I need tough love and an honest assessment

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terapinstati0n24
terapinstati0n24 Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm a 5'7, 32-year-old male, whose last clean/accurate weigh-in 10 days ago had me at 116.2 I've been lifting 5x a week on a P/P/L split for a few months now (yes, this is me after having GAINED weight; I was around 112 around New Year), but it was hard for me to get on a good, steady diet of approximately 50/30/20 until mid-January when I got my own place. Since then I've rigorously been counting what I eat to the extent that my coworkers tease me because I count out my almonds every day. I've noticed good n00b gains in strength and I'm gaining weight obviously.

I WANT to be a lean 135-140 by the first day of summer. Is 20-25 lbs. of gain with minimal fat a pipe dream? It comes out to about 1.5 lbs. per week but most things I've read seem to say that a good bulk from a scrawny person should be no more than 1 lb. per week, and possibly even .5. Can I just binge for the next 15 weeks and then get up to 145 and then cut a little? Or would I just be too fat by then? My TDEE is 2053 and after having done some experimenting over the last six weeks or so, I've found that 2700 is letting me get noticeably stronger but not as gross as I was when I was eating 3200 for a few weeks.

Sorry this is so long. I just need someone to tell me "If you gain 20 lbs. in three months, you will look soft, and you can't gain 30 in two months only to cut 10 in the following month."

I've noticed the community here is infinitely more helpful and polite than the one over at BodyBuilding.com so please don't let me down :smiley: Thanks for any input!

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Hi and welcome!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300326/most-helpful-posts-goal-gaining-weight-must-reads#latest
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
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    20-25lbs muscle gain is a yearly goal, not something you can achieve in 4 months.

    You can do it slow and lean, or quick and dirty. Any fat will ultimately have to be removed later if you want abs, a 4-5lb gain per month would be a maximum I would aim for.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    terapinstati0n24 wrote: »
    Is 20-25 lbs. of gain with minimal fat a pipe dream?

    Not happening in your timeframe.

    Do the best you can with the time you have available and let the chips fall where they may.

    Read this if you haven't already:

    Genetic Muscular Potential

  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    terapinstati0n24 wrote: »
    I WANT to be a lean 135-140 by the first day of summer. Is 20-25 lbs. of gain with minimal fat a pipe dream?

    Unrealistic I'm afraid
    terapinstati0n24 wrote: »
    most things I've read seem to say that a good bulk from a scrawny person should be no more than 1 lb. per week, and possibly even .5.

    Those values are about right according to conventional wisdom of muscle building.

    terapinstati0n24 wrote: »
    I just need someone to tell me "If you gain 20 lbs. in three months, you will look soft, and you can't gain 30 in two months only to cut 10 in the following month."

    That is exactly what I'm telling you.

    2700 and your current work out appears to be working for you, you have made good progress this year. So, stick with it and be patient. You may not (probably will not I'm afraid) achieve your number target for the summer but you will have added more muscle and probably very little fat and you will feel (and probably look) great.

    Keep going!
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    edited March 2016
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    20 to 25 pounds of muscle is going to be over a year of work for you, probably 2 years unless you are on drugs or really genetically gifted. You have a great P ratio right now meaning that even if you do nothing you'll still gain a large percentage of your weight in muscle and since you are working out then you will gain a lot more muscle. Just eat because you are so underweight right now you need to add fat too so that you can increase your testoterone and other hormones.

    If you gain 20 pounds and half is fat you will actually be looking more healthy than you do now and you won't be soft at all. I'll bet that you'll be around 12% BF if you did that.
  • terapinstati0n24
    terapinstati0n24 Posts: 2 Member
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    That's pretty much what I needed to hear. The more I did the math in my head, the less realistic it sounded. Thanks for the encouragement and advice!!
  • mattw4jc
    mattw4jc Posts: 17 Member
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    Good that you see the math is not realistic. I would also encourage you to not worry about the first day of summer or any specific date. Yes, measuring and keeping track will help you know progress and when/what to adjust, but if you miss an arbitrary goal you may just get discouraged.

    You want to improve your health and fitness for a lifetime not for a season.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Wheelhouse15 wrote: »
    20 to 25 pounds of muscle is going to be over a year of work for you, probably 2 years unless you are on drugs or really genetically gifted. You have a great P ratio right now meaning that even if you do nothing you'll still gain a large percentage of your weight in muscle and since you are working out then you will gain a lot more muscle. Just eat because you are so underweight right now you need to add fat too so that you can increase your testoterone and other hormones.

    If you gain 20 pounds and half is fat you will actually be looking more healthy than you do now and you won't be soft at all. I'll bet that you'll be around 12% BF if you did that.

    cosign ..

    slow and steady wins the race OP …

  • codsterlaing95
    codsterlaing95 Posts: 221 Member
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    20 lbs of muscle in a year is doable for a noob, but it sure as hell won't be pure muscle. There will be plenty of fat accompanying it.
  • pbryd
    pbryd Posts: 364 Member
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    Don't be discouraged by the seemingly small monthly weight gain we're recommending.

    I've gained an average of 1.7lbs per month since September, for a total of 9.5lb.

    At a height of 5'6" that 9.5lb has made a big difference.

    If you added 4lb per month for the next 4 months you'll end up 16lb heavier and look totally different.

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