Can anyone guess my body fat % please?

[Skolvikings1991]

Started getting serious with lifting over the past few months. Put on good weight and lifts are going up. No idea what my body fat is though. Any guesses?

[krybolt]

13-14 would be my guess

[Skolvikings1991]

13-14 would be my guess

Thanks man. I used to be 129 pounds. Im at 153 now. I want to get to 170.

[Miller308]

14-15%

[Skolvikings1991]

14-15%

I dont think im anywhere near big enough to stop bulking, but isnt 15% bf the highest a guy should be at to best build muscle?

[Cablezzz]

13%, and i'd say that you shouldnt go above 18-19% bodyfat. once you reach that, you can cut. or whenever you feel to fat

[leanguy09]

Started getting serious with lifting over the past few months. Put on good weight and lifts are going up. No idea what my body fat is though. Any guesses?

yeah 13 or 14% what is your goal?

[MiscerPA]

13.5%

[JimmyHardBoobs]

13%ish

[Khabaal]

15% or more. Not sure why there are so many low figures. Unless you're 5'4" or something. You don't have to stop at 15% but personally, I'd stop before I got too much higher. If you started at 129 and put on 24lbs in a "few months?" you're probably eating a bit more than necessary for your bulk. Even saying half of the weight is fat, putting on 12lbs of muscle in less than 7-12 months, even for a beginner, is a bit hard to believe so it's a fair bet you put on more fat than necessary. Obviously, if that's how much weight you put on in like, 12 months, you can ignore all of that. Just a 250kcal daily surplus will result in approximately 26lbs in a year.

[Skolvikings1991]

15% or more. Not sure why there are so many low figures. Unless you're 5'4" or something. You don't have to stop at 15% but personally, I'd stop before I got too much higher. If you started at 129 and put on 24lbs in a "few months?" you're probably eating a bit more than necessary for your bulk. Even saying half of the weight is fat, putting on 12lbs of muscle in less than 7-12 months, even for a beginner, is a bit hard to believe so it's a fair bet you put on more fat than necessary. Obviously, if that's how much weight you put on in like, 12 months, you can ignore all of that. Just a 250kcal daily surplus will result in approximately 26lbs in a year.

I am 5'8. I am finding that online calculators put me around 13%, but dont know how accurate they are. My story is I have always been the skinny fast/quick guy. Played football, basketball, and soccer my whole life and excelled. I felt like I was constantly being disrespected because of my skinny body though. Its also kind of embarrassing when one of my younger bros benches 360 and my other one is completely ripped. I want to get to around 155 and ripped so I was thinking maybe bulk to 170 and cut to 155. I was 129 in January and got to 144 pretty easily then with college and GF I got lazy. Was 135 at the start of August. All the online weight gaining calculators are giving me completely different numbers so I have just been getting 3000 calories per day. I have completely stopped cardio which I know I shouldnt do. Would adding some cardio help me continue to safely bulk longer?

[Khabaal]

I am 5'8. I am finding that online calculators put me around 13%, but dont know how accurate they are. My story is I have always been the skinny fast/quick guy. Played football, basketball, and soccer my whole life and excelled. I felt like I was constantly being disrespected because of my skinny body though. Its also kind of embarrassing when one of my younger bros benches 360 and my other one is completely ripped. I want to get to around 155 and ripped so I was thinking maybe bulk to 170 and cut to 155. I was 129 in January and got to 144 pretty easily then with college and GF I got lazy. Was 135 at the start of August. All the online weight gaining calculators are giving me completely different numbers so I have just been getting 3000 calories per day. I have completely stopped cardio which I know I shouldnt do. Would adding some cardio help me continue to safely bulk longer?

Online bodyfat calculators are pretty much useless. It's a physical examination. Even calipers aren't the most user-friendly tool, but regardless. Just going by your heigh, weight, age, and activity level you can get a decently accurate idea of how many calories you need for you goal online. When it comes to body fat, just look at it this way, 20-25% is the line before you're officially obese so it's around where you'll likely see love handles, chest flab, etc. 17-19% you normally look decent with clothes on, considered "average." 14-16% most start to see visible muscle definition (shoulder separation, abs), under 13% is the "toned" look people refer to when you typically look fit and can see definition of all of your abs (rectus abdominis). Less than 10% you tend to see more. Often that "lower abs" area and external obliques are visible.

Adding cardio isn't going to really be a direct factor in bulking, or safety for that matter. I suggest cardio for health reasons, like 15-30 minutes a day but that's unrelated to the caloric surplus/deficit or body composition at all really. Honestly, if you have confidence in your ability to lose fat easily, don't sweat it. It won't hurt you to bulk for a bit longer, but you might want to chill out with the calories if you're gaining weight so fast. You really don't want to aim for more than 0.5-1lb a week at most if you're attempting to bulk for a long time, as you aren't going to gain more than 1lb of muscle a month, distributed throughout your entire body with an optimal workout routine and good nutrition included. It's a slow process.

