A fitness-focused YouTube presentation explaining three ways to improve a 'skinny-fat' physique: (1) a controlled bulk (slow calorie surplus to maximize muscle gain—speaker cites ~50–85% of gained weight as muscle), (2) a cut (calorie deficit to lose fat while trying to preserve muscle), and (3) a body recomposition (simultaneous slow fat loss and muscle gain, mostly for beginners/detrained). The video lists pros and cons for each approach, gives member examples, notes not to exceed ~20% body fat for health reasons, and recommends choosing based on two questions: main goal and current body-fat percentage. It ends with a call-to-action to visit builtwithscience.com for personalized guidance.
Should I bulk or cut? So this is probably the most common question that I get asked, especially from those who are struggling with a physique that doesn't have much muscle but also isn't very lean. Or in other words, you're both under muscled and over fat. And to those of you in this situation, I know that it can seem overwhelming and confusing as to the optimal approach that you should take, but it really is quite simple. At the end of the day, all that your body needs in order to look better is a combination of more muscle and less body fat. And there are three approaches that you can take to achieve this, with each approach having their own set of pros and cons that you'll want to consider. So the first option is to start with the gaining phase or what most people know as a bulk. Now when I say bulk I don't mean a crazy dirty bulk where you put on £20 in a month. Im referring to a very slow and controlled calorie surplus where the primary goal is to gain muscle at a steady rate without gaining unnecessary amounts of additional fat. Depending on your training, experience, genetics and size of your surplus, typically about 50 to 85% of the weight that you put on during this phase will be muscle, with the rest often inevitably being fat gain. So the idea here is that you spend some time in this phase, pack on a bunch of muscle and then later on commit to a cut to strip off excess body fat to reveal the muscle that you put on. And there's various pros and cons to using this approach. The pros are that you'll look bigger and better in clothes, you'll get stronger much faster and you'll have a bunch of energy and your workouts will just generally be more fun. The cons of this approach however are that you'll accumulate more body fat than you currently have right now, which wont look as impressive without a shirt on and will hide much of the muscle that you're building. You'll also have to be willing to go into a calorie deficit to strip off the fat afterwards, and your risks for health ramifications increase when your body fat gets past 20%. Based on the pros and cons of this approach, it's typically ideal for those who are currently skinny with very little muscle, those who want to prioritize building muscle and strength first rather than getting lean, and those who have a relatively low body fat percentage of around 10 to 15%. To put this into perspective for you, here is one of our Built with Science members Dashaun who used this approach to first bulk up and increase his weight by 20 pounds over the course of four months and then over the course of another four months stripped off the excess fat to reveal his new gains at a much leaner and stronger £150. As you can see, he has significantly more muscle and less fat than he did when starting out despite actually weighing less now. Now do note that even if you're lets say at 15% body fat, this option may still be a viable and effective option for you. In the past it was a common belief and even something that I advocated in my content, that your body puts on muscle much more effectively when you're under 15% body fat. This idea has recently been challenged by researcher Eric Traxler and colleagues where they did an in depth analysis on the current research and found that there's currently not enough compelling evidence to suggest that you'll boost muscle growth by getting lean beforehand. Further research would definitely help clarify this and I wouldn't Advise gaining past 20% body fat because of the potential health ramifications, but just be aware that even if you're not very lean, a gaining phase is likely still a good option for you if you're well aware of the pros and cons that I mentioned earlier. So the next option is a cut or fat loss phase where the main goal is to maintain your muscle while decreasing your body fat, which will require a calorie deficit. Some individuals, though primarily beginners, detrained individuals, or those at a higher body fat percentage, may be able to build a little bit of muscle throughout this process as well. So the idea here is that you'll get lean first and then decide to either maintain your leaner body or commit to a gaining phase to then focus on adding more size. Let's dive into the pros and cons of this approach. The pros are that one you'll look better without clothes and see results much faster in terms of muscle definition and decreased body fat, which often comes with more confidence, motivation and enjoyment of the process 2 it puts you in a good position to gain afterwards if you starting out with a relatively higher body fat percentage, 3 if you're at a higher body fat or inexperienced, you'll likely be able to build some muscle as you cut and four once you do lean down, you'll get a better sense as to whether