Time to Gain! Anyone running a bulk?
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tictoerest wrote: »@sardelsa No, I'm not Sal.
Gaining weight because you're underweight is a different subject. That's why I said, "It's best to just stay at a healthy weight." What I'm talking about is the cycle of bulking and cutting which is nonsense. People will yo yo diet where they fatten up and then lower their calorie intake to get rid of the fat so their muscles will show, but this is not necessary for drug free people. If you're underweight then you should raise you calorie intake to whatever is a healthy amount for your figure.
I was thinking I needed to bulk, but then I figured out it doesn't make sense and I was having wishful thinking like so many other people trying to pack on muscle. I'm around a normal weight for my size. I do need to lean out though. My body fat is above normal. So I went back to my regular calorie intake and I'm trying to eat healthier. I will continue my progression with weight lifting.
Well I am also bulking again now. I am at a healthy weight. But I am quite lean. I can't make progress by leaning out more, and while I could recomp it wouldn't give me what I want which is to get bigger and heavier.
There is successful bulking and unsuccessful bulking. Just like successful cutting, recomping, you name it. It can all go wrong.
If your bodyfat is above normal I agree you should NOT bulk. No one is recommending that anyone bulks if they have a high bodyfat.3 -
I don't see anyone suggesting to bulk for the sake of bulking and exceed the confines of "normal" or "healthy" body fat (8-19% for Men, 21-33% for women per a google... though in my non-expert judgement I'd probably make the cutoffs at 15% and 25-28%). Since I started training with barbells in 2015 I've been able to experience a linear-ish improvement to body composition with significant improvements to strength and muscularity while my weight has fluctuated, though within the confines of "healthy/normal" for my size.
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I don't see anyone suggesting to bulk for the sake of bulking and exceed the confines of "normal" or "healthy" body fat (8-19% for Men, 21-33% for women per a google... though in my non-expert judgement I'd probably make the cutoffs at 15% and 25-28%). Since I started training with barbells in 2015 I've been able to experience a linear-ish improvement to body composition with significant improvements to strength and muscularity while my weight has fluctuated, though within the confines of "healthy/normal" for my size.
I would like to see a comparison of someone who doesn't go through the cycle of "bulking and cutting" to see how much of a difference there is in terms of body fat and strength gains. Is is that huge a difference or is it minuscule?0 -
tictoerest wrote: »I don't see anyone suggesting to bulk for the sake of bulking and exceed the confines of "normal" or "healthy" body fat (8-19% for Men, 21-33% for women per a google... though in my non-expert judgement I'd probably make the cutoffs at 15% and 25-28%). Since I started training with barbells in 2015 I've been able to experience a linear-ish improvement to body composition with significant improvements to strength and muscularity while my weight has fluctuated, though within the confines of "healthy/normal" for my size.
I would like to see a comparison of someone who doesn't go through the cycle of "bulking and cutting" to see how much of a difference there is in terms of body fat and strength gains. Is is that huge a difference or is it minuscule?
It's not surprising that my biggest strength gains correspond with my early training but also my biggest jump in scale weight while dropping body fat percentage. Though that scale jump wasn't necessarily intentional. From 2015 through mid-2017 I was relying an a HR monitor to measure calories for my workouts and eating back those calories more often than not, however my intent was always to get leaner as all the research suggests I was not in an optimally lean state for bulking efficiently. I was able to find documented maxes from the end of 2016 and by 9/27/16 I'd gotten to a 300lb deadlift and a 235lb bench at 173 lbs. I don't know I have the same success gaining strength in those first 18 months without gaining that weight, though it's not like I got super fat; we're talking less than 15 lbs at peak (below the "overweight" threshold per BMI) and allegedly <15% body fat by the end of 2016.
I have dealt with lower back and pec injuries since then (late 2016 and late 2017, respectively) which have certainly had an impact in my progress and muddles the data if you're looking at my lifts over the full span. The last few years I've also taken to more hypertrophy and aesthetics training goals rather than pure strength and bigger numbers.
For comparison's sake, my current calculated deadlift and bench maxes are 412lb and 288lb with most recent actual maxes of 395 and 285 in May 2020. I was able to add 20 lbs to my bench 5/2019 to 5/2020 so I'm curious what I can manage for 5/2021 with an actual intentional bulk this winter. That might help answer your overall question on recomp vs. bulking.1 -
Great personal perspective from layne
Here regarding recomp v bulk and cut
https://youtu.be/y54S8wspWRE 0 -
Layne is pretty great!
@sardelsa you are making some good gains!
I am finding it hard to keep maintenance diet during my recovery period hehe I want to keep up my bulk but no training
Thanks @alexmose those are photos from before I had my third baby so I think I lost some gains. But I do like my look now too.2 -
And here the bulk will end. I am out on a severe back injury for 4-6 weeks. Will focus on high protein and just eating when I am hungry, intuitive maintenance i guess.4
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And here the bulk will end. I am out on a severe back injury for 4-6 weeks. Will focus on high protein and just eating when I am hungry, intuitive maintenance i guess.
