Cut or Build

I keep coming back to the same question in my head, and that is whether I should try to cut wieght before I try and get huge, or should I just try to get big now, and cut down later?

I feel like it’s easier to try and add muscle, and it’s definitley more fun. But would it make more sense if I cut down first? I’m 210 at 5"10 with a bodyfat in the mid 20’s. I know I should probably cut down first, but it’s hard getting that motivation.

Follow the fun factor.

Well, mid 20’s bodyfat is fairly high, and by “Getting huge” you’ll likely add even more fat. Remember, the leaner you are the less fat you’ll add in your “bulk.”

There is a third option. You could train into your current weight. That is find out what your maintenance calories are and eat there, and just train hard. Watch the scale and try to keep it fairly constant. You’ll add muscle and lose fat over time. The reason why people usually don’t like this is because it takes a long time to see noticeable differences. But, its an option as well.

And theres a fourth option, which is cycling short cutting periods into your “bulk,” or vice versa with mini bulking periods into your cutting phase. That would keep it from being boring.

Listen to chaddukes. The bulking and cutting phases are overrated and not very healthy. The slow build, meaning building muscle while losing fat can in most cases, be healthier, and faster than a bulk and cut scenario. When you bulk, then cut, you lose a fairly large portion of muscle that you worked so hard to get. Building to lose fat will give you the slow and steady returns, like the tortoise and the hare, except it is not as slow as most people think.

Good advice Chad, thanks, I think I’ll stick with just steady eating, and a lot of hard lifting with some cardio tossed in on off days

Mid 20’s is waay too high. You should definitely first bring it down.
As suggested already, best way to accomplish this is to find your maintenance caloric intake. But I would suggest to eat just slightly below and keep training hard.

If your in the mid 20s body fat (actually about the same area that I am) then I would say that you still need to drop weight before thinking of “Bulking”. I dont really know, via experience, about the whole Cutting / Bulking phases from experience, but I have read a lot about them, and it does tend to stress your body out. Plus the fact that your currently in an “Overweight” phase of your body, at least as far as your body fat is concerned. Not obese, just overweight. I would recommend dropping another 20lbs (possibly as much as 30) prior to doing a “Bulking” phase.

I personally actually plan on doing a “Bulking Phase” once I get to my goal weight (about 25lbs from now), and from that point, plan on adding 15lbs, then cutting 15lbs (hopefully fat). Until I can get my body fat in the area of 16-18%. Ill never be a body builder since im already in my mid 30s, but my goal is to be physically healthy, and I think the 16% range would put me there.

Just you train into your current weight. That’s all about maintenance calories and eat, and train woth strongly.