Is This True?

[Tom Treutlein]

Someone posted it earlier and I read in one of Mr. X's articles that if you're above a certain level of bodyfat, when bulking, more of your gains will be fat. Is this true? Would it be better to be leaner before bulking? I heard if you bulk while above, I believe, 15% BF then 50% of your gains will be fat.

 

[Becoming]

Someone posted it earlier and I read in one of Mr. X's articles that if you're above a certain level of bodyfat, when bulking, more of your gains will be fat. Is this true? Would it be better to be leaner before bulking? I heard if you bulk while above, I believe, 15% BF then 50% of your gains will be fat.

I would say it would not hurt you to be above 15% by a bit.... I defineatly know if you are too far below 15%, say like under 10% you will have a harder time putting on muscle than with a little bit of fat...

It will all come down to diet (quality and amounts) and training... if you do both right you will gain muscle, regardless of 15% or 20% fat....

If you intake too many excess calories or the wrong type of calories - of course you will get fatter, regardless of starting body composition... I think this is what he might have been talking about - intake of calories far above what is required to support the lean mass gains...

Also keep in mind the more muscle you have the easier it will be to lose the fat (you will have higher calorie requirements)

That said if you are already fat- you will look fat until you lose some of it the excess baggage...

 

[JKurz1]

Just my opinion, but I wouildnt DREAM of bulking until I was no higher than 10-11%...

 

[casualbb]

I'm pretty sure that's true. What happens when you overeat is that your muscles AND your fat stores compete for the uptake of nutrients and energy. Working out puts your muscles in a state of need and causes them to more readily take up nutrients and KEEP them. But that means that some still goes to fat.

The more fat you have, the more fat cells will be grabbing at those wonderful nutrients.

Imagine a big conveyer belt with candy moving along it. The conveyer belt has a bunch of people lined up along either side, trying to grab off the candy. If 100 of those people are "Muscle" people and the other 10 are "Fat" people, well the muscle people will get much more of the candy. But if it's an even 50-50, much more will go to fat. Having just worked out makes your M people grab much much faster.

Make sense?

 

[bigp3]

yes it is true what he said. I believe the numbers are as follows

5% BF 90% muscle 10% fat gain

12% 50/50

29% + 10/90

so this goes to tell you that you should not let your bf creap past 10 or 12 if it does then cut back down and bulk up again

 

[Dial_tone]

I've never heard the theory and I don't necessarily buy it, but you can draw some rather logical conclusions. How do you think the eating habits of someone at 20% bodyfat compare to someone at 5% bodyfat? You get to to 20% by eating like shit.....eating like shit then going on a bulk cycle is an obvious recipe for disaster. On the other hand I think anybody who is below 8% in the offseason is leaving alot of gains on the table, unless you're a 5'10", 150 lb beanpole. Ideally I would allow myself to float between 10-13%. Clearly anyone at 5% in offseason isn't giving their body a ton of extra nutrients to grow on.

 

[Becoming]

On the other hand I think anybody who is below 8% in the offseason is leaving alot of gains on the table, unless you're a 5'10", 150 lb beanpole. Ideally I would allow myself to float between 10-13%. Clearly anyone at 5% in offseason isn't giving their body a ton of extra nutrients to grow on.

Agreed.

 

[Scotsman]

I agree with Dial tone and Becoming here. I am definetly above 12% and am certainly not getting fatter while bulking. In fact I am getting visibly leaner while my bodyweight continues to go up.

CHeers,
Scotsman