Time to Gain! Anyone running a bulk?

Guys I am so excited. I worked with my PT and we figured out ways to work around my back injury (we still think it’s a bulging disc/pinched nerve). No more squats but will try goblet squats next time. If it’s a no go, sticking w Bulgarian split squats. No DLs. Hip thrusts! Thrust is a must. No RDLs or lying leg curls. Going to try seated curls. Anyone have any other hamstring exercises?

No OHP. Sticking w upright rows and lat raises. Any other shoulder exercises?

psuLemon wrote: »

alexmose wrote: »

Guys I am so excited. I worked with my PT and we figured out ways to work around my back injury (we still think it’s a bulging disc/pinched nerve). No more squats but will try goblet squats next time. If it’s a no go, sticking w Bulgarian split squats. No DLs. Hip thrusts! Thrust is a must. No RDLs or lying leg curls. Going to try seated curls. Anyone have any other hamstring exercises?

No OHP. Sticking w upright rows and lat raises. Any other shoulder exercises?

Can you leg press, glute ham raise, still leg dumbbell deadlifts?

We are avoiding hip hinge. Ah I haven’t tried leg press or glute ham raise yet but I’ll give it a while!

steveko89 wrote: »

alexmose wrote: »

Guys I am so excited. I worked with my PT and we figured out ways to work around my back injury (we still think it’s a bulging disc/pinched nerve). No more squats but will try goblet squats next time. If it’s a no go, sticking w Bulgarian split squats. No DLs. Hip thrusts! Thrust is a must. No RDLs or lying leg curls. Going to try seated curls. Anyone have any other hamstring exercises?

No OHP. Sticking w upright rows and lat raises. Any other shoulder exercises?

Good news! No OHP at all, even DBs with neutral grip? Only other thoughts I had for shoulders were front raises and face pulls.

yes! I just thought of facepulls and i guess rear delt pulls from the seated row machine. we are just going to leave OHP out for now.....don't want to risk it. It doesn't hurt but we are avoiding loading my spine for now.

alexmose wrote: »

Rant I’m sorry: ARG!! I am getting hit w all the medical issues. Back injury is either pinched nerve, herniated disc, MS, or all three. I have flu-like symptoms so getting tested. I JUST WANT TO TRAIN but I know taking some time off to reset is ok.

Sorry for your issues. Hope you feel better soon!!

steveko89 wrote: »

Hey everyone. Hope those who are US-based enjoyed the holiday weekend.

Thursday will mark 16 weeks gaining. By HappyScale's moving average I'm up 5.8 lbs in what has been 109 days for an average of 0.37 lbs/week or just about 1.5 lbs/month. Overall that's still more aggressive than I'd planned and looking at my charts the last ~3 lbs have been added in the last 5-6 weeks. The last 2 weeks or so I've been a more controlled surplus but that's going to undo the previous month's fat gains averaging ~+300/day. I'll do a skulpt scan tomorrow to see where I stand BF%-wise but I'm thinking I'll need to back off soon, if I'm not there already. Depending on the day, time of day, and what I'm wearing I'll either feel pleasantly large, or a beached whale.

Contradictory data this morning... down to 177 on the scale after averaging 178s for the last week and skulpt spit out 13.6% BF and a muscle quality score down almost 10 points from 11/2 which just doesn't make any sense as that'd equate to a loss of nearly 2.5 lbs of lean mass in 30 days. The device seems finicky this morning too, taking twice as long to get a full scan done so I'm tempted to throw out the number and try again tomorrow to see if the data look like less of an outlier.

alexmose wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Hey everyone. Hope those who are US-based enjoyed the holiday weekend.

Thursday will mark 16 weeks gaining. By HappyScale's moving average I'm up 5.8 lbs in what has been 109 days for an average of 0.37 lbs/week or just about 1.5 lbs/month. Overall that's still more aggressive than I'd planned and looking at my charts the last ~3 lbs have been added in the last 5-6 weeks. The last 2 weeks or so I've been a more controlled surplus but that's going to undo the previous month's fat gains averaging ~+300/day. I'll do a skulpt scan tomorrow to see where I stand BF%-wise but I'm thinking I'll need to back off soon, if I'm not there already. Depending on the day, time of day, and what I'm wearing I'll either feel pleasantly large, or a beached whale.

Contradictory data this morning... down to 177 on the scale after averaging 178s for the last week and skulpt spit out 13.6% BF and a muscle quality score down almost 10 points from 11/2 which just doesn't make any sense as that'd equate to a loss of nearly 2.5 lbs of lean mass in 30 days. The device seems finicky this morning too, taking twice as long to get a full scan done so I'm tempted to throw out the number and try again tomorrow to see if the data look like less of an outlier.

Yea, toss the number.

After a month of taking some time off of heavier weights, I went to the gym and was just humbled by 2 sets per body part. Getting back to where I was will certainly take more time than I thought, but happy to have gotten it done today.

In this time off, illness/herniated disc, I lost some weight...I am sitting at 104-106lbs which is close to underweight for me. I will just keep protein up and listen to my body. Still tapping out early on today's session was a bummer, but I am so glad I got it done.

Glad to hear you're back in action. At least some of that weight is bound to be glycogen depletion from not lifting.

steveko89 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Hey everyone. Hope those who are US-based enjoyed the holiday weekend.

