Hey Im new to MFP and trying to bulk

But I have noticed that there is very little for people trying to GAIN weight. My name is John, I am 5'6, 141 lbs 12% bmi. I am tying to bulk and get to 160lbs. I am having trouble reaching my calorie goal of 2770 everyday, because even though everyone always jokes about how much I eat, I apparently can not eat enough. I am currently taking Syntha-6 around 2-3 times a day. I have a beach body coach and then and a friend of mine is a personal trainer. I go to the gym as often as I can between work, but when I can't, I do Insanity, p90x, or if im in a real hurry 10 min trainer. I have never done a whole program before. My girlfriend said the thing that helps her most reach her goals (She is trying to lose weight) is having a lot of friends on her news feed and people to talk to. So I am currently looking for people who would be interested in helping me out, giving me advice on bulking, because I am new to this. Thank you and please add me if you are interested

Replies

  • jpr0530
    jpr0530 Posts: 19
    anyone?
  • angelraguel
    angelraguel Posts: 142 Member
    my friend on here is trying to gain weight, let me get his name , hes deseprate for help. i added him as he was getting no support, one sec
  • angelraguel
    angelraguel Posts: 142 Member
    heres his link

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/benjaminrobininson78

    ill let him know
  • jpr0530
    jpr0530 Posts: 19
    Thank you i sent him an invite
  • angelraguel
    angelraguel Posts: 142 Member
    lovely :) and your welcome.

    I know we have different goals but your welcome to add me too if youd like as I may come across more people like urself who want to gain weight. Also i think its about time MFP made a forum space dedicated to people like youself who want to gain weight as it is very hard to find people on here for that purpose. good luck =]
  • clee369
    clee369 Posts: 101 Member
    You need to do a solid weightlifting routine such as starting strength or stronglifts and stick with it, as well as eat a caloric surplus. Try the gallon of milk a day diet. Not literally but you get the idea of how much you need to eat
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
    I STRONGLY suggest you look into LeanGains, Or some sort of intermittent fasting program. All the tools you need are there.
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
    Definitely! I'm on a perma-bulk, been going 3 years strong.

    The support really helps. my goal is 4200+ kcals a day, and my appetite is really weak...if I could I'd just eat 2500kcals a day.

    Get on a 3x a week weightlifting program. Something strength oriented. Keep it SIMPLE AND SHORT. You do not want to burn too many Calories. Stick to heavy compounds (bench, deads, squat, some arms movements, shoulder press, etc), go HEAVY, and EAT. That is it. You'll grow. Try starting strength, 5x5, or Iron Addicts Beginner routine.

    Let me know if you need tips, I started out almost just like you, except 10lbs less and 5 inches taller lol
  • A friend of mine gained 18 lbs of lean muscle mass and decreased his body fat percentage to 8% and he is using this Product called Herbalife 24 I recently started and it has helped me out in lossing weight but I can let you know what he did to gain that weight if you are interested.
  • It's really as simple as eating above your maintenance level. But really only you know what that is. Now that said....you MUST tear yourself down in the gym to open your body up to receive the extra nutrition as planned. Don't neglect deadlifts and squats as they are the best movements you can do for gains. Forget curls....LOL! I kid mostly, but isolation movements aren't meant for building as much as they are sculpting. I could write a whole article on this...but I'll stop here! Good luck!
  • davidr730
    davidr730 Posts: 126 Member
    My MD suggested higher calorie items that have GOOD fat. Nuts are a great way to meat calorie goals in a healthy way.
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    my advice would be to be careful with p90x and insanity. it will make u burn alot of calories. just lift weights.
  • my advice would be to be careful with p90x and insanity. it will make u burn alot of calories. just lift weights.

    I agree with this. P90X can increase strength, but it is really designed to burn calories which is counter-productive for bulking!
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    add me
  • CWSpiegel
    CWSpiegel Posts: 114
    Lot of people at my box cycle between bulking up and dropping off to get the BF% super low for their weight classes in competitions.

    Food:
    - Peanut Butter. Lots and Lots of peanut butter. Were talking jars.
    - Cook with butter.
    - Glass of milk with every meal.
    - Ice cream.

