Lean Bulking Naturally
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xVERNETTIx
Posts: 24 Member
As you know lean bulking as a natural lifter seems to take forever.... Anyone got any good tips or motivation for the long haul that helped them stay with it for the 4+ years it takes to achieve great looking results?
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I'm not sure 4+ years of bulking is necessary. I did a long bulk because I just kept putting off cutting. Length of bulk should be dictated by body fat.2
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Yeah. I agree. If you bulk for 4 years and stay lean you're doing yourself a disservice. A bit of fat gain is alright. You just want to make sure you try and control it. I've trained for 3 years. Trying various training styles to finally settle on powerlifting.
In those 3 years I've done about 4 bulk and cuts. I'm currently in a mass gaining phase. Looking to go from 186 to about 195. Which would be an amazing number.
All you need to do is maintain a 250 cal a day surplus. Follow an actual lifting program designed for natural beginners. Follow it to a T for at least 6 months. And then cut when you're about 18% body fat maybe a little lower.
When you cut. I'd advice staying above single digits since you're still new to this and will seriously risk losing hard earned lean mass as you get that low. I made that mistake my second cut and have been trying to make up for it ever since.0 -
Right I completely understand the Bulking and cutting faze but I'd prefer to take my time with slow gains rather than get fat and feel bloated or diet down all the time to cut and feel week... I'm not super lean and not really a hard gainer but I'm definitely not even close to fat either lol I can get fat and super strong quick if wanted to just not what I'm trying to do.2
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xVERNETTIx wrote: »Right I completely understand the Bulking and cutting faze but I'd prefer to take my time with slow gains rather than get fat and feel bloated or diet down all the time to cut and feel week... I'm not super lean and not really a hard gainer but I'm definitely not even close to fat either lol I can get fat and super strong quick if wanted to just not what I'm trying to do.
If you read what i said. I said control your fat gains and take your time.
A lean bulk means you bulk. But slowly. Like I said. And then once you reach a certain point after 6-12 months. You spend 8-12 weeks reducing fat.
Also. Hard gainers aren't real. So please read what I'm saying. Because you clearly have a lot of learning to do. Truly no offence intend just stating a fact.
That's why I suggested 250 cal surplus a day. You won't be bloated or get fat as long as you are ontop of your caloric intake. That will lead to a .5lb a week gain. Majority being muscle. As long as you're training intelligently.
If that's still too scary. Look into recomp and eating at maintenance. Maybe in 4 years you'll look alright.
I was giving good advice from experience of several years of trial and error.7 -
Please go into more detail about your secret to getting strong super quick and tell me why you aren't swarmed with sponsors and selling programs based on your apparently tried and true methodology.4
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Good luck with your bulk but curious as to why you are choosing a 4+ year bulking plan. Most long bulks tend to be around a year for a natty and running a bulk longer than that is really entering into recomp territory IMO. Unless you do a series of mini-bulk/mini-gain cycles it's not going to be easy to move up and I would think the frustration factor would be really grinding mentally after several months with little gains.
The only thing I can suggest is to look at dividing your bulking plans into several phases with defined goals for each phase that lead towards larger goals. Motivation and sticking to your plan is going to be the key here.1 -
xVERNETTIx wrote: »As you know lean bulking as a natural lifter seems to take forever.... Anyone got any good tips or motivation for the long haul that helped them stay with it for the 4+ years it takes to achieve great looking results?
Depends on your goals. Strength and health is a lifelong journey.
STRENGTH AND HEALTH.
If you just want to get more muscular and strong then just train hard and eat sensibly.
If you want to gain 30lbs to make the football team next fall then you need a different approach and that approach is not lean bulking. It is full-on dirty bulking.
Natural lifters will never look like drug using Youtube fitness bros. Forget that. And 99.9% of the Youtubers are on drugs.
The BEST you could hope to look like is bodybuilders from the 1930s and 1940s. That is if you have excellent genetics and train hard for years. Google Clancy Ross.8 -
xVERNETTIx wrote: »As you know lean bulking as a natural lifter seems to take forever.... Anyone got any good tips or motivation for the long haul that helped them stay with it for the 4+ years it takes to achieve great looking results?
Depends on your goals. Strength and health is a lifelong journey.
STRENGTH AND HEALTH.
If you just want to get more muscular and strong then just train hard and eat sensibly.
If you want to gain 30lbs to make the football team next fall then you need a different approach and that approach is not lean bulking. It is full-on dirty bulking.
Natural lifters will never look like drug using Youtube fitness bros. Forget that. And 99.9% of the Youtubers are on drugs.
The BEST you could hope to look like is bodybuilders from the 1930s and 1940s. That is if you have excellent genetics and train hard for years. Google Clancy Ross.
