Time to Gain! Anyone running a bulk?

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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,372 MFP Moderator
    sal10851 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    sal10851 wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    Geez @sal10851 are you posting this in every thread in the gaining forum? What are you trying to achieve here? Have you seen some of the physiques of the people around here who have successfully run bulks?

    Yup.

    Are you a bodybuilder? Do you have experience doing any of the things Greg speaks about? I am just genuinely curious because there is no one size fits all for everyone, different things work for different people.

    That's exactly the point of the video. If you pay attention to the information provided and not jump to conclusions about the person providing it you will see that you can achieve your goals either way. I just want people to understand the dangers of bulking to an unhealthy weight and then cutting back which leads to eating disorders.

    Most of us here have been doing this for quite awhile. Greg doesn't provide any evidence or support for his position. If you want to eat at maintenance while you are overfat thinking you will get lean, then best of luck to you. But trying to force your position by spamming a video isn't going to change our positions.

    And like @sardelsa said, have you looked at a lot of the physiques in this thread section?
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    edited October 2020
    Applicability of the video’s message aside, does he remind anyone else of a jacked Gilbert Gottfried?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    steveko89 wrote: »
    Applicability of the video’s message aside, does he remind anyone else of a jacked Gilbert Gottfried?

    Bahaha yup!! Too funny!! :D
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    steveko89 wrote: »
    Applicability of the video’s message aside, does he remind anyone else of a jacked Gilbert Gottfried?

    https://youtu.be/qq7Kkg8ly5o
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    Curious, how long do you all wait to adjust calories? I am 2 weeks into my 100 calorie surplus and have not seen too much, predictably and on purpose! I think perhaps 100 calories may be too small, as, theoretically, it would result in approx 1 lbs gain over a month. As a woman and a human, WOW, 1 lb of actual gain can be hard to measure! So, do you just stay the route until your lifts suffer? Fatigue builds? You look in the mirror and see no noticeable differences from one month to another?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    @alexmose do you use a weight trend app or anything? That can help to determine small gain trends over time.

    But yup 100 calories is not a lot. You could be gaining very slowly, your body could be compensating with extra activity using the extra calories and you might even be maintaining.

    When I ran my first bulk back in 2014 the idea if a tiny surplus and very slow bulk was kind of frowned upon here. They claimed it was "spinning your wheels" and in a sense it could be true since you might end up maintaining, and if that is not your goal it can be frustrating.

    In the end you can keep sticking with it or if you find yourself getting frustrated that you aren't gaining then add some extra calories.

    That's why I tend to run 1.5-2lbs per month bulks. Right now I'm actually trying the small surplus since I don't mind if I'm maintaining/recomping a bit. As long as I'm not losing!

  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    I've been averaging just below 1 lb/month track and my average calories reflect that but it's come with some noise in the data. I also don't love that R^2 value for a linear fit but here we are.

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  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    @alexmose do you use a weight trend app or anything? That can help to determine small gain trends over time.

    But yup 100 calories is not a lot. You could be gaining very slowly, your body could be compensating with extra activity using the extra calories and you might even be maintaining.

    When I ran my first bulk back in 2014 the idea if a tiny surplus and very slow bulk was kind of frowned upon here. They claimed it was "spinning your wheels" and in a sense it could be true since you might end up maintaining, and if that is not your goal it can be frustrating.

    In the end you can keep sticking with it or if you find yourself getting frustrated that you aren't gaining then add some extra calories.

    That's why I tend to run 1.5-2lbs per month bulks. Right now I'm actually trying the small surplus since I don't mind if I'm maintaining/recomping a bit. As long as I'm not losing!

    Hi There! Yep, I use happy scale. Can see the .5-1lb leap up 2 weeks ago when I started the bulk. Has been stable this past week. I am probably going to keep with these cals until my performance suffers maybe or just add another 100 in 2 weeks. That way, I get a full month of fluctuations to see what I have "gained"...or "maintained"....sigh this is complicated.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Omg I love all the kiddos! Sooo cute!! <3 I had an Elsa, AJ(from Blaze and the Monster Machines) and a little skeleton :)

    And @steveko89 you look awesome!

  • ThomasJCasella
    ThomasJCasella Posts: 5 Member
    I’m a beginner in bulk mode, just eating whatever I want, 3k calories a day at 150lbs, 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein.

    I’m 3 months into my bulk and I’m up 13.3lbs. They are pretty clean gains, then again I’m a beginner and naturally an ectomorph body type.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    edited November 2020
    Also coming close to the three month mark (82 days since data inflection point) and up just under 4lbs. Did a skulpt scan today and I’m allegedly right at the same 11.1-11.3%BF since 9/1. Qualitatively, I’m feeling broader/fuller but a little more fluffy in my trouble spots than I’d prefer. Trying to not let it bother me and stay the course. A few weeks ago I cranked up calories a little after weight had leveled off and even dipped a little though I may have swung the pendulum too far. Thoughts?

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  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    @steveko89 sounds like you are bulking right! Try not to overthink it. Just keep regular tabs on your weight and measurements and make sure they don't go too crazy.

    Keep it up :)
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    Do you guys reduce calories during de-loads? JW, as I am currently in isolation and taking this as a deload with just bodyweight and 2 lower weight dumbbells.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Do you guys reduce calories during de-loads? JW, as I am currently in isolation and taking this as a deload with just bodyweight and 2 lower weight dumbbells.

    @alexmose I personally don't. I find that too meticulous and it would drive me mad!
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Do you guys reduce calories during de-loads? JW, as I am currently in isolation and taking this as a deload with just bodyweight and 2 lower weight dumbbells.

    Lifting is such a small calorie burn that I wouldn't usually consider it worthwhile to try and adjust calories for the week or two that most people do deloads. However, if you're in lockdown and you're going to be there for weeks then you might need to adjust your calories but that will be apparent from your weight trend during that time.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Do you guys reduce calories during de-loads? JW, as I am currently in isolation and taking this as a deload with just bodyweight and 2 lower weight dumbbells.

    Like Gary said, I wouldn’t think you’d need to. You’re still getting some stimuli and your TDEE probably isn’t that different.