To Cut or To Bulk?

[alam906]

Hi Guys,

I'm 5'6" at 155 lbs, roughly at between 15-20% body fat from the last time I checked with calipers. I'm about to go on a vacation and will take that as my SD. When I get back, should I cut or bulk?

I want to get bigger, but I'm getting really discouraged by my oversized belly.

I posted up pictures for you guys to see.

Do you think that's accurate to say I'm 15-20% bodyfat?

I use http://www.linear-software.com/online.html to check my BF using 3 areas (chest, abs, thigh). Am I doing the abs measurement correctly? It site says vertical pinch, but everywhere I look online (youtube) and such shows a horizontal pinch.

Would it be most effective to just cut until I'm below 10% and then bulk again?

Left picture is flexed and right picture is relaxed.

Thank you in advance.

PS: If I was to cut, should I stay on creatine or get off it?

 

[Jester]

Tangent - I think you might want to work on your posture until standing 'straighter' comes more naturally.

Left pick looks fine, right pick obv. less flattering.

If you want to get bigger, do the bulk. If you want to look leaner, do the cut. Useful, right? Just figure out what you priority right now is, and do that first. Neither choice will prevent you doing the other later.

 

[alam906]

Thank you for the input. I'll definitely work in my posture and I think I pretty much will cut first. The stomach is just ****ing me up mentally.

By the way, am I suppose to do a horizontal or vertical pinch at the abs (1-2 inch from the navel)?

Also, should I stop the creatine in the cut?

 

[Totentanz]

If you are going to use the calculator on linear software then do it the way linear software says. Otherwise their calculator will be useless to you, it is assuming in its calculations that you will do measurements the way you are told.

Further, ab skinfolds are always vertical. The ones you see that are horizontal are not ab skinfolds. Those are suprailiac skinfold. Suprailiac and abdominal are not the same thing.

 

[Jester]

Whatever weight Creatine adds will come and go w/taking it. If you stop it, you'll get slimmer, and vice versa.

(Obviously you gain muscle a bit more easily if you're taking it and in surplus, but that's not what we're talking about).

 

[hark]

Hard to say. You are in the limbo state of bodybuilding.
I would say cut down at least until your belly is more flat in proportional to your pecs, and then bulk.

 

[gbglifter]

To flatten stomach, do several crunches daily accompanied by running, jogging, swimming and walking. You will see changes a month after starting the routine.

Id rather recommend to sort the macros out first and foremost. Workout BMR then make sure youre in a deficit. Keep lifting as youre doing now, however you may have to decrease volume as you´re in a calorific deficit. Obviously the cardio can be a compliment to the diet but its still the diet thats the most important factor. Ive found that cardio is just a pain in the ass whilst cutting.

Re: abwork; it will help shape the stomach but its not going to remove the fat thats hiding your abs at the moment. I do abs a couple of times a week regardless of whether Im cutting or bulking.

 

[manimal]

Tangent - I think you might want to work on your posture until standing 'straighter' comes more naturally.

Yup, nothing but man boob with bad posture. Posture = confidence.

Re: abwork; it will help shape the stomach but its not going to remove the fat thats hiding your abs at the moment. I do abs a couple of times a week regardless of whether Im cutting or bulking.

Agreed, you can do countless hours of ab work and you'll still have a belly if you aren't going to work on the cardio to burn the fat.

 

[gbglifter]

Agreed, you can do countless hours of ab work and you'll still have a belly if you aren't going to work on the cardio to burn the fat.

Im not really sure cardio is the best way to burn fat. I prefer the "make sure you have a calorie deficit method". The most successful cut Ive ever had was achieved using almost zero cardio. Lifting heavy and eating in a deficit is my preferred method.

 

[Totentanz]

I rarely do cardio while cutting either. Abs still start to show. It's all about diet and lifting heavy enough so you don't lose muscle.

 

[Sci]

If I had a sedentary job, I would definitely be doing regular cardio. Both for the health benefits and fat-burning effects. However, since my fulltime job is fairly physical, I tend to get plenty if activity and burn plenty of calories at work, so cardio is a very low priority for me also, even when I am cutting.