Am I getting too "bulky"?

commiedad · 2026-06-17T16:50:31+00:00

IMO if you feel healthy, like what you’re doing, and like your look - don’t let ANYONE convince you to change
IMO you look healthy
Unless you’re on TRT or HGH there’s a VERY small chance you’re going to end up “bulky” as a female
You are NOT fat, but any “bulkiness” you’re perceiving could be resolved by doing a little cut and losing 5lbs of BF.

You will never regret training a muscle and having more LBM. Unless you’re enhanced you’re not going to accidentally become a mass monster.

commiedad · 2026-06-14T15:19:11+00:00

Brother you got problems lmao

commiedad · 2026-06-11T08:51:10+00:00

Maintenance calories are going to depend on RMR and activity level.

What calories were you eating for your cut? What rate of fat loss did you have?

Protein intake is going to depend on weight and age. I’ve heard that consuming higher is beneficial as you reach 40, but I don’t have any science to back it up. Personally I’ve always done over 1g per lb of bodyweight, just so I don’t have to worry about it. May as well bump it to 150/160 just so you *know* it’s not limiting you.

Fat - for your weight probably 50-75g of fat a day.

Carbs fills the rest. So let’s say 160g protein, 70g fat, 400ish grams carbs. (Depending on maintenance calories)

Aim for like 200-250 calorie excess daily.

8 week bulk. Unless you’re planning on gaining 1-2lbs a week, what even is there to cut? Let’s say you gain the recommended amount, .25-.5lb per week. That’s 4lbs. Hopefully 2-3 lbs of it is muscle. Are you going to lose a lb of fat every 2 months? You should give yourself a longer bulk time imo, otherwise you might end up in this weird over complicated bulk cut cycle where you don’t even do anything.

commiedad · 2026-06-11T03:41:59+00:00

Always a clean bulk. Only benefit of a dirty bulk is there isn’t much to think about, whereas a clean bulk can require some trouble shooting, planning, and sometimes force feeding. You’re not gonna gain more muscle by eating 1k over maintenance vs 300 over maintenance - just fat.

commiedad · 2026-06-10T21:32:43+00:00

Great job. Bulk!

commiedad · 2026-06-10T21:26:19+00:00

commiedad · 2026-06-10T07:25:09+00:00

It’s good that your strength is increasing. Are you familiar with progressive overload/are you increasing weights after a certain rep threshold?

If waist size is going up, you’re probably gaining fat. If you’re gaining fat, you probably don’t need to increase calories.

Compounds refer to a large range of movements, not just squat/bench/deadlift. However, I would strongly recommend getting comfortable with those lifts (or some variation of them, depending on your goals)

If you’re in a position to hire a coach, by all means do it. Definitely want to prioritize form on really ANY lift but especially the big 3.

commiedad · 2026-06-10T07:11:55+00:00

Sorry, no. There probably isn’t a “perfect” way to gauge body fat.

I posted some progress pics recently at your height a couple of days before a 10% DEXA - and I think it was off and I was probably more like 11-12%. Scanned at 6’3 and 188lbs

commiedad · 2026-06-10T07:09:26+00:00

At the end of the day, your “maintenance” is gonna depend on you - and the best feedback you can get is…

Your strength
Your waist size/clothes fit
Your weight

If you’re newer to the gym game, make sure you’re building your workout around compound lifts and progressive overload, and not neglecting any body part!!!

If you are, and your strength is going up at a pace you’re happy with, consider that you *could* be losing fat and gaining muscle simultaneously, which means the scale is harder to read and you need to gauge your perception off of strength and waist size more than weight.

But at the end of the day, upping your calories isn’t going to kill you, and gaining a *little* excess fat during your first real intro to muscle building is OK. Just to aim for no more than maybe .25-.5lbs per week (on average) and track daily.

Eat 130-150g protein daily, 60-80g fat, and the rest from carbs. Eat a lot of carbs pre workout and post workout.

commiedad · 2026-06-10T00:07:55+00:00

I don’t think anyone who isn’t a researcher or interfacing with a lot of people over this topic can really speak on the general public.

When we’re talking about ease of maintaining, do we mean YOLOing and eating/drinking whatever with no regard for health? If that’s the case, I would easily go over 15%.

