I was lifting on and off for past 2 years. (like training 4 months then stopping and trying again the next year)
And not really tacking my calories or protein intake.

Now, I'm looking to get more serious and try to put muscle mass. Started more serious 1 month ago and doing PPL currently and focusing on progressive overload. I also tried cutting in the past without muscle mass and ended up at 140lbs without any actual muscles. So a lot of fuckaroundtis

Should I start with a cut, bulk or recomp ? Any advices?

My bench number currently is : 155x8 for 3 sets
My weight : 156 lbs
Height : 5'10''
Not sure about my body fat %, maybe around 18% ?

Pictures of me :




Long term goal would be something similar to these pictures :

sorry for thread title, don't know how to change it ! 

@SandPleasant I would go for a lean bulk. Sounds like you probably haven't trained consistently enough yet to be completely out of the newbie phase. So there are probably some untouched newbie gains to tap into!

Keep it lean with a small 250 - 500 calorie surplus. And if you hit the PPL program here on the site, the HIIT routines will help you stay lean while bulking as well! https://muscularstrength.com/program/Push-Pull-Legs

Thanks a lot @Scott_Herman ! Would definitely try that routine out

also I have 3 more questions if you don't mind :

1. How long should I lean bulk for ?
2. Is 2800-3000 calories a good target for my height and weight?
3. How long would it take to get to something similar to my goal pictures? Is 2 years doable?

Thanks again!

@SandPleasant My pleasure!

1. There's no set time - just don't bulk to the point where you gain excessive amounts of fat. Try to stay at or below 20% (22% max). But a good bulk should last 3 - 6 months at least.

2. Did you punch your numbers into the @mealplan calculator? By looking at your height and age, yes that seems like an accurate number! But double-check the @mealplan app if you haven't yet.

3. Again, there's no set time frame. You just have to keep working, keep training hard and eventually the hard work will pay off!