New & need help with weight gain/bulking!

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mgroneill
mgroneill Posts: 21 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm male, 21, 6'0, 158lbs, 10% body fat right now and trying to get 180lbs roughly.

Any advice on how to gain weight as fast as possible? I want it to be muscle but do i have to get fat first before i actually focus on the muscle part? I don't want to end up like cartman on that episode of south park where he chugs protein shakes then can't walk.

Can you give me any information on where to start with figuring out how many calories to day per day. Roughly how many pounds i should realistically aim to gain/week. Currently drinking a mass gainer every night (1000 cal/drink) should i be increasing it to two? What kind foods should i be eating? Whether i should do any cardio or forget about it. Whether i should be doing any lifting and if theres anything specific i should be doing with that.

Sorry if these are stupid questions. I tried to find the answers myself but i got lost. The wealth of information online and on these forums is overwhelming.


thanks for your help.
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Replies

  • mantium999
    mantium999 Posts: 1,490 Member
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    If you try to bulk too fast, you will get fat. Any weight gain will add fat as well, it is impossible to add just lean mass. Now that I am back at the weights, my aim is to gain 1 pound per week, for 3 months, consuming a 500 calorie surplus, at which point I will review where I am at. Tried to do the quick bulk once, I'll tell you, it wasn't pretty.
  • Phobos1618
    Phobos1618 Posts: 14
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    Eat whole foods as much as you can. Back to the basics, meat of your choice preferably lean, good carbs like rolled oats, rice, sweet potatoes, good fats like avocado, coconut oil, nuts. I don't think you need mass gainer and whole foods give you much more nutrients.

    Calculator: http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

    Eat 20% over your TDEE, if you don't gain weight doing that, up it to 30%.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Putting on weight to fast will result in more body fat than muscle.
    Or you can do it gradually with a smaller caloric surplus so that way the fat and muscle gain is a bit more balanced.

    I am 6'1"
    And trying to gain weight, it is a slow process, but for now I am somewhat fine with it.
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
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    Only way it's going to happen fast is with roids.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    :D:D:D
    Yeah, those help also
  • drepublic
    drepublic Posts: 180 Member
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    Takes time my friend. Set up on a caloric surplus getting quality carlories....mass gainers typically have dextrose/maltodextrine as the carb sources...you can do better with sweet potatoes and rice with protein over many meals throughout the day. Maybe heavier on the rice in the post workout meal.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    drepublic wrote: »
    Takes time my friend. Set up on a caloric surplus getting quality carlories....mass gainers typically have dextrose/maltodextrine as the carb sources...you can do better with sweet potatoes and rice with protein over many meals throughout the day. Maybe heavier on the rice in the post workout meal.

    Agreed
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Get on a good lifting program.

    For your height and weight your maintenance should be around 2500 calories if you are working out 4 days per week. You want to adjust your calories so that you are gaining about 2-4 pounds per month. Would probably be around 2700-3000 calories. The faster you gain the more fat you will gain so dont go to crazy.

    Try to get a good amount of protein in. You could aim for 1 gram per pound of body weight since you are already pretty lean.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    mustgetmuscles1 wrote: »

    Try to get a good amount of protein in. You could aim for 1 gram per pound of body weight since you are already pretty lean.

    Will make it easy for setting up macros, but in a surplus...carbs are king

    But if you like protein more than, do it. :smile:
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited October 2014
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    MityMax96 wrote: »
    mustgetmuscles1 wrote: »

    Try to get a good amount of protein in. You could aim for 1 gram per pound of body weight since you are already pretty lean.

    Will make it easy for setting up macros, but in a surplus...carbs are king

    But if you like protein more than, do it. :smile:


    160 grams of protein is only 640 calories. In a diet of 2700-3000 calories that leaves a lot of room for carbs.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Eat a lot, lift relatively heavy, rest, and repeat!

    Set your goal to gain 1lb/week, that should more than suffice. and no you don't have to get fat to then gain muscle, though you will gain some fat as you gain muscle, both at the same time, hopefully more muscle then fat. Lifting program, diet and genetics will dictate the rate of fat vs. muscle gain.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    That's fine...I have no issue with that.

    Just making the point, that if he is not a big fan of protein sources, he can cut those back and go with carbs if he likes...

    Not gonna argue the point....
    But the fact is that carbs in carloric surplus, with adequate protein intake, are still gonna be the best option for a bulk.

