Lean bulking

ayson9

Hey guys, trying to do a lean bulk, sticking with the 1:1 lbs per gram of protein. Currently weighing in at 163. Been intaking 150g protein daily for about 4 weeks. Strength is increasing and body is being defined, I want to continue growing.

Should I?

1) wait till I hit a strength plateau and then increase in protein?

2) if I do increase in protein, how much should I bump it by for optimal growth?

3) would also increasing my carb intake along with my increase in protein intake really necessary or can I keep that low and just bump my protein in hopes that extra gain in weight would be lean muscle?

Tips and advice appreciated, thanks fellow Gymrats

jdog022

Have you gained weight? .8-1 g per pound of LBM for protein is sufficient. usually the carbs go up as cals go up.

Davidsdottir

jdog022 wrote: »

Have you gained weight? .8-1 g per pound of LBM for protein is sufficient. usually the carbs go up as cals go up.

+1

ayson9

@jdog022 yeah I weigh in everyday and I take an avg of the 7 days. Been seeing about 0.5-1lb increase

carolsoules

Lean bulking is hard without the help of a dietitian/nutritionist. You can do it though! I recommend paying attention to the timing of your carbs--you can use them as a tool to manipulate the hormones in charge of your metabolism. Eat a little at breakfast to get your metabolism going, a larger amount pre-workout to fuel your workout, a medium-high amount post-workout to nip cortisol levels and induce your muscles to take up your post-workout protein, and less in the evenings/before bed.

livingleanlivingclean

carolsoules wrote: »

Lean bulking is hard without the help of a dietitian/nutritionist. You can do it though! I recommend paying attention to the timing of your carbs--you can use them as a tool to manipulate the hormones in charge of your metabolism. Eat a little at breakfast to get your metabolism going, a larger amount pre-workout to fuel your workout, a medium-high amount post-workout to nip cortisol levels and induce your muscles to take up your post-workout protein, and less in the evenings/before bed.

What?

To gain muscle you need to be in a calorie surplus (not difficult to achieve) and follow a progressive lifting program (not hard to do).
Meal timing is not really important, and comes down to personal preference. Macro breakdown is also not overly important, although if you were wanting to do something you might time carbs around training and have less fat in these meals.

Lean bulking comes down to keeping your surplus small so that you limit excess fat gain.

sardelsa

carolsoules wrote: »

Lean bulking is hard without the help of a dietitian/nutritionist. You can do it though! I recommend paying attention to the timing of your carbs--you can use them as a tool to manipulate the hormones in charge of your metabolism. Eat a little at breakfast to get your metabolism going, a larger amount pre-workout to fuel your workout, a medium-high amount post-workout to nip cortisol levels and induce your muscles to take up your post-workout protein, and less in the evenings/before bed.

I've successfully bulked three times and I have no idea what you are talking about.

fb47

carolsoules wrote: »

Lean bulking is hard without the help of a dietitian/nutritionist. You can do it though! I recommend paying attention to the timing of your carbs--you can use them as a tool to manipulate the hormones in charge of your metabolism. Eat a little at breakfast to get your metabolism going, a larger amount pre-workout to fuel your workout, a medium-high amount post-workout to nip cortisol levels and induce your muscles to take up your post-workout protein, and less in the evenings/before bed.

This post deserves all the "woo", I mean seriously??? It is not hard, I've been doing this for years. It doesn't take a dietitian/nutritionist to know how to track macros and finding out how much you need to gain weight. It's not rocket scientist. I don't know why, but reading this be comment today makes me mad.

FoneyOz

The process is quite simple once broken down, but everything is much harder in real life because *kitten* happens and life gets in the way. However consistency is key, and how strictly you adhere to the following fundamentals will dictate long term results and success...

- calculate ("know") your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
- ensure caloric surplus of 10-20% depending on your personal interpretation of "lean" and what kind of aesthetic you want to maintain during a bulk phase
- consume adequate protein ~1g / lb / body mass / day
- make the effort to ensure your nutrition consists mostly of natural wholefoods and with a variety of plant and animal based sources to also ensure a complete micronutrient profile
- adhere to a resistance training program with sufficient progressive overload
- factor in deloads, minicuts, and exercise changes as required
- regularly track your body weight and raw strength numbers in the gym. If you aren't getting stronger and gaining weight, you either aren't recovering from training loads and / or not consuming enough calories
- aim for an average weight gain of between 0.5-1lb / week
- monitor how you look in the mirror and feel
- active rest, recovery, & relaxation is essential to not only achieving your body recomposition goals, but for your overall physical and mental wellbeing

If you hate doing what you're doing and you're miserable, either accept it and push through, or take a break and reassess. There's far more to life than just our aesthetics, but with great reward comes great sacrifice. It really comes down to priorities, and how much you're willing to give up to get there.

All the best!

jdog022

ayson9 wrote: »

@jdog022 yeah I weigh in everyday and I take an avg of the 7 days. Been seeing about 0.5-1lb increase

good. and hopefully your hitting some PRs here and there? Once you hit any wall (2 - 3 weeks maybe) in weight or strength up the cals 150-200 with most from carbs