Thread: Bulking

Congrats on the transformation man.

It's really up to you on whether you decide to cut or bulk. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but it's all on you. If you feel like your bf% is what you want it to be, then go ahead and bulk. If you feel like you want an even lower bf%, then cut. The high cut, low maintain idea is what I started with. It worked very well for me and I'm sure it will work for you. I started with 3000 cals and decreased down to 2100 over a 3 month period. Just stay focused and motivated. It will all pay off.

I eat like 2200 cals a day now. I heard it is hard to get a good reading off of calipers if you take creatine because of water retention. So I do not know my true bf%. I want to get down to 10% bf in the long run but I also want my chest and arms to get bigger. as far as the high cut low maintain cal intake I mentioned, I was wondering if this is enough cals to put on muscle and still lose weight. I know it will slow the fat lose a lot and I am fine with that. I have a large frame and I can wear 34 or 35 size pants and IMO I will not get a smaller waist. As you can tell I am still learning and just wanted to know a safe bf% to start bulking without gaining all the fat back. I understand ther will be some fat put back on and that is cool also.

Bulk and keep watching the body fat, if it goes to high and if you feel uncomfortable, you do some mini-cuts. IMO.

I am going to be stupid and ask this. What percentage is to high or is that up to me. My hope is when I bulk I will not put much fat on just some muscle.

Congrats!

I think you will put some fat on while bulking. Like they said earlier, it's what your comfortable with. If your good on diet, I'm sure it wont be much. Besides, the more muscle mass you add, the better the fat burning, right?

yea I hardly ever have a cheat day. I eat clean 95% of the time. So I guess I could bulk and see how it goes.

Originally Posted by Vieope

Bulk and keep watching the body fat, if it goes to high and if you feel uncomfortable, you do some mini-cuts. IMO.

And stay away from Bunny flavored ice cream cones from hell!

LMAO. I will do that. I tried to pack enough food today to get my calories up, but I do not think I can eat that much. I do not how the hell everyone eats 4000 cals a day.

Originally Posted by brian2440

I do not think I can eat that much. I do not how the hell everyone eats 4000 cals a day.

Mmmm... Cheesecake....


Seriously though - it is easy to do, you just have to pick the right foods. What is your current diet? Maybe we can all help you put something together?

I will take today as an example.

1. 2 scoops whey before workout
2. 2 scoops whey post workout
3. 1 cup rice 8oz chicken
4. 1/2 cup rice, 3 cups salad, mrp.
5. 8oz chicken, 3 cups salad, flax seed
6. 2 scoops whey and 1/2 cup grapes and fish oil caps
7. 1/2 cup cottage cheese and fish oil caps
Drank some Gatorade today also.

This is like 2764 cals.
44g fat, 313g carbs, and 311g protein.
14%, 42%, 44% are todays macros. Usally the same. May eat a can of tuna or chicken is place of the mrp, or the whey in the evening. I am at 198 pounds. I am 5'9. I lift four days a week and do cardio on my off days. I am not sure of bf%. I am willing to try a clean bulk. I hope the added muscle when I bulk will allow me to cut alot better later.

Originally Posted by brian2440

I will take today as an example.

1. 2 scoops whey before workout
2. 2 scoops whey post workout
3. 1 cup rice 8oz chicken
4. 1/2 cup rice, 3 cups salad, mrp.
5. 8oz chicken, 3 cups salad, flax seed
6. 2 scoops whey and 1/2 cup grapes and fish oil caps
7. 1/2 cup cottage cheese and fish oil caps
Drank some Gatorade today also.

This is like 2764 cals.
44g fat, 313g carbs, and 311g protein.
14%, 42%, 44% are todays macros.

Ok - lots of things you can do here:

1. Add carbs pre and post-workout. This is where you WANT your carbs!! Your body requires the energy to workout to max. intensity and to recover efficiently. You want more carbs in general - at your weight (as long as your BF is reasonable, that is, under 15% or so) you would want to look at something around 2g/pound (or at least 2g/LBM) if you really want to think about adding quality mass. That means you want something closer to 350-400g carbs.

Good examples of carbs around your workouts would be oats, banana, skim milk/ff yoghurts, grapes/grape juice etc.

