Should I keep bulking or do a recomp at 16 ?

[dnzundah]

Hi, I’m 5’9 at 200 lbs at 16. I’ve worked out for about 2 years now , Ive been bulking for a bit over 11 months now ,and I’m at at a point where Im 20%+ body fat percentage, don’t know the exact amount and I’ve gained a considerable amount of muscle but I’ve gained a bit too much body fat with it, I’ve seen a lot of videos saying that I shouldn’t cut at a young age but I think bulking at this point will not turn into just muscle so I want to cut but at the same time I don’t want to lose muscle and overall size, so, I’m considering recomp so I could build some muscle while losing a little fat, js wondering if that’s possible at a young age like 16.

 

[nomore767]

@dnzundah If you’re seeing too much fat accumulation, back down the bulk a bit. Go for just above maintenance or at maintenance. No need to cut unless you are unhealthily overweight.

 

[sethy94]

@dnzundah Yeah man I’m 19, 5’10, 165lbs working out for about 10 months. For some reference so you have an idea about how much muscle I have I squat 315, bench 225, and deadlift 405, but mostly train for hypertrophy. I think I’m at around 20% body fat. So unless you’re absolutely jacked you could be closing in on 30% body fat at that height and weight. Recomp will be very tough if you’ve already been training for a couple years. I’d say it’ll be much more worthwhile to do a moderate cut (1lb per week), but really do whatever works for you, then keep bulking, but much leaner this time. Track your weight of course to make sure you’re hitting you calories right, but when it comes to determining when you should start or stop cutting, don’t focus on the scale so much, just go by how you look.

 

[apaulz]

@sethy94 Man I wish I was this well informed when I was 19. I didn’t know shit at that age.

 

[ray0174]

@sethy94 On the flip side, I’m 30 around the same height. Our bench, squat and deadlift maxes are in the same range.

When I was cutting, I hit 197, I was at roughly 17% body fat. So everyone is a bit different.

 

[danielmata]

@sethy94 4/3/2 after TEN MONTHS of working out and at 5'10 165 on top of that? Are you on gear? That's ridiculously good, if you did this natty then consider yourself blessed with top tier strength genetics.

 

[sethy94]

@danielmata Appreciate it, yeah I’m natural. Just been super consistent with my training, macros, sleep, etc. Started at about a 2 plate deadlift, 1 plate squat and 110 bench at 135lb body weight. Progress has been slowing down a lot lately, as expected, but my dad used to be a powerlifter so he got my form pretty spot on from the beginning

 

[lim00]

@sethy94 Are you an athlete in any other sport or had prior training ?