Time to Gain! Anyone running a bulk?

psuLemon wrote: »

General reflections of my weight over the past year. Overall, down 10 lbs with periods of increase which was vacation/beach trips.

I did go down a belt and pants size and starting to see good definition in my ab areas. And while i didnt get a low as i wanted, i am pleased.

This is shaping up to be a banner year for you! Good job!

Hit 18 weeks gaining today. Up to nearly 179 by trend weight so up a little over 6 lbs total. I've not been sleeping all that well but I switched my pillows around last night and found some improvement. Subsequently, I keep blowing through my alarm and not been getting all my accessory sets. Main lifts have been good though, same with how I look and feel with clothes on... trying not to let the extra midsection flab get in my head.

How's everyone else doing?

LGreenfield7 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Hit 18 weeks gaining today. Up to nearly 179 by trend weight so up a little over 6 lbs total. I've not been sleeping all that well but I switched my pillows around last night and found some improvement. Subsequently, I keep blowing through my alarm and not been getting all my accessory sets. Main lifts have been good though, same with how I look and feel with clothes on... trying not to let the extra midsection flab get in my head.

How's everyone else doing?

I appreciate you sharing. I am up 4-5 lbs in the past 3 and a half weeks. I have a 12 week bulk lined up and I am aiming for 160 after i cut back down. (I am 5'6" and currently 153lbs at 17% body fat) feel free to add me, id love to see how your whole bulk works out.

I know what you mean about the strength, last December I had a measly 185 one rep max squat. I started training hard in August and just squatted 225 for 4 sets of 8 yesterday.

Sent you a FR yesterday.

Most here know I love me some data and graphs... probably to a fault.

First graph is daily weight for the year, second since the start of my bulk, third trending calories.



My historic TDEE trends right around 2515 but the math says an average 2575 over the last 6 weeks, which I find interesting. I honestly was hoping to cut more before bulking but decided to lean into that weight inflection point in mid-August so I can't say I came into this with any sort of plan in terms of duration. Fortunately, this is my last day in the office for the year so I'll be able to emphasize my workouts and recovery for the next two weeks.

psuLemon wrote: »

Merry Christmas everyone! May santa bring everyone some extra gains!


I got 60 days until i have a ski trip. Going to challenge myself to be strict for that period to get to 155-157.

Going to run a 6 day program (Chest/arms, legs, back/shoulders/traps) and run TKD with 30g of carbs pre workout.

best of luck to you on your journey!

steveko89 wrote: »

Happy New Year, all.

I hit 20 weeks bulking and I think I’ve seen enough for now; I’m estimating that I’m getting close to 15% and the last few pounds have felt inefficient as far as fat gain. I do think I’ve made some decent lean gains though, especially my chest shoulders and legs. The scale topped out with a trend weight of 179.6, up from 172.8 back in August. Pretty linear increase right at ~1.3 lbs/month. Plan is to cut at 0.5-0.7% body weight per week for 12 weeks and then maintain or gain a little before the online powerlifting competition I usually do in May.

Congratulations! It must take some mental effort to go more than 12 weeks of bulking. You have clarl made some progress! Do you think this cut will be "easy"? Do you feel ready to cut? I find that even on a 250 cal surplus, I am one hungry gal.

alexmose2 wrote: »

steveko89 wrote: »

Happy New Year, all.

I hit 20 weeks bulking and I think I’ve seen enough for now; I’m estimating that I’m getting close to 15% and the last few pounds have felt inefficient as far as fat gain. I do think I’ve made some decent lean gains though, especially my chest shoulders and legs. The scale topped out with a trend weight of 179.6, up from 172.8 back in August. Pretty linear increase right at ~1.3 lbs/month. Plan is to cut at 0.5-0.7% body weight per week for 12 weeks and then maintain or gain a little before the online powerlifting competition I usually do in May.

Congratulations! It must take some mental effort to go more than 12 weeks of bulking. You have clarl made some progress! Do you think this cut will be "easy"? Do you feel ready to cut? I find that even on a 250 cal surplus, I am one hungry gal.

