r/leangains • u/Successful_Concern77 • 24d ago

M22,195lb,5’10, - Do I have enough muscle to cut and look decent?

I have been on a 6 month journey this year where I managed to go from 245 lbs to 195 lbs and want to know if I have enough muscle to cut my calories back? I don’t want to cut with 0 muscle and look bad. I’m lost on whether to keep filling out my frame or if I should start cutting.

https://imgur.com/a/e0NdpLJ

21 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

13

u/drillyapussy 24d ago

Nah bro you’re fine. You’ve got like 2 years worth of muscle in only 6 months

0

u/Successful_Concern77 24d ago

Thank you, however, im afraid I will lose all my gains if I cut down to 165-170

6

u/VegaGT-VZ 24d ago

You will lose some but you will get them back once you start eating again

Peak physique is like 5lb-10lb above your min cutting weight. Basically at your leanest with your glycogen restored.

And give yourself time, it will prob take a good year or so to lose that 25-30lb while holding on to your lean mass.

1

u/Omelete_du_fromage 23d ago

With muscle memory and how quickly lost muscle from a cut comes back, I wouldn’t cut that slowly/be in a deficit for a year. Half a lbs a week is unnecessarily slow IMO.

1

u/VegaGT-VZ 23d ago

I should have mentioned my approach- I agree trying to trickle down 1/2lb a week for long stretches is unrealistic. But so is trying to chop 15-20% BW in one bite. Math (1lb a week for half a year) is one thing, actually executing that in real life is something else.

]So IMO it's realistic to limit cuts to like 10-15lb or 5-7% BW at a time. Then give yourself at least the length of that cut (though pref 2x the time IMO) to recover, and repeat until you hit your goal physique. The recovery periods in between help you learn how to maintain/"maingain" as well which is key for actually staying lean. Why make time your enemy when you can make it your ally.

1

u/Omelete_du_fromage 23d ago

Yeah okay this is much better. I also tend to take for granted how easy it is for me to lose weight (my basal MBR is very high from an autoimmune disease and I’m tall).

If he finds it easy to lose he could probably do it all in two quickish cuts. If not, your approach is ideal.

2

u/VegaGT-VZ 23d ago

Age factors in too. He can prob do 30lb or w/e in one chunk. I used to be able to do like 20-25lb in one chunk. I'm in my 40s now, that shit's not happening.

1

u/Omelete_du_fromage 23d ago edited 23d ago

Finally noticing my metabolism slow down a bit now at 32. My daily requirement is still so high that it’s not an issue for losing weight easily and quickly, but I definitely have to give it more attention and make sure I’m hitting my numbers etc when it used to be “why can’t I gain weight I just had 3 Wendy’s bacon triples 😭” lmao

Yeah at 22 I’d aim for 2lbs a week. And I’ve lived an odd life due to my autoimmune diseases and being an ex powerlifter — my weight has fluctuated wildly as a result. I’ve been able to see first hand how incredible muscle memory is. Fast aggressive cuts. I know the literature recommends against fast aggressive cuts due to how much muscle is lost.

But god damn does it come back like you’re on gear. So I say, if you’re dedicated and working hard and will transition into a small surplus or even just maintenance after, cut hard and fast. There’s opportunity cost to a slow cut too. With how well muscle memory works I don’t worry about lost gains in cuts.

Not to mention how much goes to shit in a deficit, like your test production and glycogen storage. Cut fast and gain it back in the first few weeks post cut. But this is my bro science opinion so take it how you will.

1

u/VegaGT-VZ 23d ago

Yea the anabolic rebound is insane. You are at your leanest and your muscles are filling up on a daily basis. It's amazing.

Plus for me, if I am in maintenance long enough, I almost want to cut. I get tired of being heavy and lose my appetite a bit. So I get into a natural rhythm with it. I dial up the cardio and focus on making gains there, then just watch the lbs fall off. It is a nice little cycle.

1

u/Rawniew54 24d ago

Your 22 it’s only going to get harder to gain muscle as you age. Bulk now for a few years then cut. Having more muscle will make it easier to actually sustain a lean body during your lifetime

3

u/JesseComeBack 24d ago

Hard disagree 

0

u/deadfisher 24d ago

Pretty sure everything in that post is factually accurate.

2

u/JesseComeBack 24d ago

I don't disagree with the premises but the advice. Eot.

0

u/deadfisher 24d ago

I suppose I also feel like people shouldn't aggressively bulk for years, I kinda forgot that some people dirty bulk.

2

u/JesseComeBack 24d ago

Yep. It's bad advice. He's 22 and in a couple of months he'll look fantastic by society's standards. I see no reason to "bulk for a few years."

1

u/deadfisher 24d ago

Because putting on a bunch of muscle while you are young is good for your long term health and will help him stay lean for life if that's what he wants. 

