Time to Gain! Anyone running a bulk?

Hey guys. Overall, I've been well, weight has been a little noisy but mostly within the expected range. Height of bulk in early November was right around 180 and felt fluffy. Pretty smooth drop to 176 in early January but that was pretty depleted after needing to take 2+ weeks off lifting due to a sinus infection. Back up to 178-178.5 late Feb/early March and trending at around 177.5 now. This time of year has become a pain to navigate with family gatherings; my niece and nephews all have birthdays within a 5 week span, Easter in a few weeks, then my wife, myself, and my Dad all have birthdays 4/21-5/2. At this point I think the anxiety of dealing with family is just as detrimental as the menu selection.

Workout-wise, things have been pretty good. Running the RP Men's physique template back in the fall was a good learning experience but i think the overall volume would get too high and I don't trust myself to accurately judge RPE/RIR. I took the basic framework of that mushed it together with PHUL-type rep ranges for this six day hybrid of sorts.
- Pull 1: lower rep
- Push 1: lower rep
- Pull 2: hypertrophy
- Push 2 : hypertrophy
- Legs
- Push/Pull bonus upper body

Aesthetically I'm finally getting to a point where I almost look like I lift... maybe? I'm dabbling with some different set/rep schemes to really try and focus the hypertrophy days. Started 6x6 w/ 30 seconds rest last week and really liking how that feels so far. I upgraded all the pulleys on my pulley tower which really made a difference to how smooth it moves; makes it nice to really slow down the tempo when using it, which also seems to have a nice effect.

This week has treated me nicely when it comes to my big lifts.

Lifetime Squat PR -290
Hit 2x bw on DL - 335lb today.

If you know your maintenance is 1800, then 2100-2200 is appropriate. And a protein goal that is 115-130g would be sufficient. Just make sure you follow a structured lifting routine

steveko89 wrote: »

It's bulking season again for me so I figured I'd poke this thread; how's everyone been doing?

After my bulk last year I had a meandering cut from 178.5lbs down to a low of ~172 on trend just before New Years'. I also actually saw a daily weight under 170 for the first time in several years so I'm confident I'm at a leaner starting point than previous massing phases. Based on how the last two have gone I'm splitting the difference and aiming for around +0.7 lbs/week for about the next three months. Targets are 2800 cal, 180g Protein, 62g Fat (minimum) and 380g carbs.

I'm at the top of a bulk I started about six months ago. Currently at 230(ish)# and plan on a cut after this mini break (no gym for three weeks). I don't plan on cutting down too far, maybe 210 or so, as I would rather look huge in clothes and I honestly prefer bear mode (so do my joints) and I'm lucky that my abs show at rather high body fat %'s.

jseams1234 wrote: »

Ok, decided to take my bulk a bit further - now at 238# (6'2). I have no idea what body fat percentage - let's just call it super fluffy. Interesting how much more filled you look when not on an extended deload.

Starting a cut today... is that thread still active? Are any of these threads still active? lol



Oh, this was me when I first joined MFP about.. 6? 7 years ago? I think somewhere around 160lbs.



Bulk and cut cycles do work - just have to be prepared to look like a panda at times.

It might just be you and I left. For my bulk I've got about 6 lbs over 8 weeks left.

jseams1234 wrote: »

@steveko89 - that's unfortunate. I was gone for a quite a bit, got involved in other venues and more focused forums but still find the app useful at times. This was also the first "fitness" community I got involved with, and it was always nice seeing familiar names and following their successes and struggles over the years. It does seem that this sub forum is... light in participation - not that it was very active in comparison to the "fun and games" and similar sections before all the changes in the app. In particular, the idea of "bulking" is probably anathema for most MFP users.

Nice to see you still at it though! This "sport" is certainly a long-haul journey. I do hope that all the regulars finally achieved their ultimate bodybuilding or weight gain goals.

You, too! Glad you're doing well. I speculate many have migrated to other platforms like MacroFactor or the RP app that cater to crossfit and strength athletes more than MFP's default approach.

Like @claireychn074 I lurk! I am better suited to recomp mentally. It's slow going but it's happening!

Started my bulk 2 weeks ago after my show which was 4 weeks ago.
Protein 1g per lb
Fats .3 x BW
Carbs 360-400g depending on work days
Goal weight: 192 in 12 weeks.
My average weight gain has been .5lbs a week, which is my current goal. Will be doing this for a total of 12 weeks, reasses my physique, and decide if I want to push for more weigh or do a mini cut then repeat.
Ideally, you want to gain no more than .025-.05% of BW per week. Yes this sounds extremely slow, but you don’t want to become a fat blob that ll just make your cut phase that much longer.

Current progress

I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »

Started my bulk 2 weeks ago after my show which was 4 weeks ago.
Protein 1g per lb
Fats .3 x BW
Carbs 360-400g depending on work days
Goal weight: 192 in 12 weeks.
My average weight gain has been .5lbs a week, which is my current goal. Will be doing this for a total of 12 weeks, reasses my physique, and decide if I want to push for more weigh or do a mini cut then repeat.
Ideally, you want to gain no more than .025-.05% of BW per week. Yes this sounds extremely slow, but you don’t want to become a fat blob that ll just make your cut phase that much longer.

I could be wrong, but I think you're off by a decimal place. Let's say you're 180lbs. If your target is to gain at a rate of 0.05% per week that's 180x0.05%=180x0.0005=0.09. Maybe you could try and gain less than a tenth of a pound per week, but that's awfully slow. If your target was 200lbs that'd take you about 4 years to gain that 20lbs!

So I think what you meant was 0.25-0.5% of BW per week. That'd be 180x0.5%=180x0.005=0.9. Then you'd be looking at about 22 weeks to gain 20lbs. Much more realistic.

I'm on a slow-bulk now, at least that's the theory, as I'm only eating 2k calories plus exercise. However, three weeks ago I started taking creatine for the first time, and my weight has ballooned by roughly 8lb in that span. Waistline hasn't changed, I can still remove my wedding ring easily enough, and I haven't eaten sufficient calories for it to be fat, so it has to be just a flush of water weight. I'm guessing I was on the dehydrated side when I finished my cut. But it's hard to gauge if I'm gaining muscle at all when water weight is skyrocketing this fast. How long before my body balances out again into some semblance of stability?