First time bulking
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curtismccall
Posts: 27 Member
So I am on the first week of my first actual bulk and I have noticed that I "gained" 9lbs on the scale. I know that's not all weight gain but was wondering if it's common to have extra water weight and bloating when switching eating plans up like that? I know before I was at about 1800 calories and now I'm around 2500 and even looking in the mirror I am looking significantly softer and have a lot less muscle definition. Is that normal?
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Replies
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That's quite a jump in cals, which will definitely cause significant water retention. What's your TDEE?0
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That's a hefty surplus.
But yeah, dietary changes as in more carbs, sodium, eating more food in general and if you changed or added strength training.. there's a lot going on, but its normal and will even back out.
I would rethink the amount of your surplus.0 -
I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week0
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curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.1 -
curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The 1800 threw me off.0 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.
How long should I spend going from a deficit to a surplus?0 -
That's a hefty surplus.
But yeah, dietary changes as in more carbs, sodium, eating more food in general and if you changed or added strength training.. there's a lot going on, but its normal and will even back out.
I would rethink the amount of your surplus.
I know I have started increasing the intensity of my workouts which might be part of the reason0 -
curtismccall wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.
How long should I spend going from a deficit to a surplus?
Personally, I'd increase 100 cals/day each week.1 -
curtismccall wrote: »That's a hefty surplus.
But yeah, dietary changes as in more carbs, sodium, eating more food in general and if you changed or added strength training.. there's a lot going on, but its normal and will even back out.
I would rethink the amount of your surplus.
I know I have started increasing the intensity of my workouts which might be part of the reason
This will be part of it. Add in the jump in calorie intake to what you are eating now and the things listed is what is occurring.0 -
Agreed you went from a cut to eating 1800 to 2300 calories. My cutting calories is also 1600-1800 and my maintainence bulk is 2300 to 2400. You should increase calories to 100 a week, I’d suggest starting off increasing 20h of carbs each week0
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I would have increased slower myself, especially going from a deficit to a surplus. Up to you whether you want to ride it out but I would be logging pretty carefully.1
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I remember that’s exactly what happened to me and my body balanced out after a while makes sense knowing that your body will adjust to the change0
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Alright I will re-adjust and see if that helps me out some. I appreciate all the advice0
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There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to fitness and nutrition, the most important part initially is finding out what your maintenance (you can do the reverse dieting like people here have suggested) is before even starting a bulk. The only way to know is to weigh yourself every morning after going to the bathroom and before breakfast. You average it out after 7 days and then you compare with your previous week averages. If your average weight is the same or almost the same as in the past week's average, that means you found your maintenance. Once you know your maintenance, you just increase your calories by 250 to get a slight surplus, you might even want to go up to 500 surplus (only if this is your first year of lifting, if you have more than one year under the belt, I suggest you stick with 250...after 3-4 years, then your surplus should be 100-200 calories...and the more years you lift, the lower your surplus should be).
Make sure to eat the same number of calories each day and when you weigh yourself, ideally you should weigh yourself naked or at least just with your underwears, clothes may make your weigh ins innacurate.0 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.
How long should I spend going from a deficit to a surplus?
Personally, I'd increase 100 cals/day each week.
I agree with this and this is known as reverse dieting, which has a lot of merit. Your caloric requirements actually reduce slightly during a prolonged diet and you and up with a thermic gap between where you should be and where you actually are. This gap is known as adaptive thermogenesis and closes over time but you need to give your body time to recover. Evidence suggests that there will always be some slight reduction in metabolism after a diet, but this isn't likely to be a problem; however, you do need to figure out what your new metabolic rate is.
I would suggest an adaptation time between cut to bulk to give your body time to recover and the gradual increase of calories by 100 per week is a good strategy.
You can get more information on this by going to YouTube and checking out Dr Layne Norton's channel and looking for his vlogs on reverse dieting.
