Need Bulking Advice
cedarghost
Posts: 621 Member
I have been averaging around 2300 to 2400 a day for the last 48 days. That is slightly below my TDEE. I have been doing 5x5's 3 days a week and have made great strength gains. I have gained 2.2 pounds in those 48 days and my bodyfat % has stayed the same.
Can someone give me some insight into this? I know pretty much everyone says you can't gain muscle on a deficit and I know if you are on a deficit you lose weight. Period.
My TDEE (figured through tracking my calories and weight loss/gain has been around was around 2700 a month ago).
So I am thinking my TDEE is actually now 2400'ish (have been on a deficit for a good while before upping to bulk). Does this sound feasible?
My initial goal was to eat slightly below TDEE and lift heavy in order to gain muscle while losing fat. I haven't lifted in years and figured I would (hopefully) be able to take advantage of some newbie gains, as I know you typically either bulk or cut. After reading Lyle McDonald's take on the subject, I decided to give it a whirl.
Just looking for opinions/confirmations and advice on where to go from here. I planned on bulking for 8 weeks, then cutting for 8 weeks starting at the first of the year. I am considering eating at maintenance for a couple of weeks before I start cutting in case my TDEE has dropped.
*EDIT* In hindsight, inaccurate tracking could cause this too, when eating close to TDEE I guess. I eat a lot of venison and such, so my estimates could be way off there. Also a lot of times, I will see a great variance in the calories of an item, and when I do, I tend to pick something towards the middle of the road as far as calories go.
Can someone give me some insight into this? I know pretty much everyone says you can't gain muscle on a deficit and I know if you are on a deficit you lose weight. Period.
My TDEE (figured through tracking my calories and weight loss/gain has been around was around 2700 a month ago).
So I am thinking my TDEE is actually now 2400'ish (have been on a deficit for a good while before upping to bulk). Does this sound feasible?
My initial goal was to eat slightly below TDEE and lift heavy in order to gain muscle while losing fat. I haven't lifted in years and figured I would (hopefully) be able to take advantage of some newbie gains, as I know you typically either bulk or cut. After reading Lyle McDonald's take on the subject, I decided to give it a whirl.
Just looking for opinions/confirmations and advice on where to go from here. I planned on bulking for 8 weeks, then cutting for 8 weeks starting at the first of the year. I am considering eating at maintenance for a couple of weeks before I start cutting in case my TDEE has dropped.
*EDIT* In hindsight, inaccurate tracking could cause this too, when eating close to TDEE I guess. I eat a lot of venison and such, so my estimates could be way off there. Also a lot of times, I will see a great variance in the calories of an item, and when I do, I tend to pick something towards the middle of the road as far as calories go.
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*EDIT* In hindsight, inaccurate tracking could cause this too, when eating close to TDEE I guess. I eat a lot of venison and such, so my estimates could be way off there. Also a lot of times, I will see a great variance in the calories of an item, and when I do, I tend to pick something towards the middle of the road as far as calories go.
I think this is likely to be a significant factor.0 -
Fluid retention from lifting can come into play, too.
I "gained" a couple pounds while doing 5x5 and eating at maintenance, then it started to taper off, and while taking a break from lifting this week, I dropped another pound. I'm now the same weight I was when I started in September. Just with slightly lower body fat and a lot more strength.
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What is your current bf%? Newbie gains depend on that.... And how are you measuring bf%? Accuracy and precision are all over te place.0
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I use calipers and I use the US Army method. Always measure once a week, first thing in the morning. Current % is right at 20%. That's the average of the two methods. I'm ex-military, so I know I am doing the Army measurements correctly.What is your current bf%? Newbie gains depend on that.... And how are you measuring bf%? Accuracy and precision are all over te place.0 -
Yeah. I have to agree with you here. When eating this close to TDEE, there is very little room for play. Factor in things like venison stew, or venison chili, etc. and it is hard to figure exactly how many calories, etc are in it. I look at it like this....I'd rather be over on calories right now anyway than under since I am busting my *kitten* lifting.*EDIT* In hindsight, inaccurate tracking could cause this too, when eating close to TDEE I guess. I eat a lot of venison and such, so my estimates could be way off there. Also a lot of times, I will see a great variance in the calories of an item, and when I do, I tend to pick something towards the middle of the road as far as calories go.
I think this is likely to be a significant factor.0 -
5x5's are definitely harder on my body than the way I was lifting when I was trying to cut hard. The strength gains have been awesome though.Fluid retention from lifting can come into play, too.
I "gained" a couple pounds while doing 5x5 and eating at maintenance, then it started to taper off, and while taking a break from lifting this week, I dropped another pound. I'm now the same weight I was when I started in September. Just with slightly lower body fat and a lot more strength.0
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