How to spend the next 5 months?

[ImAVelociraptor]

Hey guys so I was going to wait until the end of Dec to make this post, but it's bothering me and I need to ask now.

So I've been officially cutting since Oct.29, so about 2 months. I'm down to ~142lbs from ~162lbs. Back then I thought I'd be pretty lean all the way down at 140, but I'm still fat as fuq. Realistically I'll probably have to drop to 125-130lbs-ish. And even then I doubt I have enough lbm to not look emaciated, which is what causes my problem - I have 5 months until summer (which is my short term goal time). January, February, March, April, May. How should I spend that time for the best results (aesthetics) by May? Before anyone even brings it up - I'm in this for the long haul. I've tried my share of bro splits and crash dieting, but I'm educated now thanks to you fine people at bb.com/losing fat. I've changed my entire lifestyle and will progress towards my fitness goals in the many years to come. I have my entire life to bulk. So, as superficial as it is, my goal right now is to be lean by summer. I'd like to be able to respectably remove my shirt in public for the first time since 3rd grade.

Anywhooo I kind of made the mistake of cutting first, especially during winter. Should've bulked then cut I think. So originally scheduled my cut to end on Jan.1, that's in 1 weekish. Thinking I'll have to extend that to at least Feb.1 now, and maybe even further. Planning to lean bulk after this cut, and then maybe have a really short cut again before summer. So much to do so little time. And that's why I'm making this post.
Thesis Statement Question: How do I organize the next 5 months for optimal aesthetics, in terms of bulking/cutting?


Also here are pics (kinda flexed a little bit sort of) of me at 5'5/143lbs, for reference:





This is kind of a scrub post but whatevs, it's not covered in the stickies lol. Most of you are much more knowledgeable/experienced than I am, so I'd rather hear your opinions than try to figure it out for myself only to waste the next 5 months. Anyone who gives a helpful answer will receive my 2 reps, but please don't everyone respond at once.

[Micii]

You dont look THAT bad, 5 months isnt enough time for much to be honest, your gonna have to keep training and stick with it obviously. In your case ide probably cut for a bit just until you feel comfortable enough to take your shirt off as you said. and then go at it with a slow bulk.

At your height you wont look terrible at 125-130 assuming you DO lift.

Try training each muscle group 2x weekly, thats whats given me the most progress, starting off heavy and low rep with my power lifts and finishing off with lighter weight and higher reps towards the end. Power/hypertrophy training essentially.

[Zerste]

You can either cut until abs and lean bulk, though you'll be kind of small probably, or bulk now and try to cut before summer, although you'll probably only put on 4-6 lbs of muscle even if you bulk optimally over 2-3 months. As stated above, 5 months isn't a lot of time.

Edit: To be honest, if you're looking for a six pack, I'd keep cutting until it comes out and then lean bulk up from there. That's just me though. I also cut from 165 -> 145 and I'm 5'10, which means I have very little mass on me, but I wanted my fuarkin' six pack before I bulked. It's up to you, and you have to decide what YOUR goals are and go from there.

[ImAVelociraptor]

You dont look THAT bad, 5 months isnt enough time for much to be honest, your gonna have to keep training and stick with it obviously. In your case ide probably cut for a bit just until you feel comfortable enough to take your shirt off as you said. and then go at it with a slow bulk.

At your height you wont look terrible at 125-130 assuming you DO lift.

Try training each muscle group 2x weekly, thats whats given me the most progress, starting off heavy and low rep with my power lifts and finishing off with lighter weight and higher reps towards the end. Power/hypertrophy training essentially.

doievenlift?

Yes. And that's pretty much what I was thinking. Put this off and dicked around for waaaaay to long in the past, so now time is short. Upside is that even though it's only 5 months I'll still be that much better than I am today; that's what's important.

You can either cut until abs and lean bulk, though you'll be kind of small probably, or bulk now and try to cut before summer, although you'll probably only put on 4-6 lbs of muscle even if you bulk optimally over 2-3 months. As stated above, 5 months isn't a lot of time.

Edit: To be honest, if you're looking for a six pack, I'd keep cutting until it comes out and then lean bulk up from there. That's just me though. I also cut from 165 -> 145 and I'm 5'10, which means I have very little mass on me, but I wanted my fuarkin' six pack before I bulked. It's up to you, and you have to decide what YOUR goals are and go from there.

Yeah lol, that's how I feel. Want to get lean before I bulk. That's what I was worried about, I'd obviously do a lean bulk which would yield even slower gains than a dirty bulk. So in this small amount of time cutting>bulking it seems.


Probs just going to have to suck it up and see how things are when I get there in May lol.

[Micii]

doievenlift?

Yes. And that's pretty much what I was thinking. Put this off and dicked around for waaaaay to long in the past, so now time is short. Upside is that even though it's only 5 months I'll still be that much better than I am today; that's what's important.

For a lean bulk it's 1-1.2g protein per lb, and 300-500 calories over TDEE, while lifting heavy/progressive overload. Aiming for ~1lb of weight (both muscle and fat) gain per week I think? And I'm obviously concerned about the duration of a bulk. If I bulk I'd like to cut at least some of the fat I'll inevitably gain before summer, which means I'd have to shorten my bulk a little bit. What's like the minimum reasonable time a bulk could last? I'm guessing like 3-5 months would be the shortest.

