recomping to fill out a weight class

[synnfusion]

This is one of the issues I have. My waist is already 39 inches at 185 pounds 5'10" while having a 500+ deadlift, 395 squat, etc. I store a huge amount of fat around my midsection (skinny face, arms, etc but huge love handles). So I start to look bad really fast when I gain weight. Yes, it's a vanity thing but as you may see in my reply to Crookedfinger, my appetite is huge and I'll probably end up in the 200's anyway.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

But I gained weight. If I lost fat but gained weight, what else could the extra mass be except muscle? Especially in light of the fact that my 3x5 numbers did the following:

Squat - 205 to 375
Bench - 165 to 270
Press - 100 to 175
Deadlift - 1x5 at 235 to 3x5 at 385

Sorry I didn't understand your pictures. You lost visceral adipose tissue and gained subQ adipose tissue + muscle. Happens all the time.

I have a huge appetite so my weight is slowly increasing even though I don't want it to be. I've been 'cutting' for the past few months and am still 20 pounds heavier. Probably will be 200 by the middle of next year. So basically I don't listen to people who say I should gain weight but it's gonna happen anyway because I live in America and we overeat.

You haven't been cutting then eh?

[crookedfinger]

This is one of the issues I have. My waist is already 39 inches at 185 pounds 5'10" while having a 500+ deadlift, 395 squat, etc. I store a huge amount of fat around my midsection (skinny face, arms, etc but huge love handles). So I start to look bad really fast when I gain weight. Yes, it's a vanity thing but as you may see in my reply to Crookedfinger, my appetite is huge and I'll probably end up in the 200's anyway.

So, I think there are couple of things going on here:

One it sounds like you need to get discplined with your macro intake and tracking. When I was gaining weight, I did so slowly, I spent a couple of years gaining about 2 pounds a month. And then did shorter stints at adding 2-5 pounds and then hanging out for a bit. I don't really care about physique at this point (if I did I would weigh about 225). But I still track daily. For now, I am just trying to hang out at 245-250 while I rehab a torn quad and then get back on getting stronger. Also, as Jordan pointed out, if you're gaining weight, you're not cutting. It may feel like you're cutting, but you're not. Which I can relate to, by the way. I feel like I am cutting right now, but I know I am not, I am eating at maintenance which means I am not as tight with my macros as I would be if I was trying to trim some fat, but the being discplined part makes it feel like I am cutting.

Second thing, you're sort of strong, but not strong enough for your goals. I think you probably need to give some more attention to your programming, looking at volume, accessory lifts, and conditioning specifically to manipulate favorable outcomes from both a strength and physique perspective.

Finally, I am not sure how long you have been training, but I have come to the conclusion that for one to truly look like one lifts requires many, many years of work. It isn't a 1-2 year thing. I think at minimum someone needs to put a consistent 5 years under the bar focusing on the main lifts to get the "look" that most of us want. Consistent means just that. It means training 11 months out of 12 for 5 years minimum. That one month gap is usually tied to family/work issues, 2 weeks of vacation, getting sick, etc. That one month isn't a month long lay off--it is spread out over the year.

Now, all of this varies on genetics obviously, meaning the very blessed among us may need 3 years, whereas the cursed amongst us may need 10 years. But either way, it is longer than we think we need and takes more work than we expect it to take.

[Dalton Clark]

Just saying. . . .that my doctor once put me on a 1000 calorie diet, synnfusion. I am also 5'10" and weighed 205 pounds at the time. Eating more than you should is never an excuse.

[synnfusion]

Exactly. Hence the '' around cutting. So it's more like starting each day with the intent of being in a deficit and then 'oops I ate 4000 calories again, but at least I'll PR my squat again this week.' It's a running joke with my friends to ask me how my "cut" is going.