Stuffing my face to make gains

jefftownsend2

Just curious at how much fat others put on when bulking, I hit a wall in my training and have gained quite a bit of strength and muscle mass sense July 2019. In July 2019 I was 194 at 16% and now I am at 20% at 220, I have been eating 4 to 4500K positive calories to date. Last week I started into cutting some fat, dropping 500 calories a week until I see .5% body fat loss in two weeks.

quiksylver296

13 pounds out of 22. (You have two threads saying the same thing, with different titles?)

sardelsa

I don't measure my bodyfat % but I would say fairly minimal for the most part. My last bulk I gained about 15lbs over 8 months. I am an average female so my results might be different than others.

How fast are you gaining, like 3-4lbs or so per month it looks like? Could be a bit fast depending on your stats and training experience.

jefftownsend2

quiksylver296 wrote: »

13 pounds out of 22. (You have two threads saying the same thing, with different titles?)

It was suggested that I post in here, so I did with a catchy subject to draw some post. Not sure how to delete the other post

jefftownsend2

sardelsa wrote: »

I don't measure my bodyfat % but I would say fairly minimal for the most part. My last bulk I gained about 15lbs over 8 months. I am an average female so my results might be different than others.

How fast are you gaining, like 3-4lbs or so per month it looks like? Could be a bit fast depending on your stats and training experience.

Been at it for years, last year was my first year forgetting about the hype and getting down to the basics Eat, Rest and workout with dedication. The holidays were in there so it was not the cleanest bulk and I am sure that has a lot to do with it. My goal this year is to hit below 16% and possibly below 10% depends on how things go, looking to get shredded this year.

watts6151

Not to burst your bubble but if you’ve been at it for years I very much doubt you have
Gained 13lb of LMB and 13lb of fat

Do you have before and after pics

jefftownsend2

watts6151 wrote: »

Not to burst your bubble but if you’ve been at it for years I very much doubt you have
Gained 13lb of LMB and 13lb of fat

Do you have before and after pics

I really have no reason to lie or play games, " I am also a Natty", the Yunmai Color from 7/15/2019 says 194.8 at 16.4% and as of Sunday 219.4 at 20.6%. (also note I did lose a significant amount of muscle from Nov 2018 to Feb 2019, ended up down with Lyme's disease, not a fun experience) For years I was a power lifter, recently I am trying to strike off a bucket list by hitting my lowest body fat and trying to maintain muscle. Last year I hit 16%, first time sense I have been lifting, now this year I want to try to drop further down. I have a few pictures somewhere, but here is the one from my Garmin Connect page, this was in July I believe.

watts6151

Not accusing you of playing games
But in the 25 years I’ve been lifting I’ve never seen anyone at nearly 200lb gain nearly 1.5lb of LMB per month, for 8 months straight , that includes some enhanced guys

Do you have a current picture to compare to?

jefftownsend2

That would be great if it was 1.5 of muscle a month, *kitten* I would be happy *kitten* hell. But I do not think the scales are that accurate and maybe off or I was not getting on them enough for the auto calculations to work. I am back at the strength I was at before getting sick and being down for 4 months, which took from Feb 2019 to now. This time around if I start getting at a lower BF on the scale I have access to get a free visit to get measured on a Hydro-static underwater scale, looking forward to this I have never seen one in person.

SlayLikeAWarrior

If you are beginner 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of lean muscle mass is the maximum amount of muscle you can build each month without steroids. After some time as the muscle matures, it will slow down to about .2 to point something per month. Age and genetics also can be factored into the equation here.

quiksylver296

jefftownsend2 wrote: »

That would be great if it was 1.5 of muscle a month, *kitten* I would be happy *kitten* hell. But I do not think the scales are that accurate and maybe off or I was not getting on them enough for the auto calculations to work. I am back at the strength I was at before getting sick and being down for 4 months, which took from Feb 2019 to now. This time around if I start getting at a lower BF on the scale I have access to get a free visit to get measured on a Hydro-static underwater scale, looking forward to this I have never seen one in person.

Scales are never accurate for BF%. They are so inaccurate that Consumer Reports won't even report on them anymore.

watts6151

SlayLikeAWarrior wrote: »

If you are beginner 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of lean muscle mass is the maximum amount of muscle you can build each month without steroids. After some time as the muscle matures, it will slow down to about .2 to point something per month. Age and genetics also can be factored into the equation here.

