Ideal bodyfat range for bulk/cut?

I asked this on another forum, but I thought you guys might prefer to have this thread on your own site.

Austin mentioned this article https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 … 00087/full that shows obese people have blunted protein synthesis response to exercise and meals.

Have there been any studies to see if protein synthesis continues to improve down to low levels of bodyfat?

Specifically, is it more efficient to bulk/cut between 10 and 15% bodyfat vs 15 and 20? (For males, I know the ideal BF ranges would be higher for females.)

Dieting gets noticeably harder when I cross below 15% or so.

CWD,

Yea, there’s data suggesting those with insulin resistance, obesity, and a bevy of other medical conditions have attenuated anabolic responses. That said, the data isn’t great for suggesting these folks do worse with respect to outcomes like LBM or strength gain.

Furthermore, it appears that there’s kind of a U shaped curve regarding “anabolic response blunting” (with respect to LBM) and body fat. At the extremes, both low and high body fats appear to negatively affect anabolism in the context of skeletal muscle mass.

I don’t think there’s likely to be any difference between bulking from 10-15% or 15-20% other than aesthetics and individual-specific responses.

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