When should I stop bulking??

[Bailey07]

Age 20 height 161
Weighed 40kg 18 months ago..
But on 7kg with no calorie surplus just heavy weight training 6 days per week

In the past 8 weeks i have been eating 2000 cal and put on 1.2kgs excersing 5 days per week
Body fat sits at 12-16%

Just wondering how long I should bulk for??
I know many people will say until you want but is there a ball park figure etc

[kimm4]

I would advise to continue building to you reach a healthier weight. You're still a bit underweight for your height, but congrats on your progress so far.

[gailh]

it would be much easier to provide an opinion if we had a pic or 2 to go off of

[kimm4]

it would be much easier to provide an opinion if we had a pic or 2 to go off of

She started her journey around 88 lbs. I don't think a pic is even needed to give her an honest, healthy opinion.

[ChrizyKibs]

A healthy weight at that height is roughly between 48 and 64 kg... At with a BF% around 12-16% you definitely have some room for more bulking. It's really up to you when you want to stop bulking; maybe when you can't stand the added fat on your body anymore but I'm guessing there isn't much of that so far. I'd say keep going for at least 7 kgs more!

[Bailey07]

Thank you for all your great replies..
It actually runs in my family my mum weighs less then i do...

7kgs more i am just worried i will look funny.. I am very petite

[ChrizyKibs]

Thank you for all your great replies..
It actually runs in my family my mum weighs less then i do...

7kgs more i am just worried i will look funny.. I am very petite

Well, the 7 kgs was just an estimate - like one mentioned it would be easier to say if you had attached pics even if you don't weigh a whole lot. With that being said I understand 7 kgs sounds like a lot but it will also be muscle you're adding and not just fat + the idea is to cut and trim down the fat afterwards which is why I suggested aiming for a weight gain around that amount of kg.

Good luck!

[Bailey07]

I am also eating around 2000 cals per day...
Aimed at 65g fat
267g carbs
72g protein

[oregonchick76]

I am also eating around 2000 cals per day...
Aimed at 65g fat
267g carbs
72g protein

If you're doing weight training, you need to bring that protein up to around 110g and go ahead and drop your carbs a bit if you are looking to stay in the 2000 calorie range.

[Dnkibble]

Good question, I've heard some say to do it for yrs. Not sure if they ment to bulk for yrs or that it takes yrs to build muscle or both. I too would
Like to know when enough is enough..? Do you just stop at a certain weight?

[Cara0915]

Good question, I've heard some say to do it for yrs. Not sure if they ment to bulk for yrs or that it takes yrs to build muscle or both. I too would
Like to know when enough is enough..? Do you just stop at a certain weight?

You stop when YOU feel like stopping. Keeping in mind that a woman in a year can only gain MAYBE 6 or 7lbs of muscle, if she's lucky, and every year that number goes down, so by second year of training one would be lucky to gain between 4-6lbs, and so on. Which is why we say aim to gain about 1lb per month so as not to gain too fast, and too much fat that'll just have to be cut later to see the muscle gained. Oh, and even though you may think you've gained "a ton of muscle" once that fat layer is stripped off you'll see it's not nearly as much as you thought.

[superja]

Good question, I've heard some say to do it for yrs. Not sure if they ment to bulk for yrs or that it takes yrs to build muscle or both. I too would
Like to know when enough is enough..? Do you just stop at a certain weight?

Both. When you first start lifting, if you want to maximize the newbie gains, literally bulk for as long as you can stand it. It is so much easier to diet off fat than it is to gain muscle. And if you are doing a proper bulk, it should be long and slow in order to minimize fat gains.

I usually pick a goal weight to bulk to and once I get there will park at maintenance for a bit and decide if I want to keep bulking or if it's time to cut.

[Dnkibble]

Ok well thanks to you fine muscular smart ladies, I'm going to start my transformation next week..... The right way! I'm so excited to get started, I LOVE to eat so that'll be fun but the weight gain will be my biggest challenge/fear. Even tho it's not a lot of weight it's just the thought of "I need a bigger size" and my husbands ignorant opinions that will bother me the most. I still have a little more reading I want to do on bulking before I began this journey but you guys have been super super helpful and got me off to a great start !