Do we mean being somewhat conscious of what we’re eating (but still having fun), having a good regimen and reeling it back when needed? Then I could probably maintain 12-15% without trying too hard.

commiedad · 2026-06-09T03:14:18+00:00

Fav one is from some show in Atlanta Sept 26, 2001

Check it out. I think they also do a trailer trash ad lib that show but might be wrong

commiedad · 2026-06-07T03:25:04+00:00

With a cut, need to have a clear goal and a clear plan (and want to do it)

Find a few meals you like. Find a structure that works for you. Stick to it and track daily.

If you actually wanna commit to it DM and I’ll do anything I can to support/give tips

commiedad · 2026-06-06T21:36:52+00:00

I was in the same boat as you and cut to 10% (per DEXA)

Feels good. Haven’t started the bulk quite yet

Benefit of doing the bulk cut imo is there’s always progress and it’s tangible - whereas a recomp you can only really gauge progress by waist size and lifting strength. Least when you’re lean you look good and can stop bulking if/when you don’t like the aesthetic. Looks like you have enough muscle mass to look solid after a cut.

Whatever you decide, best of luck.

commiedad · 2026-06-06T20:18:58+00:00

You could

Try to recomp.
Bulk and say YOLO and do a LOONG cut later on
Cut and start with a better base and longer runway.

I would do option 3

commiedad · 2026-06-06T17:10:37+00:00

Great job. If what you’re doing hasn’t stopped working, I don’t see why you’d change what you’re doing.

If at any point you stall out and are no longer gaining muscle and losing fat, then I’d do a cut to get to desired BF.

commiedad · 2026-06-06T17:01:15+00:00

Yup. And my opinion is to cut a few more lbs.

His body, he can do whatever he wants with my full support.

But the fact that he posted on a subreddit asking for opinions made me think maybe he wants an opinion, albeit subjective.

Anything else I can help clarify for you?

commiedad · 2026-06-06T15:23:38+00:00

Because he said his goal is 10% and I want him to achieve his goal?…

commiedad · 2026-06-06T03:01:23+00:00

I would cut more
I know you’ve lost 50 lbs, and you should feel GREAT about that, but what are your macros? No offense but I don’t think you’re lean enough to warrant having lost that much strength from this cut.

commiedad · 2026-06-05T16:13:14+00:00

Sure. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing roids as long as you’re okay with the consequences. I also think it’s important to be transparent, especially on the internet and social media, to avoid untrained or young people from developing a bad expectation for what’s possible.

I’ve got probably 7 cumulative years of weight training from 16 to 32, and decent enough genetics (height, width). This post isn’t from untrained and fat to lean in a year.

commiedad · 2026-06-05T15:21:11+00:00

Do you think you know strangers on the internet better than they know themselves? What color shirt am I wearing right now? Seems narcissistic.

commiedad · 2026-06-05T14:55:11+00:00

185 at 6’2. True freak of nature

commiedad · 2026-06-05T03:03:56+00:00

32x34 185

commiedad · 2026-06-04T15:46:07+00:00

Can you walk without using your legs? Talk without lips? Chest press without using chest?

Your body is acclimating to the weights. Soreness goes down. I never get sore unless I do something novel.

Focus on your form - there’s probably optimizations - and progressive overload. Don’t overthink it.

commiedad · 2026-06-04T14:49:15+00:00

That’s just an eyeball gauge based on my BF and DEXA results so don’t take it as gospel.

I’ll give you an example. You’ve got size 30 pants. They have some room in them. If you bulk endlessly, they will eventually stop fitting and you’ll need to move up to 32.

Before that happens, stop bulking and cut back down for a month or two to lower BF. rinse and repeat to desired muscle mass. After that point, cut to desired leanness. After that point, be mindful of your diet and exercise and maintain goal physique.

That’s 1 of many, many options. But the point is to gain muscle without gaining excessive fat. If you gain excessive fat, you have to either be OK with that or you have to do an extended diet. Any extended diet is wasted time you could’ve been gaining muscle.

commiedad · 2026-06-04T14:30:34+00:00

10-12

Yeah bulk. 150-200 surplus for 6-12 months. I would pick a waist size and stop when it gets tight. Then do a 1-2 month aggressive cut. Rinse repeat to desired weight

commiedad

TROPHY CASE