Need Advice on Shifting from Weight Loss to Muscle Gain

LadyIntrepid

I'm a hair away from goal weight and body fat and now I'd like to start building muscle. I understand that I need to increase calories and add protein -- 1 - 1.2 grams per pound of body weight, yes)? According to this calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/, there are two different caloric intake recommendations for maintaining weight and for entering the goal of gaining muscle. I've also heard about cutting and bulking, but I'm not really too sure exactly how that all works.

My questions are:
- How do I change my workouts, if at all? I'm currently doing three 3 one-hour full-body strength/circuit training/week, 1 1/2-hour focused core training/week, 4-6 hours high intensity and/or interval cardio/week.
- I've heard that you gain weight from the extra calories, build muscle, then you work to lose the excess again. How do you change your workouts, if at all, during the different phases? How do you change your caloric intakes? How long/how much weight do you allow yourself to gain before cutting back to lose it? How do you know when to shift from one phase to the next and back again? Or do you have to?

I should mention that I'm soon going to be 50, I'm 5'6", 126 pounds, 22% body fat, so my sedentary TDEE is pretty low (a measly 1525 or so depending on the calculator).

I very much appreciate whatever advice/guidance you can provide. And please, folks -- kindly refrain from any snarkiness in response to me or between each other. I'm sorry to say I see way too much of that on this site.

LadyIntrepid

Bump

aproc

When I started my bulk, I cut back on cardio to about 2 thirty minute sessions a week and of course increased my calories. My routine did not change much. I stuck with a 5-6 day split and am focusing on 8-10 rep ranges and making sure I'm making progress often with either weight or the reps I can do with a weight. I typically make sure my surplus is between 250-500. As far as how much weight, it's just up to you and how you feel things are going. My goal has been to gain 10 pounds and then cut. Now that I've finally had my bodyfat % taken, I might just decide 3 months from now when I test it again as to whether I should keep bulking or cut. You just have to play around with things before you find what works for you. I alternated between different routines and calorie ranges to find what works for me. I'm still playing with it but am starting to see the scale go up a bit.

LadyIntrepid

When I started my bulk, I cut back on cardio to about 2 thirty minute sessions a week and of course increased my calories. My routine did not change much. I stuck with a 5-6 day split and am focusing on 8-10 rep ranges and making sure I'm making progress often with either weight or the reps I can do with a weight. I typically make sure my surplus is between 250-500. As far as how much weight, it's just up to you and how you feel things are going. My goal has been to gain 10 pounds and then cut. Now that I've finally had my bodyfat % taken, I might just decide 3 months from now when I test it again as to whether I should keep bulking or cut. You just have to play around with things before you find what works for you. I alternated between different routines and calorie ranges to find what works for me. I'm still playing with it but am starting to see the scale go up a bit.

Thank you so much, aproc! Appreciate your sharing. Interesting how little cardio you're doing -- I'll have to wean myself off. I love the endorphin rush!

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LadyIntrepid

It's simple in theory: go from a daily/weekly calorie deficit to a daily/weekly calorie surplus and keep working out hard. It's not so simple in practice.

Watch your BF% very closely. When we cut we lose fat and some muscle. When we bulk we gain fat and some muscle. You will find yourself zig-zagging a lot from bulking to cutting back to bulking. It's a normal part of the learning process. It's tricky.

It does seem tricky! Are you saying that if the body fat starts going up, that's when it's time to stop bulking and go back to the cutting? Appreciate the supportive response!

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JNick77

My best advice would be to Google "Massive Eating" by Dr. John Berardi. It will walk you through everything you really need to do. You probably don't need to change your lifting much if at all.

ocukor1

You can bulk while lowering your body fat, but it is very tricky and you need to be very strict on what to eat. Scooby's website is one of the best I've found on the Internet, you will find everything you need to know right there. I just recently lost a lot of weight, and because I started doing it in a wrong way, a lot of muscle too. Since then I tried to clean up my diet and I started bulking, but my metabolism turned into a black hole, I just can't eat enough and I only lift 3-4 times a week for up to an hour, I don't even do much cardio. Be careful with that, as training more than that will just bump up your energy requirement. The trick is in finding the right balance, cycling the calories, exercise etc...I hope it helps, we're in the same boat sort of

LadyIntrepid

I will definitely check out "Massive Eating". I like the idea! Thanks for the tip. And I will also look further into the Scooby site. Haven't poked around there much other than using the calculators. Appreciate the support!