Starting a Bulk and need advice!
holyfenix
Posts: 99 Member
Okay, so last Friday was the last day of the Cut I was doing. I had lost 30 lbs, to 163lbs mostly BF and maintained a good amount of muscle. I was eating about 1700-2000 calories a day and doing Stronglifts 5x5 3 times a week, 1 long session of Cardio 45-60 minutes of intervals a week and 1 short session with a core day. I also generally Golf or paintball on the weekend. I was shy of my weight goal by 3 lbs (not the end of the world) when I stalled on 3 lifts last week. Getting stronger is a much higher priority to me than the number on the scale so I decided to stop a little short of my goal and start my bulk early (going on a lean bulk was always the plan).
Maintenance has me around 2500 calories give or take, traditional wisdom tells me to eat 250-500 more calories a day (way harder than I thought). Now I am planning on dropping the long cardio day all together. I want to gain .5-1lb a week while minimizing fat gains. I have been going to the gym for a year but for much of that I was just hamstering. So I still have a lot of potential for noobie gains I suspect. Starting today (1/19/2015) Macros will be stritcly monitored, as the weekend was rough. Goal weight is 185lbs then a small cut to get to what I think my ideal will be, between 175 and 180 lbs.
Basically is this a good plan? Anything else I should be considering? Only supplement I am willing to take right now is whey protein shakes.
Thank you for any help/advice/criticism. Its all welcome
Maintenance has me around 2500 calories give or take, traditional wisdom tells me to eat 250-500 more calories a day (way harder than I thought). Now I am planning on dropping the long cardio day all together. I want to gain .5-1lb a week while minimizing fat gains. I have been going to the gym for a year but for much of that I was just hamstering. So I still have a lot of potential for noobie gains I suspect. Starting today (1/19/2015) Macros will be stritcly monitored, as the weekend was rough. Goal weight is 185lbs then a small cut to get to what I think my ideal will be, between 175 and 180 lbs.
Basically is this a good plan? Anything else I should be considering? Only supplement I am willing to take right now is whey protein shakes.
Thank you for any help/advice/criticism. Its all welcome
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Replies
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are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...0 -
are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...
Doing Stronglifts for about 2 months but that was on a calorie deficit the whole time. Still exhausted noob gains? As I haven't actually gained anything you still think so? Not arguing just confused.
Macro Breakdown will be as follows
185 Grams of Protein
330 Grams of Carbs
100 Grams of Fat
So my estimate is pretty decent on total caloric intake. Good idea to drop a day of cardio?
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Macros look good.
I'd keep the cardio day for the moment, if you enjoy it and if you find you're struggling to hit surplus, drop it.
2 months seems quite quick to have exhausted your gains, even at deficit, on Stronglifts. I think I did about 6 months at deficit before stalling out. Maybe try deloading and working back up, then dropping to 3 sets if that doesn't work - scratch that, it'll probably be a non-issue at surplus.
Happy bulking
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are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...
Doing Stronglifts for about 2 months but that was on a calorie deficit the whole time. Still exhausted noob gains? As I haven't actually gained anything you still think so? Not arguing just confused.
Macro Breakdown will be as follows
185 Grams of Protein
330 Grams of Carbs
100 Grams of Fat
So my estimate is pretty decent on total caloric intake. Good idea to drop a day of cardio?
macros look good ..
yes, drop the day of cardio …
what do you mean by "have not actually gained anything"?
I thought in your OP you said that you had been working out for a bout year now …or did I mis read something…?
If you have been lifting fora year then you would have already exhausted your potential for newb gains….I think ..0 -
are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...
Doing Stronglifts for about 2 months but that was on a calorie deficit the whole time. Still exhausted noob gains? As I haven't actually gained anything you still think so? Not arguing just confused.
Macro Breakdown will be as follows
185 Grams of Protein
330 Grams of Carbs
100 Grams of Fat
So my estimate is pretty decent on total caloric intake. Good idea to drop a day of cardio?
macros look good ..
yes, drop the day of cardio …
what do you mean by "have not actually gained anything"?
I thought in your OP you said that you had been working out for a bout year now …or did I mis read something…?
If you have been lifting fora year then you would have already exhausted your potential for newb gains….I think ..
Well I was at a deficit so how could I have gained any muscle. I was spinning my wheels for about half a year doing bro split lifts.
Also I started heavier than just the bar with Stronglifts. I could have just been having a bad week too, because yesterday was easy.0 -
one week isn't enough to figure out if you stalled- seriously- everyone has crappy weeks- crappy lifts and esp on a deficit.
If you're ready to bulk- then bulk- and keep on the program.
