I think I'm done bulking and ready to cut. Thoughts??

I'll try to keep this short. I'm 5'11" and have weighed 195-200 lbs for the past 5 years or so, but in April I had gotten down to 172 lbs. I didn't have much muscle, so I decided to start lifting for the first time in my life. I fluctuated my calories and macros a lot over the past 7 months, but I'm currently at 3900 Cals/day (I was at 3400 then 3700 for most of the time). Now I am at 196 lbs and looking at pictures of myself and in the mirror, I feel like I've definitely gained muscle, but also a lot of fat. Now I think it's time to cut the fat down (then run another bulk), but wanted to hear opinions from you folks first. Attached are my before and after pics, 4 different 'poses'. One of my biggest goals during the bulk was to get some pecs... didn't work out. My chest lifts have been increasing, but doesn't look like I'm gaining much mass in my chest at all. So what do you guys think... cutting time?

you dont need to gain fat to bulk. jesus why does everyone think this

Cut down, and next time you bulk do it cleaner and slooowwwweerrr. Your pecs are obviously bigger but you wont see them with fat covering them.

When you cut do it slowly; preserve muscle
When you bulk do it slowly; prevent excess fat gain

i only see fat gain not hating bro

What was your routine like? How much did your lifts increase? I notice an increase in your arms for sure. But its tough as i am in the same boat (skinnyfat who bulked and cant really SEE results)

[QUOTE=101PeteN;1171123803]you dont need to gain fat to bulk. jesus why does everyone think this[/QUOTE]

100% agree! just lift heavy and eat sensibly..no need to get fat..

[QUOTE=101PeteN;1171123803]you dont need to gain fat to bulk. jesus why does everyone think this[/QUOTE]

Not the way you have worded it, no you don't need to gain fat to bulk but if you bulk and build muscle some fat gain even it it's very small is unavoidable. Some people are lucky, like me I don't go above 12% bf on a bulk

Time to cuttt some nooby gains though good job

[QUOTE=GorillaX;1171088683]I'll try to keep this short. I'm 5'11" and have weighed 195-200 lbs for the past 5 years or so, but in April I had gotten down to 172 lbs. I didn't have much muscle, so I decided to start lifting for the first time in my life. I fluctuated my calories and macros a lot over the past 7 months, but I'm currently at 3900 Cals/day (I was at 3400 then 3700 for most of the time). Now I am at 196 lbs and looking at pictures of myself and in the mirror, I feel like I've definitely gained muscle, but also a lot of fat. Now I think it's time to cut the fat down (then run another bulk), but wanted to hear opinions from you folks first. Attached are my before and after pics, 4 different 'poses'. One of my biggest goals during the bulk was to get some pecs... didn't work out. My chest lifts have been increasing, but doesn't look like I'm gaining much mass in my chest at all. So what do you guys think... cutting time?[/QUOTE]

Good job on sticking with it, not much arm improvement but definitely bigger chest. Need to bulk slower to minimize fat gains next time. Shredd down and if you bulk slowly at a small calorie surplus and you'll make the right gains. When they say you gain fat inevitably when you bulk it doesn't mean you actually raise your body fat percentage. If your 15 % bodyfat and bulk till you gain 15 lbs the right way and only gained 2 lbs of fat then less than 15 percent of your gains were from fat. This means even tho you gained weight your body fat percentage went down. Also need to research some bicep, tricep exercises not much growth there in you bulk. Good job tho, just trying to help you not make as many mistakes as a lot of us make in the beginning. Keep it up bro.

your backs looking bigger in the before pic.

[QUOTE=taylorbakerjr;1171281783]Good job on sticking with it, not much arm improvement but definitely bigger chest. Need to bulk slower to minimize fat gains next time. Shredd down and if you bulk slowly at a small calorie surplus and you'll make the right gains. When they say you gain fat inevitably when you bulk it doesn't mean you actually raise your body fat percentage. If your 15 % bodyfat and bulk till you gain 15 lbs the right way and only gained 2 lbs of fat then less than 15 percent of your gains were from fat. This means even tho you gained weight your body fat percentage went down. Also need to research some bicep, tricep exercises not much growth there in you bulk. Good job tho, just trying to help you not make as many mistakes as a lot of us make in the beginning. Keep it up bro.[/QUOTE]

Thanks man, appreciate the wise words.

