Should I Bulk?

cdlee05

I've been reading through all the great info on this forum and elsewhere about bulking but just wanted to ask about any tips you might have for me? Here's my situation:

- Doing Body Beast Lean (just finished week two of Bulk phase so now seems like as good as any to actually Bulk with my diet)
- I'm 215lbs and about 20 - 22% BF judging by the online picture guides out there...given that should I even be bulking?
- I've lost lbs in the past with cardio and programs like Insanity so it's hard to mentally think about putting on weight.
- I've got 4 more weeks of Bulk phase with Body Beast then I start the Beast which will be calorie deficit and more cardio to cut. Is 4 weeks enough time to bulk, too much, etc...?
- How should my diet look? I get the part about a calorie surplus but I don't want to end up like Mac from It's Always Sunny.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

AliceDark

20-22% is high for a man. Also, in 4 weeks, you're going to put on what, 4 pounds? Of that, maybe 2 would be muscle, and that's if you hit your bulking calories perfectly from day 1? It seems like it would be a waste of time, IMHO.

3laine75

20 - 22% is considered a high bf for a guy to bulk at. I'm not saying you can't bulk at more than optimal bf% (I did) but if 'it's hard to mentally think about putting on weight', you should probably wait till you've got it down a bit.

You CAN start a lifting programme at deficit and gain strength. That might be a better option for you at the moment.

ETA: sorry if body beast IS a lifting programme, I'm not familiar with it.

elfman5150

Definitely cut first. I mean general rule of thumb is to bulk at 15% or less. I'd say it would be good to get down to around 12% but that's just my opinion. Yes, it may take awhile to cut down to that bf%, but it may be worth it. I've never cut before, though, so definitely take what I say with a few grains of salt.

cdlee05

awesome, thank you both. maybe I'll just keep on the program I've been doing and focus on clean eating. My ultimate goal is to get to about 12 -15% BF and I am feeling stronger day by day. Thanks for the help.

tonypta46

I my self was around 20% when I did a holiday bulk. I knew through the holidays I was going to over shoot my calorie budget so I decided i would bulk up. I switch to 85,90,95% of 1 rep max ,3 sets of 3-6 reps in my working sets and 1 50% warm up rep untill a warm up feeling (usually 10 reps) . In 6 weeks I actually stayed the same weight and my bench shot up from 455 to 500. I also dropped 2% fat. I would try this with 4000cal diet. Make sure you hit your reps of 3 a

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Wheelhouse15

tonypta46 wrote: »

I my self was around 20% when I did a holiday bulk. I knew through the holidays I was going to over shoot my calorie budget so I decided i would bulk up. I switch to 85,90,95% of 1 rep max ,3 sets of 3-6 reps in my working sets and 1 50% warm up rep untill a warm up feeling (usually 10 reps) . In 6 weeks I actually stayed the same weight and my bench shot up from 455 to 500. I also dropped 2% fat. I would try this with 4000cal diet. Make sure you hit your reps of 3 a

I guess if you are going to go over anyway you might as well try for as much muscle as you can get. However, looks like you got a nice recomp out of it instead so that's a bonus.

AKDonF

MrM27 wrote: »

No. You should cut.

...and lower is better. 10% or less would be much better than 12%

cdlee05

Thanks all. I think with my BF today bulking wouldn't do me a lot of good. If I can be disciplined enough to get to those low teens or even 10% then maybe I'll try but I still have a ways to get there.

littledebie1960

I think you are on the right path.

ndj1979

OP - you need to cut down to at least 15% body fat, and then bulk ...you may even want to get a few %points under15....

cdlee05

I'm actually loving the body beast program. While there is nothing special about it, (basically its weight lifting and hard work) it's a lot easier for me to follow along and just do what they tell me. Whenever I'm at the gym, I'm usually inconsistent with time spent, reps and intensity so personally for me I've gotten in a lot of reps in with BB when I normally wouldn't on my own. I haven't documented gains but I do feel stronger overall and that's been a great feeling so far.

allenbrowning

cdlee05 wrote: »

I've been reading through all the great info on this forum and elsewhere about bulking but just wanted to ask about any tips you might have for me? Here's my situation:

- Doing Body Beast Lean (just finished week two of Bulk phase so now seems like as good as any to actually Bulk with my diet)
- I'm 215lbs and about 20 - 22% BF judging by the online picture guides out there...given that should I even be bulking?
- I've lost lbs in the past with cardio and programs like Insanity so it's hard to mentally think about putting on weight.
- I've got 4 more weeks of Bulk phase with Body Beast then I start the Beast which will be calorie deficit and more cardio to cut. Is 4 weeks enough time to bulk, too much, etc...?
- How should my diet look? I get the part about a calorie surplus but I don't want to end up like Mac from It's Always Sunny.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

My suggestion to u is simple. 20+ bf % is on the high side but not obese by any means. I too was on the very high side of bf% and I did a "cut" of abt 35 lbs. Once I did the cut I found I had no muscle mass to compensate for the body mass I lost. So I looked sickly. My suggestion is to do weight training and eat 250-500 max cal surplus and focus on "lean bulking" if you're weight training is intense enough, that'll be your cardio and you'll build muscle while loosing fat. Keep it simple, if u complicate it you'll get frustrated. Make sure your nutrition is on point and your daily caloric intake is correct. Like it was said before why bulk 50 lbs when you'll have to turn around and loose 20 of it in fat. Fat cells never go away so why create them

cdlee05

thanks allenbrowning - that is very helpful