Hey what's up? Just for some background info, I am not a athlete or in competition. I work out for mere pleasure and of course overall health. I am 24 yrs old, weigh about 177, and stand at about 5'11. I am cut in mostly the upper body, average but not big. Most of the flabbiness is in the stomach area. In the past I have tried to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, however that didn't go over to well. I gained little muscle and just bascially stayed the same. My question is what should i focus on first, building muscle, or losing the pockets of stomach fat? Initally I was thinking of getting down to about 170, then bulking. Thanks for the time
build muscle or lose fat first
- Thread starter rajath08
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I would cut more, get rid of that excess fat first so you will have a nice clean slate for your bulk. If you bulk with that "flab" you may increase in BF% and then have to cut afterwards (then you would lose muscle you gained lol). Cut untill you feel comfortable with your self (dont focus on numbers so much) then get to bulking.
i disagree i think you should gain muscle first. Muscle is the principle fat burner so the more you have the quicker you'll lose fat and youll be able to work harder which means better results. Considering most of the fat as you say is in your stomach area then i doubt the muscle you gain will make you look more fat.
Not necessarily Matt. It depends how you go about bulking and/or cutting though. To the OP and to Matt, I say that you look into this article, it's good stuff: Testosterone Nation - The Truth About Bulking
This article says that once your fat cells are full you grow new ones. That totally isn't true unless this a new discovery in the last couple of weeks. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this? I thought the number of fat cells you have stays constant, they just increase in size
Everyone is going to have different opinions on this, and ultimately you have to decide. Bulking up some muscle has obvious benefits, and will make burning off the fat later an easier task. Cutting down the fat now may make you feel more comfortable with yourself and provide a nice "clean slate" as someone put. Either way, you will have to go through both phases eventually, just pick one and get started!
I was in the same boat. I'd build the muscle first as stated above. The more muscle you have to bigger the fat burning machine you have. Try some sports supplement with creatine before and after a workout and reduce the amount of food you intake over the course of the week. This way you get what you need to build but doesn't add to the waist line. Thats what I did.
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It was once believed that the number of fat cells could not increase after adulthood, only the size of the fat cells could increase (or decrease). We now know that fat cells can indeed increase both in size (hypertrophy) and in number (hyperplasia) and that they are more likely to increase in number at certain times and under certain circumstances, such as 1) during late childhood and early puberty, 2) During pregnancy, and 3) During adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained
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