powerlifting for bulk?

[natz420]

Hey so I'm trying to bulk again. Last time I bulked I ate about 2500 cals a day ( I'm 5 7" and 136lbs) and my lifts went up quick but I gained a lot of fat. went from size 29 ( guys jeans) to 31 in about 2 months. So now I'm lowering calories to about 2300 and starting again. One month into it I've already noticed fat gains.3 months at this rate and ill be fat. But I'm doing mostly compound excersices. Squats deads bench overhead. ALOT of them. On back day would do a lot of deads, bent over row lat pull downs. On chest day would do squats, a lot of flat bench and incline bench and one accessory exercise. As an example of what my type of workouts are. Basically an altered 5x5.

So on this type of routine and that amount of calories I'm noticing fat gain after one month. Lifts are going up,but should I try a more isolated bodybuilding type of routine rather than strength type routine to get more gains? I don't think I'm eating alot but I seem to be gaining fat quickly and I don't understand why.

How much fat is normal to gain on bulk???????? Ugh I've gained about 2-2.5 pounds this month(not including the 4 lbs water weight fluctuations) I get super hungry before bed and eat peanut butter. Is that it why? Lol ugh

[chamelious]

Hey so I'm trying to bulk again. Last time I bulked I ate about 2500 cals a day ( I'm 5 7" and 136lbs) and my lifts went up quick but I gained a lot of fat. went from size 29 ( guys jeans) to 31 in about 2 months. So now I'm lowering calories to about 2300 and starting again. One month into it I've already noticed fat gains.3 months at this rate and ill be fat. But I'm doing mostly compound excersices. Squats deads bench overhead. ALOT of them. On back day would do a lot of deads, bent over row lat pull downs. On chest day would do squats, a lot of flat bench and incline bench and one accessory exercise. As an example of what my type of workouts are. Basically an altered 5x5.

So on this type of routine and that amount of calories I'm noticing fat gain after one month. Lifts are going up,but should I try a more isolated bodybuilding type of routine rather than strength type routine to get more gains? I don't think I'm eating alot but I seem to be gaining fat quickly and I don't understand why.

How much fat is normal to gain on bulk???????? Ugh I've gained about 2-2.5 pounds this month(not including the 4 lbs water weight fluctuations) I get super hungry before bed and eat peanut butter. Is that it why? Lol ugh

If you're gaining too much fat on a bulk, you need to lower your calories. The type of routine you're on has much less to do with it. Though, on a bulk, unless you're an absolute beginner i would recommend some work in the traditional "bodybuilding" rep ranges. Are you counting the peanut butter towards your calories? IMO if you're getting hungry on a bulk you're doing something wrong somewhere haha.

[natz420]

sometimes the peanut butter tops off my daily intake and sometimes it makes me go over. I go to bed late and am usually hungry an hour or two before bed and usually have a couple spoons of pb. I don't want to go to bed hungry. I really enjoy strength training that's why I do it. Would be kind of sad to have to focus more on isolated exercises to be honest. Do you really think it could be my routine ? because I dont think 2300 is much for my size.

[natz420]

My reps are pretty high too. For example on the bench I would do 10 reps of the bar, 45 lbs. Then add 10 lbs and do another 10 reps, 55 lbs . Then add 10 lbs and do 5x5,65lbs( if I can make it to 5 reps each set, 65 gets heavy for me) then ad 10 lbs for one or 2 reps,75lbs.Then I take of 20 lbs and do another 10 reps for final pump. And I'd do that for incline bench too and one accessory excersice like flys.

[beyond09]

sometimes the peanut butter tops off my daily intake and sometimes it makes me go over. I go to bed late and am usually hungry an hour or two before bed and usually have a couple spoons of pb. I don't want to go to bed hungry. I really enjoy strength training that's why I do it. Would be kind of sad to have to focus more on isolated exercises to be honest. Do you really think it could be my routine ? because I dont think 2300 is much for my size.

It's not your routine, it's your intake. You need to make sure you are tracking EVERYTHING accurately, weighing/measuring, etc. in order to know how much you are taking in. If you're still gaining too much fat, lower your intake. It's that simple. A weightlifting routine is not going to make you fat.

[Cara0915]

My reps are pretty high too. For example on the bench I would do 10 reps of the bar, 45 lbs. Then add 10 lbs and do another 10 reps, 55 lbs . Then add 10 lbs and do 5x5,65lbs( if I can make it to 5 reps each set, 65 gets heavy for me) then ad 10 lbs for one or 2 reps,75lbs.Then I take of 20 lbs and do another 10 reps for final pump. And I'd do that for incline bench too and one accessory excersice like flys.

