Need advice: Bulking, am I getting too fat?

[kydd]

So I've been on this bulking program and I'm seeing real progress after weightlifting for years with no real weight gain. My weight always stayed the same around 160 give or take, although I would get stronger to some degree. I think what would happen is I would eventually get overtrained/injured, then take a break and start the whole process over again. In the last 50 days, I was able to finally bench 225lbs for the first time, getting 4.5 reps. I've gained about 10 lbs, but I'm worried I may be gaining too much fat. Here are some stats for the last 50 days: I'm 5'7, went from 162 to 173, biceps 13.25 to 14, 14.25 to 14.75 flexed, forearms 11.5 no change, chest 41 to 43, shoulders 48 to 48.5, neck 16 to 16.5, thighs 22.5 to 23.5, calves 14.75 to 15.25, and the bad news stomach 35 to 37. My shoulders, chest and arms are well defined, but I have a gut developing. I've made really good strength gains across the board although I've been doing mostly upper body (legs one day taking it easy, I haven't really figured out how to squat or deadlift properly yet). I'd like to continue gaining muscle and strength, but I don't want to get fat. Should I ditch the bulking routine? Add more legs, cardio? Thanks for any input.

[tso.bulk]

No, keep bulking. I was just like you, lots of time in the gym lifting puny weights and running into plateaus then quitting. I didn't even realize that I wasn't eating enough to gain. Then this past december I started eating like a monster...4-egg omelets with cheese, half-pound sandwiches for lunch, 2 dozen wings...and I shot up in weight really fast. I started to realize how easy it is to get stronger when you are building new muscle fibers through nutrition instead of trying to strengthen existing ones with diminishing returns.

I went from 145 to about 175 in probably a month. I gained a lot of fat but I stopping being a pussy. So now 3 1/2 months into my bulk I'm up to 193 and I'm stronger than I ever was in the past. My bench went from 100 to 190, squat from 130 to 255, deadlift from 175 to 315.

The most important thing I learned from this is that I love being huge, and you will too.

[kydd]

Wow. Thats a huge increase. Did you gain a lot of fat? Yeah I figured I would start paying more attention to calories and smaller meal sizes. I guess I need about 3500 cal, so 6 600 cal meals, maybe do more legs and a little cardio. My goal wt right now is around 180 with under 14% bf, right now I'm 172 with probly 20+%. I don't want to just end up at my goal wt with a huge gut. So should I be aiming for say 190+ and then cutting, or just slow down the eating weight gain?

[Jneves]

I would take some time to clean up your diet and work more on your legs.

Focus on quality food and perfecting your form on the squat and deadlift.'

For anyone but a beginner bulking with high teens or above body fat is going to lead to a decent proportion of fat gain, unless diet is dead on and you have a fairly high activity level overall. Giving up entirely on trying to gain weight wouldnt be a terrible idea however

[tso.bulk]

Wow. Thats a huge increase. Did you gain a lot of fat? Yeah I figured I would start paying more attention to calories and smaller meal sizes. I guess I need about 3500 cal, so 6 600 cal meals, maybe do more legs and a little cardio. My goal wt right now is around 180 with under 14% bf, right now I'm 172 with probly 20+%. I don't want to just end up at my goal wt with a huge gut. So should I be aiming for say 190+ and then cutting, or just slow down the eating weight gain?

I gained a ton of fat but like I said I stopped caring. I'll be going on a cut soon and don't plan to lose any strength.

[Jneves]

[QUOTE=jrs5342;456694541]No, keep bulking. I was just like you, [QUOTE]

Except you were alot leaner, had alot less mass for your height, and were alot weaker when you started your.

these are very important factors

[Slow-N-Steady]

So I've been on this bulking program and I'm seeing real progress after weightlifting for years with no real weight gain. My weight always stayed the same around 160 give or take, although I would get stronger to some degree. I think what would happen is I would eventually get overtrained/injured, then take a break and start the whole process over again. In the last 50 days, I was able to finally bench 225lbs for the first time, getting 4.5 reps. I've gained about 10 lbs, but I'm worried I may be gaining too much fat. Here are some stats for the last 50 days: I'm 5'7, went from 162 to 173, biceps 13.25 to 14, 14.25 to 14.75 flexed, forearms 11.5 no change, chest 41 to 43, shoulders 48 to 48.5, neck 16 to 16.5, thighs 22.5 to 23.5, calves 14.75 to 15.25, and the bad news stomach 35 to 37. My shoulders, chest and arms are well defined, but I have a gut developing. I've made really good strength gains across the board although I've been doing mostly upper body (legs one day taking it easy, I haven't really figured out how to squat or deadlift properly yet). I'd like to continue gaining muscle and strength, but I don't want to get fat. Should I ditch the bulking routine? Add more legs, cardio? Thanks for any input.