    Body:

    - Cut out cardio. Take at least 2 minutes between sets. P90x and Insanity are not meant for bulking up. Give em to the GF.
    - Heavy weight, low reps.
    - Do NOT work out everyday. 3-4 Days a week max.
    - Complex lifts: Deadlifts, Snatches, Cleans, Overhead Squats, Push Presses and Jerks
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
    Lot of people at my box cycle between bulking up and dropping off to get the BF% super low for their weight classes in competitions.

    Food:
    - Peanut Butter. Lots and Lots of peanut butter. Were talking jars.
    - Cook with butter.
    - Glass of milk with every meal.
    - Ice cream.

    Body:

    - Cut out cardio. Take at least 2 minutes between sets.
    - Heavy weight, low reps.
    - Do NOT work out everyday. 3-4 Days a week max.
    - Complex lifts: Deadlifts, Snatches, Cleans, Overhead Squats.

    This. Bulking is really simple. Incredibly difficult for us ectomorphs, but simple.
  • alexluong
    alexluong Posts: 24 Member
    i've been there bro! started from 132lbs and bulked to 177lbs. i've been cutting down since and will resume bulking when school starts again.

    as others have said, screw p90x for now. i'm not a fan of it at all for any purpose, but i don't feel like arguing with anybody atm. i recommend heavy compound lifting. look at rippetoe's starting strength and madcow (google these).

    when it comes to eating, as a beginner, i recommend just forcing yourself to eat everything in sight. you'll gain muscle without too much a trouble. a year or two in is when you start having to diet well and whatnot.

    you want protein equal to your bodyweight at the very minimum for serious mass. i actually do 1.5x bodyweight, but that might be a bit diffcult if you aren't used to it. basically, eat a good source of protein for every meal.

    good luck man! lift big, eat big, sleep, get big.
  • CWSpiegel
    CWSpiegel Posts: 114
    Oh yeah.

    SLEEP! SLEEP! SLEEP!
  • Lennox497
    Lennox497 Posts: 242 Member
    Finally a thread that I have been looking for. Since it is summer time I am trying to keep it lean, but once fall hits I will be needing to and wanting to put on some mass so that I can finally have a muscular foundation.
  • sportsforfun
    sportsforfun Posts: 353
    I usually do a bulk for about 8 months of the year and a small cut before summer. Currently in maintenance for another couple of weeks before I start my next bulk.

    The biggest things to keep in mind is eat!, sleep, and lift heavy (not p90x). Don't expect to see huge results right away. It takes a lot of time to gain muscle, if you can gain 1 lb of muscle a month, you are not doing bad at all.
  • jpr0530
    jpr0530 Posts: 19
    Thank you all for some great advice. Ill stop doing p90x and insanity all together and start buying peanut butter in bulk lol I made a group, please join! I thought it would be nice to make a bulking/cutting group

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/7178-bulking-cutting
  • Phil350z
    Phil350z Posts: 7 Member
    Gr8 thread Ive just started lifting seriously for 3 months now started off just winging it with to many isolation exercises then 4 weeks ago started doing a full body workout 3 times a week doing compound lifts
    Squats / bench press/OH press/ dead lifts / BB curls/ bent rows and calf raises . I'm trying to eat 2700 cal per day and increase the weights every 5 weeks and increase cals inline with that .So far it's going great much better routine than what I was doing b4 .My goal is to increase lean mass . Any ones welcome to add me to share tips and advice :)
  • Lot of people at my box cycle between bulking up and dropping off to get the BF% super low for their weight classes in competitions.

    Food:
    - Peanut Butter. Lots and Lots of peanut butter. Were talking jars.
    - Cook with butter.
    - Glass of milk with every meal.
    - Ice cream.

    Body:

    - Cut out cardio. Take at least 2 minutes between sets. P90x and Insanity are not meant for bulking up. Give em to the GF.
    - Heavy weight, low reps.
    - Do NOT work out everyday. 3-4 Days a week max.
    - Complex lifts: Deadlifts, Snatches, Cleans, Overhead Squats, Push Presses and Jerks

    No offense, but this is just off! WAY too much fat calories! It's best to stay with somewhere around a 40/40/20 mix on macros and just increase calories. This will allow for gains without unwanted fat. the other is just over the top!