Bulk? Cut? Help with diet & workout

Hi all,

So I have been meaning to take some pictures and weight myself in the morning after I have been to the bathroom etc.

Finally got a chance to do that now. Jumped on the scale and it says 53.5KG and estimated my bodyfat at 14.4% (My friends caliper says between 11 and 12% however not sure we know 100% how to use the caliper).

Took some pictures, hope they are alright. Excuse the sandals as its cold outside! I tried to take everything relaxed but seems I naturally tense up a bit at times so here are quite a few pictures.

Sorry about the bad quality, waiting to get a new phone so using a cheapy one in the interim.

Yes, my chest dips / caves inwards in the middle and I HATE it. However do not think there is anything I can do about that


So I am in a hurry so will make this quick, hoping for some advice as to whether I should bulk or cut as I have quite a bit of fat around my belly section. I just realized there are a few other pictures I'd have liked to take but forgot so will take them later and post. In those pictures my stomach area does not look all that bad. Right now I am sitting down and looking at my stomach and it is ugh! Can't see my abs at all, just some fat. I want it gone!!


Then I will also post a link to how I have been eating for the past week or so when I get the chance to and as for my workout routine I have been doing some make do full body exercises for the past 2 or so weeks and yesterday started with the full body routine Furk posted in my testosterone blood tests thread.

So if there is any other information you need let me know and I will attend to it as soon as I get back.

Thank guys!
Psy

Yip, do the routine I posted.

Don't worry about your belly. After your diet is fixed and you start training like a man, all will fall into place. Don't think about "bulking" or "cutting". Think about getting stronger. Trust me you'll be fine.

Agree with Furk. Build a foundation to work with before you get caught up in the hoo ha of being huge. Step by step bro.

Sorry for the delayed replies, been busy with work this long weekend. Need to get a few things sorted while its quiet.

Ok, so how much should I be eating? Right now I have My Fitness Pal set to me wanting to try and gain 0.25KG a week which has my daily calorie intake at around 2300. So I am aiming for around that.
My maintenance is around 1800 - 1950 or so. I imagine that is fine?



Then I am also hoping you can assist me with putting a diet together, or at least giving me some foods which are decent to eat.
I think let me try and find a few minutes and get a few sample diets and then try and adjust it to my liking and then post that and see if you can perhaps let me know whether it is good, if there is anything I should / can adjust etc. etc.



@Furk, once every 4 days seems a like it isn't quite enough? I was initially going to do it EOD?
Thinking about every 3rd day and see how I feel and then perhaps increase it to EOD?

If every 4 days isn't enough, you're training like a pansy. As a beginner, you'll get colossal response from a whole body workouts.

Your not a body builder, you should not train like one.

Furk wrote: If every 4 days isn't enough, you're training like a pansy. As a beginner, you'll get colossal response from a whole body workouts.

Alright then, noted.
So I need to increase the weights? Otherwise I am possibly doing something else wrong (such as form)?

When do I know when I should be adjusting my routine or perhaps not resting for as many days?


I am certainly still a beginner, however it is not as if I have not been lifting weights. Once upon a time I weighed 48KG and had less muscle on me than I do in the pics I posted recently
However certainly a looot more muscle which I can pack on.

I really appreciate all your help and advice Furk and am certainly putting it all to practice!

Workouts need to be intense. This program assumes you are warmed-up so you can lift heavy in working sets. For now keep to this program, will revert with changes if needed.

Your welcome bud.

Ok, so far so good I think.

Getting use to the 5x5, having to increase the weight compared to what I am use to. Still finding it hard to feel the need to wait so long until gyming again.
Tried to go heavier but if I go any heavier then my form suffers. Tried 32.5KG a side for squats and was not able to go parallel so dropped to 30KG however still felt as if I could have gone back to gym before the every 4 day wait was up.

Main reason I am replying though is diet related, still not on the 100% perfect diet and one thing I have noticed and have been wondering about a bit is macros (carbs, protein, fat).
I tend to not consume a lot of carbs compared to what MyFitnessPal recommends, however my protein is generally always higher each day and my fat is normally within the recommended.
I do manage to get my daily calories in though - how much does it matter what my macro breakdown / ratio is like? Provided I am eating fairly clean and getting enough protein as well as calories is it alright or should I be aiming for a certain ratio or something along those lines?

