Cut or bulk?

[afc_recovering]

My Stats:

Age: 15
Height: 5'8
Weight: 145 lbs.
15% Body Fat (according to the scale at the gym)

Bulk or cut?

 

[mrRuckus]

both

 

[[S]alvatore]

You can't do both at the same time. What type of scales were they? Using anything other than bodyfat calipers, and they are probably wrong.

 

[typical]

Well calipers tell me I'm at 9% body fat and those electronic sensor scales that you stand on naked tell me im at 15%, go figure.

 

[MrS]

I don't think it matters int he slightest what your bodyfat % is as long as you're happy. Too fat? Cut. Happy? Bulk, or whatever.

 

[reyalp]

if you've never lifted before, it's possible for you to add about 5-7lbs of lean muscle mass in your first week without really putting on any fat. you have to eat right and do a lot of core lifts, though. get Mark Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength." Mark's from my hometown in Texas, he takes skinny guys and adds 20lbs of muscle to them in 3-4 months all the time.

and you can cut and bulk at the same time.....i just recently moved down one percentage in body fat while keeping the same weight.

 

[prosemont]

First, get your bodyfat measured for real. The bodyfat scales are not accurate. (They may be good for some purposes, ie. measuring RELATIVE changes, but they are not accurate for purely measuring bodyfat). Go to a gym and have someone there measure you with calipers.

When in doubt, I always advocate cutting. The problem with bulking, imho, is that most guys do not bulk cleanly. They take bulking as meaning they can eat whatever garbage they want and simply get fat. In bulking, you want to add muscle mass and keep the fat as low as possible. When adding muscle mass, you'll necessarily add some fat as well so that is a given, but you're not looking to "get fat" you're looking to get muscular.

If you're truly under 10%, you may want to bulk. If you don't know if you're ripped, however, you probably aren't and should probably cut.

That's just my opinion, though, a lot of guys on here are going for that big look at any cost. Me, I'd rather be ripped.

 

[afc_recovering]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The scale I was measured on was one of those electric scales and I found 15% a little high, as I can visibly see my abs. I think I'm going to get my true body fat measured with callipers in PE.

However, I believe I am going to start a clean bulk because I'm not interested in looking any skinnier.