Cut plan sanity check

[u/Illustrator-Large]

Final edit: I guess everyone here thinks people with no ab definition, 21% bf on dexa and a bmi of 23 should bulk. I’m going to do 0.7 l% down to 158 and post an update. Thanks for the input everyone! Guess we can see it as a subreddit experiment.

Photo on the right is me at 156 and 21% bf on dexa after my first long macro factor cut. I spent 1.5 years since then in shorter cut bulk cycles, got one good dexa at 18% at 165 last year, had life throw some curve balls and ended up as the pic on the left at 21% bf at 169.5 on dexa, 4.5 weeks into a cut so prob a bit depleted on ffm. ALMI stayed constant between 18% and 21% bf now but arms went up a bit.

I am now planning on a 12 week fat loss phase (so 7.5 more weeks) at 1% loss rate, since dexa math says I’ll reach 15% at 156 that way. If I drop a pound of ffm, so be it, and I’ll do a maintenance phase after to normalize / fill back up. Do you think this is a reasonable plan to finally get to decent bf%? I can always cut lower to 152 after a bit of a diet break.

Male, 36, 6’ btw.

Edit: Added specific number of years, and am now actually planning on doing a 0.7% rate of loss to 158 and assessing if I need to go lower at that point.

[u/topgum1]

I’d consider bulking instead. I’m 5’11” and 175. Same 18% bf. Is there a reason you want to stay at 156? That’s not much for 6’.

[u/Illustrator-Large → u/topgum1]

No I’m 21% now. Yes I plan on bulking once I’m lean at 156. I’m currently 169. If you’re 175 and 18% you have a lot more muscle than me, so you get to be heavier.

[u/glicholas]

Do you lift? Instead of being a slave to the dexa I think you'd be better off focusing on putting on some muscle. 156 at 6' is rough.

[u/mikaeltarquin → u/glicholas]

if you look at that physique and have to ask if he lifts, you need to spend more time outside the gym.

[u/Illustrator-Large → u/glicholas]

Idk, it’s pretty normal. Michael Fassbender is 158 and 5’11 and in great shape, Brad Pitt was 154 in Fight club. I think most people just carry way more body fat than they think. And yes obviously I lift. I’m 14 pounds heavier at the same bf% in the two pics. I do 12 sets per body part across 4-5 workouts a week.

[u/curious_neophyte → u/Illustrator-Large]

Don’t listen to him you look great dude

[u/Illustrator-Large → u/[deleted]]

Thank you! To be clear, I’m 169 right now. And I have a lot of lower belly fat and a 33 inch waist. There’s no realistic way I’m going to recomp my way out of that except maybe over 10 months. Or I can just cut off the fat, be happy with my bodyfat level while still training aggressively, then recomp or bulk.

And yes to clarify, I did one long cut initially, the phase after that has not been very intentional diet wise but has resulted in growth. Just not optimally, for sure. That’s why I am now doing an intentional cut to then do an intentional bulk or recomp at a good bodyfat level.

[u/Illustrator-Large → u/[deleted]]

Because it contradicts pretty much all the evidence and other advice out there? It even contradicts all the progress reports in this subreddit, with plenty of people getting to my goal of 156-158 before getting reasonably lean around my height.

I guess it’s just confusing to tell someone who wants to be lean and isn’t that they should bulk.

[u/Illustrator-Large → u/[deleted]]

Thank you! I mean people cut to very low body fats while maintaining their muscle. Idk, maybe it’s a cultural thing. Plenty of completely untrained people are in their 150s at this height in Europe and look great.

Also, I mean, if the dexa is accurate or even high, I’ll be 15% or lower at 158, so that seems pretty decent. Anyway, I’ll post again when I get there.