First post - with some progress pics

[notsobigjim]

Hi all.

I've been reading the forums here for a while and decided to join and post a few pics. I started working out a year ago with just a small home gym and Arnies book and have now converted my garage into a decent gym with bench, lat, squat machines/racks etc and am loving it. As I train by myself its sometimes hard to honest with yourself where to go next. I'd like to bulk though I think I should really cut by bf% down (not sure what it is - any ideas?) I'd be really interested to hear what people think about my progress and where to go next.

Thanks in advance!

[notsobigjim]

Oh perhaps I should of said - the first pic is from before I started working out!

[suj]

great going mate, lost alot of fat and looking leaner
keep it up!

[Tauren]

Welcome!

Nice change in the pics, added some good mass, and clearly less fat.

My newbie estimate for BF% would be high teens.

[notsobigjim]

Thanks guys. Whats your thoughts on my next step - cut or bulk?

[suj]

personally i would cut mate (well i can't say nothing i hate cutting )
i think if you lose some more fat, then you can start a clean bulk, and keep your lean-ness

[Tauren]

What do you want, thats the important thing? Any holidays or special events you might want to slim down for, or do you just fancy getting biiiiig.

Personally, I would probably cut a bit in your position, so you got a bit of room to gain some fat again when bulking. Theres no wrong or right decision though.

[Monkfish]

Cut mate, looks like you've got some good size, and more definition will both motivate you and show you the muscles that need bringing up to speed.

Keep lifting the same way you are; just cut your calories, you wont lose muscle and once you get your bodyfat down to the low teens you'll start to see a lot of changes in yourself.

Congratulations, you should be really pleased with what you've achieved so far! Looks like your traps are gonna be hench btw

[notsobigjim]

Thanks for the advice guys. Yes I think I'm going to go with the cut - just struggle getting any meaningful cv in (apart from spinning once a week). How many calories a day would you look to drop?

Cheers

[suj]

i would drop like 500-1000kcals depending on your intake
then have a "cheat day" where your calories are about maintenance/above maintenance

make sure you are lifting heavy still, this will preserve muscle mass

you don't need hours of strenuous CV mate
think about doing one of these too

1) sprinting: so pick a distance, say 50-100m, run full pelt, turn around walk back to start and repeat (do it like 5-15 times)
2) complexes, i used to do cosgrove complexes, very good all round exercise, and can help you shred off fat if done correctly linky (there is a video on the right hand side )