Bulking. ADVICE WANTED

waxon81

Ok, so I weighed myself today. Have been trying my first ever 'intentional' bulk, and have been aiming to gain 1lb a week as that is what I have heard is the 'perfect' amount to gain whilst maximising muscle growth and minimising fat gain. Stupidly I only weighed myself for the first couple of weeks and as I had gained 1lb I didnt weigh again till 6weeks later (today). Well, in 8 weeks I have put on just shy of 3.5lbs, which is 0.425lbs a week average.

Now..... My question is this. Should I up my intake so I AM gaining 1lb a week.

Am I missing out on some muscle here which I could be gaining with an extra 1/2 lb a week, or am I gaining regardless, and just minimising fat further. I AM only currently focusing on maximum muscle gain, the fat will go on my cut so I dont see it as too much of an issue.

Im on a 40-40-20 macro split

My daily calories are currently 3450 per day

My protein intake is 1.5g per lb bodyweight
Fats are in the 90's (which I understand is good for testosterone production)
Carbs are at the high end of 300

So, what to do? Up my intake, or stay where im at......

Sidesteal

Now..... My question is this. Should I up my intake so I AM gaining 1lb a week.

I wouldn't increase more than 100 cals or so. In my personal opinion, 1lb/week is the maximum end of things. .5 to 1 should be a reasonable target to land in. You could slightly increase cals but nothing drastic as you're just about in the sweet spot.

dane11235813

honestly the only way to find out is thru trial and error. everyone's body is different.
personally i don't think adding 100 calories a day is going to make much of a difference. maybe try adding an extra protein shake a day. that's around 300 calories and will give you more protein. plus a shake doesn't take a lot of time to prepare or eat.

nikolaim5

100 cals is nothing. It's also probably less than a typical day's margin of error for calorie tracking anyways. Best to make larger adjustments and then adjust from there as needed. After entering all my info and goals in MFP and trying to gain 0.5 pounds a week I've ended up losing 1lb pound this week and I haven't even worked out once So... I'm going to increase 250 cals a day.

waxon81

According to mfp I should be gaining 2lbs a week. So there seems to be quite a margin of error considering ive only gained barely 0.5

jrangel5425

Everyone's different, brother. You read FLEX or M&F and they'll tell you that you can gain a million pounds in three months of lean muscle. What they don't tell you is that, for massive gains like that, you have to be doing what the pros do...which is illegal, and not an option for me.

I shoot for a half pound a week. You CAN gain as much as you want per week, but the question is, what is it that you're gaining? Are you putting on lean muscle, or are you just bloating with water and fat?

Your percentages look good, but trial and error is the only wat to do it....for instance, I am REALLY carb sensitive...I can't do 2.5 grams of carbs unless I want to look like a sumo wrestler. All the macro ratios are suggestions...you have to try them out for yourself.

For me, during bulk, its all about protien and fats. Red meats post workout, fish, eggs and a slight bump in carbs. Heavy basics in the gym (Squats, Bench, Deads, military press, etc) and I cut my cardio back a little.

I only bulk for two or three months, and then start back toward cutting again.

One last piece of advice: DO NOT DIRTY BULK. Some bodybuilders just forcefeed themselves with crap, and cut all cardio. You will get strong, but it's going to be that much harder to cut later.

Happy lifting,
Joe

waxon81

Thanks mate. Good advice