Lean and Ripped or Huge and Muscular?

[nicksaiz65]

Hey guys,
I’m kinda on the fence on deciding which body type that I wanna get. Can you help me decide?

On one hand, when I first starting training, I wanted to be the big, masculine, imposing dude that no one wanted to f with like Pook was talking about. Like a Batman, Thor, or Captain America type body.

But on the other hand, I’ve been watching some videos with trainers who have a lean and athletic body type. Like they’ve got muscle, and they’re toned as hell and very athletic. I’m almost wanting to go for this look now. Like that lean muscular anime look, sorta like Bruce Lee. It seems much more realistic to get also... I just have to eat healthy, lift heavy weights, and do cardio.

I’m almost starting to want to go for the lean and muscular look. But what do you guys think? I’m kinda having trouble deciding

 

[Macaframalama]

I would take advantage of your recovery and being able to gain mass, that your 20's allow for. The older you get, the more you have to take recovery into consideration and the harder it is to put on muscle mass. Your gains in muscle mass are going to be negligible after the first 3 or 4 years if you plan on staying natural anyways, but they do add up. Gaining mass doesn't mean you have to turn into a sloppy mess in the process either. Just eat clean for the most part and at a surplus of around 500 calories a week. When, you feel like you need to lean out, cut your fat intake down to around .3 to .35 grams per pound of bodyweight a day, then start slowly cutting down carbs. Don't start cutting everything down all at once or too quickly or you will hit a wall and have nowhere to go.

 

[Macaframalama]

Edit-That meant to read 500 cals per day.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Definitely lean and ripped. You just feel better. Those crazy strongmen like Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, or Halfthor Julius Bjornsom have stated how they feel tired all the time despite having to work so hard. It’s just not efficient to be that big.

 

[Macaframalama]

Definitely lean and ripped. You just feel better. Those crazy strongmen like Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, or Halfthor Julius Bjornsom have stated how they feel tired all the time despite having to work so hard. It’s just not efficient to be that big.

Luckily, 99.9% of us will never have to worry about that. Lol. Those guys are at the very top of the food chain, where very few will ever have the opportunity to even compete on that level. Those guys eat around 10k cals a day. Just eating clean and trying to get your protein requirements in every day can be tough for the average Joe sometimes.

 

[Who Dares Win]

I guess your choice depends on your priorities and your identity and base shape.

A bulky looks fine on a guy with a big frame to begin with while it looks weird of a light framed guy, same thing with a lean ripped look that works for an average guy but is hard to get and keep for a big framed guy, it simply goes agaisnt his nature.

Then again it depends how you see yourself, if you live in a hillbilly community where men are seized from their size and masculinity go for the bulky look, if you live in a metropolitan area then a ripped body will score you points overall while a big bulky one could be intimidating for both men and women in a white collar area.

Personally I would love to have a bulky huge masculine body but my frame makes it hard, I would look out of proportion so I have to "settle" for something in between, big enough to show strengh and lean enough to be in shape while being comfortable in my skin and eating habits.

 

[Mickey Robinson]

Hey nicksaiz65,

Personally, I'd love to be lean and ripped. There is a distinct advantage of being so. In trying to be huge and muscular you might go overboard with your diet and probably end up eating something just for the sake of putting on weight whereas with the former one your diet will be much more simpler, focused on consuming adequate nutrients for energy only. Plus, after putting on some weight for becoming huge and muscular you might end up with some weight-related problems if you don't manage to have a rigorous workout.

 

[AttackFormation]

Do you dream of looking like your fitness model and athlete role models who tell you their secret is their lifting program, diet and "hard work and dedication"? then you have to do what they do: take steroids. If you are natural, you won't need to worry about being "huge and muscular", you will at best be "lean and ripped".

 

[Machine10033]

I'm 6-2 220 pretty lean and muscular. Have never been happier and have never looked better ( in my humble opinion). I think of myself as being near 10% BF right now.

I feel and look stronger at 220 than I did at 254.

Clean eating is key if you're going lean. Make every meal count.

I second this... I'm 6ft3 and have bulked as high as 280 and cut down to 177 when I was in the military. At 280 I got very few looks from girls lol!!! At 177 they wanted to feed me. I am at 215-220 and 9-10 bodyfat and have had no issue getting girls. Eat 5 solid meals a day prepped on Sunday and Thursday. In my opinion and my experiences girls love the lean, chiseled look over massive muscles but in all honestly it's about what you want and makes you happy.