What supplement do I need...

[Uglyandbroke]

Okay let me cut to the chase, I'm 5'8 and around 165 lbs and been lifting for years now. I have a decent amount of muscle but Ive been platued for a while. The issue is I have a little bit too much fat that is just hard to lose no matter what. Even if I were to lose all of it, I might end up at around 155 lbs and look too thin.

Quarantine has made me a little fatter but I should be able to get back to where I was soon. See I don't need a lot, just a bit to push me over the edge. I have somewhat low T(300 ul)

What supplement should I take? I dont want to get hooked or have awful side effects because I dont need much.

[b_andersson]

Okay let me cut to the chase, I'm 5'8 and around 165 lbs and been lifting for years now. I have a decent amount of muscle but Ive been platued for a while. The issue is I have a little bit too much fat that is just hard to lose no matter what. Even if I were to lose all of it, I might end up at around 155 lbs and look too thin.

Quarantine has made me a little fatter but I should be able to get back to where I was soon. See I don't need a lot, just a bit to push me over the edge. I have somewhat low T(300 ul)

What supplement should I take? I dont want to get hooked or have awful side effects because I dont need much.

I would say you dont need any. For convenience you could buy a protein powder.

Good diet and continuous training routine is the way to go.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/content...every-guy.html

[Uglyandbroke]

I would say you dont need any. For convenience you could buy a protein powder.

Good diet and continuous training routine is the way to go.

By supplements, Im talking about drugs basically. I already use protein powder obviously lol.

[SuffolkPunch]

By supplements, Im talking about drugs basically. I already use protein powder obviously lol.

Forum rules prohibit drugs discussions.

IME, plateaus are most often from programming issues. Add volume incrementally. If you overreach, take a couple of weeks off to reset and come back with a lower volume approach - and ramp it up over time.

[lucia316]

Hypertrophy is driven by a caloric surplus to TDEE, weight training with progressive volume and getting rest. If you're not growing, you're not doing one or more of those three things.

[Uglyandbroke]

Hypertrophy is driven by a caloric surplus to TDEE, weight training with progressive volume and getting rest. If you're not growing, you're not doing one or more of those three things.

Here's the thing, I'm neither lean enough to do a bulk nor muscular enough to cut calories for an extended period. That's why I asked this question.

How long are your bulking/cutting phases? Ive heard some saying it should only be a couple weeks and you switch after that.

[b_andersson]

Here's the thing, I'm neither lean enough to do a bulk nor muscular enough to cut calories for an extended period. That's why I asked this question.

How long are your bulking/cutting phases? Ive heard some saying it should only be a couple weeks and you switch after that.

How long have you been training? And whats your goal?

I wouldnt bother with the bulking and cutting if i were you.

Use this calculator:
https://tdeecalculator.net/

And remove 20% of the TDEE you get. (Your TDEE*0,8= Your daily kcal intake to loose around 0,5-1% of your body weight per week)

Start counting kcal of what you eat to meet your intake.

The other way is to burn more calories from training than you consume; but it will be harder than just eating less.

Just as a reference 1KG (2.205 lb) of fat is around 7 500 Kcal.

If you are really dedicated you can be on a caloric surplus on training days so your muscles have nutrient to grow and on off days take the surplus into account and cut Kcal even more. You could get out of a cut with increased muscle mass and loss in fat.

And to answer your question about how long to bulk/cut:
Bulk at least 2 month, i did 5 month bulking and 3-4 month cutting and 3-4 month meeting my daily TDEE.

[lucia316]

Here's the thing, I'm neither lean enough to do a bulk nor muscular enough to cut calories for an extended period. That's why I asked this question.

How long are your bulking/cutting phases? Ive heard some saying it should only be a couple weeks and you switch after that.

Beyond b_andersson's response, what does it matter what someone else likes to do?

Your question was a bad one. You don't NEED supplements to bulk.

You also don't have to be "lean enough" to bulk nor muscular enough to lose body fat.

You can bulk or cut as long as you want or as long as your goals dictate. What you've heard isn't necessarily relevant.

I told you how hypertrophy works. Either follow the blueprint or continue to argue, but the excuses you're making aren't real.

[SuffolkPunch]

Here's the thing, I'm neither lean enough to do a bulk nor muscular enough to cut calories for an extended period. That's why I asked this question.

How long are your bulking/cutting phases? Ive heard some saying it should only be a couple weeks and you switch after that.

Almost everyone starts off in this state, the only answer is to do some mass gain even though you might already have more fat that you would like - and then in a separate phase, do dieting even though you won't get all the way to a lean and toned state in one hit.

Zig zag.

Phases should last at least 8 weeks for mass gain (about the length of a typical training mesocycle). Cutting can be shorted but I still would't do it for less than 2 weeks at a stretch.

[yourinception]

Okay let me cut to the chase, I'm 5'8 and around 165 lbs and been lifting for years now. I have a decent amount of muscle but Ive been platued for a while. The issue is I have a little bit too much fat that is just hard to lose no matter what. Even if I were to lose all of it, I might end up at around 155 lbs and look too thin.

Quarantine has made me a little fatter but I should be able to get back to where I was soon. See I don't need a lot, just a bit to push me over the edge. I have somewhat low T(300 ul)

What supplement should I take? I dont want to get hooked or have awful side effects because I dont need much.

You don't need any supplements, but rather go on a low calorie diet. I suggest reading the book How Not To Diet - the most complex research on weightloss ever combined. You'll find all the answers in the book

[lucia316]

You don't need any supplements, but rather go on a low calorie diet. I suggest reading the book How Not To Diet - the most complex research on weightloss ever combined. You'll find all the answers in the book

Why in the hell would you suggest someone that is struggling to bulk go on a "low calorie diet?"

Stop "helping."

[yourinception]

Why in the hell would you suggest someone that is struggling to bulk go on a "low calorie diet?"

Stop "helping."

Sorry, but I understood that he has too much fat that he cannot lose it, while he wants to keep his muscles (or even grow them). That's why I recommended the book, bcs in it, there is a guide on how to lose fat, but gain muscles at the same time

[lucia316]

Sorry, but I understood that he has too much fat that he cannot lose it, while he wants to keep his muscles (or even grow them). That's why I recommended the book, bcs in it, there is a guide on how to lose fat, but gain muscles at the same time

Considering recomp is a challenging concept and challenging to pull off, reading a book about not following fad diets is not going to change thermodynamics. I could be wrong that he wanted to bulk, it's tough to understand, but telling someone to go on a "low calorie diet" (subjective term) and read a book, isn't going to fix it. The only answer is caloric deficit.

[yourinception]

Considering recomp is a challenging concept and challenging to pull off, reading a book about not following fad diets is not going to change thermodynamics. I could be wrong that he wanted to bulk, it's tough to understand, but telling someone to go on a "low calorie diet" (subjective term) and read a book, isn't going to fix it. The only answer is caloric deficit.

Yes yes, we both agree on the solution!