Enough mass to support a cut

[safcpaul]

If I'm going to get really lean for summer then I'd have to cut now but I would like your opinions on whether I have the mass to support a cut without looking skinny? I can either bulk another year and cut for next summer or get lean for this summer. I'm 6 foot 2 and 197lbs. Ideally I wouldn't want to go below 182lbs (13 stone)

https://imgur.com/a/Bl7LzvC

[air2fakie]

Depends on how you want to look overall, but eating at the slightest deficit while lifting hard might let you look a little leaner by summer without looking much smaller. Your arms might be the first casualty of a faster weight loss. And work on your traps, IMO they'd add a lot to your current look.

[EliKoehn]

Why not just train at an approximate maintenance throughout the summer instead of following a bulk/cut pattern? It looks like you've made some pretty good gains in just the last year. If you tried to cut aggressively and lost some of it, I'd imagine it would be pretty disappointing when you are not even overweight already.

[FurtadoZ9]

Like suggested, I would train at maintenance, max 500kcal deficit. Keep protein high and moderate volume.

[RapidFail]

My best guess from your pic and numbers is that if you cut down to 182lb, you'd probably look great with your shirt off, especially with a pump, but a bit skinny with a shirt on - especially if it's loose fitting.

I'm nearly as tall as you (6'1") and that has certainly been the case for me. I was 166lb in my profile pic, which was taken at the end of my last cut. I'm bulking back up now, currently 170lb and planning to get up to 181-182lb by October.

[EiFit91]

Gonna side with Eli on this one!

You already look clearly fit and in solid shape in the eyes of the general population anyway, don't get too caught up in the warped fitness standards that we are slaves to.

You've made some awesome progress in a year and I say keep at it, at maintenance until the summer if you don't want to lose your current leanness. But also feel free to slowly add another 10-20 pounds before cutting again IMO.

If I were you I think I would aim for a long run physique at about 200 lbs as lean as possible. You already look good close to that weight anyway, so you'll only look leaner and leaner as you improve.

[safcpaul]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll keep eating around maintenance and keeping the intensity high in my workouts and see what happens. Air2fakie I'll also add in some trap work as I don't train them directly so makes sense that you think I could benefit from it

[TonyM78]

Sorry, but the pic just reminded me of a Simpsons quote lol.

"I sleep in a race car! Do you?"

Anyway keep up the good work, man.

[safcpaul]

Sorry, but the pic just reminded me of a Simpsons quote lol.

"I sleep in a race car! Do you?"

Anyway keep up the good work, man.

Haha thanks mate. That car bed is going the journey soon because just as I'm getting bigger so is my son