your diet for long-term sustainability. I would personally want to be in the 10-12% range before starting a serious mass gain phase. That said its is going to take some time, adherence, dedication, and grit to get down there from 25%. It may even take two diet periods with a short diet break in between. It can be done, but don't set yourself up for failure by being too aggressive / unsustainable up front. That is when staying true to the diet will be most important.

How confident are you in your ability to accurately track your intake?

 

[Darkhorse192]

@Krayvax send me amessage if you need help

 

[Wobmarvel]

Your friend is correct however you do not want to be eating the maintenance you are at right now. That would maintain 250 lbs with 25% bodyfat. If you're eating 3000 calories just now then to half your fat and keep what lean muscle you have you would need to drop to around 375 calories which would give you closer to what maintenance would be at about 15% bodyfat with the same lean muscle tissue. So essentially a cut

 

[Dustin07]

Most people start a bull at a BF where you would want your cut to end or even way above that. If you’re above 15% it’s a shitty spot to start a bulk. Except if you’re a powerlifter, I suppose.

sorta depends on goals, no? after years sub 10% I went to reverse diet at about 14% ish which I then let turn into a full bulk from 183 to 200lbs before I started cutting back down but with the lean mass I've created I'm happier to be stronger and in better moods with 13-14% then I ever was at 8-9% and a lot stronger.


but yeah generally I agree with the consensus here, I don't think many people at 250lbs need to bulk right now even if you're 6'4" you probably should cut if you're out of shape, it's safe to assume it's not a 10% situation.

I’m currently not very lean at all I’m going to guess and say I’m somewhere around 25% body fat currently, maybe a little higher then that. I’ve been eating junk food and haven’t been working out for 1.5 years.

ah i missed this. then yeah screw a bulk just build a lifting routine and cut until you're back down in the sub 15% range and your strength numbers plateau.