Thanks. Going for that long was definitely a bit of a mind warp. I’m not sure it will be easy but I definitely feel ready to cut. If my TDEE back-calculator is accurate, my incessant attempt to cut previously had resulted in some semblance of metabolic adaptation. Once I started bulking my TDEE eventually got up to 2600 or so, while the previous three years shows ~2515 or so. Composition-wise it’s to the point that how I feel about myself is largely dependent on what clothes I’m wearing or if I catch a good angle in the mirror or not. Starting off my deficit is 500-600 cal/day (depending which TDEE is right) so we’ll see how it goes.

sardelsa wrote: »

@steveko89 amazing job on the bulk! Happy cutting

As for me, well we have been moving into our new home so between Christmas and living between homes without access to proper gym and consistent fuel, my bulk got put on hold.

I am ready to start it up again, had my first workout of 2021 in my new gym with my Hip Thruster! (Had it in the box for 2 years finally set it up ) I love it. I am ready for all the gains this year

which hip thruster do you have? im considering getting one.

sardelsa wrote: »

alexmose2 wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

@steveko89 amazing job on the bulk! Happy cutting

As for me, well we have been moving into our new home so between Christmas and living between homes without access to proper gym and consistent fuel, my bulk got put on hold.

I am ready to start it up again, had my first workout of 2021 in my new gym with my Hip Thruster! (Had it in the box for 2 years finally set it up ) I love it. I am ready for all the gains this year

which hip thruster do you have? im considering getting one.

Just his standard one, the big one. He has the lite which looks good too, smaller and not as pricey.

I’m liking hip thrusts far more than I thought I would and they definitely have made an impact aesthetically and with how my squats and DLs generally feel. I’m not really looking to add more standalone equipment but might start looking for a rack attachment to use in lieu of a bench.

benoneil8695 wrote: »

Any advice for a 26 year old with a high metabolism looking to bulk as I currently weigh 9st 7 and looking to push that into 11 or 12 for the pure gain of muscle as the outcome

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1

Read that. It's a foundational thread to help get calories up

Yesss! Been on the mass gaining since November - 20lbs up and slaughtering my logbook weekly. Loving this off season .. 15 weeks left until I start cutting!

Atta_Rahman wrote: »

sardelsa wrote: »

Hi everyone!

It's time for me to transition into yet another bulk cycle.

Anyone else bulking now or soon? Feel free to discuss your goals, methods used, share your progress, or even if you aren't bulking but have any questions or want to share your past results, you can do it here

As for me, this will be bulk #4. I did have a few set backs due to pregnancies and babies so not exactly where I want to be considering.

I currently transitioning from my cut. I will slowly add calories until I hit maintenance, then I will hang out there for a few weeks (probably until mid-October or so) until I start to up the calories to gain. I am going to start off slow and steady, 0.25lb per week gain then take it from there. Not sure how long this bulk will be, I will play it by ear.

Also I haven't figured out my programming 100% but it will be an upper/lower hypertrophy split similar to what I am doing now.
-3x per week lower body (very heavy glute focus, less quad)
-2x per week upper body (back and shoulder focus)

I will keep protein at about 1g per lb (estimated). The rest will fall into place. I won't track my intake, as usual, especially since I have no idea where my food scale is (we are in the process of moving) but I will be weighing daily and tracking my trends and adjusting from there.

I will still be popping into the cutting thread of course but I figure I would start a new one here so I don't bog that one down with all the gaining updates

Happy bulking!

Wow ! I found this thread right now. Finally back after a looooong time. Any advice for sticking for the long term to logging food and tracking ?? Cuz I get frustrated trying to get the perfect macro ?

How do you go about making it adhereable (is that a word ?) sustainable, espically in social situations and most importantly so that it gives results ??

Step 1 - stop trying to hit a perfect macro. Macros are generally ranges.

Step 2 - plan for social situations if possible. When you know are are going out, have a lighter breakfast. And then aim for something a bit more healthy when you go out.

Step 3 - you don't need to track daily if it doesn't work. Semi tracking can be more useful for some.

