Male, college, 3500 calories?

Glitch267

I am starting a bulk. I am 5'7, 107 pounds and 19 years old and in college. My goal is to gain about 2 pounds a week and eat about 3500 calories a day.

For exercise, I am doing a lifting program that has me doing a full body split every other day. When I don't lift, I do light cardio for 30 minutes. I am doing cardio since I want to be able to transition to running easily when summer comes. I also walk a lot. Since I am in college and live in town, I am walking easily 3 to 4 hours a day with a backpack on.

For diet, I am eating at around 3500 calories a day. I eat at least 120g+ grams protein a day. I eat plenty of fats since I eat peanut butter, nuts, eggs, etc. Other staple items are grilled chicken, pork, beef, eggs, whole wheat bread, 2 quest bars a day, pure protein bars, and nuts and other items. I eat lots of fruit, about 5 pieces a day(mainly apples). I also eat lots of vegetables, so I'm not worried about that. I don't have much dairy since I don't like milk and other dairy is not available. I also drink 2 cups of coffee a day. This all amounts to at least 3500 calories a day. My estimate has my 5 large pieces of fruit plus the my two daily huge plain salads equalling 1000 calories. So the other 2500 calories Is filled with the meats, breads, nuts, eggs, and bars. Does this seem good? Am I overestimating how many calories the fruit and veggies are? I eat a lot of them.

I figure this will lead to about 1 or 2 pounds a week. Does this seem right? Before I was eating 2500 to 3000 and not gaining. I think 2 pounds a week will be okay for me since I'm underweight and young. I would love to be 116 by thanksgiving (that's 4 weeks away so I need to gain 2 pounds a week). How high should I bulk to until cutting? I don't want to look chubby.

MityMax96

You will prolly put on weight....
I would get in the gym and hit the weights if I were you, put all that energy to use....
You are liable to get into a "skinny-fat" situation, since all you are doing is cardio work.....

But yes in short, consume enough calories and you will put on weight.

Good luck

MityMax96

And if you are going to track your calories, I would suggest getting a food scale and weigh/measure your foods.
Then you know how many calories you are taking in.

ndj1979

yes, you should gain weight.

however, I would ramp the cardio down to thirty minutes a week total ..I am bulking right now too, and my cardio consists of two 1.5 mile slow jogs a week ….

two pounds a week is probably pretty aggressive …but as you are a 19 year old male you will probably put on a good bit of muscle ...

MityMax96

Oh sorry. I just saw u are lifting. Missed that initially.
Cutting back on cardio will help with weight gain

philosophersnark

I'd cut out cardio. I'd add a lot of red meat. I'd focus on working legs, chest and back in the gym with basic movements. At this stage you're probably going to gain weight if you just eat until you feel satisfied like you're recovering well from workouts. Counting calories is more useful in losing weight at a point where mistakes can hamper your specific goals.

Unknown

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Glitch267

MrM27 wrote: »

1 to 2 lbs per week? That seems excessive.

But I'm an underweight male who is 19. Lots will be muscle and I can use some fat. I'm a skeleton now haha

itsbasschick

no - lots won't be muscle. as far as i've read, you simply cannot put on 2 pounds of muscle a week.

btw, a plain salad and 5 pieces of fruit shouldn't add up to 1000 calories unless they're huge fruits and by plain salads you mean slathered in salad dressing (which isn't how i would interpret "plain".)

MityMax96

2 lbs per week, 8 lbs per month, 96 lbs per year.
A lot will not be muscle.....there will be a point in that weight gain where the muscle gain is slowed, non-existent compared to fat gain......
Your BF% will go up, and the higher your BF% goes up, the less responsive your muscle growth will become....

Granted I think you are in a position with your current weight, age, activity, etc.....that you can prolly get away with it.....But I would definitely keep an eye on things....

LolBroScience

MityMax96 wrote: »

2 lbs per week, 8 lbs per month, 96 lbs per year.
A lot will not be muscle.....there will be a point in that weight gain where the muscle gain is slowed, non-existent compared to fat gain......
Your BF% will go up, and the higher your BF% goes up, the less responsive your muscle growth will become....

Granted I think you are in a position with your current weight, age, activity, etc.....that you can prolly get away with it.....But I would definitely keep an eye on things....

This. Get on a strength based program and slowly increase your calories over time.

UtahSeth

Sounds like you have a very high metabolism as well as an active lifestyle and will have difficulty gaining regardless of caloric intake. I don't think you will gain 2 pounds a week, I'd go for more like half a pound a week at your age and metabolism and activity level.

As for gaining/cutting cycle, that all depends on your body type. Sounds like you are an ectomorph, can't put on weight to save your life, so you don't really need to do gain/cut cycles, just eat 500 cals over maintenance and lift heavy, leave the cardio to your active lifestyle, and enjoy your young metabolism while it lasts. Soon enough you will be gaining weight by thinking about food like the rest of us. Then its a whole different struggle...

MityMax96

Just something I will add to this...
I am 37, and taking in ~3700 , 5 days/week....sometimes over it.
And I don't do as much cardio as you.....and still have a hard time making a 1lb gain week to week

devenfuentes

Hey man! I was in your exact same situation! I was 5'7 106 lbs my sophomore year of hs. Thank god I started lifting. Anyway read up on bodybuilding every chance you get. Bodybuilding.com is an amazing source of information. Your full body workout are definitely what a beginner is recommended to do but I never did those. Just focused on one body part a day. I'm 19 now 165lbs 8% body fat. 4000 calories a day. What really helped me gain muscle was staying true to the diet and keeping cardio to a minimum. Like real low buddy. Every time I go to the gym 4-5 days a week I do 5 mins of inclined treadmill walking. That's it. You're gonna have to pick one goal. Either gain weight or bring up your cardio. They will not go hand and hand for people like you and i. We're ectomorphs. Those 1-2 pounds a week will not be muscle but it comes down to how you feel about your body. Sorry about the long message hahaha. Good luck! Add me as your friend bro!

MyChocolateDiet

You don't need to do cardio right now to be ready for summer to run. Check out couch to 5k its a program that gets you to running quickly from a totally non cardio sedentary existence. I think you can eat lots and weights now to get big, then just do the couch to 5k right before summer and focus on maintaining your gains through higher cals to account for that cardio. of course you will have to maintain some weight program too to keep your muscle but i think while you are building you can wait on the running.