Being fat?

[Fallen_Horse]

I am considering doing a bulk program, wherein I simply lift 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, and I eat a TON of food. Now, I know I will gain fat on this plan (I can eat A LOT), but I am wondering if it would still be the best way to increase size and strength for me. I am having trouble keeping cals below 2400 in my cut, and when I go up to 2600 I just feel fat without any strength or size gains. So I thought maybe I would try something more like 3000-3500?

 

Anyone have luck doing 5x a week, with 3500 cals, at 6'1 and 190lbs?

[hilary wright]

I am certainly no expert, I can only comment on what seems to work for me . . .

I have always been one who advocates "intuitive" training and eating. Or, find what works for you. When I went on a bulking regime recently, I got the best results from "keeping my body guessing". I would switch routines at least once a month and would switch up caloric loads often . . .example: day 1, 2500 cal day 2, 3000 cal day 3, 2000 cal day 4 2000 cal day 5, 4500 cal day 6, 3000 cal day 7 1500 cal . . . and so on. I realize that this makes no sense, but always keeping my metabolism, muscles, and psyche challanged with something new works for me. I did gain some fat, but I also gained lots of new muscle. Anyway, I'm sure that you will do great!

 

BTW, nice job on the pullups!

[ralst]

I am considering doing a bulk program, wherein I simply lift 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, and I eat a TON of food. Now, I know I will gain fat on this plan (I can eat A LOT), but I am wondering if it would still be the best way to increase size and strength for me. I am having trouble keeping cals below 2400 in my cut, and when I go up to 2600 I just feel fat without any strength or size gains. So I thought maybe I would try something more like 3000-3500?

 

Anyone have luck doing 5x a week, with 3500 cals, at 6'1 and 190lbs?

 

Sounds like a good plan. Eating more is definitely going to lead to greater size, and consequently, strength. This'll probably differ from the normal opinion here, but 3500 calories isn't a lot. It's definitely an improvement on 2500 or so, but you'd probably be better off shooting for 4,500-5,000 calories a day. For some people that might be a little too much, for others it won't be enough, but it'll definitely help your body recover better and build more muscle.

 

I wouldn't worry about adding fat if you're trying to bulk. Obviously, if you gain 10 pounds the first week, you might need to scale back the calories a bit - but start out big, because most people don't eat enough.

 

Just curious - what do your workouts look like, if you're lifting five days per week?

[Fallen_Horse]

3500 is a lot for me, believe me! I was at 1900 for many months during my cut...

 

I do a 3 day split right now, I think it is posted in my training log. It's back/biceps, chest/tris, and a leg day. Mostly compounds, with a few isolations thrown in there for fun...

[GRardB]

Well, I haven't seen veganmaster around so I'll take his place right here I gained a bunch of fat last time I was bulking, and then shredded 25 pounds off (about halfway through, I started taking veganmaster's suggestions).

 

I'm bulking again right now (4 weeks in) and I've been consuming a low-fat diet, just like I did during cutting season, with moderate protein and high carbs. I've definitely added some mass in this time period and no fat so far. I don't think that fat gain should be associated with bulking the way that it is associated by so many people. I think it will only happen if you consume a bunch of fat or too much food in general.

[DV]

I think Hilary gave some great advice. I'm currently bulking at 5'10" and 156 lbs on approximately 3000 calories per day (it's taken me 8 weeks to gain 5 lbs), lifting 6 days per week with very little cardio. I'll go 3000 cals for 3 days, drop down to about 2500 for a day then up to 3200-3500 for a day - and start the cycle again. I'm definitely gaining more muscle than fat.

[CheshireCat]

Eat alot of the correct foods - i.e. do not use it as an excuse to eat alot of fast food, because this will have negative impacts on your body composition. Eat alot of good wholesome foods and monitor what happens. If you start to gain too much fat then simply reduce searving sizes slightly etc...

[Fallen_Horse]

Ug, I really need some motivation here. I feel weak as hell (with my lifts) and yet I also feel fat from eating so much. This 'bulking' thing is much harder than I thought it would be!!

 

How do I learn to let go of my desire for abs so I can eat enough to build muscle? I am so torn with wanting to grow, but hating the fat on my belly...

 

Really I am just reaching out here for a good ass kicking to get me over my depression/poor me attitude...

[DV]

It's a process and it takes a long time. You need to mentally accept that you won't have washboard abs while bulking. I have 3 different sizes of the same style jeans right now - just bought the most recent one at 157 lbs! It's a bit easier now that the weather is colder and bodies are more covered, but I still feel your pain.

 

If you are having a very difficult time, you can always take a day where you decrease your calories by 800-1000 calories. You won't gain muscle on those days but you should lose a bit of fat. A slow, steady bulk done with some off days will take longer but should result in more muscle/less fat gain.

 

Remember that you are not alone in your bulking!

[GRardB]

I'm about to start my 6th week of bulking. All my weights have increased and I've gained some weight. I think I can see my abs better than when I started. Seriously, I don't think bulking and fat gain should be synonymous. If you eat low fat and work out hard, I don't see why you will gain fat.

[xjohanx]

Hey man, I feel your pain. I'm always colnflicted between getting visible abs or bulking up!

If you already have lot's of excess fat I would not reccomend to bulk up since it will only mean a longer and more painful cut later. It's probably better to cut first and then head into bulk once you reached a BF% that you are happy with.

