Transition to bulking today! Who is with me?

lilawolf

Ooh, fancy new forum category . Since this is about bulk/cut cycles do I have to move this back and forth every 6 weeks or so :laugh: ?

I'm pretty much at my ideal weight, but my lifts have stopped progressing. I am excited for the aesthetic changes that will come with recomping, but hitting my strength goals without just gaining back the weight I've lost is the most important to me. Today, I am transitioning to maintenance, and next week I will transition to bulking around half a lb a week, which is pretty standard for a clean bulk for females.

Current stats: 24yo, f, 5'9, 146 lbs, 23-24% BF
Cut: 1700 NET calories (~0.5lb loss per week. I know that this works for me)
Transition: 1950 NET calories (~ maintenance)
Bulk: 2200 NET calories (~0.5lb gain per week)
Macros: ~30p/35f/35c with at Least 110g protein a day or 1g/lb of lbm
Program: Strong Lifts 5x5, soon to transition to 5/3/1

Why now? Because the second bulk cycle will cover Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years when I would really LIKE to bulk :-p. I will of course continue lifting during the holidays so that I gain muscle and not just fat. Each 13 week cycle will hopefully give me a net gain of 1lb muscle and 0lbs fat.

Transition this week
Bulk: 8/26-10/6 (3lbs gained, almost half muscle)
Cut: 10/7-11/16 (3lbs lost, almost all fat)
Transition: 11/16-11/24
Bulk: 11/25-1/5/14.... etc

Any advice, pics of your results (from ladies or gents), FRs from those who want to join me, comments etc are welcome. Thanks!

Fithealthyforlife

No one's replied yet?!

Well, I'm a guy. Same height and close in weight to you. Currently eating a ~275-cal surplus and been building up to it for 8 weeks or so and I've been gaining half a pound a week. I'm currently using my own version of a modified cyclical lifting program based on the original Reg Park 5x5 approach. Basically I start with a weight I can do for 5 reps for every set, and then increase reps until I can eventually hit 16 or so, then increase the weight and move back to 5 reps again.

Btw, 13 weeks will give you a lot more than a pound of muscle. More like 3-5 lbs (and that's taking into account the slower gains that women make normally). You could even see up to 6 lbs or more in that time period since you're new to this! Total body weight will probably increase by 10+ lbs during that period. Especially for women, fat gain is necessary when building muscle.

mustgetmuscles1

Good luck on the bulk. Looks like you have a solid plan in place.

I have been transitioning to maintenance for about a month now and plan to start a consistent surplus in Sept. I have been on 5/3/1 for almost a year and plan to stay on it.

neandermagnon

I'm bulking and doing stronglifts 5x5 :drinker:

lilawolf

No one's replied yet?!

Well, I'm a guy. Same height and close in weight to you. Currently eating a ~275-cal surplus and been building up to it for 8 weeks or so and I've been gaining half a pound a week. I'm currently using my own version of a modified cyclical lifting program based on the original Reg Park 5x5 approach. Basically I start with a weight I can do for 5 reps for every set, and then increase reps until I can eventually hit 16 or so, then increase the weight and move back to 5 reps again.

Btw, 13 weeks will give you a lot more than a pound of muscle. More like 3-5 lbs (and that's taking into account the slower gains that women make normally). You could even see up to 6 lbs or more in that time period since you're new to this! Total body weight will probably increase by 10+ lbs during that period. Especially for women, fat gain is necessary when building muscle.

A female can only build about .25lbs of muscle a week, so in 6 weeks of bulking I would only gain 1.5lbs of muscle even if I do everything right. Then in my 6 week cut, I would likely lose a little muscle even though I would be losing slowly, keeping my protein high, and my lifting heavy. That means that in a full cycle, I would likely only manage to trade 1lb of fat for muscle. All of these numbers are half of what a male could do in the same time, unfortunately. I have been lifting for about five months now, so I am likely out of the "newbie gains" period, though this will be my first time lifting on a surplus, so maybe I do get newbie gains now?

