Photo: Result of 2 months of bulking
iorahkwano
Posts: 709 Member
The result of 2 months of bulking! I am 5'7". I ate 2200-2400 calories, 120g protein & did Strong Lifts. I put on 11lbs (Went from 137 to 148), most of it appearing to be muscle. My lifting strength increased a lot, in some cases doubled.
My next step is to do the "cutting phase" where I eat normal calories again, reincorporate cardio & lose the fat I gained during the muscle bulking process. I carry all my fat on my belly so hopefully after the cutting phase my waist will come in & I will have abs!
My next step is to do the "cutting phase" where I eat normal calories again, reincorporate cardio & lose the fat I gained during the muscle bulking process. I carry all my fat on my belly so hopefully after the cutting phase my waist will come in & I will have abs!
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Replies
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Well, great job!! I bet it was fun to have your strength going up in leaps and bounds like that!:smokin:0
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Yes! These are my lifting stats:
(175lbs) Deadlift (SW at 115)
(135lbs) Barbell Squat (SW at 55)
(85lbs) Barbell Row (SW at 65)
(80lbs) Barbell Overhead (SW at 55)
(70lbs) Bench Press (SW at 55)0 -
Congrats ! Keep up the great work !0
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Remember that cardio is not needed except to buy you more calories to eat. Good job and good luck !0
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Cardio is not needed for cutting?0
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Yes! These are my lifting stats:
(175lbs) Deadlift (SW at 115)
(135lbs) Barbell Squat (SW at 55)
(85lbs) Barbell Row (SW at 65)
(80lbs) Barbell Overhead (SW at 55)
(70lbs) Bench Press (SW at 55)
Great gains! Can't wait to see the next set of photos!0 -
Great gains! Even after "bulking" you don't look like you've been bulking (but you didn't post before pics so it's hard to tell I guess). What BF% are you right now? At what BF% do you decide to start bulking or cutting? For now I really need to lower my BF% (just getting started and I'm around 30%) but I'm curious about it
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you still look quite lean
great job gaining those muscles!0 -
Unfortunately I did not have access to fat callipers prior to bulking.
Dec. 10 - ______ (Estimate: 18%)
Feb. 30 - 19.73%
March 6 - 22.44%
Below is my weight loss & bulking journey so far:
Date.......weight.....bust-waist-(belly)-butt
11/05.....144lbs.....37-31-(37)-39
11/12.....142lbs.....37-31-(36.5)-39
11/19.....140lbs.....36-30-(36)-39
11/26.....140lbs.....36-30-(36)-38.5
12/03.....138lbs.....36-29.5-(35.5)-38.5
12/10.....136lbs.....36-29-(35.5)-38
********Started Strong Lifts & bulking*********
12/17.....137lbs.....36-29.5-(35.5)-38
12/24.....140lbs.....37-29.5-(35.5)-38
12/31.....140lbs.....37-29.5-(35.5)-38
01/07.....137lbs.....37--29.5-(35.5)-38
01/15.....138lbs.....37-29.5-(35.5)-38
01/21.....138lbs.....37-29.5-(35.5)-38
02/30.....141lbs.....37-30-(36)-38 ~ BF 19.73%
02/09.....141lbs.....37-30-(36)-38.5
02/26.....146lbs.....37.5-30.5-(36.5)-39
03/06.....148lbs.....38-30.5-(37)-39 ~BF 22.44%0 -
I'm new to this group and new to strength training, so I am a bit confused. Why is your BF% (body fat%) increasing? By strength training, aren't you increasing your lean muscle and reducing your body fat%?0
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I'm new to this group and new to strength training, so I am a bit confused. Why is your BF% (body fat%) increasing? By strength training, aren't you increasing your lean muscle and reducing your body fat%?
if you are bulking (eating above TDEE) you will gain muscle and fat
if you are cutting (eating below TDEE) you will maintain muscle and lose fat.
you have to cycle cutting and bulking in order to end up with higher lean body mas and lower fat.
if you are very overweight and just starting lifting heavy for a very short time you might be gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time, but the amount of muscle will be very small...0 -
Okay, I'll see if I can use some "before photos" to help put this into perspective.
May 2012: 144lbs of "skinny fat." I had some muscle from doing kickboxing, bodyweight exercises, running & rollerblading, but my high body fat was covering it all up. My bikini top I ordered in the mail was too small too >__>
Dec 2012: 138lbs. I started picking up some 20-35lbs barbells at my workouts for squats, lunges & OHP. I eventually cut out carbs for a few weeks and got down to 136lbs. Although this pic looks pretty decent, keep in mind it's of blurry camera-phone quality. I was happy my waist got smaller, but not happy that my body was still very soft/flab-like. My stomach still had dimples, rolls ahoy! when I sat down & my tummy would round out as soon as I ate breakfast so I normally didn't look as good as this photo. My arms were also not very shapely.
March 2013: 148lbs. I had done 8 weeks of Strong Lifts greatly increasing my strength, muscle-weight, calorie-intake as well as protein-intake. In this photo I am 4lbs heavier than in the first one, yet my waist is 0.5" smaller & I look more toned.
April or May 2013: Hopefull HERE I will eventually post a photo of me looking slim AND muscular!0
