BODYBUILDING Community!

Riff1970 wrote: »

So, who else here is in it for stage competition besides denelifet?

I like bodybuilding but I know I don't have the genetics for the stage. I'm just doing it for some muscle size and to look better.

Good luck to the competitors.

Unless you are competing at an ultra-elite level, you can still win comps with bad genetics/attachment points. It's all about who is the best conditioned at amateur level. I rep team #nocalves, and also have non-desirable chest attachment points, and still plan to compete.

hi! glad I found this thread, since I have a few questions. there is a lot of conflicting info everywhere and was curious what has worked for you ladies. I am very new at all this.

I just started lifting heavy. my trainer and I decided to start with a bulk, even though I'm still overweight. I don't mind putting a few more pound of fat, as long as I'm bulking and getting stronger.

I am 5'-4", 164 lbs. and not sure how many calories to eat. we decided to start with bulk since it will allow me to eat more (I get SOOO HUNGRYYY). I have already lost 20+lbs. by eating at a deficit.

based on MFP, online calculators, trainer suggestions, how i feel, etc. I have decided to eat 2k cal/day.

what do you guys think? what should I expect?

nail_polish wrote: »

hi! glad I found this thread, since I have a few questions. there is a lot of conflicting info everywhere and was curious what has worked for you ladies. I am very new at all this.

I just started lifting heavy. my trainer and I decided to start with a bulk, even though I'm still overweight. I don't mind putting a few more pound of fat, as long as I'm bulking and getting stronger.

I am 5'-4", 164 lbs. and not sure how many calories to eat. we decided to start with bulk since it will allow me to eat more (I get SOOO HUNGRYYY). I have already lost 20+lbs. by eating at a deficit.

based on MFP, online calculators, trainer suggestions, how i feel, etc. I have decided to eat 2k cal/day.

what do you guys think? what should I expect?

Not to answer with more questions, but roughly when are you looking to compete? Do you have a division in mind? Division will dictate time required (and thus expectations).

I am not trying to compete. I'm just really confused and wanted some feedback from people that have been training and what has worked for them.

could you expand on your comment?: "You need to cut or maintain and attempt to recomp."
how should I "cut" or why "maintain"? I'm under the impression that cutting will require eating at a small deficit, which will be extremely hard since my body is adjusting and I get extremely hungry. I am not understanding what you mean by "maintain".

thank you guys for taking your time to respond and sharing your knowledge!

nail_polish wrote: »

I am not trying to compete. I'm just really confused and wanted some feedback from people that have been training and what has worked for them.

could you expand on your comment?: "You need to cut or maintain and attempt to recomp."
how should I "cut" or why "maintain"? I'm under the impression that cutting will require eating at a small deficit, which will be extremely hard since my body is adjusting and I get extremely hungry. I am not understanding what you mean by "maintain".

thank you guys for taking your time to respond and sharing your knowledge!

You either need to keep losing weight (because bulking with a body fat of more than 26% will result in adding more fat) or you need to switch your calorie goal to maintain and lift (which will result in slow fat loss and muscle gain).

nail_polish wrote: »

I am not trying to compete. I'm just really confused and wanted some feedback from people that have been training and what has worked for them.

could you expand on your comment?: "You need to cut or maintain and attempt to recomp."
how should I "cut" or why "maintain"? I'm under the impression that cutting will require eating at a small deficit, which will be extremely hard since my body is adjusting and I get extremely hungry. I am not understanding what you mean by "maintain".

thank you guys for taking your time to respond and sharing your knowledge!

You should be working to adjust your diet to find macros that work for you and help you with hunger. If you're really struggling with hunger, then you should maintain and figure out how to adjust your diet to be more satiating for you. Once you figure that out, you can slowly reduce calories until you reach a manageable deficit.

If your trainer's way of dealing with your hunger is to tell you to bulk, it doesn't sound like he's very knowledgeable.

And if you're dealing with extreme hunger, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you were too aggressive with your deficit. Diets do tend to be an adjustment but you shouldn't be starving, especially not after 20 pounds lost. Plus the fact that your trainer's suggestions lead you to believe 2000 calories would be sufficient for bulking.

terar21,

I wanna look like you!!!

I was not very hungry while on my deficit. I started at around 1,600 calories and, as my body "adjusted", I noticed I did not need that many calories as I was feeling satisfied with less. listened to my body until I was eating 1,250-1,300 cal/day. also, cardio was curbing my appetite. but I have been recommended to skip the cardio to be in a surplus to gain muscle.

maybe I'm too hungry because my body needs time to adjust again... I don't know. I'm too new at this! (2 weeks)

my goal is to put on a lot of muscle and significantly reduce the amount of fat. I don't even know how long this will take. but I know that if I start wrong, I will not reach my goal.

is 2,000 cal/day not enough? what would you suggest? how did you achieve your loss and gain?

usmcmp wrote: »

nail_polish wrote: »

terar21,

I wanna look like you!!!