That is what I've gotten out of my research, but if you have links that say otherwise for females not using hormones, I would love to see them! That sounds like a very interesting lifting program. I've never heard of it before. Do you have any links to a more in depth description of the program?

Fithealthyforlife

No one's replied yet?!

Well, I'm a guy. Same height and close in weight to you. Currently eating a ~275-cal surplus and been building up to it for 8 weeks or so and I've been gaining half a pound a week. I'm currently using my own version of a modified cyclical lifting program based on the original Reg Park 5x5 approach. Basically I start with a weight I can do for 5 reps for every set, and then increase reps until I can eventually hit 16 or so, then increase the weight and move back to 5 reps again.

Btw, 13 weeks will give you a lot more than a pound of muscle. More like 3-5 lbs (and that's taking into account the slower gains that women make normally). You could even see up to 6 lbs or more in that time period since you're new to this! Total body weight will probably increase by 10+ lbs during that period. Especially for women, fat gain is necessary when building muscle.

A female can only build about .25lbs of muscle a week, so in 6 weeks of bulking I would only gain 1.5lbs of muscle even if I do everything right. Then in my 6 week cut, I would likely lose a little muscle even though I would be losing slowly, keeping my protein high, and my lifting heavy. That means that in a full cycle, I would likely only manage to trade 1lb of fat for muscle. All of these numbers are half of what a male could do in the same time, unfortunately. I have been lifting for about five months now, so I am likely out of the "newbie gains" period, though this will be my first time lifting on a surplus, so maybe I do get newbie gains now?

That is what I've gotten out of my research, but if you have links that say otherwise for females not using hormones, I would love to see them! That sounds like a very interesting lifting program. I've never heard of it before. Do you have any links to a more in depth description of the program?

I see. I thought you were talking about doing 13 weeks of actual bulking, and not 6 weeks and then 6 of cutting. 13 actual weeks would put you at at least 3 lbs of muscle. Btw, for women, I've heard 0.25-0.5 lbs of muscle per week, and for men, 0.5-1 lb. My own experience is 0.5 lbs per week, so I guess your projected numbers are pretty much in line with my own. The lower end is usually more reasonable.

Why do you want to do such a short duration (6 weeks)? That 1 pound may be hard to keep on your body, doing it that way! Body chemistry can take 6 weeks just to adapt to a new diet/workout plan! I'd give it at least 12 weeks, personally.

lilawolf

Good luck on the bulk. Looks like you have a solid plan in place.

I have been transitioning to maintenance for about a month now and plan to start a consistent surplus in Sept. I have been on 5/3/1 for almost a year and plan to stay on it.

Thanks! Good luck on yours starting next month! Do you have any tips for switching from 5x5 to 5/3/1? I plan to read the whole program, but any not-so-obvious advice would be appreciated.

mustgetmuscles1

Good luck on the bulk. Looks like you have a solid plan in place.

I have been transitioning to maintenance for about a month now and plan to start a consistent surplus in Sept. I have been on 5/3/1 for almost a year and plan to stay on it.

Thanks! Good luck on yours starting next month! Do you have any tips for switching from 5x5 to 5/3/1? I plan to read the whole program, but any not-so-obvious advice would be appreciated.

No 5/3/1 is pretty straight forward if you read the book. I have not read his newest version though so you may want to get that one instead.

Warchortle

Just finished mine... but HURRAY FOR REFEEDS

DUCKIEGYRL

Nice

andresconejo

Lol! Right now im also transitioning to maintenance and then trying to maintain or do a slow bulk until holidays when ill really start bulking! Im also afraid of gaining too much fat so ill keep lifting and doing cardio, i hope u really achieve ur goal!

lilawolf

Lol! Right now im also transitioning to maintenance and then trying to maintain or do a slow bulk until holidays when ill really start bulking! Im also afraid of gaining too much fat so ill keep lifting and doing cardio, i hope u really achieve ur goal!

