It’s the classic dilemma: should you bulk or cut first you are skinny-fat?
The answer is that skinny-fat guys should cut first.
That’s it.
There is your answer.
Thanks for stopping by.
Okay, I’m joking with you a bit but truth be told, yes you should cut first.
But I need to tell you why cutting is the way to go. The whole story is much more nuanced than that.
And I’ll explain why bulking is not a good idea if you are skinny-fat. I’ll also touch on a third option, called body recomposition, where you build muscle and burn fat at the same time. (Sounds like a winning method but I’ll explain why it’s not the best approach.)
We’ve talked at length about what skinny fat is and how to fix it. Today, we’ll talk about why you should cut first if your skinny-fat and bulk later.
Skinny Fat Cut vs Bulk
The reason you should cut first is because you need to clean up your diet ASAP. A clean diet is priority number one for skinny-fat guys.
Skinny-fat guys are skinny-fat because they eat like they do.
Cleaning up your diet means removing certain ingredients and including others. Going about it this way will naturally have a cutting effect where you will lose fat quickly.
There are some things to consider when determining if you should cut or bulk first. In this article we will review three scenarios that will cover the vast majority of skinny fat guys out there. Then we will talk through the pros and cons of each.
I know it’s confusing trying to figure out what the best approach is, but rest assured this blog article will help you get on the right path.
Three Options for Skinny-Fat Guys
There really are three options. The path you choose depends on your goals. Really, the only option is you should cut first the vast majority of the time.
Bulking first isn’t recommended unless you want to get as big as possible as fast as possible and eat anything and everything you want. But even if you bulk first you still need to change your eating habits to ensure you get your minimum required nutrients for optimal health and muscle building.
Should You Bulk or Cut First?
Ultimately what it boils down to, regardless of your starting point, is that you want to look better and feel better. That requires you to increase lean muscle mass and decrease body fat. I know it sounds obvious but that’s simply all we are dealing with here.
Now, there are three approaches you can take to reach your desired goal.
- Cut first
- Bulk first
- Body recomposition (cut and bulk at the same time)
Let’s go through them all together shall we?
Should You Cut First if You’re Skinny-Fat?
Cut or cutting is used to strip away body fat in order to reviled your chiseled muscles. Granted you need to have at least some muscle mass to begin with in order to look good after a cut and make it worth while.
Cutting requires a strict diet and that could mean giving up foods you love. That being said, cutting first might be a good idea if you a very skinny-fat. Meaning if you have very little muscle mass and have large love handles/belly fat.
If you are a beginner and have high body fat percentage it probably make the most sense to cut first. As there is a good chance that you will build some muscle even while being on a cut since you’re new to training (you will cash in on newbie gains).
The good thing about cutting first is that you will see results much faster. Your love handles and belly fat will disappear.
Cutting also cleans up your eating habits and adds foods to your diet that your body needs to build muscle. So, this is another reason you will gain muscle even during a cut – the increase in protein rich and nutrient dense foods.
Plus, your metabolism will be primed to keep the fat off while you bulk up after the cut is done.
Benefits of Cutting First
Cutting first actually makes it easier to build muscle later by revving up your metabolism and eliminating toxic buildup that gets in the way of building muscle.
By cleaning up your diet you will likely have more energy and feel better in general, even while eating less food. This is because the quality of food will be significantly better.
On the down side, you won’t build as much muscle mass on a cut as you would on a bulk. BUT that probably won’t matter in your case. Why? Because it’s very hard to gain muscle for most people. You’re going to make considerable more visual, aesthetic progress by cutting first. Your strength and muscle gains might be slower at first but in the medium to long run this turn around and actually provide you more benefit.
So, if you’re a skinny-fat guy with high body fat percentage (over 15%-20%+, which is almost everyone) you should lose fat first with a cut phase before bulking.
Should You Bulk First if You are Skinny-Fat?
Bulking first when you are skinny-fat is not usually recommended unless your goal is to get as strong as possible and gain weight. The beauty of weight training is that you will gain some muscle, and even improve your body fat percentage, on a bulk if you’re skinny-fat. BUT you won’t have a chiseled physique (yet).
You will look bigger and stronger, especially in clothes. You might just look pudgy without a shirt on though. And if you don’t know what you’re doing you could end up with more body fat that what you started with.
Bulking first is primarily for the skinny-fat guy that is more on the skinny side. Unless your goal is to gain size and strength at all costs first, then by all means bulk first. This is probably the case for less than 20% of skinny-fat guys.
