bodyfat % ?

[juiced_one]

I guess I would call this my offseason, even though I'm not trying to compete, nor plan on it any time soon. I've got about 3-4 weeks left bulking, right at 200lbs currently, and my bodyfat % measured by bioelectrical impedance was 12.1% and 11.7% in a hydrostatic tank. I'm not doing any cardio, haven't done any for two months, just eating, lifting, sleeping. Hopefully I will end up 201-202 after another 3-4 weeks of this.

So by my calculation, if I maintain the muscle I have and drop to 7-8% bodyfat (which is about where I want to be) I'd need to lose ~8lb of fat, which would bring me to about 194lb and at 7-8% I'd be pretty shredded by my own standards.

So my question is, should I try and maintain under 10% bodyfat and add muscle the next time, or is getting to 12% during a bulking phase alright. I'm really not looking to get under 7-8% bodyfat ever, and 12% doesn't bother me. Just wondering if it's possible to maintain <10% and still size quickly.

[die2live]

I don't have any personal experience trying to gain at <10% BF so I may be biased BUT a quick look at pics of Ronnie and Lee Priest just to name two pros would seem to indicate they don't try to bulk at <10%. I think the best part of keeping a good journal on your diet and training along with body metrics is that you can more reliably predict how you will fare cutting once you add 2/3/4/5% BF during a bulking cycle and then cut/diet it down for the following season or event. I think that trying to gain a large amount of muscle at low body fat is far too difficult and slow to make a big difference year-over-year.

The better approach is to take a short 1 wk "diet" break after contest BF% and then get back to maintenance + ~10% over; adding more high Q fat and comp carbs. The gaining happens as you add some excess calories and increase the load - going back to the heaviest and most intense workouts (think squats/DL/Leg Press/Cleans/Weighted chins/etc) with low reps and plenty of rest. Continually tracking %BF as it's increasing is still really important so you can kind of SEE where your gaining program will get you by the time you need to start reigning it back in and getting ready for a cutting program again.

[juiced_one]

Ok... thats what I was thinking too.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be out for a month now though from training. The day following a KILLER chest workout my elbows decided to feel really crappy, so I have taken the week off. Seeing my doc about it, and I'm pretty sure he'll have me out of the gym for at least a couple weeks more, maybe taking some meds. :(

I'm gonna focus on legs/core, do cardio in place of my upper body days, drop a good amount of carbs and keep protein high... basically drop 5-6lbs of fat that will easily come off and keep myself occupied while I can't lift upper body.

[die2live]

Also you need to be really careful after coming off a show BF% level. If you are sloppy right after being at say 3-4% you can get really nasty rebound effects that leave you with excess BF and really bloated appearance. You want to obviously increase the calories and carbs but still maintain a level of control to limit the rebound effect and avoid unnecessary BF increase.