If you do decide to bulk anyways my best tips (from personal experience) is

1. Eat clean food. Using bulking as an excuse to eat oreo cookies is just a sign of little dedication.

2. Don't go overboard. You won't build more muscle just because you eat more. After a certain point the extra calories will just make you fat.

3. Like Hilary and DV said. Switching the amount of calories from day to day is a great way to avoid plateaus.

4. Many people will probably disagree with me here but doing some cardio is not such a bad idea. HIIT is a great way to keep BF under control during bulk IMO. Even longer distance jogs and walks can be good. These don't burn much calories but increases my aptetite a lot which is good for you since you say that you have a hard time eating a lot of food.

 

Hope it helped at least a little.

[sydneyvegan]

I'm about to start my 6th week of bulking. All my weights have increased and I've gained some weight. I think I can see my abs better than when I started. Seriously, I don't think bulking and fat gain should be synonymous. If you eat low fat and work out hard, I don't see why you will gain fat.

 

"I don't think bulking and fat gain should be synonymous" Sorry but you can't make a statement like that.

It depends on Body type - Mesomorph, Endomorph, Ectomorph - To use a bit of a simplified system.

Age - You are in your Teens GRardB, it aint the same if you are in your 20's or 30's

Metabolism - some people are hard gainers some are not, if you aren't then you will probably put some fat on during a bulk.

 

Fallen_Horse - If you want to minimise the fat, then I suggest Hill Sprints.

Great for losing fat, but maintaining muscle.

[GRardB]

I'm about to start my 6th week of bulking. All my weights have increased and I've gained some weight. I think I can see my abs better than when I started. Seriously, I don't think bulking and fat gain should be synonymous. If you eat low fat and work out hard, I don't see why you will gain fat.

 

"I don't think bulking and fat gain should be synonymous" Sorry but you can't make a statement like that.

It depends on Body type - Mesomorph, Endomorph, Ectomorph - To use a bit of a simplified system.

Age - You are in your Teens GRardB, it aint the same if you are in your 20's or 30's

Metabolism - some people are hard gainers some are not, if you aren't then you will probably put some fat on during a bulk.

 

Fallen_Horse - If you want to minimise the fat, then I suggest Hill Sprints.

Great for losing fat, but maintaining muscle.

 

I got pretty fat last bulking season, so I don't think that it has as much to do wiht me being in my teens as one would think. I agree that people are different and stuff, but I don't think that the majority of people can only gain muscle and fat at the same time, so much that we need to associate fat gain with bulking.

[Fallen_Horse]

Ok, let me ask this question (because I have been wondering).

 

 

Suppose you eat an amount of calories to keep your body at the same 'weight'. (Usually called maintenance calories). But you are still exercising hardcore. Now, the body adapts to stresses placed on it (which is why muscles grow after lifting), so wouldn't your body slowly burn the fat on your body so that energy could be used to increase strength/muscle size? Wouldn't the body adapt to the workload you are placing on it by killing the 'unnecessary' fat and converting that energy into 'useful' muscle?

So couldn't you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

[blabbate]

Piggybacking on this thread. I'm about to start bulking and have the exact same worries. I can eat a ton, easily 5000+ calories a day, but I've always gained mostly fat that way in the past. I've cut down to 9% bf now by staying around 1500-2000 cals and < 30g fat per day, and now I desperately need to gain muscle. I'll probably up to 3500 and see how things go. I feel I have some wiggle room, but I definitely want to keep as much fat off as possible.

 

Right now I'm doing 3-4 lifting workouts per week. NROL hypertrophy II, in case it helps. I'm also fitting in aerobic cardio wherever I can. Does anyone have advice as to how best to fit in either aerobic or HIIT work to burn fat without being detrimental to muscle growth? I've seen recommendations to do HIIT right after the weights, while others say to do aerobic exercise (like mid-distance running) on off-days. I'm willing to do both, neither, something else, whatever it takes to do this right.

[phillipeb]

Piggybacking on this thread. I'm about to start bulking and have the exact same worries. I can eat a ton, easily 5000+ calories a day, but I've always gained mostly fat that way in the past. I've cut down to 9% bf now by staying around 1500-2000 cals and < 30g fat per day, and now I desperately need to gain muscle. I'll probably up to 3500 and see how things go. I feel I have some wiggle room, but I definitely want to keep as much fat off as possible.

 

Right now I'm doing 3-4 lifting workouts per week. NROL hypertrophy II, in case it helps. I'm also fitting in aerobic cardio wherever I can. Does anyone have advice as to how best to fit in either aerobic or HIIT work to burn fat without being detrimental to muscle growth? I've seen recommendations to do HIIT right after the weights, while others say to do aerobic exercise (like mid-distance running) on off-days. I'm willing to do both, neither, something else, whatever it takes to do this right.

 

I would say dont increase in one week from 2000 to 3500. It seems the people i associate with the best physiques increased 300-500 calories per week until they were at there proper level. This also will help you understand what your body is gaining at each level fat or muscle.

 

I have a decently high body fat and i started my bulking phase anyways so i feel your pain. My clothes feel tight and i think i look attrocious i am thinking about eating a cutting diet for a few weeks to loose weight. My only concern is that i also do not have much muscle so i worry by eating 2000 a day will really be enough to gain anything. Although i guess the point of a cutting diet is loose fat not gain muscle.

 

my bmr says i need 1860 kcal to maintain my weight but when i use the calculators to factor in weight lifting per week it jumps to over 3200 a day. This is a lot for me as i am currently eating anywhere from 2100-2800 calories a day and feel like i am gaining a substantial amount of fat. Ho hum.