OP you are fine...you've definitely gained some fat, but that is too be expected. You are gaining at about 1.5lbs per week, which is not anything insane. I would try and find the sweet spot of where you are gaining muscle optimally and gaining minimal fat. I typically personally aim for 1lb, but since you are just getting back into lifting you may be able to gain at a faster rate. I really wouldn?t worry too much about it.

I went from 145 to about 175 in probably a month. I gained a lot of fat but I stopping being a pussy.

lol...

[AUBURN_1984]

I would say it should be fine as long as it is clean food such as egg omletes and oatmeal or chicken with brown rice and etc. Might wanna stay away from any junk to ensure that your gains are muscle.

[RobTzu]

Work on them Deadlifts and Squats, they are the king and queen of excerises!
If you are seeing great strength gains ride the booger out. You can cut later. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[Ironwake]

lol...

Yea, I thought I was gaining fast!

[mcluvin737]

So I've been on this bulking program and I'm seeing real progress after weightlifting for years with no real weight gain. My weight always stayed the same around 160 give or take, although I would get stronger to some degree. I think what would happen is I would eventually get overtrained/injured, then take a break and start the whole process over again. In the last 50 days, I was able to finally bench 225lbs for the first time, getting 4.5 reps. I've gained about 10 lbs, but I'm worried I may be gaining too much fat. Here are some stats for the last 50 days: I'm 5'7, went from 162 to 173, biceps 13.25 to 14, 14.25 to 14.75 flexed, forearms 11.5 no change, chest 41 to 43, shoulders 48 to 48.5, neck 16 to 16.5, thighs 22.5 to 23.5, calves 14.75 to 15.25, and the bad news stomach 35 to 37. My shoulders, chest and arms are well defined, but I have a gut developing. I've made really good strength gains across the board although I've been doing mostly upper body (legs one day taking it easy, I haven't really figured out how to squat or deadlift properly yet). I'd like to continue gaining muscle and strength, but I don't want to get fat. Should I ditch the bulking routine? Add more legs, cardio? Thanks for any input.

Kydd,

Same exact story here. Same stats, same everything. I found the posts below over the last couple of weeks. They are awesome, and eye opening. The bottom line is that I never really calculated my nutrition needs and I think I needed to do more squats, deadlifts, and other big complex lifts. The articles explain why. I need about 3K cal/day vs the 2 or so I was getting. I've changed from a 200 cal, 60 g protein shake to a mass gainer (750 cal, 50g) to help me get the calories I need but seem to fall short of daily. I've also started a bill starr 5x5 workout, which seems to be a universal truth on these forums for weight and strength gain. Finally, I'm putting my food into the "Myplate" website which is really cool and easy. You tell it what you ate and it calculates the calories, grams protien, fat, carbs, etc and tells you how close you are to your daily calorie/nutrient goals, tracks it, graphs it, everything. Check it out (just google "myplate")

If I may suggest these "stickied" posts by experts about guys like us and how to gain lean mass and get bigger. I'm hoping this is the beginning of the right track finally. Good luck to you, man! Let me know what you think. (It won't let me post links because I'm too new. I'll PM them to you. Here are the titles.

Calculating calorie and macronutrient needs:


A beginner's guide to bodybuilding:


"Beginners Please look here before posting":


Bill Starr's 5x5 workout (includes spreadsheet that calculates how much to lift. Really helps take the guess work out):

[kydd]

Thanks for all the response. One thing for sure, I am not going to quit trying to gain more lean muscle/mass. This is the most progress I've had in years of on again off again lifting. I could never get 225 bench in college or since. I think because I didn't know what I was doing or how to train. Mostly I didn't know I had to eat extra calories/protein. Now the other day, I got 225 for the 1st time and hit 4.5 reps! and I'm making pr's pretty much across the board. So I'm pretty psyched. By the way, I just turned 50. Wish I knew this stuff 20 years ago. I do have a pretty fast metabolism, so hopefully I'll be able to lose the fat and keep the muscle later on.

[Pokarface]

I gained a lot of fat but I stopping being a pussy. . . The most important thing I learned from this is that I love being huge, and you will too.

I like this ^^ So true. I've gained 19 pounds in 16 weeks @ 14% body fat and I totally love it. I don't look fat, and a lot of random people notice the gains I've made. I'm gonna keep bulking at a pound per week until I hit 175 lbs @ 15% or less body fat, then cut my fat off. :-)

[Ironwake]

I like this ^^ So true. I've gained 19 pounds in 16 weeks @ 14% body fat and I totally love it. I don't look fat, and a lot of random people notice the gains I've made. I'm gonna keep bulking at a pound per week until I hit 175 lbs @ 15% or less body fat, then cut my fat off. :-)

Gaining 1lb per week is a LOT different than 30lbs in 1 month.

[Pokarface]

Gaining 1lb per week is a LOT different than 30lbs in 1 month.

That's way to much. The most I've gained is 2 pounds per week, but that week I was loading on creatine so that could explain my fast weight gain s=