Cut for Summer or continue bulking

I've been bulking and am up to about 165 and 5'9. I think my body fat is about 13-14%, not completely sure. I want to be cut for the summer and am debating whether I should start now or do one more month of bulking. I think I need about 2 months of succesful cutting to get me looking pretty good but I don't want to end up too skinny. I'd like to have the look of being defined but not so much that I can't fill out a t-shirt or anything. I want to look good enough to be comfortable taking off my shirt during the upcoming summer.

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sorta flexing, and let me know if there are other pics you'd like to see

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Tell us about your progress so far.  Where were you when you started the bulking phase, and where do you want to be next year?

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"

That's completely up to you. If you'll feel better taking your shirt off at the pool if you cut then cut. If you don't care then keep bulking.

You kind of in the middle ground as far as having mass and fat goes.

If I were you personally, I'd cut so I had more lines at the beach and then go bulking from there.

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I started out maybe around 145-147 with more fat, maybe like 15-17%. This was last September. I got up to about 160 in December, then decided to cut. While cutting i got sick and lost some muscle and around February I was probably 154. Started bulking again and am up to 165. Eventually I would like to be a pretty lean 170. I wouldn't mind being 165 as long as I am pretty defined and have somewhat of a six-pack. If i continued bulking it wouldn't be for any longer than another month.

Bulk more and more. Being at a higher bf a couple of summers will pay off. It's mental, but who wants to be a cut thin 140 - 150? It's not MTV, it's bodybuilding bro.

ORIGINAL: caligain

I started out maybe around 145-147 with more fat, maybe like 15-17%. This was last September. I got up to about 160 in December, then decided to cut. While cutting i got sick and lost some muscle and around February I was probably 154. Started bulking again and am up to 165. Eventually I would like to be a pretty lean 170. I wouldn't mind being 165 as long as I am pretty defined and have somewhat of a six-pack. If i continued bulking it wouldn't be for any longer than another month.

I'd say with progress like that, keep bulking.  Maybe when you plateau off you can re-assess, but those gains are remarkable.  Why stop a good thing?

"If there's nothing else that's relevant, I'll be leaving now"

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground"

I see what you mean. I have made good progress which I'm happy with, but over this period I never really went into a serious cut. I have fat around my chest and stomach I'd like to get rid of and has always made me self-contious but I've kind of put that aside to bulk up knowing I could take care of it later. I'm curious to see what I'd look like cut, since I've never in my life had low enough bf to look ripped or anything. I think losing 10 lbs of fat would get me looking pretty ripped. While that is important to me, its also very important to me to have that "buff guy" look to where if I go to a party or something, people would think, "I don't want to mess with that guy". I guess I'm at a point where I have pick which one I want to focus on now, cuz both are goals of mine. 

ORIGINAL: rippedchick

That's completely up to you. If you'll feel better taking your shirt off at the pool if you cut then cut. If you don't care then keep bulking.

You kind of in the middle ground as far as having mass and fat goes.

If I were you personally, I'd cut so I had more lines at the beach and then go bulking from there.

 
like RC said its all up to you and what you want. If I were you I would cut now to have some good definintion over the summer then start bulking hard again toward the end of summer.  If you dedicated and disiplined u can be pretty cut up in 8 weeks or less.  You wont lose much if any muscle, and it will give you a real confidence booster once you can SEE your muscles in action.  That confidence will just make you want to work out harder.  Like I said this is just my take and opinion on the issue. I too just got done cutting for 8 weeks just so I could have a beach body for spring break so my view may be a bit biased .
 
In short, just do what will make you the happiest. Cutting isnt gonna set you back enough to worry about it.

personally if i were in ur situation i'd cut

What happens if I cut now and in 8-10 weeks I'm really cut and feel like I don't need to cut anymore. This would be around June. What would I do then? Start another bulk during the summer (not sure if I want to be putting on any fat in a bulk during these months)? Continue cutting (even though I don't need to much more?

