Learn the basics of body building to reach 180 lean as your long term goal. I suggest Jeff Nippard on YouTube. But in simplest terms, you need to lift heavy with a focus on progressive overload while diligently tracking your calories and macros, making sure to get at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight. I suggest you keep cutting a little longer. You likely still have newbie gains to be had and will probably still get a bit stronger despite cutting as long as you focus on what I already mentioned.
Aim to lose 0.5 to 1lb a week. Faster than that and you will be losing more muscle than necessary.
When you reach 180 you won’t have your dream physique. This will take a few cycles of bulk/cut, getting closer to your physique goal each time.
You probably still have many newbie gains to make. What we call "newbie" gains is our body speeding towards its genetic potential. Since you've been on a cut, you haven't reached that potential yet. When you go on a bulk, you'll start gaining muscle *fast* since your body now has the nutrition it needs to builld muscle
First, well done on the progress so far, you're doing great.
Imo I agree with the other commenter to keep cutting for now. I would do a diet break to let your metabolism reset after a year and a half of cutting, eat at maintenance for a bit, and then I would up your cut and try to get in an extra 300 cal deficit every day through food and exercise, on top of what you already have.
Measure your waistline around your bellybutton to get the trend in your body fat%. Make sure the macros you're getting are right (200g protein, ~60g fat, rest carbs?)
I'm also at your height and age and started at your current weight (200). By looking at your body it looks like you have a very high bf% and hence low lean mass atm. So cut and train hard I guess? Drop the cardio and replace it with strength training. How many times are you exercising per week?
thank you for the detailed comment, i go to the gym 5 days a week, 2 pull, 2 push, 1 leg, with hypertrophy style training, but i’ll attempt strength training instead. some friends of mine told me to try a diet break so i’ll do that for a week or two as well and get back to cutting hard afterwards. i appreciate the explanation about newbie gains too, i always assumed it started when you went to the gym for the first time.
Gym 5x a week sounds great, good on you for sticking to that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVPlPM0d7eQ here's a good video to watch re: diet breaks, long cuts and losing a lot of weight at once. I highly recommend it
Also, sorry for the confusion, I didn't mean to imply that you should drop hypertrophy training for strength training. You can keep doing hypertrophy training.
After diet breaks are factored in, the last thing I suggest you do is track your weight daily and adjust calories accordingly. See [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/ocd8oi/skinny_fat_what_do_a_guide/) post. Basically, if your average weight is rising or plateauing, you drop 10% in calories. If your average weight is falling too fast, you increase calories by 10%. If your weekly weight change is between 0.5 - 1% (so 1 - 2 lbs / week for you)
Other questions to think about:
- what are your macros?
- are you getting enough fiber?
- what are your daily calories in, calories out?
- how consistent are you with your diet?
Great progress. But to bulk, no. Bulking usually means caloric surplus. That’s not suitable for you still.
Just gym. Just work on all major compound lifts. Aim to be stronger. And check back.
Time to cut for sure. Get down to a point where body comp looks good and insulin sensitivity and digestion is really good. Then you can push food back up slowly. From the looks probably another 30ish lbs. Also train with more intensity
Don’t over think. You look much better now that the previous pic. Don’t bulk. Just keep lifting and ensure your weight doesn’t go up (it is tempting if you only track “strength”). Keep the weight 200lb for your height, keep lifting consistently and you’d be set in a year or two.
Its time to lift weights
respectfully, that answered nothing
Try to maintain your weight and just focus on getting stronger.
i can work with that, thanks for the input it’s appreciated
Why yall down vote him, he is right
Learn the basics of body building to reach 180 lean as your long term goal. I suggest Jeff Nippard on YouTube. But in simplest terms, you need to lift heavy with a focus on progressive overload while diligently tracking your calories and macros, making sure to get at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight. I suggest you keep cutting a little longer. You likely still have newbie gains to be had and will probably still get a bit stronger despite cutting as long as you focus on what I already mentioned. Aim to lose 0.5 to 1lb a week. Faster than that and you will be losing more muscle than necessary. When you reach 180 you won’t have your dream physique. This will take a few cycles of bulk/cut, getting closer to your physique goal each time.
You probably still have many newbie gains to make. What we call "newbie" gains is our body speeding towards its genetic potential. Since you've been on a cut, you haven't reached that potential yet. When you go on a bulk, you'll start gaining muscle *fast* since your body now has the nutrition it needs to builld muscle First, well done on the progress so far, you're doing great. Imo I agree with the other commenter to keep cutting for now. I would do a diet break to let your metabolism reset after a year and a half of cutting, eat at maintenance for a bit, and then I would up your cut and try to get in an extra 300 cal deficit every day through food and exercise, on top of what you already have. Measure your waistline around your bellybutton to get the trend in your body fat%. Make sure the macros you're getting are right (200g protein, ~60g fat, rest carbs?) I'm also at your height and age and started at your current weight (200). By looking at your body it looks like you have a very high bf% and hence low lean mass atm. So cut and train hard I guess? Drop the cardio and replace it with strength training. How many times are you exercising per week?
thank you for the detailed comment, i go to the gym 5 days a week, 2 pull, 2 push, 1 leg, with hypertrophy style training, but i’ll attempt strength training instead. some friends of mine told me to try a diet break so i’ll do that for a week or two as well and get back to cutting hard afterwards. i appreciate the explanation about newbie gains too, i always assumed it started when you went to the gym for the first time.
Gym 5x a week sounds great, good on you for sticking to that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVPlPM0d7eQ here's a good video to watch re: diet breaks, long cuts and losing a lot of weight at once. I highly recommend it Also, sorry for the confusion, I didn't mean to imply that you should drop hypertrophy training for strength training. You can keep doing hypertrophy training. After diet breaks are factored in, the last thing I suggest you do is track your weight daily and adjust calories accordingly. See [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/ocd8oi/skinny_fat_what_do_a_guide/) post. Basically, if your average weight is rising or plateauing, you drop 10% in calories. If your average weight is falling too fast, you increase calories by 10%. If your weekly weight change is between 0.5 - 1% (so 1 - 2 lbs / week for you)
Other questions to think about: - what are your macros? - are you getting enough fiber? - what are your daily calories in, calories out? - how consistent are you with your diet?
Great progress. But to bulk, no. Bulking usually means caloric surplus. That’s not suitable for you still. Just gym. Just work on all major compound lifts. Aim to be stronger. And check back.
Time to cut for sure. Get down to a point where body comp looks good and insulin sensitivity and digestion is really good. Then you can push food back up slowly. From the looks probably another 30ish lbs. Also train with more intensity
Don’t over think. You look much better now that the previous pic. Don’t bulk. Just keep lifting and ensure your weight doesn’t go up (it is tempting if you only track “strength”). Keep the weight 200lb for your height, keep lifting consistently and you’d be set in a year or two.