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Help with Bulking

rjmudlax13

I want to start bulking during the winter. Preferably, I would like to do a "clean" bulk. Not looking to get huge, but I want to put on a minimum of 2-3 lbs of lean mass by the end of February. My ultimate goal is to do a bulk/cut over the next year or so to increase muscle definition and reduce body fat.

Here are my stats and info:

Male Age 29
5' 9" 178 lbs
About 15% bf (used bioelectrical impedance test)

I am doing the Wendler 5/3/1 "Boring but Big" routine.
Right now I am eating 2600+ calories and 150+ grams of protein
I am going to gradually increase calories to about 2800

Any advice is much appreciated.

Replies

SideSteel

If you'd like to minimize fat gain I'd suggest keeping your rate of gain somewhere around the 2lb/month range.

Make sure you are tracking your intake accurately, use a food scale and log everything.

As far as tracking changes in weight, I'm a big fan of weighing in daily and keeping a rolling 7 day average and using that average as your primary means of dictating when and how to adjust energy intake.

So for example if you go a couple of weeks without any change in average intake you could then make a slight nudge to calories upwards.

If you can manage to keep rate of gain under control this affords you the opportunity to bulk for longer periods of time (because you're not gaining fat as rapidly) before you have to turn around and cut again.

Best of luck.

SideSteel

I should also add, generally speaking (key point as this is not universally applicable in all scenarios) you should be careful with your initial levels of body-fat when beginning a bulking phase.

Lyle suggests 10-15% as being an optimal "slot" to stay in, in that you bulk to 15% and cut to 10%.

You can read about that here:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain/

rjmudlax13

Great info. Thanks! I may reconsider my plan. I just finished training for a marathon so I really haven't been lifting much for the last 6 months. Maybe I should stay at maintenance for a while and focus on building my strength back up. Then do a cut starting in Jan/Feb to get down to about 12% bf.