2. Add more fats!!! Eeekk - 44g is REDICULOUS for someone of your size, esp if you are trying to add mass. I get that much and I am small and female. You want an ABSOLUTE minimum of 0.3g/pound LBM (and that is usually for cutting)! For adding mass you want to look at something at least around 0.3-0.4g/pound = 60 to 80g.

Some nuts (walnuts, almonds), fatty fish (salmon, mackrel, sardines), seeds (flaxseed, sunflower seeds) or whole eggs would do wonders for this fat level!

3. Spread your protein more evenly. You DO NOT need 8 oz of chicken in one sitting - that is about 60g of protein!! Arggg... If you are eating 7 times a day and you want about 1.5g protein per pound (~300g) then you are looking at 40-45g PER meal. Sure, your last meal (cottage cheese) you could have a little less, but I would look at 50g per meal as a better high figure.


Example of a meal plan:
Pre-WOut: 1.5 scoops whey, 1 cup oats, 1 med. banana
Post-WOut: 1.5 scoops whey, 1 cup skim milk, 1 med. banana, 1 cup thin rolled oats
Meal 1: 1.25 cup BROWN rice, 6 oz chicken, 3 fish oil caps
Meal 2: 1.25 cup BROWN rice, 6 oz Tuna, 3 cups salad, 0.5 oz walnuts
Meal 3: 1 cups Oats, 2 whole eggs, 6 egg whites, 3 cups salad
Meal 4: 6 oz Chicken, 2 Tbs PB
Meal 5: 1 cup cottage cheese, 0.5 oz walnuts, 3 fish oil caps

Yea I do eat 1/2 cup oatmeal preworkout. I mix it with my shake. Post workout I have 1 cup oats and the two scoops whey. Soory forgot that.
Also how do you fix the eggs? Hardboiled? Also I workout as soon as I get up and eat. Is that post workout meal still ok? Is the 1.5 cups rice you mentioned before cooked or after? That is a lot of rice to eat in one setting if that is before you cook it.

I tested my bf today with calipers and I think it is about 18% to 20%. I have been taking creatine so I do not know if this affects my reading or not. Is this to much body fat to start a bulk?

Yea I do eat 1/2 cup oatmeal preworkout. I mix it with my shake. Post workout I have 1 cup oats and the two scoops whey. Soory forgot that.

Ok - that is a lot better.

Also how do you fix the eggs? Hardboiled?

You can hard boil them, steam them, scramble them, make them into an omlette, grind them with the oats and make pancakes... Lots of things.

Also I workout as soon as I get up and eat. Is that post workout meal still ok?

If you workout within 30 mins of eating then I would change your PRE workout meal. You want something liquid and quickly digesting - so take out the oats and use yoghurt or milk instead.

Post-workout I would then take out the milk and use more oats.

Is the 1.5 cups rice you mentioned before cooked or after?

After!!!

Originally Posted by brian2440

I tested my bf today with calipers and I think it is about 18% to 20%. I have been taking creatine so I do not know if this affects my reading or not. Is this to much body fat to start a bulk?

If you are at 18-20% then I would 'recompose', not bulk. So eat at ~ maintainence, keep it clean and train hard (keep some cardio in as well). If you bulk at that BF% you will likely add more fat than would be optimal.

I think main cals for me is 3100 cals a day. Will this allow me to add some muscle and still lose body fat? I know some people say that is not possible but I was wondering if you maintain your weight is that enough cals to build muscle? BTW thanks for the advice. You know your stuff.

Originally Posted by brian2440

I think main cals for me is 3100 cals a day. Will this allow me to add some muscle and still lose body fat? I know some people say that is not possible but I was wondering if you maintain your weight is that enough cals to build muscle? BTW thanks for the advice. You know your stuff.

For people with higher BF% then it is much easier to do both at once. Once you get below a certain BF% this gets a lot harder.

Your body will 'redistribute' the calories/energy in your body so that you will build muscle and burn fat at the same.

So, sit at what you feel is your maintainence and then see how you go. If you start to put on weight, drop your cals back. If you start to loose too much weight then you might want to increase your cals a little.