How do I know if I need to bulk up or just cut more?

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I've been training regularly for 4 months, 1 hour every day, alternating between ab/back exercises and dumbbell lifting. I do notice a big difference on my arms/shoulders compared to the day I started, same with my abs. They tend to show some structure on the mirror, not perfectly visible yet with all the lines, but you can definitely tell they are there. I just don't know if I need to build more abs or lose more fat to make them more visible at this point. I've been doing a regular diet, with no cut/bulk so I maintained my weight 100%. I'm 165 pounds and 6.03 feet long.

Is there a secret way to figure out which road is the best to take from now on? Bulk it up and try to build more muscle or just burn some fat to make abs more visible?
 
Best way for us to tell might be to simply post a picture.

To be honest though a lot depends on what your ultimate goal is and we need a little bit more information.

Also you should consider doing some leg exercises. If dumbells are the only equipment you have then consider doing lunges or squat jumps and press. You'll get better results (even if you upper-body is all you're concerned with) if you add in some leg exercises.
 
Dutes said:
To be honest though a lot depends on what your ultimate goal is
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Agreed; only you know what you want to look like and that's going to determine your future path.

Either way though, you could do either and get good results so long as you're motivated enough to stick with a plan. The only thing I'd advise against is not making your mind up and switching between calorie surplus and deficit's every week or so. Make your mind up and stick to your guns
 
I rule of thumb I've heard is take your height in cm then for every cm above 100 you should weigh that in kgs otherwise you will look thin.

So say you are 6 ft which is about 180 cm.

80 cm ~ 80 kg
80 kg = 176 lbs

That's currently what I'm shooting for. Like you, I didn't change my eating habits much and maintained 160 lbs at 6 ft. I was getting more muscular though and the weight must have dropped off my gut and back. I manged to stuff myself more and am at 166 lbs. I am going to start 5x5 soon and shoot to hit about 175-180 then cut back 5-10 lbs.
 
Well rules of thumb are all very well and good, but over generalising anything is a bad idea, particularly something like this which varies so much from person to person.
 
Here is a recent picture post workout:


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Like I said the abs are visible a bit but not 100% visible. I don't know if I'm too thin for them to develop further or just still covered with fat on my abdomen for them to show.
 

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Well, there are a couple ways you could go about solving your problem. Yes, you can still get your abs to show more if you lose more weight. It's not that you are fat because you are not. You just don't have the muscle mass to make them pop out like you see in a magazine. I'd say to bulk up about 10-15 lbs, and then drop some weight. I think you'd be pleased with the results.
 
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