Feedback on my bulk?? [pics]

dillmilk · October 2016

I'm new to this so I would appreciate some feedback and criticism. Should I gain 30 more pounds before I cut or am I reaching my limit??? I'm 6'5 180 lbs at the moment. My goal was to reach 210 and cut to 190. The flex photo is pretty *kitten* but obviously I'm sucking in my gut. Any advice/criticism is appreciated!

dillmilk · October 2016

My starting weight was 145 if anyone was interested. I looked like this:

usmcmp · October 2016

You've definitely added some thickness. It looks as though your body fat is to the point where nutrient partitioning is less than ideal. That means your body is going to be adding a higher percentage of fat rather than lean mass, even with an identical surplus as the beginning.

You may want to consider recomposition at this point. It's likely going to take just as long as bulk and cut cycles, but I'm not sure you really want to add more body fat than you currently have.

dillmilk · October 2016

Is body recomposition eating at a surplus on training days and eating at deficit on rest days? Why would I do this over a traditional cut? I'm just curious. Would it be to see good results without losing too much weight?

sskly48 · October 2016

You've added good size. You can probably just go into a mini cut phase, get to a certain leanness, and continue the bulk. Otherwise it'll be a long cut if you keep bulking now and it could get demotivating

usmcmp · October 2016

dylan_mazur wrote: »

Is body recomposition eating at a surplus on training days and eating at deficit on rest days? Why would I do this over a traditional cut? I'm just curious. Would it be to see good results without losing too much weight?

Recomposition is basically eating at maintenance. This could be a surplus on lifting days and a deficit on rest days, but eating at maintenance every day works too.

During a cut you are going to lose some lean mass. During recomposition you'll keep the lean mass, add more, plus drop fat while not really gaining or losing weight. Based on the pictures you're new enough to lifting that you'll still be adding muscle fairly easy. Take advantage of the newbie gains by working towards recomposition.

If you add 30 more pounds you'll end up fat, even if you only gain 3 pounds per month.

pbryd · October 2016

what does your lifting routine look like?

dillmilk · October 2016

usmcmp · October 2016

Do you do that once per week? Even if you do it twice that's not much volume for each body part. You may want to consider a 3-4 day per week hypertrophy routine.

pbryd · October 2016

I think the routine is fine on an AxBxAxxBxAxB over two weeks.

dillmilk · October 2016

Yeah, I do ababab (three workouts a week). It's hard for me to find more time than that. I also do three sets where my routine says to only do one.

se015 · October 2016

Okay so I was having a similar problem. You've got to really decide this one. Now are you happy with your current size or could you be bigger? If so continue bulking, BUT and I keep telling people this, gain weight SLOWLY, do NOT rush it. I know some of us are impatient as was I at one point too, but I learned the hard way that by rushing weight gain you end up accumulating more fat than muscle. You also need to monitor your body fat % because that's major if you want a good physique. At bulking I recommend that a male stay under 17% and at cutting you really want to reach 10% or lower if you're crazy enough. So it's good you gained weight, but if you're over 20% bf as a male, you've got to cut some weight and get that bf lower and THEN bulk again. It's all trial and error my friend. At one point I was 150 and I had no idea what my bf was at the time, over time I ended up gaining weight up to 175 lbs, I looked sort of fat, but not super fat where it was gross or anything. I then cut this summer all the way back down to 150 and I was just at around 10%. I can tell you that with the SAME WEIGHT I looked WAY more muscular and BIGGER, yes BIGGER with the same weight because of body fat %. Does that make sense?

AgentFlex · October 2016

sskly48 wrote: »

You've added good size. You can probably just go into a mini cut phase, get to a certain leanness, and continue the bulk. Otherwise it'll be a long cut if you keep bulking now and it could get demotivating

I completely agree with the part about lengthy bulking getting demotivating. I sort of declared a summer of fun eating and unintentionally bulked. I have no problem staying motivated to stick with my lifting program, but I can't get my head back on straight with food because I feel discouraged by the bit of chub I have gained.

dillmilk · October 2016

Thanks for your in-depth post Seth! I would like to be between 10-14% bf. Looking at my pictures I'm probably in the 20-25%'range right now. I would like to be bigger (210) but I don't want to be fat. I guess I should cut and then bulk again (slower this time). Any idea how much I should cut and how big my defecit should be? Also is there a calculator for figuring out bf% or do I have to buy calipers?

dillmilk · October 2016

It's bad timing for a cut .. Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas are right around the corner. Maybe I should put off the cut for three more months and in the meantime try body recomp to see if it works?

pinggolfer96 · October 2016

That workout program looks like it is lacking significantly. There is not enough volume IMO. Especially when bulking, you want to take advantage of that. Especially if you've just been performing that in your bulking phase, it's time to change things up.

usmcmp · October 2016

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

That workout program looks like it is lacking significantly. There is not enough volume IMO. Especially when bulking, you want to take advantage of that. Especially if you've just been performing that in your bulking phase, it's time to change things up.

I agree completely! Not nearly enough volume even if he's repeating it.

amzblitz · October 2016

Your routine needs a lot of adjustments

pbryd · October 2016

I think the routine is fine for his level of development.

It will allow him to build strength in the compound lifts at each workout.

When the novice linear gains dry up, he can move to a weekly progression and add volume then.

dillmilk · October 2016

amzblitz wrote: »

Your routine needs a lot of adjustments

Suggestions?

Jcl81 · October 2016

dylan_mazur wrote: »

The only way to know if the routine is "lacking" is to determine your ORM one rep max is, then use 60-80 percent of that. Retesting based on how easy it gets, and at least once a month, then increase sets, rep ranges or total weight.

Example: I can do 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps of 150 on bench and not get a decent workout. Or I could do 200 on bench 2-4 sets 6-8 reps and get a super workout. People overlook intensity all the time.

I think the volume is there. Although, I do question your leg workouts. Calf raises to me seem pointless, I advise you to do some leg presses or lunges instead. Either way, the leg muscle groups are harder to train and they usually require more reps and sets, but if you're having DOMS, that last 48 hours or more you might want to lower the volume or weight, and if you're not feeling any soreness or tenderness, very slightly raise the weight or volume. No one is going to tell you the exact set/rep range/weight to use without knowing a lot more information.

Feedback on my bulk?? [pics]

Replies

Categories