Need some help- Trying to bulk and need advice
jbmackey5
Posts: 42 Member
Hi everyone, really excited to be on this forum. Ill try to keep this short but id really like some feedback.
Long story short, i use to be heavy. I am 5'10 and a half, use to be 220 and lost it all 5 years ago. i stopped lifting and got heavy into running and got very thin at 145 lbs. I have a wide large frame so i looked sick.
i hired a very good trainer to teach me a program and ive been doing it since august. my goal is to get to a healthy 175. i changed it up in October after gaining 6 lbs.
Currently im bulking on 3000 calories a day and im disappointed because ive hit a stall since early December. my strength and size hasn't been going up at all.
My biggest fear is getting too fat since i use to be fat. Mentally its very tough for me to tell myself i need to up my calories and eat more to get bigger. i really want to add mass and size but dont want a pot belly. i was at 7% BF in August and now im at 9.2%.
Any recommendations are appreciated. I am lifting heavy 3 days a week and doing hard cardio intervals the other 3.
Lastly, im not the type of person who cant gain weight. i have a normal metabolism which why im afraid of getting fat, but i try to tell myself that by adding calories it will go adding muscle and repairing vs going to my gut. Im thinking of adding 100-200 more calories to see if i see any gains. do you think thats too much?
Thanks so much in advance
Long story short, i use to be heavy. I am 5'10 and a half, use to be 220 and lost it all 5 years ago. i stopped lifting and got heavy into running and got very thin at 145 lbs. I have a wide large frame so i looked sick.
i hired a very good trainer to teach me a program and ive been doing it since august. my goal is to get to a healthy 175. i changed it up in October after gaining 6 lbs.
Currently im bulking on 3000 calories a day and im disappointed because ive hit a stall since early December. my strength and size hasn't been going up at all.
My biggest fear is getting too fat since i use to be fat. Mentally its very tough for me to tell myself i need to up my calories and eat more to get bigger. i really want to add mass and size but dont want a pot belly. i was at 7% BF in August and now im at 9.2%.
Any recommendations are appreciated. I am lifting heavy 3 days a week and doing hard cardio intervals the other 3.
Lastly, im not the type of person who cant gain weight. i have a normal metabolism which why im afraid of getting fat, but i try to tell myself that by adding calories it will go adding muscle and repairing vs going to my gut. Im thinking of adding 100-200 more calories to see if i see any gains. do you think thats too much?
Thanks so much in advance
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Replies
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How many calories above maintenance are you eating?0
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about 1500
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If you calculate your maintenance calories and add 500 calories to that per day, one would assume youd gain 1 lb per week of 'weight'. I say this because the exercise and food composition will largely determine what the constituents of this weight will be. If for example you consume a lot more lean protein opposed to fast acting carbs and combine it with weight lifting, that weight will be more likely to be muscle tissue opposed to fat.
Don't be too afraid of upping your calories. I know it's hard having been larger before, but you have to think of it as fuel, not food. You are fueling your working muscles and without those extra calories (ie without that fuel), how can you expect to grow? Also, the hard cardio may be detrimental to your gains. Ease off. If you're burning a tonne of calories from intense cardio, where are the calories your body will require to build tissue? They've gone!
Start off slowly, add another 100/150 a day for 2 weeks, combined with weight training and see what the scales say. If you have gained in excess of a few pounds, it's too high a number and reduce slightly. But if you're in a plateau at the moment I'd definitely say you're not intaking enough calories or burning way more than you are currently consuming.
Best of luck0 -
thats great feeeback. thanks so much. Its just hard mentally as I have struggled with food for so long but I really want to have the body i feel i deserve and work my butt off for. It sucks working as hard as i do at the gym and not getting bigger or stronger. i feel like im running in place.
Also, I posted this in the fitness board but ill ask you instead.
Lets say i burn 700 calories during one of my intense 60 minute cardio sessions and my TDEE is 3000. Is that 700 figured into that 3000 or do i need to make up for those lost calories that i burned at the gym? Make sense?
I assumed they were built in to the TDEE calculator when i put down "active" or "very active"0 -
I would suspect that if you haven't gained on average the past six weeks, you are burning more calories than you thought. Getting heavier means you burn more calories with activities especially cardio as you mentioned you do a fair amount.
When is the last time you adjusted your TDEE?
As far as your strength not gaining, your weight stall can attribute to the lull but also your programing volume or intensity or lack of could have bearing on it.
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ive been at 3000 for the past 3 months0
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thats great feeeback. thanks so much. Its just hard mentally as I have struggled with food for so long but I really want to have the body i feel i deserve and work my butt off for. It sucks working as hard as i do at the gym and not getting bigger or stronger. i feel like im running in place.
Also, I posted this in the fitness board but ill ask you instead.
Lets say i burn 700 calories during one of my intense 60 minute cardio sessions and my TDEE is 3000. Is that 700 figured into that 3000 or do i need to make up for those lost calories that i burned at the gym? Make sense?
