frankm007

i was at around 168 last year, i managed to gain up to 180 with approx. 17% body fat... currently i am at 170 with probably 11 or 12% (approx 150lbs of lean mass)... my question is.... if i start a bulking phase right now... its logical that i will gain muscle mass right (with some fat ofcourse), but my lean muscle mass will go up? so once i reach up to around 184 or so, and i cut back down, i wont be back to 170, more like 176 or so.... correct? thnx

EarWax

Could someone explain to me what bulking means? Does it mean eating everything in site?

err sight..

[This message has been edited by EarWax (edited 02-06-2001).]

mac sloan

It acn mean that.I would suggest aking a cleaner approach to bulking and eat clean as if you were dieting down.

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train smart not hard

frankm007

oh, yea...ofcourse... ill just my calories and carbs... clean foods all the way

cutemonkey

For me, bulking is eating almost anything in site. I will admit, I have a super metabolism disorder ...no matter what I eat, I just can't seem to put on a lot of weight. I believe that bodybuilding is a lifestyle...you know, not just something that people do to past time. So, if you do approach it this way, you're gonna find that eating healthy 100% of the time is hard hard hard. I do my best at it...but I'm not going to deny myself if I want some chicken nuggets every now and then. I think that's what keeps me sane...the fact that I can eat what I want when I want and not feel guilty. Of course, this doesn't mean that you should go and eat 6 big macs a day...that'll just kill you. So far, in my bulking stage, I'm upping my calories every week..seeing some progress. That's the simple theory behind mass building or bulking...to take in more calories than you use or need. Whether they're smart calories or not, you're gonna have to decide accordingly to your goals

Scotty the Body

I agree with cutemonkey, bulking to me means eating more of what I like but still keeping it clean. I eat more pasta for carbs and other things I like.

As your body mass goes up, your lean mass should as well. When you cut back, you'll loose the fat and possible some of the lean muscle but you should maintain most of what you've gaind as long as your diet is proper.

I believe the longer you hold the bulking mass you've gained, the easyer it'll be to maintane the lean mass you've put on.

frankm007

great, just wanted to make sure id gain lean muscle mass as well.... oh god! the thought of chicken nuggets with barbecue sauce and a baked potato drives me insane!!! only one more month of cutting before i start! LOL *drools*

EarWax

Thanks cutemonkey,

I'm new to all this terminology, so you'll have to forgive me. What's a porsche? j/k

I'm going to attempt to make some definitions and you can blast away at them:

Bulking - saturation of food substances in the body through eating to promote muscle gain when on an exercise regimen -- "Jimmy is bulking by eating truckloads of whey and lifting weights!"

Cutting - 1. dieting to lose body fat while keeping lean body tissue to enter a bodybuilding contest. 2. dieting to decrease body fat percentage to enter a bodybuilding contest. -- "All this cutting is making me hungry, but at least I'm bigger than Ronnie!"

EarWax

LOL frank.. same here! Thanks for explaining it to me guys. So either bodybuilders are in the bulking or diet stage. Is that right? or is it offseason and cutting? uh oh!

cutemonkey

MMMmmmm...just had something like that for dinner last night...Toonie Tuesdays at Mickey Dees. MMM...6 nuggets for 2 bucks. I eat 4 packs myself and had half of my girls. Hey, at least I got my protein

cutemonkey

There's gotta be a maintenance stage in there as well. Unless you're trying to be a bodybuilder and compete, there's no reason as to why you should try to aim for the 3% bf that they have. Think about this analogy that I've explained over and over and over and over again...arg...j/k..I'm not mad.

Anyhow, the analogy:

Bulking is your porsche accelerating
Cutting is your porsche braking

Now, would you step on the gas peddle and brakes at the same time with your porsche? Not unless you want to fudge up your car.
Or unless you're a stunt car driver..hee hee.