Nice! The lifting is imperative to gaining muscle: otherwise you would just gain fat which is a whole different sort of bulk and another topic altogether. You can keep doing cardio, but that won't change the kind of weight you gain (muscle vs fat) so it really just means that you get to/have to eat more. I will keep running occasionally, because I want to be able to run a 5k, but it has nothing to do with my strength or muscle goals. It will pay for some extra pizza/wine/ice cream though and let me do the zombie run, warrior dash etc next year

chani8

I'm with you on the muscle gain! I just find it hard to eat enough calories. My new diet is a form of carb cycling, and it's great except I need to eat more calories.

I lift at home doing 3 supersets per muscle group.. I do very little cardio, just a walk after heavy meals. I wait one minute between supersets and I don't work out for more than 20 minutes at a time (usually much less), to increase testosterone.

I rarely step on the scale and I've never measured my muscles. I'm a little less than 5'2" and around 99 lbs. I would like to know how to monitor my body fat. I guess I'll go google how to do that .

By posting this I'm hoping it will motivate me to stay on task and get my workouts in and stop being a lazy head. Good luck and here's wishing all of us motivation!!

andresconejo

Lol! Right now im also transitioning to maintenance and then trying to maintain or do a slow bulk until holidays when ill really start bulking! Im also afraid of gaining too much fat so ill keep lifting and doing cardio, i hope u really achieve ur goal!

Nice! The lifting is imperative to gaining muscle: otherwise you would just gain fat which is a whole different sort of bulk and another topic altogether. You can keep doing cardio, but that won't change the kind of weight you gain (muscle vs fat) so it really just means that you get to/have to eat more. I will keep running occasionally, because I want to be able to run a 5k, but it has nothing to do with my strength or muscle goals. It will pay for some extra pizza/wine/ice cream though and let me do the zombie run, warrior dash etc next year

Exactly! I keep doing cardio to indulge in my favorite treats, i do like 30-40 minutes 3/week... idk if its too much though.

ritchiedrama

Just been at maintenance for two weeks, now in my second week of bulking, feels good!

funforsports

I start my bulk in a few weeks. Probably be a bit of a slower bulk than last year, in which I put on 28 lbs in 8 months. Only about 7 of those lbs were of muscle.

andresconejo

I start my bulk in a few weeks. Probably be a bit of a slower bulk than last year, in which I put on 28 lbs in 8 months. Only about 7 of those lbs were of muscle.

What are ur specs? (Height, weight, age, bf etc...)
Do u do cardio?
this may sound weird but as what i see in ur photo, is kinda what i want for me, LOL

funforsports

I start my bulk in a few weeks. Probably be a bit of a slower bulk than last year, in which I put on 28 lbs in 8 months. Only about 7 of those lbs were of muscle.

What are ur specs? (Height, weight, age, bf etc...)
Do u do cardio?
this may sound weird but as what i see in ur photo, is kinda what i want for me, LOL

6'4, 195, 9%, 27

I only do HIIT cardio 2x/wk and crossfit style workouts 2x/wk for my cardio. During bulk, I cut cardio down even more.

lilawolf

I start my bulk in a few weeks. Probably be a bit of a slower bulk than last year, in which I put on 28 lbs in 8 months. Only about 7 of those lbs were of muscle.

8 months is about 37 weeks, so 28lbs doesn't sound out of the ordinary. From what I've read, most men try to gain 1lb/week, half of which will be muscle during a clean bulk. Why do you think that you gained so little muscle?

funforsports

I start my bulk in a few weeks. Probably be a bit of a slower bulk than last year, in which I put on 28 lbs in 8 months. Only about 7 of those lbs were of muscle.

8 months is about 37 weeks, so 28lbs doesn't sound out of the ordinary. From what I've read, most men try to gain 1lb/week, half of which will be muscle during a clean bulk. Why do you think that you gained so little muscle?

I actually believe that I gained more muscle than 7 lbs. I would guess that I actually gained about 12 lbs of muscle before cutting. During the cut cycle though, I lost approximately 5 lbs of muscle along with all of the additional fat therefore resulting in a total year gain of 7 lbs. Which when I start a bulk cycle, I assume that about 50% of my gains at least will be fat gains.

mustgetmuscles1

A 50% muscle to fat ratio is really only possible for a short time. Experienced lifters will see a pretty drastic slow down in muscle gain after the first couple years.