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on a SS bulk... skinny-fat?

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C

CrossFyer

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Long-ish background first:

Tried SS last fall for a few months, saw some nice results. I went from 165 to 180 (at 6'4, age 20) The 165 was like 10lbs lower than usual though, because I was coming off surgery and inactivity.

Anyway, I started feeling more confident about the squat, deadlift, and press, which were all new exercises for me. Got squat close to 200lb, same with deadlift, press 85lb or so (couldn't even do bar with my previously bad shoulders)

The bench press never really broke through my pre-surgery levels, I'm still really weak. (135 is max set of 5)

During the spring I was going to continue SS but it fell though. Lots of sports going on, then right in the middle of those a knee sprain thing took me out for a month+. Anyway I gave up consistent lifting until the summer (now)



With that background, here's the problem. Gaining those 15 pounds did increase my muscles a little, but I also gained around the waist. Being still skinny but having love handles looks really bad. Since summer break started a couple weeks ago I've been eating like crazy and doing SS again, but I'm just worried about the extra fat. Also I have a real hard time putting on much muscle, especially in the chest.

What should I do during this SS bulk to help keep the fat down? Chilling at the beach, you sure don't want to be the skinny-fat guy. Even if I DO get 10 pounds of muscle in the next 6 weeks or so, i'm still going to be kinda skinny on muscle because of my height...so how do I get the fat off?

Do a little cardio on the side? I'd like to be playing basketball some, would that help?

Or is it mostly dietary? At this point I eat eggs/sausage or cold cereal at breakfast, usually make a deli sandwich w/ milk for lunch, and a good homecooked meal for dinner. I usually get a chick-fila sandwich combo for an afternoon or late evening snack. Protein shake or smoothie after workout. Half gallon of whole milk per day on average. I stay away from soda, maybe once every other week. Most unhealthy habit would not be soda/chips/popcorn, but more like sweets after dinner.

thanks 🙂
 
You have two choices:

1. Do a slow bulk. This minimizes fat gain, but also makes the process of gaining muscle VERY VERY slow. This is primarily accomplished by keeping your caloric surplus fairly low and making sure your weight gain is very gradual.

2. Alternate bulk & cut cycles. During the bulk, you gain as much weight as possible. This will include muscle and fat. The exact proportion of each will depend on your diet, genetics and training, though the ratio of muscle:fat usually ranges from 2:1 to 1:1. After that, you do a cut cycle to burn away the fat and leave the muscle: see the fat loss sticky for a guide. The disadvantage is that you have to be willing to put up with extra fat while you bulk. The advantage is that this strategy gets most people to their desired body composition MUCH faster than a slow bulk. Using very rough estimates, you could expect to gain 15lbs of muscle and 15lbs of fat on a bulk in 2-3 months. You could than cut 15lbs of fat in the subsequent 2-3 months. So after 4-6 months, you end up with a net gain of ~15lbs of muscle. If you tried to achieve this through a slow bulk, you'd be very lucky to gain 15lbs of muscle in an entire year.
 
I don't know why you're even worrying about this. You are still VERY skinny for your height. If I were you, I would just eat my ass off and get my lifts up. It will all balance out once you are strong and an appropriate size/weight.
 
I can relate to his worry about gaining the fat. Personally when I gain some weight, you can really see it in my face (I get a chubby double-chin). I hate this, and even though i'm not fat at all at 170, 6'1, with regular clothes on I can look fat. I did some SS about a year and a half ago and got up to 185, but I never got around to cutting. Well till I got mono and lost 20 pounds. Anyway I've been doing a slow bulk since and am happier with the results. At 170, I am lifting the same weight as I was at 185, minus I assume, 15 pounds of fat.
 
You are skinny, but it's June. I hate to break this to you but you aren't going to gain that much muscle for this summer. You have a much better shot of cutting the fat you've already gained than you do of making any significant gains that any chick is going to be able to distinguish under the fat you've already gained.

If you'd like to not be skinny you need to start a routine that consists of longer than a month. When your goals are 2 years out then it will actually appear that you are making an effort towards something tangible.

Don't get me wrong though, I don't think you should stop doing SS. At 6'4 180lbs and with apparently very little previous training experience, I think you'd be able to make plenty of gains without the constant "bulking" you are doing right now. The term "beginner gains" gets thrown around a lot over here, and if anyone can pull off some beginner gains, it's you.

Improve your lifts, lose the fat, and be happy with how you look for the summer. If you want to do something more drastic, save it for September. That's my view, however I wouldn't be surprised to see a few disagree with it.
 
brikis98 and skace gave you good suggestions.

Since it's already June you won't be able to get good amount of muscle while staying lean by the end of the summer. Timing just isn't there. So if you're worried about looking good this summer season to woo a chick or whatnot, you probably shouldn't do traditional bulk and do slow bulking with good dose of cardio to cut extra fat, build up stamina, and raise general fitness level. After summer is over you can go onto more traditional bulk/cut cycle.
 
thanks for the replies. you guys were on track with them...

basically I'm not planning to get much bigger in the next month or two. 5-10 pounds is fine, I'll still look skinny, that's okay as long as the "beginning gains" in strength are happening.

I'm not quite sure if what I'm about to pursue would be a cut or a slow bulk. Thinking slow bulk because I'm planning to have a slight caloric surplus, but it could be "cut" because I'm hoping to cut bodyfat percentage too. And the main reason this is possible would be because I'm still a beginner on most of these lifts?

Lastly, which would have a better effect toward my goals (or should i do both): Changing up my diet to be pretty clean by cutting out basically all sweets (which would suck but I'll do it). OR, getting more cardio in. (basically playing basketball or riding bike more which would be easy to implement)
Also I could try swimming some laps.
 
You should do both. You may not need to make drastic changes in both areas, but you certainly need to analyze them and understand what you are doing. For instance, find out the nutritional facts on that chik-fil-a sandwhich that you like - things of that nature.

The best results come from analyzing all aspects of your life.
 
I can totally relate to your issue. I think I gained about 15 lbs (from about 150 to about 165 lbs) in about 4 weeks due to the SS bulk. I have seen my belly area gain some extra luggage. I would not worry about it, just keep it going until you get the results you want. I would probably do cardio as well. As said, being on a surplus will not make you lose weight. I would just ride it out this summer.
 
I've went from 160lbs to 210 in 3 in a half months. Yes, I've gained some fat but I've also gained a TON of muscle too. It's worth it to be temporarily fat, after you've reached your desired size you can just cut the fat and be jacked as hell.

Or you could slowly bulk over a year or two and be where I'll be at in 6 months.
 
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