Arthur Saxon was probably the pinnacle of natural development but better known were guys like Charles Atlas and Steve Reeves. Those are amazing physiques but would require a lot of dedication and good genetics.2 -
We all have learning to do that was the point of this post it's a different journey for everyone I wasn't arguing with you at all lol all I was saying was trying to do this long term without getting fat and as for what I ment would be stronger if I ate more like a power lifter and lifted super heavy.... I obviously know how you use the app and watch calories I do know what a slight surplus is... Not sure why everyone is losing it thinking I'm dumb lol iv made alot of progress doing what I'm doing it's just slow that's all I was trying to say... Sorry everyone haha2
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xVERNETTIx wrote: »We all have learning to do that was the point of this post it's a different journey for everyone I wasn't arguing with you at all lol all I was saying was trying to do this long term without getting fat and as for what I ment would be stronger if I ate more like a power lifter and lifted super heavy.... I obviously know how you use the app and watch calories I do know what a slight surplus is... Not sure why everyone is losing it thinking I'm dumb lol iv made alot of progress doing what I'm doing it's just slow that's all I was trying to say... Sorry everyone haha
Good luck on your bulk, it is your choice to do what you want on it. Just be aware that a lot can and will happen in the next 4 years so holding onto a steady bulk will be very challenging and you'll still have to deal with fat gains along the way. I would certainly suggest mini-bulk/mini-cut cycles rather than straight line bulking since bulking is a head game and cycling can help deal with those challenges.0 -
Thanks for the support man ! I get what your saying I'm sure eventually I will need to cut I don't plan on only bulking for 4 years lol but I don't plan on the conventional get fat get skinny method. the 4 years thing was the rough genetic potential time period I was talking about. i know calories will need adjusted as time goes on and I know without gear you wont burn fat and gain muscle it just doesn't happen. again I'm happy with my progress and my body, the progress is just slow and sometimes discouraging lol2
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xVERNETTIx wrote: »Thanks for the support man ! I get what your saying I'm sure eventually I will need to cut I don't plan on only bulking for 4 years lol but I don't plan on the conventional get fat get skinny method. the 4 years thing was the rough genetic potential time period I was talking about. i know calories will need adjusted as time goes on and I know without gear you wont burn fat and gain muscle it just doesn't happen. again I'm happy with my progress and my body, the progress is just slow and sometimes discouraging lol
Yeah, progress is slow for most of us unless we are genetic freaks and/or use drugs. We just aren't made to put on that much muscle quickly. The old dirty bulk like crazy then diet down hard paradigm is pretty much dead these days I think, most people don't want to gain that much fat half the year then diet down like crazy to get read for the beach or whatever they are doing it for. Most people will try for pretty clean bulks so that they still look decent all year round.
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xVERNETTIx wrote: »Thanks for the support man ! I get what your saying I'm sure eventually I will need to cut I don't plan on only bulking for 4 years lol but I don't plan on the conventional get fat get skinny method. the 4 years thing was the rough genetic potential time period I was talking about. i know calories will need adjusted as time goes on and I know without gear you wont burn fat and gain muscle it just doesn't happen. again I'm happy with my progress and my body, the progress is just slow and sometimes discouraging lol
No one said to get fat then skinny. I cut long before I get fat and bulk long before I get skinny. That's what I was saying.
Umm eat like a powerlifter?
I powerlifter eating at a mild surplus with abs year round. So I'm not sure what you're getting at. Rather generalized.
Do you really think getting strong is as simple as eating tons and lifting heavy everyday? Hahaha.
"Lol"
You do realize the primary driver for muscular hypertrophy is progressive overload eh?
Simply put. Forcing yourself to get stronger in order to increase the total working load of your muscles resulting in a greater hypertrophic response. What will build more muscle. 10 reps at 135 or 8 reps at 225? What taxes your muscle fibres more.
I get what you're getting at but you're going at it wrong. You will get fat if you attempt a massively long bulk. And unless you sauce I highly doubt you'll reach your genetic potential in 4 years.5 -
Exactly!! I look nothing like I want and probably never will haha but I'm happy and determined to get there I'm not even super lean I don't care about a crazy six pack but when you can see a gut through your shirt that doesn't look good no matter how much you can bench lol1
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xVERNETTIx wrote: »Exactly!! I look nothing like I want and probably never will haha but I'm happy and determined to get there I'm not even super lean I don't care about a crazy six pack but when you can see a gut through your shirt that doesn't look good no matter how much you can bench lol
Then don't go past 15%. But massive quads and a broad chest do look good. So trust us. Aim for a 8-12 month bulk. If lucky you can gain 10-15lbs of hopefully muscle.
Are you actually following a lifting program or something you made yourself?0 -
That response made alot more sense thanks I understand what your saying I didn't really explain myself or what im trying to do very well sorry about that you are completely right and I'm on the same page of what your saying I know eventually I will need to cut just trying to stay away from the extreme of either side ya know.1
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I definitely understand progress overload and yes I'm sorry I generalized... most big known powerlifters look like a "power lifter" just like most CrossFiters look like a CrossFiter and most vegans look vegan most marathon runners look like runners but there are exception of coarse... And he'll yeah man good on ya abs year round and doing what you do solid work for sure0
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Trust me no one suggests getting fat during a bulk. It's detriment and just runs the risk of losing more muscle while having to cut unnecessary fat. You can put a surprising amount of mass in 8 months without getting fat. You might gain 5-10lbs but if you off set that with 15 lbs of muscle as wrll. It's not so bad.
So I take it that you're just doing your own home made program? If you want to make progress. Stop doing that. Find a program made by someone who does it for a living1 -
A mixture of both I work out at home with free weights so some exercises are limited due to lack of equipment.. i plan on getting a membership and a legitimate program soon when I get my life back together... Just went through a 7 year relationship break up and losing my house... all my weights are at my mom's and I'm in an apartment now1
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Trust me no one suggests getting fat during a bulk. It's detriment and just runs the risk of losing more muscle while having to cut unnecessary fat. You can put a surprising amount of mass in 8 months without getting fat. You might gain 5-10lbs but if you off set that with 15 lbs of muscle as wrll. It's not so bad.
So I take it that you're just doing your own home made program? If you want to make progress. Stop doing that. Find a program made by someone who does it for a living
What program are you running?0
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