[Dnkibble]

Both. When you first start lifting, if you want to maximize the newbie gains, literally bulk for as long as you can stand it. It is so much easier to diet off fat than it is to gain muscle. And if you are doing a proper bulk, it should be long and slow in order to minimize fat gains.

I usually pick a goal weight to bulk to and once I get there will park at maintenance for a bit and decide if I want to keep bulking or if it's time to cut.

So I'm 130lbs give or take a few, if I bulk until I hit...155, can I cut at that point and get good results or should I go higher?

[ChrizyKibs]

Ok well thanks to you fine muscular smart ladies, I'm going to start my transformation next week..... The right way! I'm so excited to get started, I LOVE to eat so that'll be fun but the weight gain will be my biggest challenge/fear. Even tho it's not a lot of weight it's just the thought of "I need a bigger size" and my husbands ignorant opinions that will bother me the most. I still have a little more reading I want to do on bulking before I began this journey but you guys have been super super helpful and got me off to a great start !

I'll suggest you to have a look at this thread (it really helped me getting into the 'alright I'm gonna gain weight mode'); http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...t=time+bulkers

So I'm 130lbs give or take a few, if I bulk until I hit...155, can I cut at that point and get good results or should I go higher?

I would suggest to aim for a gain for 0.5 lbs per week, others will probably say 1 lbs but seeing that you're at the same height and weight as me I'll suggest you to go about this slowly like I'm doing in order to prevent too much fat gain. Granted, I don't know your BF% but still, that's what I'm doing. Like I said other really lean women will probably say 1 lbs My goal is to hit between 143-145 lbs in about 5 months (it might be more and that's okay), then I'll do a cut, maintenance and then back to bulking again. You can aim for 155 lbs but the reality is we really don't know if that's where we feel good enough ending our bulk, you might feel compelled to keep going - who knows? I would recommend you to set a timeframe, choose how much you want to gain per week and THEN see what weight you then would end up at.

[Dnkibble]

I'll suggest you to have a look at this thread (it really helped me getting into the 'alright I'm gonna gain weight mode'); http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...t=time+bulkers



I would suggest to aim for a gain for 0.5 lbs per week, others will probably say 1 lbs but seeing that you're at the same height and weight as me I'll suggest you to go about this slowly like I'm doing in order to prevent too much fat gain. Granted, I don't know your BF% but still, that's what I'm doing. Like I said other really lean women will probably say 1 lbs My goal is to hit between 143-145 lbs in about 5 months (it might be more and that's okay), then I'll do a cut, maintenance and then back to bulking again. You can aim for 155 lbs but the reality is we really don't know if that's where we feel good enough ending our bulk, you might feel compelled to keep going - who knows? I would recommend you to set a timeframe, choose how much you want to gain per week and THEN see what weight you then would end up at.

Aaaw! Thanks a lot this will help a lot too, it's nice knowing someone at my same height and weight is starting off with me (: and my bf according to a hand held device is 17% but according to some of the women here at bb based off of my pics they think 25% . So I have my work cut out, you said you were going to bulk, maintain, cut and then bulk again? Why is that? Clearly I still have some learning to do but I'm going to get started and do the best with the knowledge I do have. If there is a sticky on the entire process could someone please attach it? @chrizykibs : Thank you!!

[Cara0915]

So I'm 130lbs give or take a few, if I bulk until I hit...155, can I cut at that point and get good results or should I go higher?