ORIGINAL: caligain

What happens if I cut now and in 8-10 weeks I'm really cut and feel like I don't need to cut anymore. This would be around June. What would I do then? Start another bulk during the summer (not sure if I want to be putting on any fat in a bulk during these months)? Continue cutting (even though I don't need to much more?

 
No, eat maintenance until September, then restart a bulk. Strength train throughout the maintenance so you'll be able to lift heavy loads for reps this winter.

ORIGINAL: Perrynaytor

ORIGINAL: caligain

What happens if I cut now and in 8-10 weeks I'm really cut and feel like I don't need to cut anymore. This would be around June. What would I do then? Start another bulk during the summer (not sure if I want to be putting on any fat in a bulk during these months)? Continue cutting (even though I don't need to much more?

No, eat maintenance until September, then restart a bulk. Strength train throughout the maintenance so you'll be able to lift heavy loads for reps this winter.

Exactly. You don't have to be in a bulk or a cut all of the time.

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Thats sort of why I'm considering bulking for one more month and start cutting in beginning of May. That way I can just keep cutting into July. I don't know, everyday I feel like I know i want to cut or know I want to bulk then change my mind the next. My arms are little over 14" flexed. If I start cutting should I expect to lose any inches off my arms? Also does my picture look like I'm at around 13-14% bf, cuz I don't know if that is very accurate.

By the way this is what I looked like about 7 months ago in September.

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THis is kind of subjective. What you're asking us is kinda 'what should my opinion be?'

Personally I think you've made great progress. You look a lot better than before and have definitely put on some new muscle. I'd say cut it up a little bit-- but basically do whatever will make you comfortable with yourself.  You say you want to look more ripped for the beach and stuff, so follow that.

If anything, you'll probably enjoy your bulk more later after you get some more definition in there.

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Just got done with my workout today and I've decided I will definately start cutting next week. I'm hoping that after cutting I might appear even bigger and stronger than before the cut. I'll probably take it pretty slow and go for no more than 1 lb of fat a week in order to keep muscle. I've heard sometimes if you keep your diet almost to maintance and do a lot of HIIT (20 min punching bag for me), and lifting you can even gain muscle while on a cut. Is that true?

Well your muscle comes from the food you eat, not your routine, so whilst you might be able to gain a very tiny amount whilst eating very cleanly on a cut, it won't be much, chances are you will lose some though.

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Wow, your 7 months ago pic resembles me last May. You've gotten great results. If a cut is in though, then it's in.

Why not do both? Go heavy, go hard...you'll get the results you want!

So I weighed my self on monday and came in at 165 and about 13.4% body fat. Now today I weight myself around same time of day and was 162.5 and 13.9% bodyfat. I know the bodyfat things aren't too accurate but still I lost 2.5 lbs in a week and a lot of it was muscle, ahhhh very frustrating for me. I'm doing NROL fat loss and 20 min HIIT on the off days. I am eating about 2300 calories which is only about 300-400 calories less than my bulking diet. Whats going on here. Seems like everytime I go on a cut I just lose muscle which is why I hate cutting. I worked damn hard to get gain this muscle and don't want to lose it when I try to shed this bodyfat.

Eat clean and a lot, lift hard and do cardio...see how it goes.

keep bulking.....

Height: 5'7
Weight: 150 lbs
Biceps: 15.5 inches
waist: 32.5 inches

take a clean bulk , you have now the perfect body to gain lots of mass!!!!!
train more , eat less ! , take a huge cut in june..
 

I wold try to keep adding mass if I were you and worry about cutting later.

"You are what you eat"
Age - 26
Height - 5'4"
Weight - 145
Arms - 14.5"
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About what weight should I be aiming for before I start cutting. 

See? People are beginning to agree with the mass. You gotta gain muscle to burn fat. and you gotta gain muscle so you don't look skinny after a cut. There's nothing wrong with eating and eating and gaining.
 
After reading many of Dave Tate's articles, the minimum to moderate fat gain is definitely well worth the muscle.
 
With your frame, dude, go on up there in weight. I'm going to 210 until I cut, and I have the same BF% as you, or close to it.