Cut first? or lean bulk from the start?

[julius kelp]

Any opinions welcome, this has certainly been discussed many times before. I want to start up training again after not for awhile. I do what many of us do over the holidays & put on some gut. I'm probably at 13-15%? bodyfat & in a fairly untrained state now. (skinny & fat - woohoo) I'm just trying to decide whether to go for a full cut before hitting the food & trying to clean bulk, or just go straight at the clean bulk. Any thoughts anecdotes appreciated. Happy 2010.

 

[codywaters]

Depends on your goals, in my arrogant opinion, there is never any need to loose visibility of your abs regardless of if you are on a "bulk diet". Way too often people will use the "bulk diet" as an excuse to eat like **** all the time. Well guess what... it starves your body of what you really need and you just get fat with little to no muscle gain. you should be eating lots of eggs, meat, fish, clean carbs and hitting around 25-30cals/lb a day on a bulk diet of which you should be getting 1.5g/lb protien if you plan to gain any muscle.

 

[julius kelp]

thanks for the thoughts Cody, a fellow Texan I see.

 

[julius kelp]

i eat pretty freakin clean now that pie season is over! but i have had trouble in the past with this. if i bulk up & then try to lose the fat, i usually lose most of the muscle even trying cut slowly (1-2lbs fat/wk). some argue that you can't gain muscle & lose fat simultanelously, but if that's true, how does anyone ever get big & lean? i know these questions are probably infinitely debatable.

 

[wedlund6]

at 6'4" and 208 i would start bulking and eating clean.going down to 185 or 190 and then trying to bulk up i think would be the hard way. clean eating to some is different to others if you get board maybe you could post what a clean diet is to you.

 

[julius kelp]

maybe so, i enjoy bulking! even clean!
typical day might be like:

Breakfast 8am
1 Whole Egg
1cup egg whites
1tsp fish oil
½ Grapefruit
2C Oatmeal

Snack 1 11am
Scoop Whey
1C Skim Milk
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

Lunch 1pm
6-8oz Lean Meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Pre Train Snack 3pm
+Pre-train stim
6-8 lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Post Train 4ish
2C Skim Milk
1 Scoop Whey
2Tbs Brown Rice Syrup

Dinner 6ish
6-8oz Lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)
Large Salad w/2Tbs fat (oil, feta, nuts)

Final Snack (1 hour before bed) 9pm
1C Cottage Cheese
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

just as an example.

 

[SmallTownIron]

maybe so, i enjoy bulking! even clean!
typical day might be like:

Breakfast 8am
1 Whole Egg
1cup egg whites
1tsp fish oil
½ Grapefruit
2C Oatmeal

Snack 1 11am
Scoop Whey
1C Skim Milk
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

Lunch 1pm
6-8oz Lean Meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Pre Train Snack 3pm
+Pre-train stim
6-8 lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Post Train 4ish
2C Skim Milk
1 Scoop Whey
2Tbs Brown Rice Syrup

Dinner 6ish
6-8oz Lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)
Large Salad w/2Tbs fat (oil, feta, nuts)

Final Snack (1 hour before bed) 9pm
1C Cottage Cheese
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

just as an example.

Yes, bulking is awesome! Look forward to it! My diet is this, although VERY simple but VERY effective:

Meal 1: 11 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 40 gm oats, 20 gm whey
Meal 2: 50 gm whey
Meal 3: 6 oz rice, 8 oz xtra lean ground beef
Meal 5: 6 oz rice, 8 oz chicken breast
Meal 6: 50 gm whey, 1 c oats
Meal 7: 8 oz chicken breast, broccoli
Night shake( when I wake during the night): 50 gm whey, 30 gm PB

 

[wedlund6]

maybe so, i enjoy bulking! even clean!
typical day might be like:

Breakfast 8am
1 Whole Egg
1cup egg whites
1tsp fish oil
½ Grapefruit
2C Oatmeal

Snack 1 11am
Scoop Whey
1C Skim Milk
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

Lunch 1pm
6-8oz Lean Meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Pre Train Snack 3pm
+Pre-train stim
6-8 lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)

Post Train 4ish
2C Skim Milk
1 Scoop Whey
2Tbs Brown Rice Syrup

Dinner 6ish
6-8oz Lean meat
Complex Carb (sweet potato, brown rice, whole grain bread)
Large Salad w/2Tbs fat (oil, feta, nuts)

Final Snack (1 hour before bed) 9pm
1C Cottage Cheese
~14gms fat/nuts/oil

just as an example.

looks good nice and clean.