I assumed they were built in to the TDEE calculator when i put down "active" or "very active"
If you're using mfp to calculate your calories then yes,you eat back what you burn during exercise.0 -
Your problem could well be the cardio. To bulk up you really need to cut down, and the fact that you were big into running tells me you go pretty hard with it. Cut it to 1 day a week. HIIT rather than long periods. Bump the calories, as already suggested. Also, ensure your gym program is tough enough to consistently shock the muscles and forcing them to grow.
Protein and good fats in the in the morning, carbs after workout and the evening.
Hope this is of use to you.0 -
Have you read these articles? They can help if you are struggling with fears of gaining.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1069962/the-former-fat-boy-girl-syndrome/p12 -
Those are great articles, thanks for posting. Just what i needed. Cheers!1
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All solid advice from some people with great personal successes. Gaining weight the 'ideal' way can be a long and tedious progress. Trust the process and have fun along the way. What helped me was taking pictures about every 3-6 months. It felt good to see changes overall and not just added fat either.
While I'm not content with my body image, I've shifted more towards strength goals as my primary focus to take away from the constant need or thought of looking a certain way.
Your story reminds me a lot of my own. Stick with it!!!!
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If you've stalled it's because you're not eating enough.0
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You are at 9% bodyfat which is lean. The generally accepted limit to a bulk is 15% so you're a long way off that.
Increase calories and keep going.1 -
thats great feeeback. thanks so much. Its just hard mentally as I have struggled with food for so long but I really want to have the body i feel i deserve and work my butt off for. It sucks working as hard as i do at the gym and not getting bigger or stronger. i feel like im running in place.
Also, I posted this in the fitness board but ill ask you instead.
Lets say i burn 700 calories during one of my intense 60 minute cardio sessions and my TDEE is 3000. Is that 700 figured into that 3000 or do i need to make up for those lost calories that i burned at the gym? Make sense?
I assumed they were built in to the TDEE calculator when i put down "active" or "very active"
Yes you need to eat those calories back. The active or very active or whatever you chose is your lifestyle sans workouts0 -
Bottom line is that you need to create an energy surplus since you're currently not in one.
I don't think you need to necessarily do anything complicated here, just add in another 100-200 calories or so and see what happens in two weeks.
You can "probably" put those additional calories in any combo of macronutrients however if you'd like more detailed feedback post your pro/fat/carbs in grams.0 -
good stuff. yes i forgot to post. i dont think i was getting enough carbs. im doing around 200 grams of protein per day and havent been tracking fats or carbs. all i eat is lean meats and veggies and protein shakes with fruit so i doubt im getting much fat except from eggs and yogurt.
If i were to guess id say im getting around 300-350 grams of carbs
Like ive said, the mental part of this is hard for me. I busted my *kitten* for 3 years to get down to 145, even though i realize now that was too low. Its hard mentally to have someone tell you, "Ok now stop, eat MORE and you need to gain 20/25 lbs slowly and build some mass".0 -
good stuff. yes i forgot to post. i dont think i was getting enough carbs. im doing around 200 grams of protein per day and havent been tracking fats or carbs. all i eat is lean meats and veggies and protein shakes with fruit so i doubt im getting much fat except from eggs and yogurt.
If i were to guess id say im getting around 300-350 grams of carbs
If you are literally only eating vegetables and fruits for your carbohydrate sources there's a reasonable chance you're not eating as many calories as you think. If you have any issues eating more simply due to being over-satiated I would consider eating more palatable carbohydrates and you could also reduce protein slightly if it helps you eat more.
If you enjoy your diet and you can hit your goals that way, cool.
I think you should try tracking fat/carbs for a bit too just to see where they are at.2 -
All great advice here. I really liked that FFB syndrome read. In bulking and weight gain I'm more on the receiving end of advice than giving, but I'll give you my personal experience and maybe it will make you feel more comfortable increasing your calories. I'm female, 5'6, 115 lbs. I started last August at 110 lbs decided to do a bulk, had initial success with a 0.5 gain per week. I stalled at 115.5 lb. After New Year I reevaluated. I had my MFP setting to highly active and gain 1 lb per week which gave me a baseline calorie of 2750. I was eating about 2500-2600 per day, which should have at least given me a half pound gain per week, but I was completely maintaining. So I did a fitbit experiment and wore my fitbit with HR monitor for 3 days, 2 days were training days, 1 day was rest day. Well on my training days fitbit calculated I burned around 2550 in a day and on my non-training day it calculated I burned about 2650 in the day. I don't like wearing a fitbit daily because it makes me feel judged (LOL my own hang up). So now I've just set my daily calories at 3000 and aim to hit that every day. My biggest hang up is eating enough on non-training days, but I keep just telling myself muscle grows when we rest and I need the calories, so I'm trying to hit that 3000 even on rest days. Good luck with your gains.1
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Another mental issue I'm trying to get out of the habit of is not being social or only eating things I know what's in them and what the nutritional value is. I know ahead of time when I go out to eat based on the online nutritional info
I get anxiety when I get invited to a dinner party at someone's house and they make something bad for me and I have no clue how they prepared it. When that happens I usually drink a huge protein shake before I go and eat a small plate and estimate.