or not you think you have enough muscle or would like to focus on adding more necks. On the other hand, the downsides of using this approach are that your strength gains won't progress as well, your workouts will likely be less enjoyable and if you're skinny, you look leaner afterwards, but you probably won't have as much muscle as you'd like to have. So based on the pros and cons of this approach, it's typically ideal for those who have a relatively higher body fat percentage, so for example over 15% and those who want to first prioritized losing fat and getting lean rather than putting on more size. Here is one of our members, Anthony, who used this approach to first strip off the excess fat that he was carrying and reveal his muscle definition. He's then recently transitioned to a lean bulk to now focus on adding more size. And here's another example from Built with Science member Andrew, who first leaned down by losing over 30 pounds of fat and then shortly after committed to a gaining phase where he's now slowly gaining more muscle and size. So the last approach is what's called a body recomp, a term used to describe simultaneous fat loss and muscle growth, with your weight remaining fairly stable throughout the process. To implement it, typically you would eat at a very small calorie deficit. Now obviously this is a win win scenario and something that everybody wants, but the rate at which we can achieve this diminishes very quickly with training experience and its highly individual as some see better success with recomp than others do. Its also very difficult to measure and assess your progress since you cant rely on the weight scale as much. Visual progress tends to be quite slow and it's hard to tell how long this phase will last since it tends to vary for everybody. It's also worth noting that as we mentioned earlier, in many cases you still are able to achieve a simultaneous muscle gain and fat loss with a normal cut where your body weight decreases. Nonetheless, it still is a viable option primarily for beginners, detrained individuals or those who have never trained or dieted optimally and are sitting at around 15% body fat and those who want to prioritize getting bigger and stronger while slowly getting leaner. But if you do decide to go with this option, you'd be best to take it on with an expert or at least a well guided program so that you're not left spinning your wheels for a couple months. To illustrate an example of this, here are two built with Science members Kevin and Nico who weigh the exact same in their before after photos, but look significantly better than the after photo because of the body recomposition they went through to increase their muscle mass while decreasing their excess fat. So now that you have the three Options laid out for you. You should have a good indication as to what approach would be best for you, your body and your goals. If you're still confused, however, then first ask yourself these two very simple questions. 1. What is your main goal and what are you most excited for right now? And 2 what is your current body fat percentage? If your main goal right now is to add more size, build muscle, gain strength and set PRs in the gym, then a gaining phase is probably the best option as long as your current body fat percentage is around 10 15%. If its closer to 20% or above that, then you're probably best to start with a cut. If your main goal and what you're most excited for right now is instead to get lean, reveal your muscle definition and see visual progress very quickly, then a cutting phase is probably the best option. Obviously you can choose to cut regardless of what your body fat percentage is. And then lastly, ask yourself if you're eligible for a body recomposition. But as we mentioned earlier, this is best suited for true beginners and detrained individuals sitting at around 15% body fat, with the main goal to build muscle and strength while slowly getting leaner. It can be tricky and you'll likely need guidance, but it is an option to consider now. To conclude, just realize that whatever it is that you choose is just the starting point to your journey. The end point and the end goal is all the same. A lean muscular physique with more muscle and less fat than you currently have and you can eventually get there regardless of what approach it is that you choose. So try not to overcomplicate things, especially if you're a complete beginner just getting started in the gym. Eat primarily whole food sources. Learn your movements, focus on progressing them to continuously challenge your body and your body will transform over time and for step by step, all in one program that uses science to not only start you out with the best initial approach for you and your body, but then also guides you through the different phases needed afterwards to achieve a lean and muscular physique, just like it has done successfully for thousands of our members and simply head on over to builtwithscience.com and take our analysis quiz to discover the best approach for you and your body. Anyways, that is it for today guys. Really hope you enjoyed this one. Please don't forget to show your support by giving the video a like leaving a comment down below as to what you'd like to see me cover next, subscribing to the channel and turning on notifications for the channel as well as this all really does help me out as much appreciated. Thanks so much guys, and I'll see you next time.
