Bulking if you're fat?

[coffeequeenie]

Hi all

I've been doing some research on bulking and cutting, and the common theme is that in order to gain muscle you need to eat a calorie surplus/gain weight. But my question is, what if you're already overweight?

I am overweight...so I don't want to gain more. I'm basically just confused. There's an overwhelming amount of information about weight lifting online, and the more I read, the more confused I get lol. My main focus is to grow my glutes but so far they've only gotten smaller, after lifting for about a year, which is really frustrating. I posted about this in another thread, and that's where I first heard about the calorie surplus...but that doesn't make sense to me.... I'm just lost lol.

[anandagirl]

You said before you were overweight by 5 pounds according to BMI. That's not "fat." BMI isn't a great predictor of body composition. You were already given all kinds of good advice in the two threads you've already posted.

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=175674491
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=175703931

And were advised to read the sticky: https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=168176343

Basically, if you think you have too much fat, then you should be in a deficit and you need to accept that you don't get to pick where your fat comes off first. If you're not fat and want to build your glutes, you should be in a caloric surplus to gain about 1-2 pounds a month to minimize fat gain. If you want to try to recomp, you should eat at maintenance.

Regardless as to what you want to do, posting about it over and over again isn't going to make it happen or change the responses you get. At this point, I recommend you take the time to educate yourself. Lots of great information in this forum, as well as other respected sources. Every time you want to post again about this same issue, I encourage you to read more posts here.

And here's a great podcast that discusses your precise issue: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...=1000409625735

[Valkyrie90]

Hey Queenie,

As Ananda has already said BMI is definitely not the best measure of body-comp.
If you are looking to build muscle you must be in a surplus - unless you are shooting up some roids or have God-mode genetics you have to feed them gains.

The best measure of anything is the mirror - if you are unhappy with your current level of body fat you should trim down a bit. If you can deal with gaining a bit more for the sake of building a booty then increase your daily calorie intake by around the 500/day mark and go heavy at the gym. Muscle mass increases your metabolic rate by its nature so the more gains you make the better the burn when it comes time to cut.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do,

- J

[cdawson360]

shredding the most hardest for me

[5more]

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You need to cut down, not bulk up.

If you are already overweight, your body necessarily HAS the requisite muscle to support the excess weight, otherwise you would not be mobile.

If your objective is to lose that flab, focus on the exercise and eating food which does not add to the fat already there. And you don't need the protein right now.