Bulking up at home? Advice

kristimason3

So I'm 3 pounds away from my goal weight (yay!) and it's been brought to my attention by my husband that I've lost enough weight and its time to start "bulking up". Personally, I would like to lose another 10 lbs but I think that may just happen when I start building muscle. I need to start building muscle but don't really know where to start. A gym membership is out of the question right now as we just can't afford it. I walk / jog or ride my bike about 5 miles per day. I am a stay at home mom so most of my exercise is done at home / in the neighborhood while the kids are at school. When I lived up north this wasn't ever an issue as there were hills everywhere and when I've done this before I've bulked up with my cardio. Now we are in flat Florida. I've noticed that my legs and derriere are no longer diesel. I need advice on home work outs. All I have for equipment are 2 10lb barbells, which I've been using to work my arms a few times a week. I do lunges / squats / leg lifts etc but I'm sure my form sucks and I'm not seeing the results Id like. I've been looking at inanimate objects like the coffee table thinking should I just start lifting my furniture? Lol. I would also rather not hurt my back in the process. Any ideas? I'm a 35 year old female, 147lbs, 5'6, current calorie goal on mfp is 1260..if that matters.

cwolfman13

If you're truly going to do a bulking cycle to build muscle, you're not going to lose another 10 Lbs...you're going to gain weight. Done correctly, most of the weight you gain will be muscle, but some will be fat. To bulk and build muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus...way more than 1260 calories that you are eating now.

Personally, if I were you I would go to maintenance and get a handle on that first. Since you don't have access to a gym, I'd look into bodyweight programs. You can start with nerdfitness:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

The key is progressive overload...with bodyweight stuff you do this by making doing variations of the same exercise that are more difficult. You can look into You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning as well.

I think you'l benefit from just doing some re-comp work right now...pretty much eating maintenance and doing your resistance work...down the road you can decide if you truly want to bulk...but I always recommend people get a handle on maintaining first.

kristimason3

Great advice! I am going to check out those links. I don't mind gaining if its muscle. My goal will just change to strength. I'll admit I'm scared of maintenance as I'm afraid of gaining, but if that's what I need to do I'll give it a go. Thank you!

cwolfman13

kristimason3 wrote: »

Great advice! I am going to check out those links. I don't mind gaining if its muscle. My goal will just change to strength. I'll admit I'm scared of maintenance as I'm afraid of gaining, but if that's what I need to do I'll give it a go. Thank you!

This is why you need to just get a handle on maintenance..you don't gain on maintenance...that's why it's called maintenance...you maintain weight. People tend to have mental difficulties with this early on which is why I would always recommend people maintain before they go into a bulk or anything like that. If you don't know how to maintain and you have difficulties wrapping your brain around that, truly doing a bulk cycle would be a real mind frack.

kristimason3

Two thumbs up. I will heed the advice from someone who obviously knows far more about this than I do. I'm a rookie here. I've always been pretty strong so in my mind I'm determined to get there. Losing the weight wasn't very difficult because I believe my body wants to get back to a place of strength. So I'm in it to win it for the long haul.

JosieRawr

when switching to maintain, just remind yourself that your body is going to replenish it's supply of glycogen which will also have some water retained with it, don't be afraid of gaining a little, it's part of the process. with your intake being so low, you may want to increase your calories slowly to help you feel like you're staying in control. I too am a home body, when my seasonal job isn't going on anyways. If you can get a pull up bar, that'll challenge your upper body for a while I plan on getting those that were mentioned as well, but have not used them so cannot say much.

TavistockToad

Can I ask how you 'bulked up' using cardio?

kristimason3

TavistockToad wrote: »

Can I ask how you 'bulked up' using cardio?

Well maybe "bulked up" isn't the right term for my previous endeavors. I was very muscular, especially my legs. I believe it was because I lived in a place that was hills / small mountains everywhere so my walking / running / biking was alot of uphill, hence gaining me some serious quads. Now I live in a place where there are very few hills and they are pretty small. So most of my running, walking etc it is on flat terrain.

gothchiq

Body weight exercises! Pushups for example. Planks. You can also hold dumbbells while doing squats. Get dumbbells of various sizes, from small 5 lbs to.... well it depends on you. My max is only 10 lb due to arthritis but you may be able to lift like 20.

Snow3y

You can't 'bulk up' and 'put on muscle' and still lose weight.. but good luck - I don't know of many workout plans for homes, do you have a set of weights and such at home?

kristimason3

There's also the fact that I was in my twenties..now I'm mid thirties and things just aren't as high and tight as they used to be. I would still consider myself pretty active. Like I said I'm a rookie. I'm not new to dieting but I am new to fitness. Maybe it came more naturally in the past? Now I need to be more aggressive. I can tell you I had the opportunity to work on a few female bodybuilders in massage therapy school and since have developed a desire to someday persue that level of fitness and strength but have no idea where to start.

kristimason3

TyronnePanaino wrote: »

You can't 'bulk up' and 'put on muscle' and still lose weight.. but good luck - I don't know of many workout plans for homes, do you have a set of weights and such at home?

I'm ok with not losing weight in lbs. What I want is a toned physique. If that means gaining so be it. I guess I was under the false impression that building muscle meant increasing metabolism which would help with weight loss but again my goal is not to be a certain weight its to have a strong physique. I have zero interest in being "skinny fat". I have 2 little barbells that are 10 lbs each. I like the idea of more planks and push ups. Adding weight to squats. In an ideal world I would buy a gym membership and a personal trainer. Hopefully eventually that will be an option. In the meantime I was looking for something I could do outside / at home that would help.