When Bulking - Is It Muscle Or Just Fat?

tiddlebit11

I know people generally recommend a calorie surplus when trying to build muscle, but how do you know if you are in fact building muscle and not just gaining more fat?
If measurements increase could it not just be increase in fat and not a gain in muscle?

Also, i assume a woman's surplus would be less than a males, but how much is generally recommended?

tiddlebit11

bump

tiddlebit11

NObody?

patrickwx

If you are adding muscle, you should notice an increase in strength, as well as visual differences. If you are consistently strength training and adding weight + a caloric surplus, then its difficult to not gain muscle.

89nunu

There is a wonderful group on here called women who bulk have a look!
Also I'm on a bulk and eat 200 to 300 extra cals. Anything between 100 and 500 is alright depending on the rate you want to gain. Of course you will gain fat as well, but by having a good lifting routine and not going completely crazy on the calories you can try to minimize the fat gain

ETA: of course people also do bulks on much more than 500 cals extra... nothing wrong with that if you don't mind the extra fat

TavistockToad

If you are adding muscle, you should notice an increase in strength, as well as visual differences. If you are consistently strength training and adding weight + a caloric surplus, then its difficult to not gain muscle.

pretty much this... there will be some fat and some muscle.

a surplus of TDEE + 10-15% should do it.

jdad1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDnhdxErPEo



Bulking does not mean eating like a fat person and shoving whatever into your mouth.

Chadomaniac

Its both if you in a calorie surplus . Its pretty much impossible to bulk staying the same BF%

mumof5

if your wanting to gain muscle you must eat at a surplus. when bulking i eat 3500+ cals a day and when cutting i eat around 2000. i get good results. how much fat you gain will depend on a lot of things. your focus should be on lifting heavy often. very little cardio. and eat clean. 3500 cals does not have to be made up of rubbish. you will get a lot more out of your workouts if you eat good fuel. then when you cut the fat you gained will melt away and the muscle will shine! these are my numbers and it has taken me some time to find what works for me. you have to tweak your numbers, your macros, your workouts to find the right combination for you. good luck

tiddlebit11

Does the fat get lost later on, once youve gained muscle? Or is it there to stay?

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

mumof5

you gain fat while building muscle and eating more cals then you burn.
you lose the fat while maintaining muscle and eating slightly less then your tdee.
you dont look over weight. you look great. in saying that by gaining weight you can reduce your % of fat. what exercise do you do now? what do you eat now?

TavistockToad

Does the fat get lost later on, once youve gained muscle? Or is it there to stay?

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

if you want to lose the fat afterwards you can, if not, you dont have to.

Boogage

If you eat around 250 cals above maintenance then you should gain something like 1/2 a lb a week (so I'm told, not quite managed to reach this point yet). Yes you will gain some fat during your bulk but because you will have built muscle, and more muscle burns more fat, it shouldn't be too hard to get rid of the fat when you start eating at a deficit again and you'll be able to see your nice new muscles.

AglaeaC

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

Do you believe this to be a good question to ask? Are you fishing for compliments? Because if you look at the photo you posted for your avatar or just glance in the mirror, you must see something pretty obvious about your body fat percentage.

tiddlebit11

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

minuz5

you gain fat while building muscle and eating more cals then you burn.
you lose the fat while maintaining muscle and eating slightly less then your tdee.
you dont look over weight. you look great. in saying that by gaining weight you can reduce your % of fat. what exercise do you do now? what do you eat now?

Want to emphasize your words "eating slightly less then your tdee". From you previous post I see a massive cut. Going from 3500 on bulk and 2000 on cut? Well fair enough, if you want to gain weight fast with more than 500 cal surplus, otherwise I'd say your cutting is quite drastic.

minuz5

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

tiddlebit11

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

Do you believe this to be a good question to ask? Are you fishing for compliments? Because if you look at the photo you posted for your avatar or just glance in the mirror, you must see something pretty obvious about your body fat percentage.

Sorry i didnt mean it badly, i have just been researching and all the 'pro' looking people keep talking about you being an 'optimal candidate' for bulking/cutting so i thought that maybe somebody might have seen my pic and thought that i was clearly not in a position where i should be trying to bulk/cut etc and thus i would get to the position first before trying anything further

Chadomaniac

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

Why do you say that ?

She can bulk how she wants aslong as she gets in adequate protein and fat .

minuz5

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

Why do you say that ?

She can bulk how she wants aslong as she gets in adequate protein and fat .

Cuz I have freedom of speech?

AglaeaC

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

Do you believe this to be a good question to ask? Are you fishing for compliments? Because if you look at the photo you posted for your avatar or just glance in the mirror, you must see something pretty obvious about your body fat percentage.

Sorry i didnt mean it badly, i have just been researching and all the 'pro' looking people keep talking about you being an 'optimal candidate' for bulking/cutting so i thought that maybe somebody might have seen my pic and thought that i was clearly not in a position where i should be trying to bulk/cut etc and thus i would get to the position first before trying anything further

All right

"Optimal": some people's muscle tissues are better suited for sprints, whereas others have muscle fibres more optimal for marathon. If you enjoy one, but have "optimal" tissues for the other, would it stop you from doing what you love? Take everything you read online with a grain of salt - or several of them - and do what makes your body feel healthy and strong.

Chadomaniac

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

Why do you say that ?

She can bulk how she wants aslong as she gets in adequate protein and fat .

Cuz I have freedom of speech?

Sure

But its incorrect

TavistockToad

I dont think my body fat % is overly high at the moment anyway (or what do you guys think judging from my profile pic? )

Do you believe this to be a good question to ask? Are you fishing for compliments? Because if you look at the photo you posted for your avatar or just glance in the mirror, you must see something pretty obvious about your body fat percentage.

