New lifter—how do I decide whether to bulk or cut?

[nutrition_110]

I’m new to lifting and have seen conflicting advice online about whether beginners should bulk, cut, or eat at maintenance. What factors should I consider when deciding which approach fits my goals, and how should my diet change?

 

[jfigliuolo]

Whats your bf%... that is a huge determiner. IF diet and training are dialed in, you should recomp at first regardless... in GENERAL, if you can see your abs you can bulk. If you can't cut. If in between, knowing what i know now, I'd cut. Im sure @Smont will give you better advice.

 

[ironviking]

As stated, depends on where you are at BF wise. Rule of thumb >16% cut, <15% bulk and stay below 21% when bulking. That is over simplified but you get the idea.
If you are new to lifting and not obese I'd say eat at maintenance for the first year and take advantage of the ability to recomp (gain muscle while losing fat).
If you are really thin I'd say light bulk (250kcal surplus) at first then ramp up to a heavy bulk (500kcal surplus) for a few weeks then down to maintenance depending on where you land at after that.

 

[Smont]

A bulk should end when you no longer have visible ABS, once your abs have completely vanished it's time to go on a cut. So look at yourself in the mirror and make an assessment of how lean you are. If your abs not there, or are just barely visible, then diet yourself down first. Are you lean with abs and can see some veins here and there? If so then go on a bulk!

When your body fat is high you tend to gain more fat and less muscle. A lean physique is insulin sensitive and will prioritize muscle over fat gain given that your diet and training is in order.


if we're not talking specifically about physique related goals and your goals might be more strength related then I can see bulking to a little higher body fat so you can prioritize having better leverages and more food to fuel the strength gains. Mass moves Mass regardless of whether it's fat or muscle. Gaining weight while lifting weights will always make you stronger. But if your goal is to look the best you can you should get shredded first and worry about building muscle afterwards and if you're new to the gym you're automatically going to start building muscle even on a diet.

Going by this chart, once you hit 15%, it's time to consider a cut.

The guy at 10 to 12 is in a great place to start a bulk.

I'm cutting right now, I'm probably going to try to get another 10 lb of fat off before I start my bulk. Could I start bulking right now? Yeah I definitely could, but for how long? Building muscle takes time, a guy who's 10% body fat can bulk for 4-6 months no problem and put on some muscle, the guy who's 15-20% is only going to be able to bolt for like 4 to 6 weeks before they've gotten too fat, and realistically, you're not going to build any noticeable amount of muscle in 4 to 6 weeks. Not even on steroids

 

[nutrition_110]

Whats your bf%... that is a huge determiner. IF diet and training are dialed in, you should recomp at first regardless... in GENERAL, if you can see your abs you can bulk. If you can't cut. If in between, knowing what i know now, I'd cut. Im sure @Smont will give you better advice.

I'm around 12% body fat. I've gone through the process of bulking and cutting before. I lost some muscle due to training for a marathon a few months back and am unsure of my next steps. I eat mostly whole foods and lift 5 days a week.

 

[nutrition_110]

As stated, depends on where you are at BF wise. Rule of thumb >16% cut, <15% bulk and stay below 21% when bulking. That is over simplified but you get the idea.
If you are new to lifting and not obese I'd say eat at maintenance for the first year and take advantage of the ability to recomp (gain muscle while losing fat).
If you are really thin I'd say light bulk (250kcal surplus) at first then ramp up to a heavy bulk (500kcal surplus) for a few weeks then down to maintenance depending on where you land at after that.

Thank you. I'm in pretty good shape, but just ot sure if it's best to try to try to get super lean right now or bulk up and add some muscle before I cut.

 

[nutrition_110]

A bulk should end when you no longer have visible ABS, once your abs have completely vanished it's time to go on a cut. So look at yourself in the mirror and make an assessment of how lean you are. If your abs not there, or are just barely visible, then diet yourself down first. Are you lean with abs and can see some veins here and there? If so then go on a bulk!

When your body fat is high you tend to gain more fat and less muscle. A lean physique is insulin sensitive and will prioritize muscle over fat gain given that your diet and training is in order.


if we're not talking specifically about physique related goals and your goals might be more strength related then I can see bulking to a little higher body fat so you can prioritize having better leverages and more food to fuel the strength gains. Mass moves Mass regardless of whether it's fat or muscle. Gaining weight while lifting weights will always make you stronger. But if your goal is to look the best you can you should get shredded first and worry about building muscle afterwards and if you're new to the gym you're automatically going to start building muscle even on a diet.