I really want to kick that habit and enjoy life more and be more spur of the moment.0 -
Another mental issue I'm trying to get out of the habit of is not being social or only eating things I know what's in them and what the nutritional value is. I know ahead of time when I go out to eat based on the online nutritional info
I get anxiety when I get invited to a dinner party at someone's house and they make something bad for me and I have no clue how they prepared it. When that happens I usually drink a huge protein shake before I go and eat a small plate and estimate.
I really want to kick that habit and enjoy life more and be more spur of the moment.
You are also trying to gain. Not that you should go all out of control and eat everything in sight.. but in your case having a meal out or a larger than normal portion at someone's dinner party can actually be a good thing.
When bulking and I have to estimate the cal info, I tend to err on the side of caution and underestimate, which would be the opposite when I am trying to cut.
Try to relax a little. If you don't, bulking will be a really painful process and you may end up spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere, not what you want.1 -
Another mental issue I'm trying to get out of the habit of is not being social or only eating things I know what's in them and what the nutritional value is. I know ahead of time when I go out to eat based on the online nutritional info
I get anxiety when I get invited to a dinner party at someone's house and they make something bad for me and I have no clue how they prepared it. When that happens I usually drink a huge protein shake before I go and eat a small plate and estimate.
I really want to kick that habit and enjoy life more and be more spur of the moment.
Is there a reason you only eat fruits and vegetables for your carbohydrate source?
Have you tried taking a short break from tracking?
I'm just curious.0 -
i eat other things- a normal day is oatmeal, veggies- potatoes, corn, green veggies, fruit, carrots, kettle corn, yogurt, banana. on saturday night i like to enjoy a nice meal out so my wife and i go somewhere fun and i usually eat mexican or order pizza.0
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Wanted to follow up this with a few issues that ive been having.
1. Im not seeing the size i want, but i am getting a little tighter in some areas. One is my pants. Is that normal for my pants to be tighter in the waist? Im hoping its just because of all the legwork and core that ive been doing, and not from love handles beginning to form.
2. If im growing doesnt that already mean im in a surplus? Im scared to bump my calories to 3100 or 3200 because im afraid my BF% is going to skyrocket. I know it all goes back to my main question of not getting as big and strong as id like.0 -
Wanted to follow up this with a few issues that ive been having.
1. Im not seeing the size i want, but i am getting a little tighter in some areas. One is my pants. Is that normal for my pants to be tighter in the waist? Im hoping its just because of all the legwork and core that ive been doing, and not from love handles beginning to form.
2. If im growing doesnt that already mean im in a surplus? Im scared to bump my calories to 3100 or 3200 because im afraid my BF% is going to skyrocket. I know it all goes back to my main question of not getting as big and strong as id like.
Well my feeling is, you can keep doing what your doing and therefore keep getting the same results, or you can try something different. I'm pretty sure only eating 100-200 more calories a day is not going to make your BF% skyrocket. Sometimes you have to change the way you think to accomplish your goals.
In regards to your pants feeling tighter but not "seeing" any difference in size, have you actually taken measurements of your waist, hips, thighs, calves, arms, etc?0 -
i can tell my butt is fuller and my thighs, i was just wondering why my pants are harder to button. I guess its just a mental thing that nobody ever wants to put on their pants and find it hard to button, but if its because my muscle around it are making it harder then im fine.
i took measurements in august and need to do them again0 -
Fat gain is inevitable with muscle gain. However, luckily, it sounds like you're doing it perfectly where you are gaining minimal fat!
Adding calories can be scary at first but look- you already acknowledged you're at a standstill. The only way to continue to build muscle is to a. increase caloric intake or b. increase weight (overall volume) being lifted in the gym OR c. a combination of the two! Personally, I work with a 20, 15, 15, 10 rep scheme with the weight being light, moderate, moderate, then heavy, respectively. Depending on what you are doing now, give this a shot.
Also, be aware it takes a minimum of 8 weeks to notice significant strength gains. I HIGHLY recommend journaling all exercises and each weight used and aiming to beat that each week for 8 weeks, I can almost guarantee you will watch your working weight become your warm up weight. Don't forget to switch it up too, your muscles can easily get accustomed to what you put them through. Use bodybuilding.com for a free library of exercises that you can filter by muscle group and equipment available. They also have programs already written for you and free of cost for your goals.
If you are putting in work, and eating nutrient dense foods consistently, you have no reason to fear getting fat!
Out of curiosity, how long are your cardio sessions/what exactly are they? Maybe you are pushing too hard in this aspect. Not sure, but a possibility!0
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