    So just presenting all facts to OP, so he can choose how he wishes to set up his diet
  • mgroneill
    mgroneill Posts: 21 Member
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    Just worked out my macros if I want to bulk. 50:25:25 for carbs, protein and fat on 3000 Cals. So will work out as 375g:187.5g:83.3g. So should be more than enough carbs and protein.

    Any thoughts on the body beast workout plan? Useful as a starting point or do you have a better routine I should follow? Don't really have much of a plan so did a search and found their workout plan (same place I got the 50:25:25 macros for bulking).

    Cheers for all the comments so far
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    mgroneill wrote: »
    Just worked out my macros if I want to bulk. 50:25:25 for carbs, protein and fat on 3000 Cals. So will work out as 375g:187.5g:83.3g. So should be more than enough carbs and protein.

    Any thoughts on the body beast workout plan? Useful as a starting point or do you have a better routine I should follow? Don't really have much of a plan so did a search and found their workout plan (same place I got the 50:25:25 macros for bulking).

    Cheers for all the comments so far

    Body Beast is a new version of the old school bodybuilding routines--lighter weight, more reps. It also costs $$. I'm sure it works, but so will any other predesigned plan if you stick to it correctly. There are tons of plans on bodybuilding.com or muscleandstrength.com (I like the Steve Shaw programs--check out the Power/Muscle/Burn 5-day split) that are FREE.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Macros and calories look good.
    Track things for about 3 - 4 weeks.
    -See if you are moving in the direction you want....
    I think more than 2 lbs / week (8 / month) and you are putting on a ton of fat.
    Try to keep it around 0.5 - 1.0 / week.....1.5 would be top end of my "comfortable" range.

    I have not done Body Beast, so I don't know.
  • AKDonF
    AKDonF Posts: 235 Member
    edited October 2014
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    MityMax96 wrote: »
    Macros and calories look good.
    Track things for about 3 - 4 weeks.
    -See if you are moving in the direction you want....
    I think more than 2 lbs / week (8 / month) and you are putting on a ton of fat.
    Try to keep it around 0.5 - 1.0 / week.....1.5 would be top end of my "comfortable" range.

    THIS

    I would highly recommend finding a program that emphasizes a repetition range between 4-7 and a total volume of about 40-60 reps per body part. Many people seem to like Stronglifts 5X5 (free) and there are others as well such as Starting Strength. You need to build a good base and develop good form. You will gain size as you gain strength if you are in a calorie surplus.

    I highly recommend the book Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Mike Matthews.
  • mgroneill
    mgroneill Posts: 21 Member
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    Also wondering whether it's worthwhile getting a barbell for squats etc. Already have a 20kg set of dumbbells but if i just buy more weights for them would that bypass the barbell or does the barbell target different muscles better? Or would it just be easier to get a gym membership (£60 covers the whole year at my uni so pretty good). By the way got body beast for free from a friend so thought i might as well give it a try

    Cheers
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
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    There is no "fast" way to bulk without getting fat.
    Clean bulk slowly while training smart. It takes time, and this is the point where young men become tempted to juice roids.
    BEWARE!
    They'll mess up your hormones for life.
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
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    mgroneill wrote: »
    Also wondering whether it's worthwhile getting a barbell for squats etc. Already have a 20kg set of dumbbells but if i just buy more weights for them would that bypass the barbell or does the barbell target different muscles better? Or would it just be easier to get a gym membership (£60 covers the whole year at my uni so pretty good). By the way got body beast for free from a friend so thought i might as well give it a try

    Cheers

    The problem with dumbbell squats is that your grip strength is going to give out long before your quads and glutes. You're not going to be able to lift as heavy without a barbell.
  • mgroneill
    mgroneill Posts: 21 Member
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    PwrLftr82 wrote: »
    mgroneill wrote: »
    Also wondering whether it's worthwhile getting a barbell for squats etc. Already have a 20kg set of dumbbells but if i just buy more weights for them would that bypass the barbell or does the barbell target different muscles better? Or would it just be easier to get a gym membership (£60 covers the whole year at my uni so pretty good). By the way got body beast for free from a friend so thought i might as well give it a try

    Cheers

    The problem with dumbbell squats is that your grip strength is going to give out long before your quads and glutes. You're not going to be able to lift as heavy without a barbell.

    Yeah you're right. Never thought about that. Would dumbbells at least be sufficient enough for working out my upper body? Arms, shoulders chest etc.

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