I agree 2 months seems way to soon unless you started way heavier than you should have- in which case yeah I could see a stall.
Also- macros are fine- but don't be a slave to them- in a bulk calories are king.
No surplus- no gains.0 -
Eat everything. Train hard. Rest. Repeat.0
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are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...
Doing Stronglifts for about 2 months but that was on a calorie deficit the whole time. Still exhausted noob gains? As I haven't actually gained anything you still think so? Not arguing just confused.
Macro Breakdown will be as follows
185 Grams of Protein
330 Grams of Carbs
100 Grams of Fat
So my estimate is pretty decent on total caloric intake. Good idea to drop a day of cardio?
macros look good ..
yes, drop the day of cardio …
what do you mean by "have not actually gained anything"?
I thought in your OP you said that you had been working out for a bout year now …or did I mis read something…?
If you have been lifting fora year then you would have already exhausted your potential for newb gains….I think ..
Well I was at a deficit so how could I have gained any muscle. I was spinning my wheels for about half a year doing bro split lifts.
Also I started heavier than just the bar with Stronglifts. I could have just been having a bad week too, because yesterday was easy.
strength gains and muscle gains are not the same..
Also, the ONLY time one would add muscle in a deficit is newbie gains...
I guess your original post threw me off because you mentioned "newbie gains" in it...and my point is that if you have been lifting for a half year + then your potential for them has already been exhausted..
You will start gaining once you start eating more though ..
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are you going to keep doing strong lifts? Also, if you were already doing strong lifts for an extended period, then you have probably already exhausted any newbie gains.
what is your macro breakdown going to be?
If your maintenance is around 2500 then you are going to have to eat 2750 for .5 gain and 3000 for one pound gain ...
Doing Stronglifts for about 2 months but that was on a calorie deficit the whole time. Still exhausted noob gains? As I haven't actually gained anything you still think so? Not arguing just confused.
Macro Breakdown will be as follows
185 Grams of Protein
330 Grams of Carbs
100 Grams of Fat
So my estimate is pretty decent on total caloric intake. Good idea to drop a day of cardio?
macros look good ..
yes, drop the day of cardio …
what do you mean by "have not actually gained anything"?
I thought in your OP you said that you had been working out for a bout year now …or did I mis read something…?
If you have been lifting fora year then you would have already exhausted your potential for newb gains….I think ..
Well I was at a deficit so how could I have gained any muscle. I was spinning my wheels for about half a year doing bro split lifts.
Also I started heavier than just the bar with Stronglifts. I could have just been having a bad week too, because yesterday was easy.
strength gains and muscle gains are not the same..
Also, the ONLY time one would add muscle in a deficit is newbie gains...
I guess your original post threw me off because you mentioned "newbie gains" in it...and my point is that if you have been lifting for a half year + then your potential for them has already been exhausted..
You will start gaining once you start eating more though ..
Ok I see what you are saying. Thank you for all the help.
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Well never thought I would say this but eating everything is so much harder than I ever thought it could be. I figured since I had overeaten before and gained a ton of weight in my past this would be easy. Forcing myself to eat sucks just as much as forcing my self not to. The energy boost is nice but I feel full all the time. Wish me luck0
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Incorporate some 'junk'. I had to up cals yesterday, had 2 snickers - easy.0
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Honestly 200 cals over maintenance is plenty to gain muscle and keep the fat to a minimum.
Add in some cal dense foods like peanut butter. Heck I know a few guys that once they're close to their macros each day have a bit of ice cream to boost cals.0 -
Well never thought I would say this but eating everything is so much harder than I ever thought it could be. I figured since I had overeaten before and gained a ton of weight in my past this would be easy. Forcing myself to eat sucks just as much as forcing my self not to. The energy boost is nice but I feel full all the time. Wish me luck
Not sure if that's a biological or psychological thing, or perhaps both. Good luck as bulking is a huge mind game for those of us who lost weight but you can do it.0 -
piperdown44 wrote: »Honestly 200 cals over maintenance is plenty to gain muscle and keep the fat to a minimum.
Add in some cal dense foods like peanut butter. Heck I know a few guys that once they're close to their macros each day have a bit of ice cream to boost cals.
Only problem with 200 cals is that it's within the normal margin of error for recording calories in and out so it's often hard to tell if you are really there. I upped my daily surplus target from 200 to 300 recently because I was not gaining anything.0 -
Are you logging your food somewhere else? I can't see any entry made since 18th January. There are lots of us on here who are currently starting their first ever weight gain journey and going through exactly the same thing that you are so start logging and get a few more friends on board.0
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »piperdown44 wrote: »Honestly 200 cals over maintenance is plenty to gain muscle and keep the fat to a minimum.
