Skinnyfats guide to success

[Ondle]

http://skinnyfattransformation.com/

If you are skinny fat spend some time going through that website. Im only posting this because I feel like when someone is truly skinny fat they are given the wrong advice. Bulking is not the answer. In fact bulking makes it worse. What skinnyfats have to do is cut. Hormonal imbalance causes more fat storage when bulking. So u gain very little muscle and a lot of extra fat. Get ur nutrition down and focus on dropping bodyfat. 10-12% should be where you want to be. I hope this helps some people. It helped me. I was losing motivation to keep cutting, but after coming across that site I know what I have to do.

[Serpentarius]

you can blame the "eat big to get big" people who assume novices need to bulk when they need to get noob gains out of the way first, and the whole wanna-be alpha male mentality that you need to weigh a lot more to be more masculine even if it means fat gain. Pair that with enhanced lifters giving natural lifters advice that wont work and you have a recipe for disaster.

the key in this hobby and lifestyle is consistency and patience, and with that comes results.
Also gaining muscle is incredibly slow, most act as if you can bulk and just put on a lot of muscle when it absolutely doesnt work like that as fat loss is instantaneous on a day to day basis.

[TheLongRun]

I'm also on the "get lean first" bandwagon. Prolonged cutting is just a spirit killer, and the less time spent there, the more you can actually enjoy the process. And yeah, muscle gain is an incredibly slow process. Hence only SMALL surpluses for muscle gain.

[Ondle]

you can blame the "eat big to get big" people who assume novices need to bulk when they need to get noob gains out of the way first, and the whole wanna-be alpha male mentality that you need to weigh a lot more to be more masculine even if it means fat gain. Pair that with enhanced lifters giving natural lifters advice that wont work and you have a recipe for disaster.

the key in this hobby and lifestyle is consistency and patience, and with that comes results.
Also gaining muscle is incredibly slow, most act as if you can bulk and just put on a lot of muscle when it absolutely doesnt work like that as fat loss is instantaneous on a day to day basis.

Right on. Gaining muscle is slow as hell. Losing fat is much easier. I think the problem on this site is people think you have to be 200lbs at 9% bf. The truth is as a natural ur never getting there naturally unless u have some crazy genes. I may have to get down to 145 pounds, but I dont care. I know that im gonna look better at the end. Bulking will be easier. U will feel better and more confident just being leaner.

[Ondle]

I'm also on the "get lean first" bandwagon. Prolonged cutting is just a spirit killer, and the less time spent there, the more you can actually enjoy the process. And yeah, muscle gain is an incredibly slow process. Hence only SMALL surpluses for muscle gain.

I have been cutting for a while. I just took a few days at maintenance/small surplus. I feel better now and more energy.

[OskarF]

Thank you for sharing my website, and I'm glad that the advice works for you.

[Ondle]

Thank you for sharing my website, and I'm glad that the advice works for you.

Thanks man. Im glad I came across ur website. I wish I didnt waste two years doing short cuts and bulks. I learned the hard way and now I need another 12-16 weeks of cutting, which seems like forever, but time flies and I should look a lot better when its said and done. The only downside is im losing strenght on my lifts, but I lowered my training volume a bit too see if that helps. Im also finding myself doing a lot of chinups/dips latley because they have gotten easier. Im gonna take ur advice on that and do chins, dips, pushups 3x a week.

[loseitall90210]

you can blame the "eat big to get big" people who assume novices need to bulk when they need to get noob gains out of the way first, and the whole wanna-be alpha male mentality that you need to weigh a lot more to be more masculine even if it means fat gain. Pair that with enhanced lifters giving natural lifters advice that wont work and you have a recipe for disaster.

the key in this hobby and lifestyle is consistency and patience, and with that comes results.
Also gaining muscle is incredibly slow, most act as if you can bulk and just put on a lot of muscle when it absolutely doesnt work like that as fat loss is instantaneous on a day to day basis.

I hate this. I almost fell into this trap by people looking at my weight and wanting me to bulk. Someone had told me to start bulking 2 months ago when my abs just started to appear and I just ended my cut at 160 which would have made me VERY unhappy right now as summer is approaching.

I'm loving the super-cut look and I don't even look that small.

[Ondle]

I hate this. I almost fell into this trap by people looking at my weight and wanting me to bulk. Someone had told me to start bulking 2 months ago and I just ended my cut at 160 which would have made me VERY unhappy right now as summer is approaching.

I'm loving the super-cut look and I don't even look that small.

U only look small to people on this site. A lot of guys here are not natural. 160 lean for a natural is pretty big. Also u have to realize that the leaner u get the muscle and cuts become more visible, thus u look bigger. Well at least thats what im hoping happens to me when I drop another 20 pounds.