I noticed a lot of people eat lots of carbs in their diets on this forum, lots of rice in particular. My main focus is eating meat truth be told.

You NEED carbs to grow!!!

try upping the carbs

Psy, will give proper reply soon. Don't change your diet, just track it. Just get 100g protein more or less. We can work out details later.

Alrighty, so I should perhaps try eat a bit more carbs then and always aim for at least 100g of Protein. I generally easily reach the protein amount even without taking a shake.


As for carbs, you get simple and complex carbs and then you get your low GI and high GI foods however it seems as if you get complex carbs which can be high GI too?
Adding certain types of food to a meal can affect the rate at which is absorbed into the body and after my little bit of Google while typing this it seems as if it can become complicated quickly. haha

I have been tracking it with MFP however not every single day and not 100%. Such as with my oats I add a bit of honey and milk which I seldom add into MFP.
Some things I can't find on MFP so I substitute it, such as last night we had a stew but with ostrich meat as opposed to beef which is what I listed on MFP.
Also I have been using honey as opposed to sugar in my oats and am starting to wonder whether it is any better than sugar actually?
Also I have been eating the Jungle Instant Oats, seems the instant oats are not preferable though.

My comments in red mate.

PsyCLown wrote: Ok, so far so good I think.

Getting use to the 5x5, having to increase the weight compared to what I am use to. Still finding it hard to feel the need to wait so long until gyming again.
Tried to go heavier but if I go any heavier then my form suffers. Tried 32.5KG a side for squats and was not able to go parallel so dropped to 30KG however still felt as if I could have gone back to gym before the every 4 day wait was up.

Go back one day earlier and see if you can increase weights. If you can't at least match last times weight + intensity, then you under-rested. Never sacrifice form. For how long have you been following this routine now? I'll bump it up soon I promose Okay so your squating 60kgs, what about the rest of the lifts? Progressing?


Main reason I am replying though is diet related, still not on the 100% perfect diet and one thing I have noticed and have been wondering about a bit is macros (carbs, protein, fat).
I tend to not consume a lot of carbs compared to what MyFitnessPal recommends,(We are not MFP, don't worry about what it reccomends, that is probably based on the standard USDH guidelines) however my protein is generally always higher each day and my fat is normally within the recommended.
I do manage to get my daily calories in though - how much does it matter what my macro breakdown / ratio is like? Provided I am eating fairly clean and getting enough protein as well as calories is it alright or should I be aiming for a certain ratio or something along those lines? Don't worry about ratios for now. The whole point is to asses what you are currently easting/ what you did previously, to get your test so high. Then we keep the positive factors, and replace the negative ones.

I noticed a lot of people eat lots of carbs in their diets on this forum, lots of rice in particular. My main focus is eating meat truth be told. Just track and report. I just want an idea of your usual diet. It's easy to give you are cardboard cut-out template, but that defeats the purpose of coming to the forum. You are welcome to google "muscle mass gain diet" and "bodybuilder training routine", let us know how fat you get.

Furk wrote: My comments in red mate.

PsyCLown wrote: Ok, so far so good I think.

Getting use to the 5x5, having to increase the weight compared to what I am use to. Still finding it hard to feel the need to wait so long until gyming again.
Tried to go heavier but if I go any heavier then my form suffers. Tried 32.5KG a side for squats and was not able to go parallel so dropped to 30KG however still felt as if I could have gone back to gym before the every 4 day wait was up.

1.Go back one day earlier and see if you can increase weights. If you can't at least match last times weight + intensity, then you under-rested. Never sacrifice form. For how long have you been following this routine now? I'll bump it up soon I promose Okay so your squating 60kgs, what about the rest of the lifts? Progressing?


Main reason I am replying though is diet related, still not on the 100% perfect diet and one thing I have noticed and have been wondering about a bit is macros (carbs, protein, fat).
I tend to not consume a lot of carbs compared to what MyFitnessPal recommends,2(We are not MFP, don't worry about what it reccomends, that is probably based on the standard USDH guidelines) however my protein is generally always higher each day and my fat is normally within the recommended.
I do manage to get my daily calories in though - how much does it matter what my macro breakdown / ratio is like? Provided I am eating fairly clean and getting enough protein as well as calories is it alright or should I be aiming for a certain ratio or something along those lines? 3Don't worry about ratios for now. The whole point is to asses what you are currently easting/ what you did previously, to get your test so high. Then we keep the positive factors, and replace the negative ones.

