HELP - Need to BULK up...

HUSTLABALLA
HUSTLABALLA Posts: 7 Member
edited September 26 in Introduce Yourself
Hi Everyone!

I have been doing Carido with a mix of weights and P90X work for a while now. I hit the treadmill for 60 minutes walking / jogging at MAX incline with (2) 20 lb weights in my hands and do at least 28 minutes of the time. I lose a avg of 1200 calories per workout so I can lose weight very easily but my problem is bulking up with muscle - I take whey protein on workout days but it doesnt seem like like I am getting any bigger. I am starting to think to forget the threadmill all together and just hit my weight room harder and whey protein everyday also.

For example - I can go crazy on the weekends and consume over 5K per days for fri,sat,sun - (15K) and lose all of the comsumed weight by tuesday am.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Replies

  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Figure out your maintenance cals. Eat 300-1000 over them depending on how much fat you're willing to gain.

    Bump the cardio down to 2-3 sessions per week, and don't go over 40-45 minutes with each session.


    Eat more. Lift Heavier.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Figure out your maintenance cals. Eat 300-1000 over them depending on how much fat you're willing to gain.

    Bump the cardio down to 2-3 sessions per week, and don't go over 40-45 minutes with each session.


    Eat more. Lift Heavier.

    Agreed. You have to take in more calories than maintenance (plus exercise calories) in order to bulk up. If your maintenance is 2100 calories and you burn 1200, you would need to eat more than 3300 calories in order to gain any noticeable amount of muscle. I would suggest eat 250 (0.5 lbs/week) over maintenance) So in my example if you burn 1200 and your maintenance is 2100 you would have to eat 3550/day (2100+1200+250) in order to gain half a pound per week. If you protein is sufficient most of this gain should be muscle, just make sure you are lifting heavy weights.
  • Galluzzo1
    Galluzzo1 Posts: 4
    Basically what bmont said. Your body can't add mass (muscle or fat) without excess calories, otherwise after an intense workout it will simply break down the muscle tissue you already have for energy and essentially replace/repair it with itself. The result is stronger, firmer, more toned muscle but no increase in actual mass. When I'm bulking, I cut cardio out completely as it is a waste of valuable calories that could go to adding muscle mass. As a general rule, eat 1.5x your daily maintenance calorie level, consume as close to 1g of protein per pound of body weight as possible, and try to take something like Celltech Hardcore immediately after your workout. The creatine will obviously help you recover more quickly and workout harder, but the best part of that stuff is that it's very high in simple carbs which make your body produce the maximum amount of insulin and it's insulin that increases mass.

    The caveat however is that through your bulk phase, it is inevitable that you will put on some extra fat, it's just a biproduct. The key is to bulk as quickly and efficiently as possible through low rep, high weight, high set workouts, then go into a cut phase for several weeks where you exercise like you described in your post.

    The point is, you can't build muscle and cut fat at the same time. The chemistry of your body simply doesn't allow it. Most people don't know this, which is why everyone who goes to the gym doesn't look like a bodybuilder! Let me know if you have any more questions!

    -Curtis

    EDIT: Also look into Branch Chain Amino Acid supplements. These help to insure that your body doesn't break down muscle to get the essential amino acids that it can't synthesize on its own. The result is better gains.
  • mumof5
    mumof5 Posts: 328 Member
    i would do weight only every second day because if you dont give yr muscles a day to rest and recover you will be wasting your time. so leave the weights off the treadmill, just to cardio on those days, jump off every now and then and do a few burpies, box jumps, skipping just to break it up and work your upper body a bit. Then on weights days make sure you mix your cardio with weights - keep your heart rate up by doing a sprint between sets or skip and increase your weights every 2 weeks at least! this is the advise my trainer gave me, as you can see by my "bulk" i am also struggling! (roling my eyes) time is the biggest issue for me. good luck
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Figure out your maintenance cals. Eat 300-1000 over them depending on how much fat you're willing to gain.

    Bump the cardio down to 2-3 sessions per week, and don't go over 40-45 minutes with each session.


    Eat more. Lift Heavier.

    This. You could even cut out cardio completely. I'm bulking and do about 30 minutes of low-moderate steady state carido 2-3 times a week.
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