Lean Bulk - so far so good.

pbryd

Thanks for your kind words guys, I'm getting a bit fed up with it to be honest. Progress is so bloody slow.

You can change your workouts when the boredom kicks in, but eating the same amount of food week after week, month after month is really getting tiring.

awinner_au

How much cardio do you do? Ive been on a seven month slow cut, my waist just hit 28 and im really starting to lose strength, its time to slow bulk for me , if i ate what you do i reckon id hit a 32 inch waist in a month. Im 172cm (5'7") and much older at 56.

pbryd

I don't do any cardio. A 7 month cut sounds terrible lol. At 5'7" with a 28" waist you must have a full six pack, I'm not sure that amount of leanness is for me, 29" at my height of 5'6" is probably sufficient and maintainable.

jdscrubs32

Hi @pbryd I know you said at the outset that you didn't have a goal weight in mind and you were going to continue "until I hit a point where my waist is getting too large and then I'll cut back on the calories for a quick cut". Maybe consider a goal weight you want to achieve. I'm not far behind on how tall/short I am being 5'5". I started off at 55kg and bulked until I was 70kg. For me to gain that amount, it wasn't until I hit 4,000 calories that I started to gain. Once I did, I set myself a goal weight to achieve which was 70kg. So even when there were times like I felt how you are feeling now in that "eating the same amount of food week after week, month after month is really getting tiring", I could see light at the end of the tunnel when I got nearer and nearer the goal weight. Maybe try changing up the foods a bit to freshen things up a bit. I'm not sure what you eat but I got bored of plain chicken and the like very quickly so I started to throw baked beans over it, have chicken curries and the like just to make it more interesting.

pbryd

@jdscrubs32 Thanks for your input. Does setting a goal weight, not encourage just to gain for gaining sake and lead to more fat gain then ideal?

You're looking at 120lbs to 155lbs. How long have you been doing it, and how long do you have left?

For me to gain 35lbs at my current rate would take 20 months lol.

My thoughts are it doesn't matter what the scale says. It's what you look and feel like, so I gave my waist an upper limit, rather then go by what the scale says.

jdscrubs32

Fair enough. I should have added that I finished bulking last September once I reached 70kg/155lbs (apologies about not converting to lbs). I didn't find that I ended up gaining more fat than ideal. To be honest I was very lean/skinny to begin with before I started at more or less 5% body fat. I started bulking around the summer of 2014 but it was only when I hit the 4,000 calorie mark in December of that year that I started to bulk. I finished bulking September of last year. I'm maintaining & doing a recomp since then. I looked better with the added weight on and preferred the extra mass, hence why I didn't go into "cutting". While I went with the figure of 70kg, like you, I preferred to gauge how looked and felt like. Lean bulk is slow and you have to have the patience of a saint but it pays off in the long run so stick with it.

pbryd

So around 10 months to add 35lb. 3.5lb per month isn't over the top I suppose. I might add a little extra calories and see if I can get above my 1.7lb average.

I'd like to be 140lb with a 30" waist. I think a slow bulk to 146-148 then a quick cut would get me close.

pbryd

May Update- Slow Bulking for 10 months.

This month, despite my calories being the same, my weight jumped up, along with my waist. I've been less busy at work, which is the only thing I can think of, to explain the rise.

For the last week, I've cut back on my calories, with a goal to trim my waist down an inch, back to 30".

Training wise, I finished 9 weeks of 3x full body workouts and move onto a Push/Pull split. Which will give more more time to recover, while offering little more volume than the typical 3 day Push/Pull/Legs.

Here's a graph

pbryd

It's been a while since I updated this.

The last update in May saw a big monthly jump in my waist measurement, I put down to lowering my carb and increasing my fat ratio.

I cut my calories to trim my waist back but it wasn't until my calories hit 2600 again that I started gaining.

Here is a chart and graph of my progress so far.





You can see the blip in May on the red line where my waist jumped up, which seems to ironed out now.

Training

I'm following a linear progression model on an AB split.

A: Front squats 2x8, Floor Press 3x5, Barbell Rows 3x5
B: Trap bar deadlifts 1x5, OH Barbell Press 3x5, chins 3x5

Progress is good, I'll keep it going as long as I can before I choose and intermediate progression model.

pbryd

I've been giving my routine some thought and browsing Practical Programming for Strength Training, looking at the periodisation and advice for older lifters.

To keep things from going stale and improve my recovery I'm going to incorporate some DUP into my training.

Volume day will be front squats, OH press and barbell rows, light day will be same with less sets and weight and finally Intensity day will be Trap bar deadlifts, floor press and chins in 5x5 ramping the weight up each set.

Progression on volume day will be (triple progression) 3x8 working up to 5x8, then increasing the weight and lowering the sets back to 3 and working back up to 5.

I'm hoping the periodising volume this way will lead to more hypertrophy.

vperspective

Hi pbryd, please keep posting your updates. Very interested in your progress as we are of similar height and weight except my bulk is not as lean Starting weight: 123 lb, current weight: 141 lb with 31 inch waist (ie. 18 lb over 18 weeks). Not liking the increasing waist but I can put up with it for now!

pbryd

Will do. I understand the anguish of seeing your waist increase. I've been monitoring mine for a whole year, weight and waist size.

My waist size going up is a distraction, but I'm more than happy to see a 2lb month weight gain and strength increases in the gym.

With this is mind, I'm going to stop measuring my waist. I know it's going to increase, but as long as my monthly gain doesn't exceed 2lb, I'll be happy.

Dial back your calories a little if you think you're gaining to fast. I'm 43yrs old so I expect a slower rate of progress for myself.

pbryd

A mid month look at my weight and I've not gained anything this month. My weekly weight hasn't changed for the last 6 weeks despite my PRs in the gym increasing.

