Bulking and BF %

minuz5

I used the 7 point and 9 point caliper methods. I was able to get right at 6-8mm folds on all pinch sites. That equates to around 6 - 8%BF .....most of my pinch sites were 6mm, that comes in around 6-6.3%BF.

Normally I was in the 8-10mm range, which put me @ 8-9.5%BF ......

I was checked frequently back then, as I was in the US Military, and was listed as Obese by the POS BMI system.

According to my stats if my skin fold is 10mm it's equal to 6% bf. So it's quite different from yours. I take in consideration my height, age and weight.

Warchortle

Why is there no time involve in this? You can only build muscle so fast. How long have you been bulking? What is your lifting experience? You don't need a huge surplus if you haven't been lifting over 2 years. Milk noob gains.

jjrichard83

You don't need that much protein at all... No where close to it.

Check out Lean Gains for the slow bulk & Brad Pilon for how much protein (Brad has the research and science to back it up).

Those two sites will have all your answers. I do think that Martin's protein amounts are high- even the NSCA agrees that athletes need between .6 & .8 grams per LEAN lb. of bodyweight to grow muscle....

Think about how much protein is in a lb. of meat... 60-80 grams maybe... We don't need 453 grams of protein for every Lb.

At your low body fat, you really should be doing the lean gains approach.

drefaw

I used the 7 point and 9 point caliper methods. I was able to get right at 6-8mm folds on all pinch sites. That equates to around 6 - 8%BF .....most of my pinch sites were 6mm, that comes in around 6-6.3%BF.

Normally I was in the 8-10mm range, which put me @ 8-9.5%BF ......

I was checked frequently back then, as I was in the US Military, and was listed as Obese by the POS BMI system.

According to my stats if my skin fold is 10mm it's equal to 6% bf. So it's quite different from yours. I take in consideration my height, age and weight.

I understand how to measure BF%... been doing it for over 30yrs .... And I know for sure, that a digital scale (bioimpedance) will not be very accurate,and generally nor will 1 or 2 pinch sites done yourself. You are the one that seems worried about your BF%, so I figured with a little info, maybe you would get it checked correctly, so as you could know exactly what it is. A 7 or 9 point caliper check is more accurate than what you are currently relying on. Get a dexa scan or go get floated, those would be even better. And like others have said, figure out your true tdee, and go about 250-350 cals over that, and bulk slow but steady. The fat gain will be minimal then .....and the cut much easier ....And "MOST" guys I know, do good using around 1.25g of protein per lb of LEAN body mass .....and .35g of fat per lb of LBM, then the rest to mostly complex carbs ......but everyone IS different, as you have already pointed out ... Good Luck .....

minuz5

I used the 7 point and 9 point caliper methods. I was able to get right at 6-8mm folds on all pinch sites. That equates to around 6 - 8%BF .....most of my pinch sites were 6mm, that comes in around 6-6.3%BF.

Normally I was in the 8-10mm range, which put me @ 8-9.5%BF ......

I was checked frequently back then, as I was in the US Military, and was listed as Obese by the POS BMI system.

According to my stats if my skin fold is 10mm it's equal to 6% bf. So it's quite different from yours. I take in consideration my height, age and weight.

I understand how to measure BF%... been doing it for over 30yrs .... And I know for sure, that a digital scale (bioimpedance) will not be very accurate,and generally nor will 1 or 2 pinch sites done yourself. You are the one that seems worried about your BF%, so I figured with a little info, maybe you would get it checked correctly, so as you could know exactly what it is. A 7 or 9 point caliper check is more accurate than what you are currently relying on. Get a dexa scan or go get floated, those would be even better. And like others have said, figure out your true tdee, and go about 250-350 cals over that, and bulk slow but steady. The fat gain will be minimal then .....and the cut much easier ....And "MOST" guys I know, do good using around 1.25g of protein per lb of LEAN body mass .....and .35g of fat per lb of LBM, then the rest to mostly complex carbs ......but everyone IS different, as you have already pointed out ... Good Luck .....

I am not going to argue on bf measurements with you drefaw. I believe you achieved a good condition with your stats and I hope you keep it that way anyway, so far I am doing just fine. My TDEE is 3000 and I am consuming 3500 cals a day. I see increase in weight, and according to my scales very little increase in bf(not really paying much attention to it). Still not doing much cardio, and therefore minimising the rest times to keep heart rate high...

Trainercobb

I'm new here, I just ran across your post. Your metabolism is obviously high and you are a hard gainer. Upping the protein is actually not a good idea. If you are at 3000cals per day you want to get 1-1.5g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight, less than 20% of daily calories from fat so about 66g and the rest from Carbs. That's right, you need carbs to build muscle. If you take in too much protein as I suspect you are, you will pass the excess or worse yet, convert it to fat and store it. You will gain some fat as you build muscle, as long as you keep to complex carbs and evenly space your meals you should be fine.

As for weight training,you need to lift as heavy as you can in good form 3-5 sets. If you don't need a spot, you are not lifting heavy enough. Muscle responds to the amount of stress placed on it. You cannot expect the muscle to grow by simply adding calories and not changing how you work out.

Oh and forget about cardio, it will burn calories but it will also prevent you from recovering from weight training.

minuz5

I'm new here, I just ran across your post. Your metabolism is obviously high and you are a hard gainer. Upping the protein is actually not a good idea. If you are at 3000cals per day you want to get 1-1.5g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight, less than 20% of daily calories from fat so about 66g and the rest from Carbs. That's right, you need carbs to build muscle. If you take in too much protein as I suspect you are, you will pass the excess or worse yet, convert it to fat and store it. You will gain some fat as you build muscle, as long as you keep to complex carbs and evenly space your meals you should be fine.

As for weight training,you need to lift as heavy as you can in good form 3-5 sets. If you don't need a spot, you are not lifting heavy enough. Muscle responds to the amount of stress placed on it. You cannot expect the muscle to grow by simply adding calories and not changing how you work out.

Oh and forget about cardio, it will burn calories but it will also prevent you from recovering from weight training.

Well, would you suggest me changing my macros which right now are 50% carbs 30 prot and 20 fats? So far it helped me to put on couple kg with little fat.

grantdumas7

I'm new here, I just ran across your post. Your metabolism is obviously high and you are a hard gainer. Upping the protein is actually not a good idea. If you are at 3000cals per day you want to get 1-1.5g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight, less than 20% of daily calories from fat so about 66g and the rest from Carbs. That's right, you need carbs to build muscle. If you take in too much protein as I suspect you are, you will pass the excess or worse yet, convert it to fat and store it. You will gain some fat as you build muscle, as long as you keep to complex carbs and evenly space your meals you should be fine.

As for weight training,you need to lift as heavy as you can in good form 3-5 sets. If you don't need a spot, you are not lifting heavy enough. Muscle responds to the amount of stress placed on it. You cannot expect the muscle to grow by simply adding calories and not changing how you work out.

Oh and forget about cardio, it will burn calories but it will also prevent you from recovering from weight training.

Wouldn't be too much excess calories in general that cause fat gains? Wouldn't excess protein just be broken down into "expensive" glycogen?

hdarden87

hey man I agree completely... stay lean and gain by doing protein and low carbs. Im an exercise science major, so I know the drill. you ever hear about getting caught with your pants down...well you never know when ull be caught with ur shirt off. keep that **** tight.