Thursday will mark 16 weeks gaining. By HappyScale's moving average I'm up 5.8 lbs in what has been 109 days for an average of 0.37 lbs/week or just about 1.5 lbs/month. Overall that's still more aggressive than I'd planned and looking at my charts the last ~3 lbs have been added in the last 5-6 weeks. The last 2 weeks or so I've been a more controlled surplus but that's going to undo the previous month's fat gains averaging ~+300/day. I'll do a skulpt scan tomorrow to see where I stand BF%-wise but I'm thinking I'll need to back off soon, if I'm not there already. Depending on the day, time of day, and what I'm wearing I'll either feel pleasantly large, or a beached whale.

Contradictory data this morning... down to 177 on the scale after averaging 178s for the last week and skulpt spit out 13.6% BF and a muscle quality score down almost 10 points from 11/2 which just doesn't make any sense as that'd equate to a loss of nearly 2.5 lbs of lean mass in 30 days. The device seems finicky this morning too, taking twice as long to get a full scan done so I'm tempted to throw out the number and try again tomorrow to see if the data look like less of an outlier.

Another day at 177 and 13.2% per today's scan. Better but still indicating a loss of lean mass. If the numbers are to be believed I'm inclined to throw in the towel. There are few accuracy studies on the skulpt and one n=1 review I've found in the past showed the skulpt to estimate figures 1.5-2% points leaner when compared to a DEXA. If that's also the case for me (there aren't any local DEXA clinics as far as I know) and I started gaining around 13% and now I'm up over 15% it would explain a little on the fat:muscle gain ratio, if I understand p-ratio correctly. I'm very curious what more experienced bulkers think.

Please do not throw in the towel. I say give it another week!

@GaryRuns , you're not wrong in there's definitely the possibility for some variance due to the nature of the device. Historically, I have data scanned under the same circumstances (same day, right after one another) and do see a small difference between with an average range of 0.8% on 2-4 scans, though one was as high as 1.9% between the two scans. Since I got the v1 device in '15 I only have seven such days of multiple scans so I wouldn't consider it a representative data set. In terms of point-to-point consistency, I make a point to scan the same way at under the same conditions, similar to the recommended scale weight process. I also only use cold water, the small sprayer included with the device, spray the device only three times before applying the scanner, and try to match the scanner placement to the model as much as possible. Even with as... we'll call it detail-oriented as I am, there's definitely a limitation to the precision and accuracy of the device.

@ Sardelsa, I know you're right on all fronts, and I get too wrapped up in the numbers. I have been gaining too quickly to expect gains to truly be lean. For the last 2-3 weeks I'm back to averaging that +150/day, which is right where I should be and I'll just have to deal with the fat gain from the six weeks before that.

I haven't gained or loss. I am in a bit of limbo or unintentional recomp mode since before Thanksgiving. I am still training hard, but still dealing with residual back pain even though it hasn't effected my ability to squat or deadlift, which is interesting. I am already back to a 255lb high bar squat (old 1 RM was 285). So my anecdotal evidence would suggest that doing heavy leg press really helped maintain my squat strength, even over a year or so of no squats. I was up to 540 on leg press for 4 sets of 6-8.

I am debating about just recomping for the next few months or still pushing towards a goal of 160 by xmas. I am definitely focusing on high protein, high fiber now. And most days, I am in the low carb category... even have a few days that are more keto.

I am fluctuating around 164-165.

Recovery is getting there. Now mixing in a bit of rehab. Hope to be lifting by the new year

Additionally, the confluence of programming hip thrusts for my wife, a blurb I saw about using them as a hip activation warmup for deadlifts, and the advocacy for them on this thread has me dabbling with hip thrusts for the first time and I’ve definitely been missing out.

sardelsa wrote: »

How is everyone doing?
I'm staying at my parents house for a few weeks since we are in between homes. I brought some equipment from my gym (my bands, ankle weight and a 40lb kettlebell) but no heavy weights.. they have 2x 5,10, 20lb dumbbells and a cable machine (with limited attachments). I can do quite a bit since my program isn't too barbell heavy so we'll see. I debated eating at maintenance then thought, meh, even if I gain 0.02lb of muscle and the rest fat better than nothing.

My parents have a double wall of mirror in their bathroom by the gym so I had a look at my physique from a 360 view in between sets. I think this might be my last bulk. (So sad!! ) I'm really happy with my progress and I could probably recomp or run 5lb bulks from now on and focus on fitness and strength goals. I never thought I'd be almost "done" but here I am.

What makes you say this is your last one?

psuLemon wrote: »

I haven't gained or loss. I am in a bit of limbo or unintentional recomp mode since before Thanksgiving. I am still training hard, but still dealing with residual back pain even though it hasn't effected my ability to squat or deadlift, which is interesting. I am already back to a 255lb high bar squat (old 1 RM was 285). So my anecdotal evidence would suggest that doing heavy leg press really helped maintain my squat strength, even over a year or so of no squats. I was up to 540 on leg press for 4 sets of 6-8.

I am debating about just recomping for the next few months or still pushing towards a goal of 160 by xmas. I am definitely focusing on high protein, high fiber now. And most days, I am in the low carb category... even have a few days that are more keto.

I am fluctuating around 164-165.

Same here on rehabbing back pain but I just replaced squats w goblet, split squats, leg press and thrust. Otherwise I’m on a bulk now, and I have some to catch up on since being sick for a month.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everyone again for talking me off the ledge last week. The last two weeks I'm averaging right at target lean bulk intake and feeling good about what I see in the mirror. Trend weight has actually dipped ~0.8 lbs despite being consistently in a surplus and having pizza, donuts, and multiple cupcakes over the last few days to celebrate my son's second birthday.