[loseitall90210]

U only look small to people on this site. A lot of guys here are not natural. 160 lean for a natural is pretty big. Also u have to realize that the leaner u get the muscle and cuts become more visible, thus u look bigger. Well at least thats what im hoping happens to me when I drop another 20 pounds.

it probably will for you...I thought I'd look so skinny because of all the feedback and I'm SO not that. you are 100% correct though, the leaner and more cut you get, the bigger you look. I'm so NOT worried about looking big this summer because I look very muscular and kinda big.

Something I would say; because I've been through it; work the crap out of your core while you're cutting. You'll appreciate this 10 fold when you get down lower

[scots40]

160 lean for a natural is pretty big.

If you're shorter than 5'8" maybe

[Ondle]

it probably will for you...I thought I'd look so skinny because of all the feedback and I'm SO not that. you are 100% correct though, the leaner and more cut you get, the bigger you look. I'm so NOT worried about looking big this summer because I look very muscular and kinda big.

Something I would say; because I've been through it; work the crap out of your core while you're cutting. You'll appreciate this 10 fold when you get down lower

I do 4-5 sets of abs everyday. Cable crunch and hanging leg raises are my favorite

[loseitall90210]

Sweet. I see so many after cut pics and it doesn't look finished because the midsection looks a little soggy.

[discdoggie]

Lol.

In female forum women are CONSTANTLY told "bulk!"

I'm practically the only one who goes against that mantra. I'm not saying everyone wouldn't look better with more lean mass. I just think there's more ways to reach the goal.

I like to tell women to go ahead and cut to get lean enough to see EXACTLY what kind of base they're working with. And then go from there.


We have a small handful of extremely knowledgeable people there giving out wisdom. And then a large group of sincerely well-meaning people who just parrot out advice they've heard the others give to everyone, whether it applies or not.

[Ondle]

Sweet. I see so many after cut pics and it doesn't look finished because the midsection looks a little soggy.

People think doing compound exercises are enough for ur abs. Don't get me wrong they are great but not enough. To get a great core direct ab work is necessary. Just a few sets after every workout should help. Or something like ab ripper x works well too

[PaC-mAn8]

100% agreed.

Bulking while being anything past 13% bodyfat is not optimal, and gaining muscle at that bodyfat is much more difficult.

[Ondle]

100% agreed.

Bulking while being anything past 13% bodyfat is not optimal, and gaining muscle at that bodyfat is much more difficult.

Im a good example of this. I was busting my butt in the gym eating in a small surplus and while I did get strong I accumulated more fat then muscle. It sucks. There is probably some hormonal imbalance going on and the only way to fix is to get leaner, or join the dark side.

[Ondle]

Lol.

In female forum women are CONSTANTLY told "bulk!"

I'm practically the only one who goes against that mantra. I'm not saying everyone wouldn't look better with more lean mass. I just think there's more ways to reach the goal.

I like to tell women to go ahead and cut to get lean enough to see EXACTLY what kind of base they're working with. And then go from there.


We have a small handful of extremely knowledgeable people there giving out wisdom. And then a large group of sincerely well-meaning people who just parrot out advice they've heard the others give to everyone, whether it applies or not.

Yup. Once ur leaner it makes gaining muscle much easier. I wasted time bulking and cutting the last two years. I thought I had some kind of hormonal issue going on. And its possible that I do and it will only be fixed once I get to 10-12% bf.

They should make a skinnyfat section here.

[camdensdaddy]

I don't think there's a right or wrong way as long as you're progressively lifting heavier, learning, and conscious of the food you're putting in your mouth.

If you're not already muscular and fit it's going to take time whether you're scrawny, obese, or just skinny fat.

[TheLongRun]

I like to think about it this way: what's the difference between cutting, maintenance, and bulking? A couple hundred calories each way.
Once you establish leanness, which IMO should be done first (because it also teaches you HOW to eat), you can always transition seamlessly from one to another just by slowly upping kcals. Getting lean gets you invested in this game, and teaches you how to manage 95% of your efforts (diet).

[discdoggie]

People think doing compound exercises are enough for ur abs. Don't get me wrong they are great but not enough. To get a great core direct ab work is necessary. Just a few sets after every workout should help. Or something like ab ripper x works well too

I do very little to no direct abdominal work.

In the past 11 weeks I've done zero. Before that, MAYBE once every 2 weeks or so I'd do some v-ups on the bench while resting between sets.

In January i started stoppani's shortcut2size but bailed at 5 weeks in because all the calf and ab work was pissing me off.