[QUOTE=DizzyPhyziks;1171125613]Cut down, and next time you bulk do it cleaner and slooowwwweerrr. Your pecs are obviously bigger but you wont see them with fat covering them.

When you cut do it slowly; preserve muscle
When you bulk do it slowly; prevent excess fat gain[/QUOTE]

Well I posted on here during my progress and the consensus advice was "EAT MORE!!"... so I ate more. Then I just gained a bunch of fat. Oh well, I'll cut it down and try again, thanks.

If you cut down you'll more than likely lose whatever muscle you just gained unless done perfectly. I would just keep lifting hard and do a slow clean bulk to minimize bf gain and put on some more muscle before you do a serious cut.

Check your form on the bench press. I had terrible form for the longest time.

[QUOTE=sparkart;1171472793]Check your form on the bench press. I had terrible form for the longest time.[/QUOTE]

What specifically were you doing wrong? I did hurt my shoulder in June and take about a month off of benching, so that also hurt my gains. I think I got my form down perfectly since then though because I wanted to be careful not to aggravate my shoulder.

if your bodyfat percentages are correct you have gained about 14 pounds of lean mass. i honestly dont see it who knows tho maybe ur legs are shredded for no reason

[QUOTE=matt233;1171462103]If you cut down you'll more than likely lose whatever muscle you just gained unless done perfectly. I would just keep lifting hard and do a slow clean bulk to minimize bf gain and put on some more muscle before you do a serious cut.[/QUOTE]

If I thought I was capable of bulking slowly and gaining mostly muscle, I would go for it. If I were going to give it a shot, how many Cals would you recommend? I think I remember calculating maintenance at 2800 at the weight I'm at now.

[QUOTE=GorillaX;1171505193]If I thought I was capable of bulking slowly and gaining mostly muscle, I would go for it. If I were going to give it a shot, how many Cals would you recommend? I think I remember calculating maintenance at 2800 at the weight I'm at now.[/QUOTE]

I would start at around 200-300 cals above maintenance and see how your body reacts. You can incrementally adjust it as you see how it effects your body composition.

Not much progress just being honest bro. Next time bulk slower and lift harder. You have a LONG way to go but you'll make it if you get your diet down and put in the work

Pretty much whhat everyone is saying, but dont give up! just slow down on bluking :)

Some teens that is skinny get away with whatever when it comes to food.
And I think you should as well, but I have this idea that your diet is of balance and maybe your getting all your calories is from fat?
You need carbs, protein to build muscle and fat to keep hormones in check.

Lets say you are going wild and crazy on 200g fat a day that’s 1800 calories eating 400 carbs is 1600 cals.
I would pick carbs over fat any day! Since its my building block.

My point here is that try figure out the right macros for you! maybe 0.4g fat per lbs is wrong for you maybe you need 0.35g as I do myself.
And use more of the access for carbs. And then eat at TDEE/maintenance maybe slightly above. Or make it simple one ‘’cheat meal’’ a week on TDEE!
Some people are not a fan o cheat meal but I think it puts of a lot of stress of always having to fit **** in to your macro, and it kind of turns in to a controlled slow bulk and it acts like a reward.
I would have that meal on my leg day.

Also how is your program like? Maybe your following some **** bro program or you’re like 90% of the guys at my gym! That always have to make up their own pore program acting like they are pros.
There is a good reason why SL/SS 5x5 and barbell programs work! Stick to it and put on weight on that ****! Go HARDCORE every rep needs to be like your saving a child from a burning car!
And if you start losing weight doing that eat more! And if you stall on weight good! You can’t magical put on 50lbs muscle anyways.

WALL OF TEXT SORRY! :D

What do you mean by "bulk, slower" ?

[QUOTE=nava89l;1437550241]What do you mean by "bulk, slower" ?[/QUOTE]

Smaller calories surplus. Perhaps instead of cranking up the carbs increase protein intake, if your body doesn't respond well to carbs.