If you're skinny fat, you usually shouldn't bulk or cut. Do a recomp instead: lift weights three times a week, eat plenty of protein and eat around your maintenance calories. Beginners and people returning to lifting can often build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Bulking adds fat you'd later need to lose, and cutting makes you smaller and weaker.
If you want a plan to follow, start the 4-week restart plan for men over 30.
Why not bulk?
Bulking means eating more than you burn to build muscle faster. If you're already carrying fat around your middle, a bulk adds more of it. You'll get bigger, but softer, and you'll need a long cut afterward. For most skinny-fat men, it's the slow way round.
Why not cut?
Cutting means eating less to lose fat. If you have little muscle to begin with, a cut leaves you lighter but still soft, because you lose muscle too. You end up a smaller version of the same problem.
What is a recomp?
A recomp means building muscle and losing fat at the same time, eating around maintenance. It works best for people who are new to lifting, returning after a break, or carrying some extra fat, which describes most skinny-fat men. Your weight may barely change, but your waist gets smaller and your lifts go up.
How to do it:
- Lift three times a week and add weight or reps steadily.
- Eat 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day, the range in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
- Eat around maintenance. Not a big surplus or a big deficit.
- Walk daily and sleep seven or more hours.
- Track your waist and lifts, not just the scale.
Want the training laid out? Use the 4-week restart plan.
When does bulking or cutting make sense?
A small bulk makes sense if you're genuinely underweight and lean, with very little belly fat. A cut makes sense if you have quite a lot of fat around your middle and your waist is high. If you're not sure, start with a recomp for three months and see what your waist and lifts do.
Your next step
For most skinny-fat men, the answer is neither bulk nor cut. Lift, eat enough protein and stay around maintenance. The full plan is in skinny fat in your 30s, and here's how to set your protein in how much protein to lose fat. Then begin the 4-week restart plan.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, talk to your doctor before changing your diet.
- skinny fat
- muscle