When talking body composition, cardio is never really essential. If you want muscle growth, you have to stimulate them (intensity, time-under-tension, progressive overload, etc) and you need adequate protein to repair the tissue along with a caloric surplus. However, a surplus of 2000kcal and 4x the necessary protein isn't going to make the muscle grow any faster, it's just going to become more energy stored in your fat cells.

Assuming you're lifting heavy 3 days a week, your TDEE is likely around 2300kcal, so 3000kcal would be a daily surplus of 700. Weekly that's 4900 calories, which is about 1.5lbs gained weekly. 2 months and you've gained 20lbs with only 1/7 of it being muscle. Just for some perspective.

[Skolvikings1991]

Here is another recent pic. Would definitely not think of myself as fat or big enough to cut, but my bf % did surprise me. Can see Abs in certain light, but otherwise they are mostly gone unless I flex. I am fine with this since its fall/winter and I really want to get bigger.

[Skolvikings1991]

Adding cardio isn't going to really be a direct factor in bulking, or safety for that matter. I suggest cardio for health reasons, like 15-30 minutes a day but that's unrelated to the caloric surplus/deficit or body composition at all really. Honestly, if you have confidence in your ability to lose fat easily, don't sweat it. It won't hurt you to bulk for a bit longer, but you might want to chill out with the calories if you're gaining weight so fast. You really don't want to aim for more than 0.5-1lb a week at most, as you aren't going to gain more than 1lb of muscle a month, distributed throughout your entire body with an optimal workout routine and good nutrition included. It's a slow process.

So maybe drop down to like 2800 cals?

[Khabaal]

Here is another recent pic. Would definitely not think of myself as fat or big enough to cut, but my bf % did surprise me. Can see Abs in certain light, but otherwise they are mostly gone unless I flex. I am fine with this since its fall/winter and I really want to get bigger.

You look closer to 14% in that picture. And 2800 is fine depending on your workout, again, not sure how many calories you're using up to tell you what a decent surplus is. Also, sorry for the constant editing of my earlier post, I'm at work and stuff got really busy. I wouldn't worry too much about it. My concern is more with the rate in which you're putting on weight. You could stand to bulk for another few months even at your current bf% so don't fret. Still within a correctable phase where you don't need to worry about stopping your bulk to lower the body fat.

[Skolvikings1991]

You look closer to 14% in that picture. And 2800 is fine depending on your workout, again, not sure how many calories you're using up to tell you what a decent surplus is. Also, sorry for the constant editing of my earlier post, I'm at work and stuff got really busy. I wouldn't worry too much about it. My concern is more with the rate in which you're putting on weight. You could stand to bulk for another few months even at your current bf% so don't fret. Still within a correctable phase where you don't need to worry about stopping your bulk to lower the body fat.

Thanks for all the help man. I am currently running stronglifts 5x5 with the app on my phone. Focusing on the big compounds: Squat, Bench, Deadlift, OHP, Rows. I like to throw in some direct forearm work at the end of every workout and the occasional dips, curls, etc. Going every other day, so some weeks its 4 days and some weeks its 3. Getting good sleep and eating alot obviously. Was a big party guy on the weekends, but I am slowly weening off that. Just graduated college so lifting and job hunting is pretty much all I do.

[Skolvikings1991]

How does 2600 cals a day sound? 50 30 20 Macro split. Will this be enough running starting strength? Like a 300 cal surplus

[psycokill3r]

Started getting serious with lifting over the past few months. Put on good weight and lifts are going up. No idea what my body fat is though. Any guesses?

look around 13%, id suggest keep bulking slowly and clean. I wouldn't go over 18%, maybe even 17%, I went to 20% on my bulk, and I regret it now lol. just try to make getting to 18% a slow and steady gain process over the weeks and stretch it out for 8-12 months.

[Khabaal]

How does 2600 cals a day sound? 50 30 20 Macro split. Will this be enough running starting strength? Like a 300 cal surplus

300kcal surplus should be fine. As for macros, it's normally suggested you get a minimum of 0.45g fats per lb of bodyweight. And 1lb protein/lb should be sufficient too, though it doesn't hurt to consume more. Plus, meeting those minimums would only put you around 1200kcals so you shouldn't have any problem keeping your macros in check during a bulk. Like I said, you weren't really doing anything wrong, you were likely just eating a bit more than necessary. Why pay for more food and put on more fat if you're going to gain the same amount of muscle regardless, yeah?

[ThailandBrah]

18%