considering a bulk

margannmks

Im wanting to increase muscle. The only fat left to lose is inner thigh and back of arms and it isnt enough to bother me weight wise. Im wanting to build some glute and back mass and maintain the muscle i have every where else. I know you cant spot reduce but can i spot build? How much over maintenance should i aim for. Im currently at 1400 +or - 100 calories including my exercise. Im not doing much cardio maybe 3× aweek 30 min and a 10-15 min warmup before strength training 6 days. Im doing lower body mon,wed,fri and upper body tues thurs sat. My weight fluctuates between 125-128 im 5'2" and almost 54 yrs,female. Im trying to get 100 grms of protein its hard but i know im gonna have to. Im thinking since i basically do the cardio so i can eat more just stop it completely and continue to eat like i am,( except meeting that protein #) or keep doing the cardio and increase calories by how much. I gain weight very easily and i know im gonna gain more fat,hopefully where i want it, but dont want to get fat if you know what i mean. Suggestions please

dmenchac

I would set yoru goal at gaining 1 lb a week. Meaning you would need to eat 500 calories over your TDEE daily. Also you can drop the cardio unless you are really into it. Just straight weight train. I am not sure if spot muscling is possible, I will lead that up to someone else to answer.

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dmenchac

I would set yoru goal at gaining 1 lb a week. Meaning you would need to eat 500 calories over your TDEE daily. Also you can drop the cardio unless you are really into it. Just straight weight train. I am not sure if spot muscling is possible, I will lead that up to someone else to answer.

1 lb per week is to much. Even for a young male. For a female she would be incredibly lucky to gain even 2 lbs per month. For the OP who is a 54 year old female her goal should be no where near 1 lb per week.

.5 per week max.

You are correct, I missed the female part. My appologies. However I do disagree that 1 lb a week is too much for a male.

margannmks

Yikes a pound aweek is scary, it took me two years to lose 25 lbs, but it was also kind of a recomp. A pound a month would be ok cause i know ive gotta gain. So i could do what i was thinking either just stop the cardio but continue eating those calories which are about the 250 you recommended or keep up the cardio and increase another 250. I know the higher caloric intake is needed on lifting days so ill try just adding to those days at first and keep my cardio days the same or just stop them. Thanks

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LolBroScience

I would set yoru goal at gaining 1 lb a week. Meaning you would need to eat 500 calories over your TDEE daily. Also you can drop the cardio unless you are really into it. Just straight weight train. I am not sure if spot muscling is possible, I will lead that up to someone else to answer.

1 lb per week is to much. Even for a young male. For a female she would be incredibly lucky to gain even 2 lbs per month. For the OP who is a 54 year old female her goal should be no where near 1 lb per week.

.5 per week max.

You are correct, I missed the female part. My appologies. However I do disagree that 1 lb a week is too much for a male.

For a male to gain 1 lb a week that would be muscle along with more fat than necessary. If you were to assume the entire lb is muscle that would make it 4 lbs per month and basically pushing the genetic threshold of even the genetically superior. Someone who is absolutely new to lifting might be able to push it that far for a slight period of time but that's really not likely either.

After the first couple of years the rate of gains will fall off even further than the 2 or maybe even 3 lbs per month.

MPS will occur at the rate it will based on training and nutrition. There is only so much we can do without resorting to illegal tactics which is always a terrible idea. If you have anything you'd like me to read to contradict what my stance on this is i would gladly read it

Agree with .5 lbs/week if your're wanting to keep the gains as lean as possible.

Springfield1970

Eat 1700 cals a week extra which equates to 250 per day.

Follow Bret Contraras Strong Curves Glute program.

I believe you can spot build. I've done it. Lifting my butt is like raising the titanic but it's working.

I'm doing this without the bulk, at maintenance, but I've bulked before and it has taken my body fat right down, and given me a great look.

margannmks

Eat 1700 cals a week extra which equates to 250 per day.

Follow Bret Contraras Strong Curves Glute program.

I believe you can spot build. I've done it. Lifting my butt is like raising the titanic but it's working.

I'm doing this without the bulk, at maintenance, but I've bulked before and it has taken my body fat right down, and given me a great look.