[Chicago1287]

you can blame the "eat big to get big" people who assume novices need to bulk when they need to get noob gains out of the way first, and the whole wanna-be alpha male mentality that you need to weigh a lot more to be more masculine even if it means fat gain.

I agree 100%. When I started lifting about 6 years ago, I took advice from the teen bodybuilding forum on here. I kept getting told to "eat everything in sight...make sure you're gaining at least 1lb a week." I gained 30lb in about 2-3 months and pretty much became addicted to food after following that advice. To this day I'm trying to undo all the fat that I've gain and trying to make myself to stop thinking about food so much.

[scots40]

100% agreed.

Bulking while being anything past 13% bodyfat is not optimal, and gaining muscle at that bodyfat is much more difficult.

Depends on your level of fitness. I bulk to around 15% and cut to around 10-11%. Some people who have a large amount lean muscle mass but also a lot of fat would do better to cut until the 10% range before switching to a bulk. Others who start with a lower amount of lean muscle mass should probably cut until the 13% range before bulking again, to keep from being skinny fat. This of course is for men, not for women. The BF levels for women are higher

[Localizer]

skinnyfat checking in. It was definitely a mental battle deciding whether to bulk or to cut, talked with my brother about it as well. I decided to keep cutting. Overall, I think it would just be better to cut down to a leaner base to work with. Definitely had some muscle loss (strength decreased in shoulders and biceps), but gonna keep chugging away. Trying to bring it down to about 135. Unfortunately, I'll be looking like a toothpick when I'm done and girls will be lifting more than I am in the gym, but such is life.

[scots40]

skinnyfat checking in. It was definitely a mental battle deciding whether to bulk or to cut, talked with my brother about it as well. I decided to keep cutting. Overall, I think it would just be better to cut down to a leaner base to work with. Definitely had some muscle loss (strength decreased in shoulders and biceps), but gonna keep chugging away. Trying to bring it down to about 135. Unfortunately, I'll be looking like a toothpick when I'm done and girls will be lifting more than I am in the gym, but such is life.

If you don't like what you see at 5'10", 155lbs, you really won't like it at 135lbs.

[Localizer]

If you don't like what you see at 5'10", 155lbs, you really won't like it at 135lbs.

Possibly, but I have no intention of staying at 135. The plan is to just do a cleaner bulk which, albeit, will take a lot more time. So I think I can live with what I look like at 135 temporarily so long as the midsection is gone, and try to keep my physique <15% when rebuilding.

[PaC-mAn8]

Depends on your level of fitness. I bulk to around 15% and cut to around 10-11%. Some people who have a large amount lean muscle mass but also a lot of fat would do better to cut until the 10% range before switching to a bulk. Others who start with a lower amount of lean muscle mass should probably cut until the 13% range before bulking again, to keep from being skinny fat. This of course is for men, not for women. The BF levels for women are higher

I agree with you. As you mentioned though, most skinny fat people do not have enough LBM or fitness level to safely execute getting into those higher bodyfat levels.

Hormonally it's more optimal to cut to 10-12% (although you WILL go full Auschwitz mode) and then begin a prolonged lean bulk. I'd also like to add that most skinny fat people are undertrained, so a training routine that emphasizes compound lifts with frequency and volume is the way to go (IMO).

[Serpentarius]

I agree with you. As you mentioned though, most skinny fat people do not have enough LBM or fitness level to safely execute getting into those higher bodyfat levels.

Hormonally it's more optimal to cut to 10-12% (although you WILL go full Auschwitz mode) and then begin a prolonged lean bulk. I'd also like to add that most skinny fat people are undertrained, so a training routine that emphasizes compound lifts with frequency and volume is the way to go (IMO).

Not just your opinion, but is the correct way to do it.

[PaC-mAn8]

Possibly, but I have no intention of staying at 135. The plan is to just do a cleaner bulk which, albeit, will take a lot more time. So I think I can live with what I look like at 135 temporarily so long as the midsection is gone, and try to keep my physique <15% when rebuilding.

I don't think this a bad plan at all. Although you will be skin & bones for a while, you will set yourself up for future success.

I am on a similar path as you, but I probably need to get down to 143-145 to be lean enough (10-12%). At that point I plan to turn to the dark side & build some LBM.

[Ondle]

I do very little to no direct abdominal work.

In the past 11 weeks I've done zero. Before that, MAYBE once every 2 weeks or so I'd do some v-ups on the bench while resting between sets.

In January i started stoppani's shortcut2size but bailed at 5 weeks in because all the calf and ab work was pissing me off.

Yea some ppl can get away with very little ab work. All I know is for me when I started doing more hanging leg raises and cable crunches im able to see my adonis belt become more visible. Ultimately it comes down to lower bodyfat reduction