Starting the Beginner Template - Cut or Bulk first?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Dr Feigenbaum!

I’m embarking on my first proper lifting journey and will be starting the Beginner Template tomorrow (which is a fantastic read), I’ve had a bit of training experience in the gym although nothing fancy at all, these are my lifts:

  1. Male
  2. 27 years old
  3. 200lb
  4. Body fat % ~ 25 % (calipers fromAccumeasure - about 24mm fat)
  5. Waist measurement ~ 37" inches I’ve done a bit of lifting in the past - although it was more so just being acclimatised to the lifts such as working on form these are as of Day 1 starting the Beginner Template:
  6. Squat = 60Kg
  7. Bench = 60Kg
  8. Deadlift = 90Kg
  9. Press = 40Kg I ran a normal off the shelf beginner 3 day full body program, but the lifts did not increase for example by +2.5lb a session or anything linearly, it has been fairly all over the place due to lack of adherence and also problems with my form. I visited a local strength coach who has been able to help me correct my form issues.

Although I haven’t done the barbell row movement - I will add those to my lifts, along with others for the GPP days - and some HIIT cardio as I like doing it and it helps with my compliance!

My main goals for my lifting journey are to be: 1. Strong as possible
2. Gain appreciable amounts of muscle mass
3. A reduction in bodyfat % to a somewhat normal range I have no problems with goals 1 and 2 - as I’m in this journey for life - I hope to get to 4321 as a goal someday!

The trouble i am having is with point 3!

I understand from reading the To Be A Beast article, that i’m like the fluffy novice, a bodyfat % higher than 20% so will need to foster a reduction in bodyfat % but not so severe that it causes the strength to stall out so quickly. I would like to add lots of weight to my lifts, such as the article notes!

Am i better of running the beginner template with a : 1. caloric deficit, measuring and weighing myself for changes often until I get to an appropriate level of bodyfat % such as say 15%, then reassess from there?
2. eat in a caloric surplus to help build as much muscle as possible and benefit from building muscle - then focus on fat loss afterwards? My frame isn’t muscular, but isn’t skinny enough to warrant an immediate bulk, but at the same time it’s also carrying quite a bit of fat particularly around the midsection, which makes me think that a caloric deficit is the way to go - but the progression of strength will not be as great from a beginner effect standpoint if i was in a bulk/maintenance.

I have no adherence problems to tracking caloric intake/macros through MyFitnessPal or committing to training, it’s just how do i approach this - fat loss, maintenance or bulk?

Any views on where I should start?

2

I don’t think you need to lose weight unless you want to, but I wouldn’t gain weight. Your long term muscle gain isn’t going to suffer if you don’t gain muscle as fast as humanly possible at this point. I think your dietary pattern could use some work, e.g. more lean protein, fruits and veggies, whole grains, less added sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and processed foods 90% of the time. I’d try to decrease your waist while maintaining weight, which should be possible IMO.

-Jordan

3

Thanks Jordan for the response!

With regards to this quote:

Is this to mean eating at a caloric maintenance whilst continually progressing through training, which should see a reduction in waist circumference? But will not yield a decrease in weight (or might - but not as rapid as a caloric deficit + training would achieve)?

4

Yes, exactly.

5

Are there any macro calculators you have used that you can recommend? I understand the premise that whatever the maintenance calories come out as to roll with it for 3 weeks then take averages and see if weight loss/gain/nothing has happened then adjust up or down by 250 calories.

Or does any of the shelf calorie calculator work e.g. Mifflin St J one.

Or scrapping all of that use the baseline calorie table from the To Be A Beast article.

Apologies if this may seem a bit superfluous, i find my compliance is higher when tracking intake via calories rather than using other measures such as hand size etc

6

A macro calculator is a bit different than a Calorie calculator. For energy intake, I’d recommend the NIH bodyweight planner.