I am just coming out of recovery from a back injury. I chose not to record my food as I did not want the helpless feeling of no control with exercise. I chose to eat healthy at a surplus for aiding recovery and only step on the scale to know what is happening.0 -
And here the bulk will end. I am out on a severe back injury for 4-6 weeks. Will focus on high protein and just eating when I am hungry, intuitive maintenance i guess.
I am just coming out of recovery from a back injury. I chose not to record my food as I did not want the helpless feeling of no control with exercise. I chose to eat healthy at a surplus for aiding recovery and only step on the scale to know what is happening.
Oh interesting approach!! I just don’t want to gain fat and am sticking w healthy choices but I didn’t consider just stopping tracking!1 -
In the end I gained 5 lbs over 3 months but I was very lean when I stopped tracking.0
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Just hit day 90 and my 10pt trailing average weight is up 4.3 lbs, so 1.43 lbs/month. That's a higher rate than I was originally planning (+1lb/month) but it's been harder than I anticipated to strike the intake balance between a small surplus and eat-all-the-things. As the graph shows I had a few low days on the scale mid-October and may have over-corrected to get back on the plus side but the r^2 value for linear fit is improving, which I'm taking as a good sign. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, though this weekend was a little more active than usual with some fall yard work and I'm feeling that lack of recovery in my workouts this week.
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I'm trying to bulk at the moment and hit all my macros but it's my first time and not sure I'm doing that well, doesn't help that gyms are closed so resistance bands is the best I've got right now any advice would be fantastic. Currently trying to hit 2,100 calories with roughly 120g of protein, I drink 2 protein shakes a day as I don't have much time to eat whist at work, have an active job with lots of walking involved and not doing any other cardio. Any tips or advice I'd be really grateful for.2
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My poorly run, amateur, not-so-sure-I-gained-much-muscle bulk is about to come to an end after months and gaining 40 lbs. I'm fatter than I've ever been and perhaps slightly stronger. Well, it's been fun but I'm back to monitoring my macros more closely and after testing some 1 rep maxes should be back to cutting in the near future. The good news is my wife says I look better than ever so at least I retain my fat in good places. The next cut is going to be brutal though because I've become so spoiled.... sorry honey, Daddy's got to get skinny again lol.2
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I'm trying to bulk at the moment and hit all my macros but it's my first time and not sure I'm doing that well, doesn't help that gyms are closed so resistance bands is the best I've got right now any advice would be fantastic. Currently trying to hit 2,100 calories with roughly 120g of protein, I drink 2 protein shakes a day as I don't have much time to eat whist at work, have an active job with lots of walking involved and not doing any other cardio. Any tips or advice I'd be really grateful for.
@tiacaviel, regarding bands vs. weights; you can still get plenty of stimuli, provided you're able to incorporate some progressive overload, so that shouldn't be a big problem.
As far as your calories are concerned, it's hard to provide any definitive insight without knowing your starting stats, though on the face of it 2100 cal/day seems a little low for someone with an active job and thus may be insufficient to get you into a surplus. Same with the protein, if 120g is at least 0.8 g/lb of body weight you're probably in good shape there; ideally that'd be spread throughout the day but the total number is more important than the timing.0 -
I'm trying to bulk at the moment and hit all my macros but it's my first time and not sure I'm doing that well, doesn't help that gyms are closed so resistance bands is the best I've got right now any advice would be fantastic. Currently trying to hit 2,100 calories with roughly 120g of protein, I drink 2 protein shakes a day as I don't have much time to eat whist at work, have an active job with lots of walking involved and not doing any other cardio. Any tips or advice I'd be really grateful for.
I have used resistance bands exclusively for the past 2 years. In combination with a door anchor, a bar bell, and an adjustable bench, I can mimic near anything that I want. I am not talking thin tube style bands, these are very thick and offer significant resistance, especially if you get a couple of sets and double, triple up the large bands for things like squats, deadlifts, bench press, lat pulldowns, overhead press, barbell row, etc..the options are endless.....I have built more muscle than I have ever had using bands...I am not saying that I couldn’t do this with weights, just saying that its pretty clear to me that muscles don’t know the difference between bands and weights....they only know resistance. If you provide enough resistance, muscle will build.
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I'm trying to bulk at the moment and hit all my macros but it's my first time and not sure I'm doing that well, doesn't help that gyms are closed so resistance bands is the best I've got right now any advice would be fantastic. Currently trying to hit 2,100 calories with roughly 120g of protein, I drink 2 protein shakes a day as I don't have much time to eat whist at work, have an active job with lots of walking involved and not doing any other cardio. Any tips or advice I'd be really grateful for.