I've been on a cut so long I forgot what it felt like to not be hungry on a day to day basis. I also forgot that when you increase calories after a cut it feels like you have to force feed yourself, and I've only increased to maintenance. I know from past experience that will go away, but it's almost as annoying as being hungry is.

benoneil8695 wrote: »

Any advice for a 26 year old with a high metabolism looking to bulk as I currently weigh 9st 7 and looking to push that into 11 or 12 for the pure gain of muscle as the outcome

Little late to the party here, but I started at 10 stone 7 in December so just 1 stone ahead of ya, and am now pushing towards 12 stone. Currently at 9 stone 7 11 stone 7. (I'm a wee bit older than you at 33 now, but the principle will be the same:)

I've been a small guy for most of my life. Always lean, but never very big. Even at the nearly 12 stone, I'm still nowhere near where I want to be. But some advice:

1) It's 90% kitchen. If you don't track your macros already, start. Your gains are made in the kitchen, your gym work will just be to make those gains show xD . Calculate your TDD , aim a couple hundred cals over it to start. Measure weekly and see if you're gaining. Try to eat clean if you can, but don't guilt trip yourself over the occasional junk. You've gotta make it sustainable for yourself.

2) Consistency.. sure, it's okay to have off days here and there.. don't beat yourself up over them, just pick yourself up next day and get on with it. Same goes for training, and hitting your macro targets. Under or over one day? Screw it, just keep going.

3) Picking a good program to suit your needs. I'm on StrongLifts 5x5 at the moment, and despite being stuck at home with gyms closed due to 'Rona, and only 30kg weight and a barbell, I'm still seeing gains. Research some good beginner programs, and stick to it, don't jump around too much. Compound lifts are your friend. Us small guys gotta stimulate a LOT of muscle groups at once.

4) Did I mention gains are made in the kitchen? Yeah.. sure did. But, I'm repeating it again.

And in general.. just don't be too hard on yourself.
I have days where I still feel like a skinny freak, and I have days where I'm like "damn... look at my progress". Each time you see that scale go up, that's gonna give you motivation to continue with it.

Ohh.. and last point. Don't try to cut AND gain. That whole 'body recomp' thing? Yeah, that's not gonna work for us. Dedicate a good period of time (months, not weeks) to just bulking up, expect fat gains, suck it up and crack on.

From one small dude to another... good luck. Keep us posted if you decide to get on with it.

genki90 wrote: »

Hey everyone! I'm new in this area. I'm going through chronic pain for the past 4 years and I need to have a certain amount of muscle mass to support my joints and protect me from inflammation.
That said I wasn't very consistent with my workouts, and covid made things worse. So it comes to a point where there aren't enough muscles left in my body after two long quarantines...

I need to build back my muscles but so far I've been eating at maintenance calories. How much should I increase these calories so that I can feed my muscles without getting much bigger?
At that point I need to mention that I'm a female in my 30s with some fluff (168cm - 63kg). I put on weight as easily as I lose it and my body likes to store fat (even when I was more muscular I was always a bit jiggly).

If you're overweight the best answer is probably to stay at maintenance and recomp. That is, very slowly lose fat while at the same time very slowly gaining muscle, fueling the muscle growth, in part, by using your body's fat stores. There are some caveats: 1) Your use of the word "fluffy" has to mean that your body fat percentage is above something like 15-18% (I'm not super familiar with the female number so forgive me if that's wrong, but it's close. For men you should probably be above 10-12% for an effective recomp). 2) You need to make sure your lifting program is good, meaning it needs to apply progressive overload effectively. 3) If you're not new to weight lifting this will be a slow process compared to "bulking", although keep in mind that building muscle is a slow process no matter which way you go. 4) Make sure you eat sufficient protein. Something like 1.7-2.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day 5) This applies to most people who are overweight, which is, generally by far, more of a health concern than gaining muscle, thus the recommendation to make losing the fat your first priority. Your situation may be different due to your existing health condition.

If you do decide to bulk use a calorie surplus on the order of 10% above your maintenance level for a couple of weeks and see if you start gaining. For example, if your daily maintenance level is 2000 calories then try 2200 and see what that does. If you're not gaining after a couple of weeks at that level then increase to 2400, etc. Keep that up until you reach a level where you're gaining roughly 0.25% of your total body weight a week. For a 200lb person that would mean gaining about 0.5lb per week. If you have enough control over your diet you can certainly reduce that rate of weight gain, but that takes some pretty disciplined eating, logging and measuring. The slower you gain weight the less fat you'll be gaining.

If you're less conservative, and you are starting a new exercise program, you might want to consider making that initial bump in calories 20%. The example would then be to increase your calories to 2400 the first couple of weeks. I say this because starting a new exercise program will likely add to your calorie burn for the day and could stall your attempt to gain weight for a couple of weeks if you don't adjust your calories slightly more in the beginning.

Good luck!