General questions about diet/training................

[Liberator]

Ive been eating a bulking up style diet since February, and have been gaining pretty well from then. I havent been training too long, well I have but never as strict and as planned as this year.

Anyway, I am 6ft 4 and 190lbs NOW (first thing in the morning) and my bodyfat is between 12-14%. I said it was 8-9% in an earlier post, but it turns out the person who did this wasent qualified, so it was wrong and I had it done AGAIN at my gym.

I know thats not a huge weight, but believe me I am training my heart out and my goal is to get a year into hard training and a good diet, then start thinking about the way I look and what I want to change etc.

I only want to know if it is worth cutting to 10% bf, theres no point going below that I know, or would you stay put and continue to gain for another 3 months or so??

I dont want to gain much more fat, but on the otherhand I dont want to lose any muscle or sacrifice long term gains.

Come on bros, any advice would be appreciated, if I can return any favours, just say the word.

I am very determined.

I am VERY determined.....

I AM VERY DETERMINED!!!!

Thanks for your help

 

[JB3]

I've been told by a reliable source that the best muscle gains are attained at a bodyfat of around 13-15%. He says this is because the body will not use protein for fuel at this stage because there is no fear a famine.

Now, he could be full of it, but it sounds reasonable.

Pick an arbitrary percentage... say 15%. Bulk until you hit that number. Then cut until you hit another arbitrary percentage (your lowest realistically attainable figure)... say 10%. Repeat. How high you let your bodyfat become is only dependant upon your comfort level.

Just as a note... I've maintain roughly 12-13% bodyfat for the past few years. Three months ago I decided I wanted to be as lean as possible for summer, so I really started watching my diet, etc. I'm not about 9.5% (caliper testd) and feel great. It only took 6-8 weeks of slow but steady progress. I lost no strength in the gym and actually maintained my bodyweight, meaning muscle gain. Hey, I'm happy. My next goal of 7% is going to be a bitch.

 

[Liberator]

Well Ive never done a cutting diet before either so I was interested in trying it out to get down to 10% and then bulking up again.

But since you mentioned about what your friend said in terms of bf% for optimum muscle gain, I am not sure!!

I would prefer to stay between 10-12%, as I have always been lean, it seems weird being 14% now. I dunno, I dont want to look a skinny 10%, but saying that its only about 7lb reduction.

I was going to do another week of this diet and then go on a cutting diet and aim for a deficit of 1lb a week if I can get the diet right.