@tiacaviel do you meal prep? I would start to prep easy calorie dense snacks if you can and have things on hand when you are in the car or when you do eat. Or even when you get home. Granola, trail mix, roasted nuts, crackers and cheese, bagels with salmon, prep chicken then just boil some pasta to go with it, you can use the chicken in tacos or sandwiches. Prep curries/sauces portion them then freeze and you can add it to any protein/carb/vegetable dish. Of course there are also smoothies so adding more calories to your protein shakes can help .0 -
billkansas wrote: »My poorly run, amateur, not-so-sure-I-gained-much-muscle bulk is about to come to an end after months and gaining 40 lbs. I'm fatter than I've ever been and perhaps slightly stronger. Well, it's been fun but I'm back to monitoring my macros more closely and after testing some 1 rep maxes should be back to cutting in the near future. The good news is my wife says I look better than ever so at least I retain my fat in good places. The next cut is going to be brutal though because I've become so spoiled.... sorry honey, Daddy's got to get skinny again lol.
@billkansas
Good luck!
And you don't have to get skinny again, muscular and shredded this time 1 -
My bulk is going alright. A bit of a jump lately due to ploughing some food over the weekend.
I look the same since it's still early and I'm going so slow. I think the glutes are popping a bit more probably since I'm retaining more water from all the carbos. Nothing to get too excited about
Trying to tone down the growth of the quads and hammies this time so we'll see how well that goes. I'm taking some risks and cutting out a lot of exercises but it's fun to experiment and see where things go.
That's what it's all about
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i'm trying to do more of a recomp this time round. i gained way too much fat last time, i did however add quite a lot of strength, but low and behold the moment i cut i lost all that strength again. I'm just increasing calories if and when my strength gains stall. Right now i'm actually eating just under MFP calorie Maintenance goal. Still getting stronger each week.2
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Update: Tragically was sent to the hospital and now a neurologist to see what this back pain is about. Sigh*7
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14 Weeks in the books and I'm up 5 lbs by trend weight. Interestingly, my total intake has been requisite to a slightly higher gain and for the last month I've averaged ~300/day over TDEE. I'm going to make an effort to dial that back as it seems high given my training age.
I hope all are doing well. Both Ohio and Kentucky reinstated some COVID restrictions but stopped short of lockdown 2.0. It's looking like it'll just be the three of us for Thanksgiving next week too.1 -
I can't wait to get out of this temp home gym and into our new (much larger) gym. I even have a hip thruster which hadn't been put together yet so very exciting!! I'll post pics when it's all set up.
I'll probably bulk until March and see where I stand. I am getting there. Progress.
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I can't wait to get out of this temp home gym and into our new (much larger) gym. I even have a hip thruster which hadn't been put together yet so very exciting!! I'll post pics when it's all set up.
I'll probably bulk until March and see where I stand. I am getting there. Progress.
I'm very curious about the hip thruster. I finally got the Mrs. to start lifting again as cross-training for her running habit. Used StrongCurves as a loose template and adjusted for our equipment and her skill/preferences but it does have her doing hip thrusts; which right now is just with a dumbbell.0 -
I can't wait to get out of this temp home gym and into our new (much larger) gym. I even have a hip thruster which hadn't been put together yet so very exciting!! I'll post pics when it's all set up.
I'll probably bulk until March and see where I stand. I am getting there. Progress.
I'm very curious about the hip thruster. I finally got the Mrs. to start lifting again as cross-training for her running habit. Used StrongCurves as a loose template and adjusted for our equipment and her skill/preferences but it does have her doing hip thrusts; which right now is just with a dumbbell.
I've always used a bench. I have a regular and shorter one (which is easier for sure) but my bench always slides back plus I wanted to attach bands so the Hip Thruster was a great solution. I'll let you know how it is! There is a small more compact option Bret sells too, Hip Thruster Lite1 -
I can't wait to get out of this temp home gym and into our new (much larger) gym. I even have a hip thruster which hadn't been put together yet so very exciting!! I'll post pics when it's all set up.
I'll probably bulk until March and see where I stand. I am getting there. Progress.
I'm very curious about the hip thruster. I finally got the Mrs. to start lifting again as cross-training for her running habit. Used StrongCurves as a loose template and adjusted for our equipment and her skill/preferences but it does have her doing hip thrusts; which right now is just with a dumbbell.
I've always used a bench. I have a regular and shorter one (which is easier for sure) but my bench always slides back plus I wanted to attach bands so the Hip Thruster was a great solution. I'll let you know how it is! There is a small more compact option Bret sells too, Hip Thruster Lite
I didn't realize Bret had gotten into equipment until I googled out of curiosity; both models look intriguing.
Our flat bench is the preferred one for hip thrusts as it's a little shorter, has a thicker pad, and weighs like 85 lbs. The adjustable bench doesn't have any grip covering on the feet so will have the same sliding issue if not on the rubber flooring, which is mostly occupied the majority of the time. If the lite had wheels to move it around I'd probably have already gone ahead and ordered one.0 -
I do hip thrusts during pretty much every meso. Started with barbell and now it's all machine. I think they're equally effective but the machine is just so much more convenient.
And for any guy that doesn't think hip thrusts are important... 😂
https://youtu.be/ViBdy1y-Gkk?t=3m20s 0
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