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"Males should be ~10-12% body fat before even considering going on any kind of ‘bulk’

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Administrator. Graeme
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"Males should be ~10-12% body fat before even considering going on any kind of ‘bulk’

"Males should be ~10-12% body fat before even considering going on any kind of ‘bulk’" - thoughts?

Source: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html/
Author: Lyle McDonald
Quote: "First and foremost, for reasons outlined in my article "Initial Body Fat and Body Composition Changes", trainees should not be starting out their muscle gaining phase too fat. Males should be ~10-12% body fat before even considering going on any kind of ‘bulk’"
 
The percentages are subjective, but I kind of agree. If you're 20% bodyfat, that's not the time to start 'bulking'. It doesn't mean you have to cut down to 10%, just don't aim to gain more unnecessary weight.
 
yeah I would think that's a pretty fair statement, if your 20% and bulk all you are really gonna do is get fatter......sure you will make some gains along the way but will make cutting down a long road then it necessarily should be.
 
I agree, I've gone from 75kg skinny fat to 90kg and I'm even fatter. I would if been around 20% at 75, now I look 25%+
 
Phycologically i agree,

Since stopping my gym work peopel have been commenting at how thinner i am...
 
For a newbie, 20% fat and above would be ideal for body recomp work, wouldn't you say? No cut, no bulk just train and eat to maintenance and watch the tuckshop arms tighten up.
 
Here's a thought.........
If you have 10-12% body fat, why would you want to 'bulk'
In fact, why the fuck would anyone 'bulk' at all

'bulking' is one the most ridiculous bodybuilding myths of all time.
 
Darkoz said:
Here's a thought.........
If you have 10-12% body fat, why would you want to 'bulk'
In fact, why the fuck would anyone 'bulk' at all

'bulking' is one the most ridiculous bodybuilding myths of all time.
Click to expand...

No it's not. All bulking is is adopting a diet that facilitates maximum muscle growth as opposed to say dieting where fat loss is the goal and minimal muscle gains at most may be made. The degree of 'bulking' however is what I think you're referring to. The see-food diet is not necessary, but it is nice to be able to eat whatever whenever.
 
If you will put on say 5-10% body fat over your 'bulk', starting at as low a bf% as possible may well be beneficial as the metabolic effects of being 15% bf as opposed to 20-25% bf will be quite pronounced for some people. Not to mention the amount of time and effort required to get lean from the higher bf%. The lower you are when you adopt a caloric surplus the lower you'll be when you start dieting.
 
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Bulking is simply eating over maintenance in order to help increase muscle mass - "bulking" is needed in order to build muscle. The word bulking though is more associated to people eating every single thing they see be it 10 cheeseburgers or 2kg of steak....yes this sort of bulking is not "needed".

In regards to 10-12% - hard to say really - depends on the goals for training etc - if it is a powerlifting "bulking" to put on as much strength as possible then no it doesn't really matter - if its someone trying to put on mass then yea I guess....I really don't know to be honest....of course if your a fat bastard then "bulking" prob isn't going to be the best - but you would think it would be common sense to drop some weight before trying to gain "good weight" again....
 
And let's not forget our 'enhanced' brothers and sisters who afford to go to more drastic extremes in bulking and cutting phases.
 
Repacked said:
No it's not. All bulking is is adopting a diet that facilitates maximum muscle growth as opposed to say dieting where fat loss is the goal and minimal muscle gains at most may be made. The degree of 'bulking' however is what I think you're referring to. The see-food diet is not necessary, but it is nice to be able to eat whatever whenever.
Click to expand...
Yes it is
It's a myth and it's ridiculous.

Food is medicine and fuel
 
If I was sitting (say) at 20% fat, my aim would be to maintain weight (if I'm happy with that particular weight for my height), with a focus on recompositioning it to a more favourable or desirable ratio of lean to fat mass. You find out / you project what your maintenance caloric intake would be at that lean weight, and you adjust your calories accordingly. All this whilst engaging in the most appropriate type of exercise program for attaining such a goal.
 
Its not a myth as such - it is just misunderstood - if you have ever eaten over maintenance then you are "bulking" - you are in the process of eating more in order to gain weight.

There is no need to eat every single thing in sight and live off pizza and chips in order to bulk - this if you wish to call it - is a "myth"
 
Here's a thought, does anyone here think that 'bulking', as in adding muscle, can be achieved without actually eating any more.
 
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