Sorry i didnt mean it badly, i have just been researching and all the 'pro' looking people keep talking about you being an 'optimal candidate' for bulking/cutting so i thought that maybe somebody might have seen my pic and thought that i was clearly not in a position where i should be trying to bulk/cut etc and thus i would get to the position first before trying anything further

If you wanna do a bulk, do a bulk!

minuz5

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

Why do you say that ?

She can bulk how she wants aslong as she gets in adequate protein and fat .

Cuz I have freedom of speech?

Sure

But its incorrect

Elaborate. 50:30:20 is good for bulking, I am doing that myself. Also, it was my suggestion to the OP, not something I insisted her on doing. So there is no right or wrong here. :P

GuybrushThreepw00d

a good bulk shouldn't be defined by how much weight you gain... but how much weight you add to your lifts.

mumof5

you gain fat while building muscle and eating more cals then you burn.
you lose the fat while maintaining muscle and eating slightly less then your tdee.
you dont look over weight. you look great. in saying that by gaining weight you can reduce your % of fat. what exercise do you do now? what do you eat now?

Want to emphasize your words "eating slightly less then your tdee". From you previous post I see a massive cut. Going from 3500 on bulk and 2000 on cut? Well fair enough, if you want to gain weight fast with more than 500 cal surplus, otherwise I'd say your cutting is quite drastic.

you've got a good eye! during my last bulk i was also training for a tough mudder, i was doing more cardio then is necessary in a bulk - so i ate more! my tdee is around 2300 at the moment. if i do go for a run or do extra cardio i will eat more. 3500 is waaaay over my tdee. this was extreme eating to cope with extreme training.

EvgeniZyntx

At the moment, and ive only recently started, i do strength training 3 times a week - i do a mixture of squats, bench press, pull ups, chin ups, bicep curls, and core exercises (as well as a few others) and some cardio workouts (cycling, cross trainer) on non-strength days

My current macros are about 30:30:40 (carb:protein:fat)
And i dont eat at a surplus, still trying to work all that stuff out

I would change your macros to 50:30:20 for bulking.

Why do you say that ?

She can bulk how she wants aslong as she gets in adequate protein and fat .

Cuz I have freedom of speech?

Sure

But its incorrect

Elaborate. 50:30:20 is good for bulking, I am doing that myself. Also, it was my suggestion to the OP, not something I insisted her on doing. So there is no right or wrong here. :P

But not necessary.

Back to the OP question. Yes you will gain fat during a bulk. If you do it slowly and train hard the gain will be more muscle. If you then cut (again slowly) the loss will be more fat. This is how a bulk/cut cycle increases muscle. Key points are gaining slowly and losing slowly. Roughly, Gain faster than the rate of about 1 pound a week and the extra is mostly fat considering a) female b) new gains.

neandermagnon

you need to look in the mirror as muscle and fat don't look the same. Also pay attention to where you're gaining fat. Muscle is denser than fat, so adding a couple of pounds of muscle probably won't give you many additional inches. Ten lbs of muscle would. But the inches will be in places where your muscles are big, e.g. biceps, shoulders, lower thighs/quads (i.e. towards the knees), glues muscle, i.e. firm flesh on the butt (flabby = fat) while fat gain (in women) will tend to be on the hips (saddlebag fat) or stomach and in the boobs.

also muscle when tensed doesn't jiggle. If you tense your muscles and your flesh still jiggles, then what jiggles is fat. And you can pinch fat, but you can't pinch tensed muscles.

and I agree with the above statement about defining it by how much weight you add to your lifts.

EvgeniZyntx

you gain fat while building muscle and eating more cals then you burn.
you lose the fat while maintaining muscle and eating slightly less then your tdee.
you dont look over weight. you look great. in saying that by gaining weight you can reduce your % of fat. what exercise do you do now? what do you eat now?

Want to emphasize your words "eating slightly less then your tdee". From you previous post I see a massive cut. Going from 3500 on bulk and 2000 on cut? Well fair enough, if you want to gain weight fast with more than 500 cal surplus, otherwise I'd say your cutting is quite drastic.

you've got a good eye! during my last bulk i was also training for a tough mudder, i was doing more cardio then is necessary in a bulk - so i ate more! my tdee is around 2300 at the moment. if i do go for a run or do extra cardio i will eat more. 3500 is waaaay over my tdee. this was extreme eating to cope with extreme training.

I understand what you are saying but just to be pedantic for a second your TDEE includes training needs. If you are training and not gaining at 3500 that's your TDEE. True TDEE varies based on activity. /end pedant

EvgeniZyntx

you need to look in the mirror as muscle and fat don't look the same. Also pay attention to where you're gaining fat. Muscle is denser than fat, so adding a couple of pounds of muscle probably won't give you many additional inches. Ten lbs of muscle would. But the inches will be in places where your muscles are big, e.g. biceps, shoulders, lower thighs/quads (i.e. towards the knees), glues muscle, i.e. firm flesh on the butt (flabby = fat) while fat gain (in women) will tend to be on the hips (saddlebag fat) or stomach and in the boobs.

also muscle when tensed doesn't jiggle. If you tense your muscles and your flesh still jiggles, then what jiggles is fat. And you can pinch fat, but you can't pinch tensed muscles.

and I agree with the above statement about defining it by how much weight you add to your lifts.

While it seems like a reasonable surrogate measurement why not do one of the various bf% measurements also? They aren't especially accurate but they translate better.

tiddlebit11

Is it true that women are only capable of gaining about 100g (0.25 pounds) of muscle per week?