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When to stop bulking?

avega17

Member
I've been on a slow bulk for over a year and a half now, went from 172-206 with minimal fat gain. What body fat percentage should I stop at when bulking before dieting back down a bit?
 
avega17 said:
I've been on a slow bulk for over a year and a half now, went from 172-206 with minimal fat gain. What body fat percentage should I stop at when bulking before dieting back down a bit?
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Really depends on the end goal

You want abs?
Want to compete?
 
avega17 said:
I've been on a slow bulk for over a year and a half now, went from 172-206 with minimal fat gain. What body fat percentage should I stop at when bulking before dieting back down a bit?
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Only you can answer that... theres no magic number
 
avega17 said:
At what percentage does insulin sensitivity decrease and partitioning disadvantages start to set in?
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I'd think at 20% but hell if you bulk to that extent you might be eating too much. Could pick up lyle McDonald's guide to rapid fatloss to drop a good amount of that fat in just a month or 2 and slowly revamp to a bulk again after.
 
avega17 said:
I've been on a slow bulk for over a year and a half now, went from 172-206 with minimal fat gain. What body fat percentage should I stop at when bulking before dieting back down a bit?
Click to expand...

When you are a disgustingly large individual and you can't squat anymore because there is no room in a rack. haha
 
I usually stop when I start feeling my clothes all getting too tight, at that point it's cut or buy more clothes, and I'm cheap.
 
You'd most likely see a decrease in insulin sensitivity and rate of muscle growth, along with an increased rate of fat storage, well before 20% bf. Generally, the leaner you are, the better your insulin sensitivity will be. I personally don't like to get past 10-11% when adding weight and will incorporate "mini-diets" to stay within range.

Here's a couple "bulking" related articles:

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breezy11 said:
You'd most likely see a decrease in insulin sensitivity and rate of muscle growth, along with an increased rate of fat storage, well before 20% bf. Generally, the leaner you are, the better your insulin sensitivity will be. I personally don't like to get past 10-11% when adding weight and will incorporate "mini-diets" to stay within range.

Here's a couple "bulking" related articles:

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Thanks for the links, the descriptions in these articles match what's going on for me exactly. Time to start reducing calories.
 
I would definitely stop bulking around 15% ideally - and don't go past 20%. Unless you're just doing it for strength or something there's no point in getting so fat people don't even know if you lift. Plus it's hard on your body to go up and down like that all the time. And as someone previously mentioned your body - from what I've read - is in a more anabolic state while you're leaner. And on top of that - once you make new fat cells - ain't no getting rid of em. You just shrink them.
 
It's all situational and preference for each person.

I personally view things as I'd want to get to my ideal bf% and then slowly try to add calories to increase lean mass without adding fat. So in that sense it would be a permabulk, but not in the sense of seeing the scale move up much at all. But then again, I'm someone who has always been on the bigger side and can easily add strength/weight, but it's like pulling teeth to lose it. So there are days I deal with wanting to be bigger if I'm cutting down (body dysmorphia issues) and I'll feel like my arms are tiny. In the past, that's when I'd switch gears and start eating more and trying to gain it back, but I've come to terms with my own issues and know I'm happier when I'm leaner. It allows me a lot more freedom in the sports I choose to play, feeling confident without a shirt on, etc.

So for me, it's get lean and then stay lean while living a moderate life of just trying to add strength and a pound here and there -- not 15 pound cycles or anything like that :)
 
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