Coming back after a 4 month stop

[wh1ms1cal]

Hey Guys,

I’ve injured my back a while ago and because of that I couldn’t work out for 4 months. I literally lost all my gains. My ass is non existent I feel like I’m gonna cry everyday lmaoo. Before my injury I was FINALLY happy with my body the way it was. I had thick legs, big booty and a small waist, around 20% bf. How do I get back to that? i lost weight, a little. I now have no ass, a nearly flat stomach and my ****ing quad swoop is GONE 😭😭😭😭😭Do I start bulking now to get my shape back and build more muscle? Or do I first maintain or cut?

[mavd]

Sounds like a bulk situation to me.

[Amanda76]

You'll have to ease back into your workouts so I wouldn't go straight into a bulk, if that even ends up being necessary to get you back to where you were.

I've been out for 2 months due to elective surgery (breast augmentation) so my issue wasn't as critical as yours, but I do know what it's like when muscle is all flaccid and weird from not working it. Once I was allowed to lift again, I spent several weeks working back up to my old lifts. Once there, I looked like my old self again.

Once you are able to challenge yourself again, you will gain a few pounds from your body storing more glycogen (and water) within the muscle. If that's pretty much all the weight you lost, you'll look about the same as before your injury. If it's been a couple of months and you are stalling out and can tell the issue isn't that your lifts are being impacted by the old injury...that's where I'd consider bulking. Or, if you get back to where you were and decide you want to build even more muscle, of course! The big thing is, don't intentionally gain weight until you are fully capable of challenging your body again.