Add in some cal dense foods like peanut butter. Heck I know a few guys that once they're close to their macros each day have a bit of ice cream to boost cals.
Only problem with 200 cals is that it's within the normal margin of error for recording calories in and out so it's often hard to tell if you are really there. I upped my daily surplus target from 200 to 300 recently because I was not gaining anything.
My surplus is 500, as of yesterday - winning!! The thing is, it's not really a 500 surplus now (just is on paper/calculator), bodies are efficient and maintenance can change. There's also the margin of error thing - if I recorded the ACTUAL weight of some of the stuff I have, it'd be even higher. If you're struggling to get the calories in now, it'll be even harder once you need to increase. This is where the odd snicker/icecream/pizza come in handy - where's the fun in having to force down a tonne of sweet potato/brocolli/oats when you can have a normal portion of those things plus a treat.
Total agree with wheelhouse, 200 is totally inadequate, bulking wise, for a guy. It wouldn't cut it for me and I'm 5'6 and female (and old).
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »piperdown44 wrote: »Honestly 200 cals over maintenance is plenty to gain muscle and keep the fat to a minimum.
Add in some cal dense foods like peanut butter. Heck I know a few guys that once they're close to their macros each day have a bit of ice cream to boost cals.
Only problem with 200 cals is that it's within the normal margin of error for recording calories in and out so it's often hard to tell if you are really there. I upped my daily surplus target from 200 to 300 recently because I was not gaining anything.
My surplus is 500, as of yesterday - winning!! The thing is, it's not really a 500 surplus now (just is on paper/calculator), bodies are efficient and maintenance can change. There's also the margin of error thing - if I recorded the ACTUAL weight of some of the stuff I have, it'd be even higher. If you're struggling to get the calories in now, it'll be even harder once you need to increase. This is where the odd snicker/icecream/pizza come in handy - where's the fun in having to force down a tonne of sweet potato/brocolli/oats when you can have a normal portion of those things plus a treat.
Total agree with wheelhouse, 200 is totally inadequate, bulking wise, for a guy. It wouldn't cut it for me and I'm 5'6 and female (and old).
LOL you're hardly old. But I agree with everything else you said.0 -
Wow, sorry for not responding to this earlier. I haven't been logging but have steadily been gaining a lb a week. Fat gain is minimal so far but still have 12 lbs to go. Its gotten much easier to stuff my face. I focus on getting my protein where it needs to be and then just eat whatever to get the calories I need.0
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beastcompany wrote: »Eat everything. Train hard. Rest. Repeat.
No offense, but I see these posts all the time, and while that is the IDEA behind bulking, that's not very helpful for most people on here. I don't mean to sound like an *kitten* but I've seen people post this similar type of advice many times before on here and people are asking for solid advice how is that helpful? Obviously they know those are the key concepts to gaining muscle but there are ways of doing those simple steps....just a thought that's all.0 -
Wow, sorry for not responding to this earlier. I haven't been logging but have steadily been gaining a lb a week. Fat gain is minimal so far but still have 12 lbs to go. Its gotten much easier to stuff my face. I focus on getting my protein where it needs to be and then just eat whatever to get the calories I need.
i would suggest logging everything in …the data is helpful when you want to switch to cutting and /or maintaining…..0 -
Wow, sorry for not responding to this earlier. I haven't been logging but have steadily been gaining a lb a week. Fat gain is minimal so far but still have 12 lbs to go. Its gotten much easier to stuff my face. I focus on getting my protein where it needs to be and then just eat whatever to get the calories I need.
i would suggest logging everything in …the data is helpful when you want to switch to cutting and /or maintaining…..
I appreciate this advice, I've already done both and have a really good idea on what is necessary to lose/maintain/ and now gain weight. I'll probably go back to logging when I start cutting but for the bulk I just find it to be too much of a hassle since I don't plan my meals as much. Basically I just plan out protein intake to make sure I am hitting that macro. When I do log I tend to hit 3-3500 cals a day sometimes more if I go out to eat. I am seeing the results I want and don't want to change that.
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You'll know when you've exhausted SL5x5. You'll get to a point where you repeatedly fail the lifts and quit making gains. 5x5 is super hard to do on a cut. I'd try it on your calorie surplus for awhile and see if your gains continue. Your macros look good. I'm a similar weight with similar goals and have done several bulks cycles - 165>180>172>186>163>170. I'm currently sitting at 170 and still not happy. It's a process. LOL. Once you get near 180 you'll likely be eating 3,200+ cals a day to keep gaining. Good luck.0
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