Moving from maintenance to bulk
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cnbbnc
Posts: 1,267 Member
When transitioning to maintenance people freak over the weight gain that can accompany if if its done all at once. Does the same happen when moving from maintenance to bulk? I want to make sure I'm gaining slowly, but should I brace myself for a quick jump on the scale? If so, do I just suck it up and stay the course until it levels out to 2lbs per month after that?
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Replies
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Yes. Sudden weight gain is almost never fat gain.1
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Just like with weight loss, you should track trends over 4-6 week increments. Some weeks you will lose, some you will gain, and some you will maintain.1
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just slowly start with a double cheese burger and then move up on to a big mac meal and the world is yours from there.0
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Ok. Thanks.
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I always see a significant scale jump when I start bulking but it usually evens out after a couple of weeks (probably because I generally eat pretty moderate carbs except when bulking) and then I gain pretty steadily. Ohh and I definitely freaked the first time. Good luck!0
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Keladelphia wrote: »I always see a significant scale jump when I start bulking but it usually evens out after a couple of weeks (probably because I generally eat pretty moderate carbs except when bulking) and then I gain pretty steadily. Ohh and I definitely freaked the first time. Good luck!
@keladelphia, how much to you typically like to gain when you bulk? Or do you go by body fat % increase? TIA - I'm also about to do my first bulk and am getting anxious about the psychological effect of seeing the numbers increase on the scale.0 -
@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!0 -
Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.1 -
Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.
Thanks for your kind words! Once you get over the mental barrier it's not as bad as it seems, I'd just recommend holding out a little longer than you want to with the first one, though I stuck it out for ten, six pounds in and I wanted to call it quits ha-ha. It's easy to want to cut it short which will really derail your progress.0 -
Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.
I was wondering about this too. I've had in my mind to gain 10lbs, but when considering that initial jump on the scale I didn't know if I'm looking at more like 13-14lbs when taking that into consideration.... Meaning if it's just water to begin with.
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Keladelphia wrote: »Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.
Thanks for your kind words! Once you get over the mental barrier it's not as bad as it seems, I'd just recommend holding out a little longer than you want to with the first one, though I stuck it out for ten, six pounds in and I wanted to call it quits ha-ha. It's easy to want to cut it short which will really derail your progress.
Thank you!0 -
Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.
I was wondering about this too. I've had in my mind to gain 10lbs, but when considering that initial jump on the scale I didn't know if I'm looking at more like 13-14lbs when taking that into consideration.... Meaning if it's just water to begin with.
Maybe just see how you feel and how you look at the 10 lb mark and decide then? I read something the other day about bulking until you just can't stand yourself anymore
That might be 10 lbs for some and more for others. I'm nervous and excited about the process! 0 -
Keladelphia wrote: »@Leajas I've only done two cycles so I'm not super knowledgeable on the subject honestly but i've had pretty good results so i'll tell you what I did.
I don't have an accurate enough way to measure body fat % which would probably be the best way to determine when to start and stop. Since I don't have a good BF measure I decided to time the length of my bulks by rate of gain, total amount gained (a target of ten pounds with the intent of 3-4 being muscle ) and how long I could hold out before I started feeling like a whale. What seemed to work for me was about 3-4 months in a surplus with a gain of around ten pounds. Of this ten i'd estimate around 3LBS to be water (gained immediately and lost immediately as soon as I started to cut) around 3 pounds of fat and 4 pounds of muscle. Seeing the number go up was horrifying for me as someone who used to weigh 235 pounds but girl it is worth it! I am WAY more lean/defined at 143 than I was at 135 last year and finally have a booty! Good luck!
Thank you so much! You look amazing in your profile pic - really strong, healthy, and beautiful - and what you're saying really resonates with me. I was thinking 10-ish pounds in a three month period was really all I could stand so it's nice to get that validation.
I was wondering about this too. I've had in my mind to gain 10lbs, but when considering that initial jump on the scale I didn't know if I'm looking at more like 13-14lbs when taking that into consideration.... Meaning if it's just water to begin with.
Maybe just see how you feel and how you look at the 10 lb mark and decide then? I read something the other day about bulking until you just can't stand yourself anymore That might be 10 lbs for some and more for others. I'm nervous and excited about the process!
Yeah...that's what I'm going to do. I think I pushed a little too far with leaning out, and have to put a few lbs back on regardless. Just gonna wing it and see what happens.
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Bulk until you hate yourself. Cut until you're happy with how you look. Repeat as many times as necessary.1
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