If I’m correct it’s schoenfeld who states the
1.5 to 2.5 pounds per month, but it’s based on a 150lb complete noobie, the guy in the picture started at 194lb and is definitely not a noobie, I’d also question the measuring technique especially after last years paper on the inaccuracies of Dexa and how it probably shouldn’t be used in clinical trials

jefftownsend2

So what is the favorite tool to measure body fat, I have used the pinches years ago when in the military, but hated them. If the scales are not that accurate, would like to know everyone's thoughts on what to use, BF measurements is a must for me and helps a lot when dialing in diet.

GaryRuns

jefftownsend2 wrote: »

So what is the favorite tool to measure body fat, I have used the pinches years ago when in the military, but hated them. If the scales are not that accurate, would like to know everyone's thoughts on what to use, BF measurements is a must for me and helps a lot when dialing in diet.

DEXA is probably the most accurate method that's accessible and easy to do for most people, although generally not cheap. However, as @watts6151 points out, recently even DEXA has been shown, in comparisons with MRI, not to be as accurate as most people would like.

The other accurate alternative is hydrostatic weighing. It can be very accurate, but it's highly dependent on how good the person running the test is and how good you are at exhaling as much air as possible from your lungs while submerged, and holding it while they take the measurement. Also, obviously, it's more time consuming since it involves more prep and again, probably not that accessible since there are a limited number of places that perform the test. Your local university physiology lab is a good place to start if you choose this route.

Probably the best method, that's accessible and cheap, is to snap pics, front relaxed and flexed, back relaxed and flexed, and compare them to image charts like the one below and just eyeball it.

https://legionathletics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/blogpost_Males_Legion-2019-1000x1024.png

And while you can not rely on a scale, or any other bioelectrical impedance device, for an absolute value of body fat % they're not horrible at showing trends. In other words, if you use it very regularly and average out it's results, they can at least tell you that you are in fact losing, or gaining, body fat and how fast you're doing so.

watts6151

Personally I’ve never had my bf tested, not even in the military. I’ve always used the mirror and scale, and obviously these days selfies. I more concerned on how I look than an arbitrary number

In the uk the cost difference between dexa and MRI is only about £20, I may consider getting an MRI just before I complete just out of curiosity as to my stage bf%

mmapags

watts6151 wrote: »

Personally I’ve never had my bf tested, not even in the military. I’ve always used the mirror and scale, and obviously these days selfies. I more concerned on how I look than an arbitrary number

In the uk the cost difference between dexa and MRI is only about £20, I may consider getting an MRI just before I complete just out of curiosity as to my stage bf%

First, there is no 100% accurate way to determine exact body fat. 2nd, even if you knew that number, what would it change?

I completely agree with you. I go by how I look and, to a lesser degree, the scale. Even after losing almost 40 lbs and looking good clothed, I can still see the pockets of fat that I am not satisfied with. When I arrive at when I want to be, I'll know it by looking at myself.

watts6151

mmapags wrote: »

watts6151 wrote: »

Personally I’ve never had my bf tested, not even in the military. I’ve always used the mirror and scale, and obviously these days selfies. I more concerned on how I look than an arbitrary number

In the uk the cost difference between dexa and MRI is only about £20, I may consider getting an MRI just before I complete just out of curiosity as to my stage bf%

First, there is no 100% accurate way to determine exact body fat. 2nd, even if you knew that number, what would it change?

I completely agree with you. I go by how I look and, to a lesser degree, the scale. Even after losing almost 40 lbs and looking good clothed, I can still see the pockets of fat that I am not satisfied with. When I arrive at when I want to be, I'll know it by looking at myself.

MRI is supposed to be 99% accurate
Compared to autopsy

Agree that there’s real reason to know
I’m just curious at my body fat level at stage condition

fitnessguy266

For me, because I compete twice a year, gaining a "baseline" number of my bodyfat% is a necessity right along with visual progress. This will only be important to you, because there is a direct correlation with that number/s to stage appearance....and there is nothing wrong with that. I encourage you to measure this as you see fit, in accordance with your goals..... others will not understand that OP.