If your reps are high you're not powerlifting. Generally PL is 1-5 reps.
It looks like you're kinda just throwing your own routine together.
Check out PHUL. It gives you the best of both worlds

[oregonchick76]

My reps are pretty high too. For example on the bench I would do 10 reps of the bar, 45 lbs. Then add 10 lbs and do another 10 reps, 55 lbs . Then add 10 lbs and do 5x5,65lbs( if I can make it to 5 reps each set, 65 gets heavy for me) then ad 10 lbs for one or 2 reps,75lbs.Then I take of 20 lbs and do another 10 reps for final pump. And I'd do that for incline bench too and one accessory excersice like flys.

So you're not actually powerlifting? And you're not actually following a real program?

You should gain around 4-5 lbs in the first month of a bulk, then 2-3 lbs each month after that. At 5'7" and 136 lbs, you have PLENTY of room to bulk up.

[natz420]

so today I focused on squats and military presses and arms.

with the military presses I did today.
I did 10 reps of the bar (45 lbs)
**Then added 7.5 lbs on each side and did 5 sets of 5.( 60 lbs)** 5x5.
Then added 5 more lbs and did 2 reps at 65.
Then took off all the weight and did 10 reps at 45 lbs.

Similar layout with squats.

And a few arm excersices.

Saturday will do a lot of flat bench and incline bench and squats. Following the same type of layout I mentioned for my military presses.

Sunday will do a lot of deadslifts bent over rows and military presses. again same type of layout I mentioned above, for each excersice.


Do I HAVE to follow someone else's routine down to the t? Is what I'm doing not going to produce results ?

I just figured 2300 isn't much for my size. Still gaining fat too fast tho... What weight should I bulk up to and how long should it take me to get to that particular weight ?

[birdiefu]

Do I HAVE to follow someone else's routine down to the t? Is what I'm doing not going to produce results ?

If you lift *anything* from lifting nothing you will make some progress. Will it be optimal? No. Will you stall soon? Likely. Programming is generally more complex than most newbs realize - a proven program will keep you from spinning your wheels.

It is also very odd that your top bench set is 65 x 5 (if you even make 5 as you said), while top OHP set is 65 x 2 - there is usually a pretty big difference between the two.

Also - as far as your "fat" gains - the scale weight you mentioned with initial increase then ~2-2.5 in a month is pretty spot on for what you should be gaining. Be aware that if you are looking at waist size only (pants size as you mentioned), this is often due to increase in GI content and other bloaty issues that may come with increasing cals/food types that is *not* necessarily indicative of fat gain only.

In regards to your original question in regards to PLing on a bulk, well all I do is train for PLing - bulking or cutting. Haven't had any issues putting on functional mass or losing fat - but again that comes down to nutrition.

[natz420]

what is it Supposed to be ? My bench has always lagged. my bench has always been slowest to make progress and always been my weakest. Always been embarrassed at weight I'm struggling to push on bench lol

[oregonchick76]

what is it Supposed to be ? My bench has always lagged. my bench has always been slowest to make progress and always been my weakest. Always been embarrassed at weight I'm struggling to push on bench lol

To each their own I guess, but my top bench is 145 and my top press is 105. Similar with DL and squat - top squat 225, top DL 275.

[beyond09]

what is it Supposed to be ? My bench has always lagged. my bench has always been slowest to make progress and always been my weakest. Always been embarrassed at weight I'm struggling to push on bench lol

There are no clear numbers that lifts are "supposed to be," it's going to vary for each individual, but you're probably struggling because you've been following a crap program.

[Cara0915]

OP, you sound very inexperienced (not saying that in a bad way), so stop trying to just do your own thing.
Are you interested in powerlifting or not? Because what you describe of your workouts, is not PL-ing.
If you feel you're gaining too fast, cut back on calories. 2300 may be too high for you, but you also may not be tracking your calorie intake accurately and eating more than you think.

[megdaig]

sometimes the peanut butter tops off my daily intake and sometimes it makes me go over. I go to bed late and am usually hungry an hour or two before bed and usually have a couple spoons of pb. I don't want to go to bed hungry. I really enjoy strength training that's why I do it. Would be kind of sad to have to focus more on isolated exercises to be honest. Do you really think it could be my routine ? because I dont think 2300 is much for my size.

.

A couple of spoonfuls of PB is easily a few hundred calories. Do you weigh your spoonful? Because a heaping spoonful of PB is actually much more than the serving size of 18g and at 90 calories per spoonful you can easily be eating 2x more than you think you are.