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Intermediate Bulking advice, help please

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souljajoe010
souljajoe010 Posts: 7 Member
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Hello,
Ive been lifting for a year now. My weight is 174lbs @14% bodyfat, ive spent most of my time losing fat and now i am bulking to gain about 3lbs a month for 3 months. My macros are 45/15p/40f at 2700 calories for a weight gain i plan a 200surplus will gain 0.75lb/week.
Can someone tell me if this is a good approach? I plan on increasing my protein% whilst decreasing my fat% starting monday and just increasing carbs from then for more weight gain if stalled.
also i lift 5 consecutive days a week. gym closed weekends

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  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
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    A 200 surplus sounds low to me. It is such a small amount that it would be very easy to miss due to miscalculations and false advertisements throughout the day. I'm guessing you are concerned about eating too much and gaining fat, but I think that it is probably worth the extra calories to ensure you are maximizing your bulking potential. Don't be afraid of a little winter padding!

    I cut to 160 @ 7.5% BF. I am going to bulk up to 180 (I'm at 175 now) and then cut again until I am around 8% BF. Rinse and repeat.

    I eat at 2400 calories when I am cutting and 3500 calories when I am bulking. I don't adjust these numbers for daily workouts, unless I am doing something that strays from my normal routine (I've built those calories into my numbers). I eat at 50%c 30%p and 20%f, but I pay more attention to the specific macros when I am cutting. Bulking I just make sure they are close and I am getting a lot of protein. I supplement with Trutein, creatine, multivitamins, BCAAs, and fish oil when I remember to.

    I'm definitely no expert, this is just my own experience. Good luck dude!
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html is a good resource.

    1) you might want to lean up a tiny bit more before bulking, they recommend sub 12% so that's prob only a few weeks or a month delay and would prob result in better calorie partitioning.

    2) you might consider increasing the surplus a bit, not more than 500 cals. Since 500 cal is about 1 lb per week, the 200 you were suggesting is actually just under half a pound a week, not 0.75 lb as you stated.

    3) take some time to find correct maintenance and take a diet break before starting to bulk.

    From the link above
    Let me summarize the above a little more briefly: trainees should set a bottom and top-end for acceptable body fat levels. For males, 10-15% is a good range, for females 19-27% or so works. Diet down until you hit the low end, stabilize for two weeks, gain until you hit the high end, stabilize for two weeks, then diet back down while keeping the muscle. Over many months or a year of training, you should end up with more muscle than you started with which is the whole goal.
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
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    1) you might want to lean up a tiny bit more before bulking, they recommend sub 12% so that's prob only a few weeks or a month delay and would prob result in better calorie partitioning.

    I was thinking that too, but look at his profile pic. If that is him, he looks to be under the 14% stated in his original post.
  • souljajoe010
    souljajoe010 Posts: 7 Member
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    that's when i was at 11% , i was trying to go to 9% and accidently ate something pass my calories for the day and did not compensate the calories the next day for it... after about a month of eating healthy and trying to tame my hunger it eased up at 13% bodyfat. i am also thinking i should try again to get to a low bf% level and reverse diet slowly for 2 weeks before bulking
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    1) you might want to lean up a tiny bit more before bulking, they recommend sub 12% so that's prob only a few weeks or a month delay and would prob result in better calorie partitioning.

    I was thinking that too, but look at his profile pic. If that is him, he looks to be under the 14% stated in his original post.

    That's ridiculous! I don't look before I post...


    OP, you shouldn't get too lean, intermediately lean is best for starting a bulk.
  • theryan244
    theryan244 Posts: 65 Member
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    Your fat is dangerously low. 40g a day at 174lbs and you plan on lowering it if I read correctly? .4 grams per pound of body weight is a standard, some would argue slightly low, daily amount. This would put you at about 70g a day. Lower your carbs to compensate.
  • souljajoe010
    souljajoe010 Posts: 7 Member
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    Your fat is dangerously low. 40g a day at 174lbs and you plan on lowering it if I read correctly? .4 grams per pound of body weight is a standard, some would argue slightly low, daily amount. This would put you at about 70g a day. Lower your carbs to compensate.

    lol those are percentages based on my caloric intake, 40 is 40%, atm i am 2700 cals and fats account for 40% of it which is 120. but i changed my fat% way lower since then. but in that example thats what it would be.
    But yikes though. 70g is the RDA threshold?? dang when i when i went to 10% i had my fats at 25-35grams daily. eating tuna and oatmeal or hardboiled eggs without the yolk
  • theryan244
    theryan244 Posts: 65 Member
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    Your fat is dangerously low. 40g a day at 174lbs and you plan on lowering it if I read correctly? .4 grams per pound of body weight is a standard, some would argue slightly low, daily amount. This would put you at about 70g a day. Lower your carbs to compensate.

    lol those are percentages based on my caloric intake, 40 is 40%, atm i am 2700 cals and fats account for 40% of it which is 120. but i changed my fat% way lower since then. but in that example thats what it would be.
    But yikes though. 70g is the RDA threshold?? dang when i when i went to 10% i had my fats at 25-35grams daily. eating tuna and oatmeal or hardboiled eggs without the yolk

    I thought you just didn't put the zeros at the end of the number. Coincidentally 450g carbs, 150g protein and 40g fats equalls about 2700 calories, which you said is your goal. Ignore government issued RDA's and DV's in regards to macros. Adjust them according to your weight, not percentages and RDA's. 1 gram per pound of bodyweight for protein, .4 - .5 grams per pound of bodyweight for fat and fill the remaining calories with carbs. This is a rough estimate as to what you should be aiming for.
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Your fat is dangerously low. 40g a day at 174lbs and you plan on lowering it if I read correctly? .4 grams per pound of body weight is a standard, some would argue slightly low, daily amount. This would put you at about 70g a day. Lower your carbs to compensate.

    lol those are percentages based on my caloric intake, 40 is 40%, atm i am 2700 cals and fats account for 40% of it which is 120. but i changed my fat% way lower since then. but in that example thats what it would be.
    But yikes though. 70g is the RDA threshold?? dang when i when i went to 10% i had my fats at 25-35grams daily. eating tuna and oatmeal or hardboiled eggs without the yolk

    I thought you just didn't put the zeros at the end of the number. Coincidentally 450g carbs, 150g protein and 40g fats equalls about 2700 calories, which you said is your goal. Ignore government issued RDA's and DV's in regards to macros. Adjust them according to your weight, not percentages and RDA's. 1 gram per pound of bodyweight for protein, .4 - .5 grams per pound of bodyweight for fat and fill the remaining calories with carbs. This is a rough estimate as to what you should be aiming for.
    You can actually have a little more wiggle room in the fats department. I am personally all for more carbohydrates. Now, what raised my eyebrow is the "3lbs a month". At 3lbs a month, I hope you don't expect that to me muscle. To put things into perspective, my goal is to add .5-1lb per month. i would rather do slow bulks, instead of piling on a massive amount of calories and lead to getting fat.

    People forget that they should also keep in mind, coming out of the bulk. You don't want to have to drop a large amount of fat.

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