[Donster]

I would say 18 months ago i was at my heaviest in terms of muscle. Bulked up and then cut hardcore. Looked semi-decent. A lot like a boxer but with more muscle.

Then my career took off and life got in the way. I have not touched the weights for 14 months and lets just say i am out of shape. A LOT!

Having met a new chick and for personal wellbeing etc i have decided to get back into lifting again.

Now my question. Should i cut up first and then bulk? So that way i dont look like a fat mofo when bulking

Or bulk up, make lots of muscle and look fat and then cut?

I am by no means fat. But i am defintley carrying a few extra pounds.

Muscle memory should hopefuly help me a great deal!!!

I am strongly thinking lose the flab first. Then bulk..

[krnnerdboy]

credentials(not much):I am by no means a career lifter. I work out maybe 4x a week and can bench about 325 weighing 165(almost twice my weight). I have never trained anyone in my life but worked closely with some trainers on my workouts..so please take my suggestion with a grain of salt

from my experience if you haven't touched weights for a while you are probably pretty flaby unless you kept up your cardio, b/c the muscle turned to fat. With your muscle memory/flab I believe you will most likely bulk up pretty quickly. Throw in some power lifts with the regular sets you are doing and see from there! Let's see some b4 and after pics.

[Turbo>NA]

I made a thread on this. Search my info for the thread under my username. Theirs a lot of useful information

[just4kickz]

Originally Posted by Donster

I would say 18 months ago i was at my heaviest in terms of muscle. Bulked up and then cut hardcore. Looked semi-decent. A lot like a boxer but with more muscle.

Then my career took off and life got in the way. I have not touched the weights for 14 months and lets just say i am out of shape. A LOT!

Having met a new chick and for personal wellbeing etc i have decided to get back into lifting again.

Now my question. Should i cut up first and then bulk? So that way i dont look like a fat mofo when bulking

Or bulk up, make lots of muscle and look fat and then cut?

I am by no means fat. But i am defintley carrying a few extra pounds.

Muscle memory should hopefuly help me a great deal!!!

I am strongly thinking lose the flab first. Then bulk..

lol just cut and gain. whatever you used to put up... you should be able to put up now assuming you've had no injuries since then

[TwinTurboXI]

How are planning on focusing on getting cut but not gaining muscle? If your talking about just running to get cut, could'nt you fit cardio into your strength training?

[Bobby_Light]

Excellent program design in conjunction with good diet and lifestyle should enable you to do both at the same time - get lean and add mass.

Due to your large layoff from exercise, you will see quick gains initially because you are considered an untrained individual at this stage. Untrained people have the most potential for quick gains because virtually any stimulus they give the body will exceed not training at all. Make the absolute most out of the six weeks you start training again to maximize this potential.

[AryoBarzan]

Well... that depends on your weight, body fat %, height, short term goals, etc

What's your height/weight?
If you've gotten pretty fat from your new career lifestyle, then it may be wise. However, if you're a little chubby or on the skinny side, it'd probably be best to bulk (especially since its still winter). Then again, I guess that really depends on your short-term goals.

[Speedtrap]

I would suggest cardio first like the other guys are saying to get back into shape. As you know personally; you will not lose weight since you are carrying a few pounds from just the weights sessions. Once you are into the gym a few times; alternate between the weights and cardio which should get you back into shape.

Not sure what you are trying to do; look like a body builder or a sort of a models body....so not sure how we can advise...

[ChrisFastM3]

If you want to see serious changes fast as far as loosing fat while maintaining the most muscle, look into HITT (high intensity interval training) NOT FOR THE FEINT OF HEART! When starting up again, make sure you can run 2-3 miles a day before attempting.

My HITT goes like this:
10 minute jog at 50%
Extensive stretching after muscles are warmed up
8 20 second sprints at 100% with 10 second pauses in-between
10 minute jog (if you can or else just walk 10 minutes)

NEVER DO THIS MORE THAN 3 TIMES A WEEK

Every single time I do HITT, I feel like I'm gonna die after....... but the results are real. Also, it NEVER gets easy since you have to give whatever your 100% is for each sprint.

For cutting I too am a firm believer in 6 small meals a day when cutting.
20% good fats / 40% carbs / 40% protein.
Adjust calories as you see fit. I start with 6 300 calorie meals (=1800 total) when cutting

[BoostedBMW]

Its really up to you. Since you have lifted in the past I'm sure you will get back into it without a problem so I would do whatever will make you feel better, which sounds like you would like to drop a little BF before bulking again. Why not focus on your diet/cardio/basic lifts for a few weeks and then get back into lifting hard again when you start your bulk.

BTW, I am also by no means an expert, and I don't pretend to be, so you can also take my advice with a grain of salt. I just finished bulking from 155 to 170 over the past 5-6 months and now I'm really looking forward to cutting. I put on some good mass, but also a little fat so its time for it to go... I'm getting tired of eating anyway.

[E82tt6]

Given you were in good shape before, you can recover your lost muscle mass while burning fat.

Lift 3 times a week. Do cardio 3 times a week. I reccomend high intensity interval training. Warm up for 2 minutes, go ALL OUT for 30 seconds, cruise for 1 minutes, ALL OUT of 30 seconds, cruise for 1 minute. Rinse and repeat that with a 2 minute cool down for 14-20 minutes.

Eat 6 meals a day. One portion complex carbs, one portion protein, and one portion of veggies at least twice a day. A portion is an amount of food the size of your fist, give or take.

KISS, that's all you need to do. Getting back into shape is easy once you've been in good shape before. It's a bit like when you started lifting, you can gain muscle and lose fat, but you'll do both faster.

[1cleanm6]

best suggestion would start to cut down, keep ur protein intake at 1.5 grams per pound. carb about 1 gram per pound. EFA's keep it around .75 per pound. Hit weights hard, also do about 30 mins cardio 5 days a week. Ull burn fat while mantaining your muscle.

[OO---OO]

Cut first. why wait to look good? Just look good the whole way through, bro.