As for your initial post about the 9lbs this is likely glycogen regain + water retention. 1lb of glycogen will cause a gain of 5lbs when you add in the water it attracts. When you are in a caloric deficit you tend to lose glycogen reserves especially if you were low carb and/or doing a lot of exercising during the diet.0 -
There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to fitness and nutrition, the most important part initially is finding out what your maintenance (you can do the reverse dieting like people here have suggested) is before even starting a bulk. The only way to know is to weigh yourself every morning after going to the bathroom and before breakfast. You average it out after 7 days and then you compare with your previous week averages. If your average weight is the same or almost the same as in the past week's average, that means you found your maintenance. Once you know your maintenance, you just increase your calories by 250 to get a slight surplus, you might even want to go up to 500 surplus (only if this is your first year of lifting, if you have more than one year under the belt, I suggest you stick with 250...after 3-4 years, then your surplus should be 100-200 calories...and the more years you lift, the lower your surplus should be).
Make sure to eat the same number of calories each day and when you weigh yourself, ideally you should weigh yourself naked or at least just with your underwears, clothes may make your weigh ins innacurate.
I have started weighing myself daily starting about a month ago and I feel that that has helped me stay on track better doing exactly how you say. In the morning before I eat or drink anything. I will try to figure out my maintenance and go from there. I know I've only experienced weight loss in my time so weight maintenance and gain are still new to me haha
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.
How long should I spend going from a deficit to a surplus?
Personally, I'd increase 100 cals/day each week.
I agree with this and this is known as reverse dieting, which has a lot of merit. Your caloric requirements actually reduce slightly during a prolonged diet and you and up with a thermic gap between where you should be and where you actually are. This gap is known as adaptive thermogenesis and closes over time but you need to give your body time to recover. Evidence suggests that there will always be some slight reduction in metabolism after a diet, but this isn't likely to be a problem; however, you do need to figure out what your new metabolic rate is.
I would suggest an adaptation time between cut to bulk to give your body time to recover and the gradual increase of calories by 100 per week is a good strategy.
You can get more information on this by going to YouTube and checking out Dr Layne Norton's channel and looking for his vlogs on reverse dieting.
As for your initial post about the 9lbs this is likely glycogen regain + water retention. 1lb of glycogen will cause a gain of 5lbs when you add in the water it attracts. When you are in a caloric deficit you tend to lose glycogen reserves especially if you were low carb and/or doing a lot of exercising during the diet.
I will definitely check that out when I get the opportunity. This is one of my first times hearing about it0 -
curtismccall wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »Davidsdottir wrote: »curtismccall wrote: »I believe if I had it on maintenance on here it has me around 2200 Cals. I only set it to gain .5 lbs a week
The issue is that you jumped straight from a deficit to a surplus.
How long should I spend going from a deficit to a surplus?
Personally, I'd increase 100 cals/day each week.
I agree with this and this is known as reverse dieting, which has a lot of merit. Your caloric requirements actually reduce slightly during a prolonged diet and you and up with a thermic gap between where you should be and where you actually are. This gap is known as adaptive thermogenesis and closes over time but you need to give your body time to recover. Evidence suggests that there will always be some slight reduction in metabolism after a diet, but this isn't likely to be a problem; however, you do need to figure out what your new metabolic rate is.
I would suggest an adaptation time between cut to bulk to give your body time to recover and the gradual increase of calories by 100 per week is a good strategy.
You can get more information on this by going to YouTube and checking out Dr Layne Norton's channel and looking for his vlogs on reverse dieting.
As for your initial post about the 9lbs this is likely glycogen regain + water retention. 1lb of glycogen will cause a gain of 5lbs when you add in the water it attracts. When you are in a caloric deficit you tend to lose glycogen reserves especially if you were low carb and/or doing a lot of exercising during the diet.
I will definitely check that out when I get the opportunity. This is one of my first times hearing about it
I'm not surprised since it's fairly well known in the fitness community but most people are just trying to lose weight and don't pay much attention to what happens after.1 -
I allways have a decent jump in weight the first few weeks of a bulk. Give it a couple weeks and see how it goes.0
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i googled pics of people on clean bulks to get an idea of what i might be in for. i was worried that after working hard all these months on a cut that i would lose everything. its different for sure but im lifiting heavier, looking strong. i am worried about gaining too much fat but it hasnt been happened.0
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