Am I ready to go into a surplus?

[Millz12323]

Hey guys... I've been lurking on the forums for most of the last year trying to soak up the great advice around here. Just looking to get some feedback on weather to continue trying to lose fat or if I'm ready for a bulk. I started training in December of last year where I was fat at like 25% bf and 205 pounds. I've worked out inconsistently since highschool... Like for 6 months every 2 years. I haven't trained in a surplus since I was 18 and I'm 29 now. Always just in a big deficit.

I went from 205 in January to 174 by mid April but then hurt my back and then got married and had a honeymoon so didn't get back to the gym until September 15th at 186 pounds. I gain and lose like 6-10 pounds of water like within 4 days of starting to diet.

I'm sitting at 164 right now and I feel pretty lean. I still have more to lose but with the holidays coming up its likely that my weekly deficits will be erased by family outings and such and am thinking that maybe I should hop into maintenance until the end of the year then bulk instead of spinning my wheels trying to diet for 6 days then feasting at some kind of family party.

I'm 5'9
My lifts aren't anything to be proud of. I lost a lot of strength after I got injured back in April but got most of it back.

Bench 205 5x5
Ohp 120 5x5
Weighted dips body weight + 45 3x10
Weighted pull ups body weight + 20 5x6
Squats - currently relearning how to do it. Can't seem to keep a neutral spine. With any reasonable range of motion any advice?
Deadlift - also relearning 185 5x10 currently. I don't do squats or dl heavy because of injuries. Is this too much volume for DL??
Bent over row - Im also just learning to bent over row


Any advice for people with recurring back injurries? I had an injury about 10 years ago at L4 L5 which caused severe disc herniation and I've had recurring injuries since then. Which is what ultimately has kept me out of the gym.

Pics are attached. I'm obviouslyu flexxing in the photos of my midsection.

Any other questions or advices welcomed. How much body fat % am I in my Nov photos? Should I continue trying to cut until the end of the year like I planned or am I lean enough to go into a bulk until like April without getting overfat? I don't want to have to buy new clothes

[Jayromes]

My advice to you is to do a LEAN BULK. By that I mean limit your carb intake to only one hour after your workouts and no carbs on non-workout days. This way you will actually notice the muscle definition more as you gain some size rather then quickly add blocks of unwanted fat.

[Millz12323]

My advice to you is to do a LEAN BULK. By that I mean limit your carb intake to only one hour after your workouts and no carbs on non-workout days. This way you will actually notice the muscle definition more as you gain some size rather then quickly add blocks of unwanted fat.

Any advice on how long to stay at maintenance before going into a surplus? How big of a surplus would you suggest for a lean bulk?... 250? Is 500 too much? Let's say I do limit my carbs like you're suggesting. Where should all the extra calories come from? Just protein? My fat intake is already pretty high at like 35% of calories. Pure protein sounds expensive. Did you lift at Yonge and Finch yesterday lol?

[JacobVR]

They are so awful. Forget trying to service/repair one in the civilian world... They are notoriously unreliable, but soldiers don't really take care of stuff either.

[Millz12323]

They are so awful. Forget trying to service/repair one in the civilian world... They are notoriously unreliable, but soldiers don't really take care of stuff either.

What are you referring to lol?

[vsportsguy]

You look good man. Try a slight surplus. 200-300 calories.

I would try to implement some core and lower back strengthening for future injury prevention. Also, your bench is disproportionately high compared to your leg and core lifts. Go to a physical therapist and develop a program if you don't know what to do. I bulged my L4 deadlifting and I made a quick and full recovery which I attribute to core and lower back strength.

[Millz12323]

You look good man. Try a slight surplus. 200-300 calories.

I would try to implement some core and lower back strengthening for future injury prevention. Also, your bench is disproportionately high compared to your leg and core lifts. Go to a physical therapist and develop a program if you don't know what to do. I bulged my L4 deadlifting and I made a quick and full recovery which I attribute to core and lower back strength.

Thanks man... Agree on my bench. I'm currently doing more pull volume to try to even out my push vs pull strength.

With regards to the squat and Deadlift... I don't know how to do those exercises safely so I don't use weights I consider heavy. I was using heavy weights pre injury. I'm not really sure what to do. My Deadlift isn't as bad my squat.

With my squat I just can't seem to keep a neutral spine even with very little or no weight. I guess I'll need to see a physiotherapist which will have to wait 6 months.

What type of things did you do to recover after your bulged disc?