Hi, all pics are taken this week in different lights.
173cmx77 kg. 5 years of training.
I look “okay” with good lights, but fairly soft in natural light.
Also feel to small to keep cutting and not lean enough to go back into a lean bulk.
Would you recommend a last push to cut for 4~ more weeks given it’s summer something else at this stage?
I am also unsure whether the abs softeness is fat, lack of abs, skin + water (I was obese) or all of the above, so unsure whether cutting more is doing more damage than good.
You’re probably ~ 11-13% bodyfat right now, which is more than fine for sport, health, etc. If you want to be leaner, that’s cool. However, I don’t think leaner is sustainable for very long and every week you cut, that’s another week you’re delaying gaining muscle. Getting leaner generally doesn’t help folks gain more muscle when they go to bulk- it’s mostly fat gain afterwards. So, it all depends what you want to do.
Thanks! I am aiming for a “strong lean” look - I don’t really mind having abs (my abs genetic isn’t great, despite training them) and I have thick skin, what annoys me is mostly the fat/water/skin on my sides that gets “pushed up” when wearing tight underwear or swimwear.
I would be inclined to just get back into a lean bulk immediately, but I have got one last beach holiday in 3 weeks so was thinking of maybe dropping 1 or 2 more kgs max and then resume bulking after.
Just not sure whether this would allow me to reach the best “beach look” or if I’ll just end up looking flat and soft
I would not transitiion from a cut to a bulk immediately, as this is likely to lead to far more fat gain than a maintenance period.
I don’t think losing another 1-2kg is going to make you look much different either way. So, it’s ultimately personal preference with what your next move is, e.g. maintenance period before a bulk or continue cutting.