I was not very hungry while on my deficit. I started at around 1,600 calories and, as my body "adjusted", I noticed I did not need that many calories as I was feeling satisfied with less. listened to my body until I was eating 1,250-1,300 cal/day. also, cardio was curbing my appetite. but I have been recommended to skip the cardio to be in a surplus to gain muscle.

maybe I'm too hungry because my body needs time to adjust again... I don't know. I'm too new at this! (2 weeks)

my goal is to put on a lot of muscle and significantly reduce the amount of fat. I don't even know how long this will take. but I know that if I start wrong, I will not reach my goal.

is 2,000 cal/day not enough? what would you suggest? how did you achieve your loss and gain?

You should not be bulking. Your body fat is too high. You will gain muscle on a deficit due to having extra body fat and being a newer lifter. Go back to 1600 calories.

I don't think she has posted her actual bodyfat % anywhere yet.

OP, have you measured your bodyfat with calipers yet? Bodyfat % reading is very important to understand what you should be doing with your training.

I would not trust readings from those bodyfat scales or any kind of bioelectric impedance testers, they aren't very accurate. Even calipers aren't that great, but they are the best thing you can do at home.

If you are totally new to lifting OP, I agree with @usmcmp, you don't need a calorie surplus to build muscle right now. You have the unique opportunity to burn fat and build muscle at the same time for anywhere from 2-3 months when you first start training ("newbie gainz"). Once your body catches on, it will force you to pick between muscle gain or fat loss, and you will be in the grind like the rest of us.

What steps are you taking to stimulate muscles for growth? Do you have a lifting program? I'm nervous what your trainer is having you do based on his bad advice to eat at surplus because you are hungry. Beware: they make money by keeping you on as a client. If you are just starting out, you should pick some kind of program aimed for beginners to learn important things like compound movements, training scheduling & frequency, and progressive overloading principles.

The little machine was likely a bioelectric impedance test (Results can be off by as much as 10%! That is real bad).

You can purchase calipers from most health/wellness stores, or online at places like bodybuilding.com/. Calipers can be off by about %5.

In an effort to keep the thread on track, if you have any more questions, feel free to message me and hopefully I can answer them. The gaining weight thread is also roughly correlated to bodybuilding, so you should be able to get good starting info there from the stickies.

_Bropollo_ wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

nail_polish wrote: »

terar21,

I wanna look like you!!!

I was not very hungry while on my deficit. I started at around 1,600 calories and, as my body "adjusted", I noticed I did not need that many calories as I was feeling satisfied with less. listened to my body until I was eating 1,250-1,300 cal/day. also, cardio was curbing my appetite. but I have been recommended to skip the cardio to be in a surplus to gain muscle.

maybe I'm too hungry because my body needs time to adjust again... I don't know. I'm too new at this! (2 weeks)

my goal is to put on a lot of muscle and significantly reduce the amount of fat. I don't even know how long this will take. but I know that if I start wrong, I will not reach my goal.

is 2,000 cal/day not enough? what would you suggest? how did you achieve your loss and gain?

You should not be bulking. Your body fat is too high. You will gain muscle on a deficit due to having extra body fat and being a newer lifter. Go back to 1600 calories.

I don't think she has posted her actual bodyfat % anywhere yet.

OP, have you measured your bodyfat with calipers yet? Bodyfat % reading is very important to understand what you should be doing with your training.

I would not trust readings from those bodyfat scales or any kind of bioelectric impedance testers, they aren't very accurate. Even calipers aren't that great, but they are the best thing you can do at home.

If you are totally new to lifting OP, I agree with @usmcmp, you don't need a calorie surplus to build muscle right now. You have the unique opportunity to burn fat and build muscle at the same time for anywhere from 2-3 months when you first start training ("newbie gainz"). Once your body catches on, it will force you to pick between muscle gain or fat loss, and you will be in the grind like the rest of us.

What steps are you taking to stimulate muscles for growth? Do you have a lifting program? I'm nervous what your trainer is having you do based on his bad advice to eat at surplus because you are hungry. Beware: they make money by keeping you on as a client. If you are just starting out, you should pick some kind of program aimed for beginners to learn important things like compound movements, training scheduling & frequency, and progressive overloading principles.

@_Bropollo_ She's 5'4" 164 pounds. She's just below the obese cut off. The only way her body fat would be below 26% at her height and weight is if she's lifted for 3+ years.