So I've Been Bulking...

[Firehawk]

If you guys remember, i started a thread about bulking about 1 1/2 months ago, and because i was at around 30% bf, alot of people tried to talk me out of it (understandable).

I defied all of you fat-nazis and i went with my gym owner's thoughts and bulked anyway.

Now I want to run this by you guys to see if it's possible. I'm totally clean, i try to eat about 3500-4000 calories daily, and I think the fat gains i've seen have been on weekends when ive been at a party and had tons of pizza and ice cream lol. Otherwise, i've eaten very clean food (red meat, chicken, stove-top stuffing, rice, veggies sometimes). Post workout I have orange juice for the insulin spiker, followed by about 50g protein, then 1 hour later I have another 50g protein and some complex carbs...

Well Here's my results to this point: measurements done with electrical impulse scale over time

5/26/05:

Weight at night: 292.6
Lean body Mass: 203.65
Fat mass: 88.95
Body Fat %: 30.4

6/8/05
Weight at night: 298.0
Lean body Mass: 207.41
Fat mass: 90.59
Body Fat %: 29.7 (pretty low reading honestly)


7/11/05:

Weight at night: 305.4 (tough sucking this up, i dont wanna be over 300)
Lean Body mass: 212.55
Fat Mass: 92.84
Body Fat %: 31.2

What do you guys think? Keep in mind, I'm a meso/endo that puts on muscle easily, also puts fat on easily.

According to these calculations, I've gained 9 lbs of muscle and about 5 lbs of fat. Actually, I'm damn surprised it's only been 5 lbs of fat!

I'll prolly keep close track over the next few days to see if the bf% is an error but it looks about right honestly. What do you guys think? not bad for a pure clean powerlifter eh?

Oh, also, first time ever bulking. Let me know your thoughts.

I've had 2 people tell me my upper body has really looked like it thickened, especially my triceps. When 2 people say that out of the blue it's something special.

[DaRkAnGel]

It looks good to me man that's a good sum of lbm gained and not too much fat.

I would still just for health reasons try to get to the lower end of the 20's, but if you feel fine where you are at then thats cool too.

If you plan on competing i see no need for you to compete in a category that you don't belong though.... (as far as weight goes)

[Firehawk]

Oh i have no intention of staying over 300 lbs. Right now the man told me to just keep building muscle and we'll get the fat off later. he said if my pants start getting tighter to let him know and he'll fix it up for me.

I have every intention of staying under 20% one day, just feel like if i can stay around 30% for now and build some muscle i'll be ok, and down the road ill drop this fat.

When i do the meet in december it's purely for experience, nothing more. I'll get smoked by the super heavyweights but what can i do? lol

Ideally, i'd like to compete in the 272 class but i gotta get built enough to do that.

[Todd]

Well, from the stats you've posted, it looks as though you've done just as DarkAngel has said. At the same time, it's impossible for any one of us to really tell for sure just what has gone on, because we only have your posted numbers to go by, and we can't see you in person. You know what I mean?

I think you are the only one who can truly tell what has gone on. By this I mean, can you pinch more fat around your stomach area? If so, how much more than before? Can YOU tell if you've truly gained more muscle (by looking at your own body and by how your clothes fit, etc)? Have you become stronger over that bulking period? If so, then you've most likely gained muscle like your numbers say you have.

I guess my point is, YOU know your body best, so therefore you'd know better than any of us, or what any machine might say regarding whether or not you've gained more muscle and/or fat...and how much of each component.

[Firehawk]

My clothes are still fitting the same. I tend to wanant hink my love handles widened just slightly, but that's it. The veins i've started seeing from when i was cutting that are in my arms are still just as visible.

My deadlift went from 405 to 445 (for an easy pull) in the last 8 weeks, my bench went from 225 for 1 (pinkies on the rings with perfect form) to about 275 (pinkies on the rings with perfect form) in 6 weeks, lot of that jump has to do with eating more , going from 1800 calories to 4000 a day (starving myself.

I think it's definitely possible. 2 people came out of nowhere and said they thought my triceps and shoulders were looking thicker. Thought that was somethin...