View attachment 264019

Going by this chart, once you hit 15%, it's time to consider a cut.

The guy at 10 to 12 is in a great place to start a bulk.

View attachment 264021
I'm cutting right now, I'm probably going to try to get another 10 lb of fat off before I start my bulk. Could I start bulking right now? Yeah I definitely could, but for how long? Building muscle takes time, a guy who's 10% body fat can bulk for 4-6 months no problem and put on some muscle, the guy who's 15-20% is only going to be able to bolt for like 4 to 6 weeks before they've gotten too fat, and realistically, you're not going to build any noticeable amount of muscle in 4 to 6 weeks. Not even on steroids

I appreciate your help. I'm pretty lean right now and want to put on muscle. But I'm afraid of gaining fat on a bulk. Got any tips?

 

[Smont]

I appreciate your help. I'm pretty lean right now and want to put on muscle. But I'm afraid of gaining fat on a bulk. Got any tips?

It kind of depends on where you're coming from, If you were someone who used to be a big person, high body fat and you've lost a lot of weight to get where you're at now, if you're that person you're going to want to go into a very small surplus, find your baseline calories and maybe eat 200 over maintenance to start. It's inevitable that you're going to gain some fat and that's why I always say the leaner you are when you start the more runway you have to grow, that's not my personal theory that's kind of any bodybuilding coachs logic. Now if you're someone who's been fairly lean and or athletic most of your life, you can probably get away with a much larger surplus. Maybe 300-500 above your maintenance. Your number one fear is putting on too much fat, so your number one focus should be locking up your diet. And consistency with your diet and your training is going to produce the results. S*** takes time

This part is not something you're going to want to be doing from day one....

I'm also a fan of carb cycling. If you have a day where you're not in the gym or maybe you're only doing cardio and not lifting weights, keep your calories in your carbohydrates a little bit lower on those days. If it's leg day or maybe you're someone who does push pull legs so you have a big workout of some sort coming up, have more carbs and more calories on those days. As long as everything balances out at the end of the week. I mean we're not always in a surplus and we're not always in a deficit, it changes on a daily basis and you don't have to get very creative with it. Eating steady state calorie baselines does work. But this is a good way to have days where you're burning a little bit more fat and then have days where you're fueled up for better performance in the gym to build more muscle.

That's not something you need to worry about right now though you just need to work on consistently getting in the right food and good workouts.

How old are you?

 

[nutrition_110]

It kind of depends on where you're coming from, If you were someone who used to be a big person, high body fat and you've lost a lot of weight to get where you're at now, if you're that person you're going to want to go into a very small surplus, find your baseline calories and maybe eat 200 over maintenance to start. It's inevitable that you're going to gain some fat and that's why I always say the leaner you are when you start the more runway you have to grow, that's not my personal theory that's kind of any bodybuilding coachs logic. Now if you're someone who's been fairly lean and or athletic most of your life, you can probably get away with a much larger surplus. Maybe 300-500 above your maintenance. Your number one fear is putting on too much fat, so your number one focus should be locking up your diet. And consistency with your diet and your training is going to produce the results. S*** takes time

This part is not something you're going to want to be doing from day one....

I'm also a fan of carb cycling. If you have a day where you're not in the gym or maybe you're only doing cardio and not lifting weights, keep your calories in your carbohydrates a little bit lower on those days. If it's leg day or maybe you're someone who does push pull legs so you have a big workout of some sort coming up, have more carbs and more calories on those days. As long as everything balances out at the end of the week. I mean we're not always in a surplus and we're not always in a deficit, it changes on a daily basis and you don't have to get very creative with it. Eating steady state calorie baselines does work. But this is a good way to have days where you're burning a little bit more fat and then have days where you're fueled up for better performance in the gym to build more muscle.

That's not something you need to worry about right now though you just need to work on consistently getting in the right food and good workouts.

How old are you?

TThanks! Im 22 years old. I'm a former D1 athlete but only recently have I been lifting for aesthetics