Bulk

mtbke5

So I am starting a bulk and have a few questions.

I am slowly increasing my calories by 100 per day for a week and then another 100 per day per week, etc. Does this sound right? Or should I be more agressive? I have stomach issues so I have to be careful about what I eat and how much at a time and that is why I was only doing an extra 100 per day. It is going to take me a while to get to my goal, but I'm doing it for a variety of reasons and I don't care how long it takes. I'm not close to maintanence yet so technically not at a surplus.
What is the recommended weight gain on a bulk? How much per week or month?
I am going to start lifiting heavy again in about a week. I took a month off to let my body rest and recover before I started a new "diet" and workout routine.

Any suggestions for "add-ins" or light snacks or meals (light in terms of easy to digest and on the stomach)?

Thanks!

waldo56

100 per day per week seems way too fast.

1 week and you'll have increased 700 calories. That's a huge jump for a week, especially going up (big jumps aren't nearly as big a deal going down).

I've done it 2 ways, about to do a 3rd (kind of a hybrid)

- First time I started increasing my cals 250 biweekly starting in a 750 cal/day deficit, took 2.5 months to go from full cut to full blast bulk (+500 cal). Even a couple weeks after I reached full speed I had gained zero fat. Despite gaining weight I got noticably leaner until I'd been at +500 for a month or so.

- 2nd time I didn't cut nearly as aggressive, so I was starting at a 500 cal/day deficit. I jumped straight to maintenance for 2 weeks, then jumped to a 400 cal/day surplus. I didn't really gain any noticable fat either during that transition, but I definitely did not get the leaning out while gaining weight effect either.

- This time I've been cutting longer and more aggressive than last time, and I'm a good bit leaner, so I'm going to err on the side of caution. My metabolism has also declined a good bit so I'm not nearly as confident in where maintenance actually is. I plan on jumping to -100, just below maintenance, and then making biweekly 200 cal jumps to +300, should take 6 weeks to get into full bulk mode (even though +300 is a very unaggressive bulk).

minijuggernaut

100 per DAY? Shoot to increase your cals over your TDEE by 20%. Stick with that for a month or two. If you're gaining around 2-4 lbs a month, you're good.