Thank you for replying ive seen your posts before and your shape is my goal . Im doing maintenance now i guess cause i lose and gain the same 3 lbs every month. I try to blame it on menopause but i think i just get laxed sometimes on the weekends and 100-200 extra calories is a huge difference for me. Im really liking the way my legs are starting to look and the glutes are getting a little lift. I may be wrong in my thinking but im hoping more muscle will fill in the places the fat has lift. Its kinda like lose skin but more saggy like (i call it old lady skin). But im worried about the fat gain,im finally getting rid of some of the cellulite and i dont want it back. Boobs would be nice.lol Im thinking now that im gonna keep doing what i am now till sept so when i gain some weight it wont show and i can wear the jeans from last year that are too big now.Ive seen some amazing muscular bodies on women my age and older, so i know it can happen.

Springfield1970

Eat 1700 cals a week extra which equates to 250 per day.

Follow Bret Contraras Strong Curves Glute program.

I believe you can spot build. I've done it. Lifting my butt is like raising the titanic but it's working.

I'm doing this without the bulk, at maintenance, but I've bulked before and it has taken my body fat right down, and given me a great look.

Thank you for replying ive seen your posts before and your shape is my goal . Im doing maintenance now i guess cause i lose and gain the same 3 lbs every month. I try to blame it on menopause but i think i just get laxed sometimes on the weekends and 100-200 extra calories is a huge difference for me. Im really liking the way my legs are starting to look and the glutes are getting a little lift. I may be wrong in my thinking but im hoping more muscle will fill in the places the fat has lift. Its kinda like lose skin but more saggy like (i call it old lady skin). But im worried about the fat gain,im finally getting rid of some of the cellulite and i dont want it back. Boobs would be nice.lol Im thinking now that im gonna keep doing what i am now till sept so when i gain some weight it wont show and i can wear the jeans from last year that are too big now.Ive seen some amazing muscular bodies on women my age and older, so i know it can happen.

Sounds like a great plan! I refuse to grow old gracefully! Thank you for the compliment. I got pretty slim before my bulk, bmi 19 and about 15% ? Body fat 123lb.

I knew I was going to balloon on my bulk and I believe the leaner,stronger and fitter you are to begin with the more muscle to fat ratio. Plus it takes a while to master all the compound heavy lifting moves.

Funny thing was, I piled on 8lbs and really liked how my body was at the top of my bulk. It was still low fat but very perky compared to my slim flabby days. I would have stayed there, but the extra weight slowed my running times so I cut a bit more fat.

Waldo has some good stuff to say about bulking and loose skin on his strengthunbound website. I recommend a visit!

margannmks

Ill check that out. I forgot to mention i do have brets book and nrowl supercharged. Im incorporating some of brets exercises in what im doing but not following his plan. Ive never been skinny fat cause ive never been skinny. Ive always done exercise especially weights when ive lost weight in the past so ive been able to tone build whatever you call it pretty quickly thats why i love weights cause i see progress. An older gentleman that helped me with the weights on the squat rack my first time 3 weeks ago mentioned last night( after my sets were done)that ive already gotten stronger.Now ive just got to go from the dumbell overheads and bench to the barbells and figure out where to do weighted hip thrust.I go to a ymca and its really busy in the beginning of week. Forgot to ask how tall are you?

Springfield1970

Ill check that out. I forgot to mention i do have brets book and nrowl supercharged. Im incorporating some of brets exercises in what im doing but not following his plan. Ive never been skinny fat cause ive never been skinny. Ive always done exercise especially weights when ive lost weight in the past so ive been able to tone build whatever you call it pretty quickly thats why i love weights cause i see progress. An older gentleman that helped me with the weights on the squat rack my first time 3 weeks ago mentioned last night( after my sets were done)that ive already gotten stronger.Now ive just got to go from the dumbell overheads and bench to the barbells and figure out where to do weighted hip thrust.I go to a ymca and its really busy in the beginning of week. Forgot to ask how tall are you?

Hi I'm 5'7"

I've had difficulties finding the right equipment to do the hip thrusts and glute bridges.

At my gym it's either a massive 20k Olympic bar, 2 z bars (ow, ow) or a rubber covered bar that fits small weights, but I can't get my legs under because they are not as high up as normal weights. Bloody annoying. I have to create a stack of things to rest the bar on and quite often get my legs and groin squashed, but I'm up to about 40k so far. I squat 55k and I'm not feeling the DOMS any more in my glutes, so I'm going to have to find a solution! I've asked if I can leave my own bar at the gym but it's not happening....

When I looked online at Bret doing his demo, he wasn't using a bench (they are always in use at my gym) he was using a stack of step up thingys, which is great news, no more waiting for a bench. The things I'll do for my butt! I've started noticing my running feels more glute driven now too, which is wonderful!