If your current body fat percentage is slightly higher (or, TBH, way higher) than your ideal body fat %, you may have found yourself thinking:

“Cut versus bulk — which will give me better muscle growth results in the long term?”

See, it isn't an easy choice to make. Obviously. Because if it were, you wouldn't be struggling with this question. Let's start with the apparent downsides associated with each option:

• Cut first: You may not have much muscle mass. As a result, you could end up looking "scrawny" and "small" post-cut, possibly the two descriptors you’d like to disassociate from most. Also, you could feel weak in the gym, causing a plummet in training volume.
• Bulk first: You already have a higher-than-you’d-like body fat %. Pile more fat on top of that, and you may struggle to like what you see in the mirror. Plus, isn’t there talk about too much body fat hurting hypertrophy or something?

Cut versus bulk? It seems like you can't win either way, right? Well … while it may seem like we've found ourselves in a little bit of a Catch-22 situation, the good thing is that we can look toward some pretty recent research for clarity.

Will a higher body fat percentage hurt muscle growth?

So, first, let’s talk about the idea that having a higher body fat % would negatively impact muscle growth. Are the gym bros right?

From a theoretical perspective, excess body fat and hypertrophy don't seem to go together. That's because body fat is closely associated with the following:

Real-life research calls BS

But theory is just that: theory. A hypothesis. What does the evidence say? Well, real-life calls BS.

More specifically, we can look at two longitudinal data, both published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, on American football players:

1️⃣ 2010 study: Examined training responses among American football players on the same team. Divided players into:

• Skill group — Showed up with baseline body fat % of 6.95%; gained 3.2 kg of lean mass (total mass gain: 3.14 kg)
• Big skill group — Showed up with baseline body fat % of 11.6%; gained 3.2 kg of lean mass (total mass gain: 2.5 kg)
• Linemen — Showed up with baseline body fat of 21.1% body fat; gained 4.6 kg of lean mass (!) (total mass gain: 3.12 kg)

2️⃣ 2013 study: Reported longitudinal changes in linemen and skill players in their first year of collegiate American football:

• Skill group — Showed up with baseline body fat % of 8.4%; gained 6 kg of fat-free mass and 0.1 kg of fat mass
• Linemen — Showed up with baseline body fat % of 22.5% body fat; gained 6.5 kg of fat-free mass and lost 4 kg of fat mass

Note: many linemen were known to have obesity (>25% body fat) and insulin resistance. And … yet, they still gained relatively more lean mass than those with lower body fat percentages.

So … cut versus bulk: which should you do first?

Meaning? It appears that we can put the theory of a higher body fat percentage hurting hypertrophy down.

But does this mean you should always, always bulk first before cutting to your ideal body composition (i.e., to have a nice amount of muscle when you get to your target body fat %)?

As frustrating as this may be, the truth is that when it comes to cut versus bulk, you’ll have to decide which is most suitable for your situation.

Factors you should consider:

Navigating next steps

Cut versus bulk: regardless of which you’ve chosen, the way you’ll train remains the same. You’ll still have to hit your muscles with adequate training volume, a smart mix of exercise variations, and appropriate intensity (i.e., progressive overload when it’s time).

How do you get started, though? And how will you know when it’s time to push yourself harder?

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