Help with bulk

allanakern

Hello -

I am really scared to start a bulk because I don't want to undo any hard work I've done losing fat but if I'm going to bulk, winter is the time to do it. I just want to build more shapely hamstrings and glutes and wherever else. Advice on how many calories - have a couple pics in my profile if you need to see.

5'5" female
22 yrs old
129

lifting 6 days a week. used to do a lot of cardio but due to I hate cardio have stopped lately

LolBroScience

Find your maintenance calories and eat 300-500 calories above.

allanakern

how much fat can I expect to gain? :-/

Lifts4IceCream

That is a tough question to answer. The slower and more controlled bulk you have, you have more control over how much actual fat is put on. You will get some fat, but you can keep it to a minimum if you don't go full blown crazy on your bulk and instead of 300-500 above you go 700-1000 above each day.

gamesandgains

I agree that you have to first figure out what are you maintenance calories. I would personally recommend you do a slow or lean bulk. Test how you body reacts to the increase of calories. Start at an increase of 150-200 calories from your maintenance. You're looking to gain .5-1lb a month. Anymore than that, you wanna decease the calories to reduce the amount of fat you gain. If you just jump to 500 calories, depending on how hard you go in the gym, you may gain more fat than desired. Take your time and experiment. Nobody will know your body better than you.

PwrLftr82

allanakern wrote: »

how much fat can I expect to gain? :-/

Last winter I bulked (way too slowly) and gained 6 lbs total--4 lbs of LBM and 2 lbs of fat. That's an ideal, though not usually typical ratio. This winter I'm hitting it harder and will most likely gain more fat (along with more muscle, I hope) than last time.

allanakern

It says my TDEE is 1970 so maybe i will start at 2200

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ndj1979

I was going to bulk last winter and totally chickened out because I was worried about "fat gain" stupid, I know. So I just started about two weeks ago and increased calories from an average of about 2450 a day to 2800...and will see how it goes. I am aiming for .5 pound per week gain. I weighed in last Friday and had only gained like .2 pounds, but I was only five days in to eating more so decided to wait until this Friday to see how things are going. If I have not added at least a pound, then will probably up calories to 2900...

I do a upper/lower split four days a week and do a light run to gym and back two days a week, which is a total of about three miles running per week < I think that would be as much cardio as you would need during a bulk, but I may be wrong ...

I would say go for it and see how it goes. If you put on a tad too much fat you can always burn it off when you go back to cutting.

I think sometimes we get fixated on I need to be X amount of pounds to look good, when in reality if you actually put some weight on you will look BETTER...

dolliedisaster79

I just competed in my first NPC bikini competition Oct. 4th. I didn't place, but figured out the areas I need to focus on. I'm 5'5, and am usually 127-130 lbs. I decided to take the winter to bulk and build, went from 1900 calories to 2200 since the show and I change my macros when needed. I'm doing a slow bulk for fear of gaining too much fat, but so far its going well. I plan on adding 50 calories or so every week, but only depending on how my body is responding. If you're really confused, I would seek out a pro for some advice! I'm not knocking anyone, but I think listening to people who actually know what they are talking about, and get paid to do it, might give you more clear instruction. Good Luck !

gdesoeten

ndj1979 wrote: »

I do a upper/lower split four days a week and do a light run to gym and back two days a week, which is a total of about three miles running per week < I think that would be as much cardio as you would need during a bulk, but I may be wrong

You don't *need* cardio at all, but for general health purposes doing some cardio is of course good for you. Generally, when combined with lifting weights, the recommendation for cardio is to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), rather than the steady, moderate intensity burn rate that you would use when you are doing cardio to loose weight. HIIT tends to have better results for muscle maintenance.

ndj1979

gdesoeten wrote: »

ndj1979 wrote: »

I do a upper/lower split four days a week and do a light run to gym and back two days a week, which is a total of about three miles running per week < I think that would be as much cardio as you would need during a bulk, but I may be wrong

You don't *need* cardio at all, but for general health purposes doing some cardio is of course good for you. Generally, when combined with lifting weights, the recommendation for cardio is to do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), rather than the steady, moderate intensity burn rate that you would use when you are doing cardio to loose weight. HIIT tends to have better results for muscle maintenance.

interesting, I read somewhere that slower steady state is better for muscle preservation ..

never said you need cardio, I said I do light cardio..slight difference...

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Sam_I_Am77

There is a considerable amount of research related to low-glycemic carbs versus high-glycemic carbs for managing fat, it's only reasonable that eating better sources of carbohydrates can help mitigate some (definitely not all) fat gain.

Definitely start slow, perhaps add 5% to 10% as your see progress slow. If you do know a professional that can help then get their help. John Meadows and Shelby Starnes both offer their services online for a fee.

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AKDonF

I would like to see the research as well. There is a considerable amount of research that supports calories in verses energy expended as a predictor of net weight gain or loss (with the exception of water manipulation and glycogen).

Additionally, there are some very respected people who might argue the point on glycemic index and carb sources as regulators of fat gain.

I am not here to start an argument but rather to weigh the information that is available on its own merits. One thing you learn (hopefully) when you have been doing this for awhile is to really develop critical thinking skills. Not all 'research' is created equally or is credible.