I noticed a lot of people eat lots of carbs in their diets on this forum, lots of rice in particular. My main focus is eating meat truth be told. 4Just track and report. I just want an idea of your usual diet. It's easy to give you are cardboard cut-out template, but that defeats the purpose of coming to the forum. You are welcome to google "muscle mass gain diet" and "bodybuilder training routine", let us know how fat you get.

1. Hmm, ok. Will see how it works out in terms of rest and weight. I did routine B today.
Was squatting 30KG a side again (doesn't the bar weigh 20KG so in total its 80KG?) and I reckon next time I can bump it up to 32.5KG a side with good form.
Other exercises, well, still a bit weird to move back to a 5 rep routine. Need to adjust for that but I think I am progressing a bit. I also think I should really try and make an excel spreadsheet so I can keep track of the weights and such.
I think I started with the routine about a week after you posted it.

2. That is what I was thinking, MFP isn't really built for someone looking at packing on muscle and losing some fat etc. Can be nice and useful when using it to see what your fat and sugar intake is like compared to what is recommended.

3. What I previously did, well, if anything I think the only thing which could have caused my test to be as high as it is is taking the SSN protein which I have cut down a bit on now depending on how much protein I get for the day. If I reach what I should be aiming for with normal food, I do not have a shake.

4. Yeah, that is something I learn the hard way. Recommendations from people can be quite dangerous. I ended up on a mass gainer and I think that is one of the worst decisions I have made with regards to bodybuilding. It sure makes you pick up weight, but its all fat. Full of sugar.
In terms of my tracking, I think you will be able to view it here: www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/PsyCLownZA
There are some days missing in between but keep scrolling back and you will find stuff. Today I have just not been hungry

So you ready for a new routine yet?

Furk wrote: So you ready for a new routine yet?

Sure! Give it to me.

Depends, how's your progress? Slowing down or increasing weights/intensity every workout?

Furk wrote: Depends, how's your progress? Slowing down or increasing weights/intensity every workout?

Stayed the same this last work out, although I have stopped with the Creatine as well as Whey Protein.

My bench press might have been a bit stronger though. I did not struggle with 12.5KG a side as much as I was previously. Probably the best bench press I had done ever actually.

PsyCLown wrote:

Furk wrote: Depends, how's your progress? Slowing down or increasing weights/intensity every workout?

Stayed the same this last work out, although I have stopped with the Creatine as well as Whey Protein.

My bench press might have been a bit stronger though. I did not struggle with 12.5KG a side as much as I was previously. Probably the best bench press I had done ever actually.

Are you saying you bench 45kg?

I can bench 45kg, promise.

Oupa wrote: I can bench 45kg, promise.

I want to be JUST LIKE YOU! :lol:

On a serious not I just saw his bodyweight, but some training with a half decent trainer just to improve form.will help your lifts bud.

Psy, if your bench is so much weaker than your squat, you need to focus more on your upper body. Eish, I'll take another look at your routine the weekend maybe, but for now put more focus on the upped body component of your regime.

You shouldn't be expecting an increase in bodyweight just yet. Just get back on the crias and eat solid food.

Furk wrote: Psy, if your bench is so much weaker than your squat, you need to focus more on your upper body. Eish, I'll take another look at your routine the weekend maybe, but for now put more focus on the upped body component of your regime.

You shouldn't be expecting an increase in bodyweight just yet. Just get back on the crias and eat solid food.

Yeah, my upper body is certainly much weaker. Chest has improved a lot since I first started at gym and my arms are lagging. Was thinking of possibly doing a day inbetween the routine where I do just arms, abs and calves?

What should the bench press be compared to your bodyweight in terms of percentage?


I would love to have someone who knows their stuff help me out and check me on my form. However actually meeting someone from this forum seems very slim.

First goals.

For a start, Aim to lift equal to your body weight in the big lifts i.e. Squat, Bench Press, Dead Lift.