I typically recommend cutting first for a variety of reasons.
Body Recomposition for Skinny-Fat Guys
Body recomposition is changing the percentage of lean muscle mass and body fat over time. Technically, both a cut and bulk will be a body recomposition. However for sake of argument, what I mean by body recomposition in this section is that you will methodically increase you lean muscle mass and decrease you body fat percentage.
This is a good middle ground for skinny-fat guys who want to take a more balanced approach. It may take longer to see results and it requires closer management to be successful but the benefits are worth it.
You will have to pay close attention to the foods you eat to ensure you are eating enough to build muscle but not so much that you gain fat. If you are a technical person who likes a structured approach and you don’t see a need to make a drastic change quickly then this is probably for you.
Understand Why You are Skinny-Fat
Cutting before you bulk as a skinny-fat guy usually gives the best (and fastest) results.
People are skinny-fat for three reasons:
- Poor diet
- Lack of strenuous activity
- Low testosterone
Cutting before you bulk helps you make progress faster because it forces you to clean up your diet from the get go. Which provides a metabolic boost and increases testosterone production.
Cutting First Gives a Moral Boost
This point bares repeating. Losing fat is easier than building muscle. So by cutting first you will see results faster. This will keep you motivated to continue since you see results from your hard work.
If you bulk before you cut you’ll run into two problems:
- You’ll have a harder time building muscle (due to metabolism impediment)
- The muscle you do build will be covered in fat
Then after all that hard work and effort with nothing to show for it, you have to now cut anyway. But, if you cut first, you’ll build muscle that you can see and you will get to enjoy it throughout the process.Once you see muscles you’ll be motivated to keep going even more.
Skinny-Fat Diet Tips
Regardless of if you bulk or cut first, the following diet tips will help you get results faster.
Cut Out Refined Carbohydrates and Sugar
Refined carbohydrates are the skinny-fat guy’s mortal enemy. Carbs/sugar are the reason you’re in this situation to begin with. Cut out the processed junk and you will feel like you’re floating on air and have energy to burn.
Eat More Protein and Natural Foods
By virtue of cleaning up your diet, you’ll eat more natural and wholesome foods. These foods will be higher in protein and glorious (and delicious) animal fat. A better diet means you’ll build muscle faster. The animal fat builds testosterone.
Detox and Improve Body Function
A cutting diet will clean out your system. Eating clean gives your body a chance to process all the garbage that made you partly fat in the first place.
All the sludge and toxic buildup from frankenfoods will be purged and your body will run more efficiently.
Having a great body is 80% nutrition. You need to eat well in order to cut. and eating well in turn gives you the nutrition you need to build more muscle and boost your testosterone.
Supplements for Skinny-Fat Guys
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I like to mention supplements because the topic always comes up. The best supplements for skinny-fat guys generally are the following:
A clean label protein powder. Quality protein is a good way to get extra muscle building nutrients and can be used to whip up a tasty shake, which helps satisfy a sweet tooth. Since disciplined dieting is a challenge, having a protein shake can really help fight the urge to pig out on junk food.
A good pre-workout (with or without stimulants depending on your preference) Can be a helpful supplement for skinny-fat guys. That’s because pre-workout gives you energy and helps you feel motivated to train harder, which everyone could use from time to time.
Just remember, supplements are secondary to a healthy whole food diet. But supplements can help get results when used correctly.
In Conclusion: Skinny-Fat Guys Should Cut First
Transforming your body is a long, hard road. And the majority of skinny-fat guys will benefit most from cutting first. Cutting first primes your body to build more muscle and keeps body fat percentage low.
Cutting allows you to actually see progress and visual improvement in musculature. You’ll look and feel better much sooner. This gets your mind in a good spot to make the most of your journey to build muscle.
You’re going to want to stack the deck in your favor as much as possible because building muscle is hard work. Now all that’s left to do is hit the gym to put some meat on those bones.
P.S. If you want know how to cut then bulk for the best result, then you need ‘The Skinny-Fat Solution’.
I’ve help a lot of skinny-fat guys get fit. I wrote ‘The Skinny-Fat Solution’ to make it as simple as possible for skinny-fat guys to burn fat and build muscle.
It comes with a full 12-week workout plan and nutrition guide. Everything is step-by-step and guaranteed to get results. Check it out now!
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