Ladies who have "bulked"

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I'm finishing up my 12 week program next week. I've gained around 8~ish pounds since the start. I've been eating around 1900-2000cal/day (could've been more, but being my first bulk I was trying to minimize fat gain). Equal amounts of protein & carbs (around 150g) and about 45g of healthy fats per day.

I've been doing a program that goes through 4 week micro cycles every 3 weeks (look on bodybuilding.com at Jim Stoppani's 12 week shortcut to size). First week is 10-12 reps with rest pause on the 3rd set of each lift. Second week is 8-10 reps with rest pause. 3rd week is 6-8 reps with drop set on last set of each. 4th week is 3-5 reps with drop set.

I've increased my lifts a ridiculous amount since I started doing the micro cycles. I loved this program- I don't want to stop it... weeks 3&4 of the micro cycles make me feel like a beast

I'm starting my cut the week after next, I'll still be lifting heavy, but I'm adding in HIIT 3-4 times a week along with barbell complex workouts 2-3 times a week. I'm looking forward to a little cardio, I miss it a little (never thought I'd say that...)

I'll have my calories around 1900/day, granted that I'll probably be burning 400-500 cals/day with the routine I've described above. I never wore my HRM when I lifted, but I'll start tracking burned calories more closely again once I start cutting.

Edited to add: while doing the 12 week program, I did little to no cardio.
The lifting program splits the muscle groups

1. chest/tris/calves
2. back/bis/abs
3. shoulders/traps/calves
4. legs/abs

<--- just ended mine! No after awesomeness yet!

How much over maintenance did you eat? about 200 over...I got my eat on for all the holidays and etc. I was around 2500cals

How long did you bulk for? 6 months

How much weight did you gain? 12lbs

What lifting program did you follow? I did this program and used Wendler 5/3/1 for the power part

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/4-day-power-muscle-burn-workout-split.html

How much cardio, if any? 2 days 60 min

I just started cutting at 2000 calories....lets see how it goes!

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How much over maintenance did you eat? 0 - 1,000 calories a day. I tried to consistently eat over maintenance, but there were days here any there where I couldn't hit the calories. Those were typically days when I would do cardio. My typical daily intake was 2,200-3,200 calories

How long did you bulk for? From August 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012

How much weight did you gain? 10.8lbs

What lifting program did you follow? New Rules of Lifting for Women

How much cardio, if any? I started off doing cardio on my non lifting days, but I could never hit the calorie intake I needed so I cut out cardio altogether starting in November.

By the way, at the beginnig of bulk I was at 21.2% body fat and by mid February I was at 18.9%. I didn't cut calories when bulk was over, I just ate at maintenance. Still no cardio in my life!

In for advice, bulking now :flowerforyou:

not done a proper bulk as in deliberately eating over maintenance, but I was hitting the weights hard and not tracking what I ate, and I was at least some of the time eating over maintenance because I did put on some weight, not sure how much (wasn't measuring it) but the amount I could lift went up by a lot, and my lean body mass went up too. Before that I'd been eating at a deficit for too long (not deliberately) and I think I'd lost some lean body mass. During this time my LBM seemed to have gone from about 97lb to 101lb, though it's hard to be sure as I wasn't being that careful to measure progress, and also, I think most of it was LBM that I'd lost from being in a deficit for too long.

Since then I've been doing a slow cut and I certainly intend to do a proper bulk, as in find out exactly where my maintenance calories are and eat more than that while really hitting the weights.

attempting a slow bulk as we speak. about 2 weeks in. i will report back.

Need to follow this one!

I just came out of a 'trial bulk' which I did for 5 weeks. I averaged around 2900 cals per day and gained around 5lb. I'm now cutting/maintaining through the summer to try get my BF% below 20 then aim to do a 3-4 month bulk next autumn/winter.

By the way, at the beginnig of bulk I was at 21.2% body fat and by mid February I was at 18.9%. I didn't cut calories when bulk was over, I just ate at maintenance. Still no cardio in my life!

That's what I wanted to read. I have time weights, but being on my feet all day and busy squeezing in cardio has been rough lately, so THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

Bumpin.