I've added 200 additional daily calories which will hopefully see the bathroom scale start to move up again.

pbryd

I've seen the scales move up the last few day after increasing my calories allowance to 2800. I tend to stay slightly under that figure.

This morning I used my body fat caliper to measure my suprailliac fold at 10mm. This puts me at around 15% bf for a man my age 43.

Realistically I should begin cutting back down to 12% but I'd love to add another couple of pounds and reach 140lb before I do that.

pbryd

A quick calculation using my weight 138lb and body fat % gives these results:

Weight at 15%bf: 138lb
Lean mass: 117lb
Goal weight at 12%bf: 133lb

I weighed 133lb 6 months ago, I don't like the idea of dieting back to 133lb to be honest.

It seems like a big step backwards, but actually it's just 5lb which should really take about two weeks.

So that's what I'll do. I'll reduce my calories (carbs) from 2800, to 2400 and see how it goes.

trigden1991

pbryd wrote: »

A quick calculation using my weight 138lb and body fat % gives these results:

Weight at 15%bf: 138lb
Lean mass: 117lb
Goal weight at 12%bf: 133lb

I weighed 133lb 6 months ago, I don't like the idea of dieting back to 133lb to be honest.

It seems like a big step backwards, but actually it's just 5lb which should really take about two weeks.

So that's what I'll do. I'll reduce my calories (carbs) from 2800, to 2400 and see how it goes.

Wheel spinning to the max.

pbryd

trigden1991 wrote: »

Wheel spinning to the max.

What do you mean?

trigden1991

pbryd wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

Wheel spinning to the max.

What do you mean?

You weighed 133lbs 6 months ago. You have bulked up to 138 and are going to cut back to 133. You cannot have built any appreciable muscle in that time.

psuLemon

pbryd wrote: »

A quick calculation using my weight 138lb and body fat % gives these results:

Weight at 15%bf: 138lb
Lean mass: 117lb
Goal weight at 12%bf: 133lb

I weighed 133lb 6 months ago, I don't like the idea of dieting back to 133lb to be honest.

It seems like a big step backwards, but actually it's just 5lb which should really take about two weeks.

So that's what I'll do. I'll reduce my calories (carbs) from 2800, to 2400 and see how it goes.

Instead of cutting, just recomp. It can be much more beneficial for you mentally and you might see some additional muscle growth from it.

pbryd

Here are my last 4 months of average bodyweight

• July: 133.3lb
• August: 135.1lb
• September: 136.8lb
• October:137.1lb

That's what my concern is, the caliper suggests I'm 15% and so I cut back to 12%, but the margins seem too narrow.

I'm going to do a quick cut to 12% and to see what weight I reach.

Strengthwise my I've been doing well and I'm happy with my progress in the gym.

psuLemon

pbryd wrote: »

Here are my last 4 months of average bodyweight

• July: 133.3lb
• August: 135.1lb
• September: 136.8lb
• October:137.1lb

That's what my concern is, the caliper suggests I'm 15% and so I cut back to 12%, but the margins seem too narrow.

I'm going to do a quick cut to 12% and to see what weight I reach.

Strengthwise my I've been doing well and I'm happy with my progress in the gym.

Well there is some error in calipers so don't put all your marbles in that basket. How do you look. Do you feel the need to cut down more. But at 4 lbs in 4 months, that is pretty slow.

pbryd

psulemon wrote: »

Instead of cutting, just recomp. It can be much more beneficial for you mentally and you might see some additional muscle growth from it.

That's an option too, I'll give it some thought.

pbryd

psulemon wrote: »

Do you feel the need to cut down more. But at 4 lbs in 4 months, that is pretty slow.

Measurements aside, I feel I don't want my waist to get any larger. I'd prefer a 2-3 week cut over a recomp.

trigden1991

pbryd wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

Do you feel the need to cut down more. But at 4 lbs in 4 months, that is pretty slow.

Measurements aside, I feel I don't want my waist to get any larger. I'd prefer a 2-3 week cut over a recomp.

Then do that.

pbryd

I've been cutting over the Christmas, my waist has reduced from an average of 31" (October) to 28.5" present.

I now weigh 123lb, the same as when I did before I started bulking, but my waist is 1" smaller.

This puts me in a much better position than my first lean bulk.

EzRemake

I think you might be spinning those wheels my friend. I started at the exact same weight as you, 123lbs, and have managed to gain 30lbs in a little over a year and a half, and only have a 29" waist. There hasn't been much fat gain to be honest, maybe 12/30lbs being fat.

You need to start eating more. Don't even think about cutting until you've gained at least 20 pounds.

pbryd

Why base the time to cut when you've gained a certain amount of weight?

I made good progress the first 6 months but once my waist hit 30.5", my fat gain accelerated.

I span my wheels cutting from a 31" waist to 30.5" - I did this twice.

I should have cut right back to around 10% bodyfat which is around a 29" waist and started another lean bulk.

This is where I'm at now. I plan on bulking to around 15% bodyfat (30.5") before cutting again, and not letting my bulk get carried away, just to hit a certain weight.

pbryd

First month bulk saw a nice 2.1lb gain in March, so I'm happy to have the calories (2600-2700) right on target.

I'm currently (this morning) 127lb with a 29" waist. My plan is to bulk to a 30" waist and cut back to 28.5" or maybe 28" if I add cardio to the mix too.

pbryd

Mid month progress and I'm right on target, currently averaging a 1.8lb increase from last month

jdscrubs32

Nice one. Have you a goal weight in mind @pbryd or bulking as others do until they hate themselves?