[Todd]

Yah well, if your weights have been increasing, then muscle size gains usually follow, so I am sure you've gained muscle! Yes, you may have gained some fat too, like the numbers show, but fat doesn't help ya lift more weight, muscle size and strength gain does...so you can be sure you've gained some new muscle. Good job dude! If your veins are just as visible, then that is also an indicator that you haven't gained too much unwanted fat either. So congrats, it sounds like you are bulking nicely without too much fat gain.

As time goes on, just continue to do what you've been doing, and continue to monitor both your muscle and fat gain to keep everything in check. Good luck dude! :

[Firehawk]

Thanks alot Todd. I hope to look like you do one day, or even bigger .

Imagine a 6'3 frame with the kind of time and training that you have put in Todd...i wouldnt be surprised if you would have been a 280 lb'er cut lol, and CLEAN!

[Lift2Live]

Just under 4lbs. of fat and 8lbs. of muscle gained isn't too shabby at all man. This is why I agree that you could clean bulk without putting too much fat on. That's a 2:1 muscle to fat ratio, can't ask for a whole lot more than that! The added muscle will help burn bodyfat also. Keep your cardio up and you will be fine. Keep up the dedication and try to rein in as many of those cheat meals as possible for optimal results. You know what you gotta do...

[Firehawk]

I have 86'd the cardio but I do pull the sled twice a week after my weightlifting workouts. that definitely helps im sure.

Oh and i've done amazingly well reining in my cheat days bro. I really dont take whole days anymore, since eating alot more i dont feel such cravings anymore. Sure i get cravings but i don't binge like i used to. I try to keep it to 1000-1500 calorie meal which is like night and day from the 4450 cheat meals i used to take.

Thx for the motivation.

PS. it's 5 lbs of fat and 9 lbs muscle

[threenorns]

<smirk>........ that's all i have to say. <heehee>

Nice job Firehawk. Really impressive spike on your bench press.

I was going to suggest ditching the cheat days but L2L beat me to it.

What about keeping your calories at 3500 to 3600 (rather than the 4000 at the high end) and see what that does for your body composition and strength? Just a thought....

[Firehawk]

Actually I think if I were to totally eliminate any cheating i'd probably gain almost no fat at all, or about half what i have already gained. My mom's birthday was in june and i ate alot of pizza and brownies that night, there was a 3 day stretch in there where i had a small cheat meal every day of those 3, etc.

I don't think, nor do i really want to, eliminate all cheating. You gotta live man. I am not going to ditch the good things in life. The thing i've learned is moderation. Now when i go to taco bell, instead of getting 10 tacos with sour cream and 2 nacho bells, i get 6 plain tacos and thats it. HUGE difference in calories, from 4450 to 1100 lol.

I have to have my brownies, and I have to have my tacos. The key is moderation and I'm learning it. Plus, now I'm willing to admit that the 1800 calories a day i used to eat was NOTHING, not even enough to feed 200lb LBM whatsoever.

Also, usually if i do eat something that's considered "cheating", i try to do it post workout or close to post workout, where hopefully most of the calories get burned up.

[Cort]

Looks good to me.

I still think that once you get the fat down you may find that you aren't such a meso/endo anymore due to the shift in your metabolism that it would cause.

Jealous of the deadlift, mine hasn't been moving up as much as I want it to lately.

Good job on working down the cheat days, they can kill an otherwise great diet. You're right that it is about moderation, there is no reason to eliminate all the foods you enjoy. Just gotta have the discipline to cut down how much of them you eat.

[Firehawk]

Hey Thanks alot guys. Hopefully I can keep this going. It'd be nice if i was a pure mesomorph lol.

[Klinger]

Dave - your bulk looks pretty good. It's probably too much to ask to gain muscle while losing fat when you're feeding a PL scheme, so don't try. Just work to improve your LBM/FM bulk ratio to 2:1 (2 pounds of muscle for every pound of fat). You're close to that now. A few tweaks of the diet will do the trick.

I'd reconsider the lack of cardio. Even some medium-impact swimming or a couple 15-minute recumbent bike sessions per week would help you mitigate some of the fat gain during your cycle.