Skinny fat,” the term for people who look thin or have a low body weight but still have a reasonably high percentage of body fat, refers to a body composition with a lack of muscle mass with a higher proportion of body fat.
Because skinny fat people usually have a low muscle-to-fat ratio with a soft or undefined physique, the higher body fat percentage has associated health risks like metabolic issues and a higher chance of developing chronic diseases.
What Makes You Skinny Fat
Skinny fat physique development factors include:
- A sedentary lifestyle
- Insufficient physical activity or lack of regular exercise or resistance training
- Poor dietary habits: A diet lacking in proper nutrition, which contributes to excess body fat accumulation
- Genetics
- Lack of muscle-strengthening exercises
Skinny fat people can improve their physique with:
- A combination of a balanced diet, resistance training, and cardiovascular exercise., and a balanced diet
- Regular strength training exercises
- Cardiovascular exercise to burn calories and improve cardiovascular health
- A nutritious diet with enough protein, healthy fats, and whole grains to support muscle development and fat loss.
- Bulking or cutting
Skinny Fat Bulk vs Cut
Bulking: Focusing on consuming a calorie surplus to support muscle growth and overall weight gain, bulking provides the body with excess calories and nutrients that facilitate muscle hypertrophy (an increase in muscle size) and strength gains.
Intense weightlifting or resistance training exercises that stimulate muscle growth and an increase in calorie intake are key to this phase.
Cutting: Reducing body fat while maintaining muscle mass, cutting goals include a leaner and more defined physique and a reduced calorie intake to create a calorie deficit.
In theory, when the body has a lower calorie intake, it starts using stored fat for energy, which leads to fat loss. Cutting generally involves a combination of dietary adjustments with increased cardiovascular exercise to burn calories and promote fat loss, which is key to this phase.
Should Skinny Fat People Be Bulking Or Cutting?
Bulking or cutting to address a skinny fat physique depends on the type of skinny fat. These include:
Just Skinny Fat (weight corresponds to height, but body composition is neither lean nor muscular):
- Do a body recomposition, eat enough high protein, and focus on training and recovery.
- Train hard with progressive overload
- Concentrate on building muscle and losing fat
- Undertake a gentle caloric deficit and aim to lose no more than 1 pound of body weight per week.
Skinny Skinny Fat : (little muscle or body fat- just enough to cover your abs, but with love handles):
- Get into a lean muscle-building phase by maintaining a small surplus of calories in your intake.
- Aim to gain no more than 1% of body weight per month.
- Focus on gaining muscle.
- Do this lean muscle-building phase for at least 6 months, followed by a clean-up fat loss phase with a caloric deficit for 8-12 weeks to remove the excess body fat you gained.
Fat Skinny Fat – (Skinny arms, legs, and chest with excess fat in your midsection):
- Start a two-step process that is the opposite of the skinny skinny fat recommendations.
- Get into a fat-loss phase.
- After reducing the body fat percentage to between 15 and 12, engage in the lean-gaining phase.
Keep in mind that everyone’s body composition goals and health needs are different, and act according to yours.
Find guidance from a qualified fitness professional or nutritionist—they can give personalized advice and valuable support to help you achieve a healthy and balanced physique.
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