Bulk, cut,
or recomp?
Answer four quick questions about your body fat, training experience, and goal to get a clear verdict with reasoning. Free, instant, no signup.
A rough estimate is fine. Not sure? Try the body fat calculator, or let the AI physique rater estimate it from photos.
Recomposition
Based on your estimated body fat percentage of 18 percent, body recomposition fits your goal better than a full bulk right now.
- At an estimated 18 percent body fat, a full bulking phase would likely push you closer to the point where fat loss becomes the priority.
- Recomposition training will let you keep working toward building muscle while your body fat percentage stays in check.
This is training guidance based on general patterns, not medical advice. If you have a health condition or take medication, check with a doctor before changing how you eat or train.
The logic behind the verdict.
20%+ for men, 30%+ for women
A cutting phase comes first, regardless of your stated goal. Building a leaner base makes the muscle you already have easier to see and gives you more room to bulk later.
Under 12% for men, 22% for women
There is enough room to bulk and build muscle efficiently, unless your goal is specifically to get leaner, in which case recomposition training fits better.
The middle range
Newer lifters lean toward recomposition by default, since their bodies can add muscle and lose fat at the same time. More experienced lifters go by goal, cutting closer to the top of the range and bulking closer to the bottom.
These thresholds are training heuristics, not hard cutoffs. Your own body fat estimate already carries some margin of error, and factors like sleep, stress, and training history can shift the right call in either direction.
Bulk or cut, explained.
- How do I decide whether to bulk or cut?
- Start with your estimated body fat percentage. A high body fat percentage generally means cutting first, a low one generally means bulking, and the middle range usually comes down to your training experience and goal. The quiz above walks through this and explains the reasoning behind your verdict.
- What body fat percentage should I cut at?
- As a general guideline, men above roughly 20 percent body fat and women above roughly 30 percent are usually better off prioritizing fat loss before adding more size. These are training heuristics, not fixed rules, since everyone carries fat differently.
- Can I recomp instead of choosing?
- Yes, in the right conditions. Body recomposition, building muscle and losing fat at the same time, tends to work best for newer lifters, people returning after time off, or anyone sitting in the middle body fat range. It is slower than a dedicated bulk or cut, but it avoids committing to either extreme.
- What if I am considered skinny fat?
- Skinny fat usually means a body fat percentage on the higher end paired with low muscle mass. In that case, a slow recomposition or a controlled lean bulk focused on training volume tends to work better than an aggressive cut, since there is little muscle to protect and cutting further can leave you looking softer instead of leaner.
- How accurate is my body fat guess?
- A rough guess from the mirror or a tape measure carries a wide margin of error, often several percentage points either way. The body fat calculator narrows that down with measurements, and the AI physique rater estimates it from photos, which is enough precision to point this quiz in the right direction.
Let the AI decide from your photos.
A quiz gives you a good estimate. The physique rater reads your body fat and muscle development from photos and builds a plan around it.
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