Probs just going to have to suck it up and see how things are when I get there in May.

im not sure what other people will think of this but generally 1g protein per lb of BW is a safe measure when cutting, but even then i still fall short with upwards 40+ grams of protein. Ive held most of my strength while cutting, and i dont feel like ive lost a ton of mass but maybe its just me. When bulking, again .8g-1g of protein per lb of LBM is a safe zone, but 1g per lb is easier to keep track of. If i were you ide would jsut go by the mirror, if you feel like you need to cut then do a 4 week mini cut, i believe layne norton does 6-8 week bulks, and 2-4 week mini cuts.

[ImAVelociraptor]

im not sure what other people will think of this but generally 1g protein per lb of BW is a safe measure when cutting, but even then i still fall short with upwards 40+ grams of protein. Ive held most of my strength while cutting, and i dont feel like ive lost a ton of mass but maybe its just me. When bulking, again .8g-1g of protein per lb of LBM is a safe zone, but 1g per lb is easier to keep track of. If i were you ide would jsut go by the mirror, if you feel like you need to cut then do a 4 week mini cut, i believe layne norton does 6-8 week bulks, and 2-4 week mini cuts.

I noticed that too. Before I could get protein powders/buy high protein foods I found hitting my protein macros pretty tough, but even when I consumed very little my strength and lbm didn't seem to change. That was rather short term though.


So yeah from here I'm thinking cut until I'm at least satisfied with my bf%. I need a good bulk badly, but that would literally require me to start next week and go pretty much all the way until summer. In the long run that'd probably be better, but for my short term goals that simply won't work. So cut to like 120-130lbs, but then what? That'll only take until like February or the beginning of March probably, if I execute an effective cut. But that leaves me with only March, April, and May. I'm not just going to cut until summer, not looking for auschwitz aesthetics. But I can't exactly bulk either, at least not that effectively.

Maybe
1.Cut until February.1-March.1, depending on when I'm satisfied with my bf%.
2.Then bulk for March and April (maybe February too).
3.Then cut for May if I need to, unless I'm still pretty lean and think I can bulk for May too.

It's kinda chitty but that's probably about what I'll have to do to reach my short term goals. That orrrrrr I know some people recomp, like build muscle/lose fat pretty much simultaneous. I also know it's PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW and generally not very effective. But if I don't have time to bulk I might as well do that to gain a little bit of lbm while maintaining or reducing my bf%? Someone please aware me about which would probs be more effective: retard mini bulk/cut cycle thing or grueling recomp. Don't know much about recomping but it seems like it wouldn't be too bad for my situation. Definitely over thinking this, but if I'm going to work hard for the next 5 months I want the most out of it. I'm definitely going to play it by mirror (LOLcwutididthere?) on a week to week basis, but it absolutely kills me not to have a plan or some kind of outline for where I'm heading. Self diagnosed with acute OCD.

[Micii]

I noticed that too. Before I could get protein powders/buy high protein foods I found hitting my protein macros pretty tough, but even when I consumed very little my strength and lbm didn't seem to change. That was rather short term though.


So yeah from here I'm thinking cut until I'm at least satisfied with my bf%. I need a good bulk badly, but that would literally require me to start next week and go pretty much all the way until summer. In the long run that'd probably be better, but for my short term goals that simply won't work. So cut to like 120-130lbs, but then what? That'll only take until like February or the beginning of March probably, if I execute an effective cut. But that leaves me with only March, April, and May. I'm not just going to cut until summer, not looking for auschwitz aesthetics. But I can't exactly bulk either, at least not that effectively.

Maybe
1.Cut until February.1-March.1, depending on when I'm satisfied with my bf%.
2.Then bulk for March and April (maybe February too).
3.Then cut for May if I need to, unless I'm still pretty lean and think I can bulk for May too.

It's kinda chitty but that's probably about what I'll have to do to reach my short term goals. That orrrrrr I know some people recomp, like build muscle/lose fat pretty much simultaneous. I also know it's PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW and generally not very effective. But if I don't have time to bulk I might as well do that to gain a little bit of lbm while maintaining or reducing my bf%? Someone please aware me about which would probs be more effective: retard mini bulk/cut cycle thing or grueling recomp. Don't know much about recomping but it seems like it wouldn't be too bad for my situation. Definitely over thinking this, but if I'm going to work hard for the next 5 months I want the most out of it. I'm definitely going to play it by mirror (LOLcwutididthere?) on a week to week basis, but it absolutely kills me not to have a plan or some kind of outline for where I'm heading. Self diagnosed with acute OCD.

dont worry about numbers so much, just cut until you feel like your ready to bulk, and once you get the that level dont start bulking so fast, pick up calories slowly week by week and if anything maintain and try to get "strong".

you can always remain lean all the way up until fall and have a good base to bulk on then.

i told my self i would only need 8-10 weeks to get to 10-12% now im about to hit my 18th week cutting and still trying to get leaner. dont worry about it so much if you dont have a a srs deadline.