Bulking dilemma

[snoozer08]

I’m thinking about starting a slow bulk in about 6 wks and I’m still wrestling with a couple of things:

1) Am I at a low enough body fat to bulk in the first place?
2) If so, should I focus on growing my legs (do legs 2x a week and keep upper body lifts heavy/low reps once a week) or do a more straightforward bulk and try to build everything at the same time?

A little bit of background~

I’ve been slowly leaning out for the past couple of months. Not really paying attention to the scale but more how I look and how my clothes fit. I've definitely seen some fat loss mostly in my upper body. *Sigh*

Long term I want to grow, grow, GROW! Not to compete….I just want to look like I do. So these chicken legs have got to go! I’ve had to take a few months off of training legs here and there over the past 2 yrs b/c of an injury. That makes me think focusing on legs for 3-4 mos might be worth it so I can be a little more balanced.

Most recent pics from about a week ago (please excuse my posing and the fact that my husband cut off the top of my shoulders)


What do you think ladies?

Edited: Ahhh! Tried to embed pics but they were HUGE!!!! Recent pics on my bodyspace. I'll try and embed later without posting my mega-@ss for the world to see.

[IronCitGrl]

I’m thinking about starting a slow bulk in about 6 wks and I’m still wrestling with a couple of things:

1) Am I at a low enough body fat to bulk in the first place?
2) If so, should I focus on growing my legs (do legs 2x a week and keep upper body lifts heavy/low reps once a week) or do a more straightforward bulk and try to build everything at the same time?

A little bit of background~

I’ve been slowly leaning out for the past couple of months. Not really paying attention to the scale but more how I look and how my clothes fit. I've definitely seen some fat loss mostly in my upper body. *Sigh*

Long term I want to grow, grow, GROW! Not to compete….I just want to look like I do. So these chicken legs have got to go! I’ve had to take a few months off of training legs here and there over the past 2 yrs b/c of an injury. That makes me think focusing on legs for 3-4 mos might be worth it so I can be a little more balanced.

Most recent pics from about a week ago (please excuse my posing and the fact that my husband cut off the top of my shoulders)


What do you think ladies?

Edited: Ahhh! Tried to embed pics but they were HUGE!!!! Recent pics on my bodyspace. I'll try and embed later without posting my mega-@ss for the world to see.

1. I don't think there is any magical bf% you should be at to bulk. Unless you are still carrying around a lot of bodyfat (and by your pics you aren't) then you can bulk whenever you want. It's all about how comfortable your are with it.

2. I think you should take advantage of the excess calories and focus on building your whole body and not just one body part.

[DanceDiva]

Here's an article by Lyle McDonald that talks about p-ratio, bodyfat %, and factors to consider when deciding to bulk.

Looking at your pictures, I'd say you're in the range he specifies for females as the time to gain some mass.

Looking good.

[snoozer08]

1. I don't think there is any magical bf% you should be at to bulk. Unless you are still carrying around a lot of bodyfat (and by your pics you aren't) then you can bulk whenever you want. It's all about how comfortable your are with it.

2. I think you should take advantage of the excess calories and focus on building your whole body and not just one body part.

Thanks! Lyle recommends getting down to the low 20's for women before bulking but not getting too lean b/c that primes your body to gain fat when you increase calories. I'm not sure but I think I'm in the range he suggests. I'm definitely ready to eat more ......the being comfortable part I'm working on. Mentally I always get stuck at a certain weight and don't allow myself to keep eating above maintenance.

Hmmmm.... I don't think I'm going to weigh myself this time. Problem solved.....hopefully!

[parsnip1964]

1. Yes
2. I can't see your legs but my bias is to build evenly, like in a Monopoly game, unless there is some part of your body you are terribly unhappy with.

Good luck