We're probably defining bulk differently. To me it means carefully putting on muscle while being careful not to get fat.

1

u/FritterEnjoyer 22d ago

True but there’s diminishing returns on that muscle once you hit a certain point. Being a brick shit house isn’t really going to help you out that much more at 50 than maintaining an above average physique. Even if you’re perfectly clean bulking, depending on how big you’re getting there are negative health effects (sleep apnea for instance) that are going to be doing more harm when it’s all said and done. Don’t want to build all that muscle to just die of a heart attack before you even get the chance to see the benefits.

This guy bulking for 2 more years is almost certainly going to hit that point.

0

u/Rawniew54 24d ago

Bulk at 200 cal above maintenance and you gaining muscle to fat ratio is 80-20 or better. So even though you’re bulking you are technically getting leaner. Throw in a cut or too if you’re getting too much fat.

1

u/[deleted] 24d ago edited 24d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/B00BIEL0VAH 23d ago

You will look smaller but if ur natty you gotta pick, either look diced at low BF walk around with your shirt off or look like a bear at 200lbs+ with very little definition and 19inch arms

5

u/swaite 24d ago

You look great man! I would say that you should just keep up whatever it is that you’re doing because it seems to be working!

Tapering your calories very slowly and carefully to match your weight as it drops could be one way to go. If you cut 50-100 kcal/month over the next 6 months, and stay lifting the same amount, you’ll be a fucking adonis by summer.

Since tracking such a small number of calories over a month is nearly impossible, what I would personally do instead of that is cycle my calories in tandem with my training. Eat at maintenance during periods of heavy lifting, eat less (15% fewer carbs in my case) during periods of less lifting. Or eat the same and add med intensity cardio in the mix.

Listen to your body—you’ll figure it out!

6

u/Routine_Depth_2086 24d ago

It doesn't matter if you or someone subjectively does or doesn't think you have enough muscle to look "good".

Because you are objectively overweight at this point, and more weight gain would exponentially make you look worse then you do now and be less efficient at building more muscle vs just cutting for a couple months and starting over with a slow bulk for another year or so.

3

u/KingBenjamin97 23d ago

Tbh dude in the second photo you just look fat, even if you lose muscle cutting you’ll look fat better imo.

2

u/Blackpilledkitty 24d ago

You could cut down to 12-15 % bf. Thing is, if you get any fatter, your cut will be eternal. Not fun.

2

u/Dualsporterer 24d ago

Depends on your long term goals. If you want to look noticeably big, then keep going. If you want to look normal sized but muscular with your shirt off you should go ahead and cut.

4

u/Walrus-Ready 24d ago

You've got enough muscle, and you would look better more trimmed down. You can still probably gain muscle at a lower body fat percentage at this stage in your lifting journey with a dialed in diet. Best of luck.

1

u/datskanars 24d ago

It literally doesn't matter. You are not training for a long time, you have tons of gains to make over the next decade+. It's not a question of should I cut or bulk. It's a question of when you will in the long term, be cause at some point you will. If you don't diet to less than 12~% you will lose no muscle and only see yourself looking better in the mirror. I actually lose no strength in any lift when I cut but I do perform a little less volume. If you diet fast just don't train too much since you won't be able to recover in time. If you diet slowly you will recomp a bit along the way probably. No bad options here. Just do what you like

1

u/WasteZookeepergame87 24d ago

Naah I see u got st least half a decade left for a much better bulk

2

u/SokkaHaikuBot 24d ago

Sokka-Haiku by WasteZookeepergame87:

Naah I see u got

St least half a decade left

For a much better bulk

Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.

1

u/Positive_Reward9316 22d ago

Might be helpful to do your measurements and body fat % and go off that.

1

u/Moobygriller 22d ago

You have the makings of a varsity athlete OP

1

u/knoxvillegains Leangains is a program 22d ago

If you follow the LG protocol, you're not going to lose any progress. You'll make strength gains and when those slow, you can tweak your cals up a bit while maintaining macros.

What do your macros look like now? What deficit are you at?

-8

u/hamletswords 24d ago

You seem fine. Cutting is about showing definition which you are already. I would bulk.

9

u/Aware_Economics4980 24d ago

Mans is already at like 22-25% body fat he def doesn’t need to bulk right now. 

2

u/DPlurker 24d ago

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't bulk right there. Cut down to like 15% and then do a very slow bulk after that would be my advice.

-22

u/coachese68 24d ago

You're posting in a sub-reddit specifically for those that follow the Leangains dietary and workout protocols. Move your questions somewhere else or get banned.

15

u/Successful_Concern77 24d ago

Looking back at your past comments, why do you spread so much negativity in this subreddit? Might want to get that checked out.

5

u/Successful_Concern77 24d ago

I have been adhering to the Leangains protocol for the last month.

-16

u/coachese68 24d ago

What is your question as it specifically applies to the Leangains dietary and resistance training protocols?