Do I cut or bulk?

[johnson1006]

Hi i'm 23 years old, I weigh about 170 pounds and i'm 6'0 feet tall. I've been working out on and off but I want to be serious about. I was wondering if I should cut first then bulk or bulk then cut. I think I fit under the skinny fat category. I've attached a photo below. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

[Koudoo]

If I were in your position I would cut, to below 12% BF, then start a clean bulk, otherwise, if you start bulking now in your current state, you will find it difficult to track and see your gains. Also after you complete a bulk cycle, your cutting cycles is going to be a lot longer than if you done a small cut at first.

[TheBiz1214]

Neither. Eat to maintain, start working out seriously with a good program, and see how your body responds to intense weight lifting and gain a good strength base....then worry about 'bulking' or "cutting". I've seen a lot of skinny guys think they need to bulk, buy a bunch of sh*t, then quit 2 weeks later and gain a bunch of water weight from creatine and other stuff. This would essentially be considered a cut, since your adding consistent weight training, but it doesn't need to be drastic and just start lifting serious and you will see good results

[9inchcalves]

i would just start lifting and eating clean (6 clean small meals a day) and you will drop BF and gain muscle pretty quickly.... dont get too caught up in the "bulking and cutting" phases yet... get the basics down first

[BoskiGuitarist]

You will actually do both since you are just starting. After 1 -3 months of training, then you have to choose depending on the results you have versus what your target is.

[Jfern689]

Neither. Eat to maintain, start working out seriously with a good program, and see how your body responds to intense weight lifting and gain a good strength base....then worry about 'bulking' or "cutting". I've seen a lot of skinny guys think they need to bulk, buy a bunch of sh*t, then quit 2 weeks later and gain a bunch of water weight from creatine and other stuff. This would essentially be considered a cut, since your adding consistent weight training, but it doesn't need to be drastic and just start lifting serious and you will see good results

This.