One pound a month, that's 12lbs in a year, a year is probably as long as you're gonna last on your first bulk, there's absolutely no reason to gain 25lbs in the year you bulk, if you're lucky only 6-7 of those pounds will be muscle.
I'd aim to gain 15 pounds, 20 at the most. Like Superja said, it's easier to diet off fat than build muscle

[ChrizyKibs]

Aaaw! Thanks a lot this will help a lot too, it's nice knowing someone at my same height and weight is starting off with me (: and my bf according to a hand held device is 17% but according to some of the women here at bb based off of my pics they think 25% . So I have my work cut out, you said you were going to bulk, maintain, cut and then bulk again? Why is that? Clearly I still have some learning to do but I'm going to get started and do the best with the knowledge I do have. If there is a sticky on the entire process could someone please attach it? @chrizykibs : Thank you!!

You're welcome

Oh, I'm at 26.7% so I'm right there with you haha.. Even though I had a look at your pics on your profile and you do look leaner than me. I'm not good at estimating BF% so I'm sure the ladies are right, you just DON'T look like you're at 25% to me?

I don't think there's a sticky for a 'complete process' per say, it's really up to the individual how they plan out their road to transformation. I would recommend you to search on this forum or simply google what cuts and bulks entail.

I'm bulking for 6 months in total now because it's the winter time and from what I've been gathering on this forum, that's the time to do a bulk because you can hide underneath warm clothing. I've chosen to do a 6 month bulk because I want to take advantage of the newbie gains you experience the first year or so. It's recommended to do bulks for 6-9 months at a time so you don't cut/bulk all the time where you'll spend time gaining and losing water weight again and again. Some does shorter bulks, others bulk for like a year so seeing I'm a newbie BUT with a high BF% I feel like going for the middle ground. Are you new to lifting weights? If so, you should definitely take advantage of that too!

After my bulk I'll cut to trim the fat away and see what kind of muscle I was able to gain on my bulk. My cut will last about 3 months if needed, might be shorter but I generally prefer slow cuts/bulks. Helps me with the process. After that I'll do a maintenance phase which will be around May/June. A lot of people maintain their frame/BF% during the summer months so they basically stay the same and enjoy the summer, others again don't care and cut/bulk as they please. And then after about 3 months of maintaining (and lifting of course!) I plan on doing my second bulk - probably for 6 months again. I hope that makes you understand my thought process and again - there's a lot of ways to do this but it's definitely a long project to get started on either way

[Cara0915]

[QUOTE=Dnkibble;1138089223]Aaaw! Thanks a lot this will help a lot too, it's nice knowing someone at my same height and weight is starting off with me (: and my bf according to a hand held device is 17% but according to some of the women here at bb based off of my pics they think 25% . So I have my work cut out, you said you were going to bulk, maintain, cut and then bulk again? Why is that? Clearly I still have some learning to do but I'm going to get started and do the best with the knowledge I do have. If there is a sticky on the entire process could someone please attach it? @chrizykibs : Thank you!![/QUOTE

Girl. Like ive said to you before chillax. You're making this WAY WAAAAY more difficult than it needs to be. One step at a time. Bulk, 9-12months. See where youre at then go from there. There's absolutely no reason to even think about the step after bulking yet, but since you asked, most go to maintenance for a little bit, then cut away fat gained on your bulk then bulk again. But like I said, this is all extra confusing to you for some reason so one step at a time. Stop talking about it and just get going.

[Dnkibble]

[QUOTE=Cara0915;1138101123]

Aaaw! Thanks a lot this will help a lot too, it's nice knowing someone at my same height and weight is starting off with me (: and my bf according to a hand held device is 17% but according to some of the women here at bb based off of my pics they think 25% . So I have my work cut out, you said you were going to bulk, maintain, cut and then bulk again? Why is that? Clearly I still have some learning to do but I'm going to get started and do the best with the knowledge I do have. If there is a sticky on the entire process could someone please attach it? @chrizykibs : Thank you!![/QUOTE

Girl. Like ive said to you before chillax. You're making this WAY WAAAAY more difficult than it needs to be. One step at a time. Bulk, 9-12months. See where youre at then go from there. There's absolutely no reason to even think about the step after bulking yet, but since you asked, most go to maintenance for a little bit, then cut away fat gained on your bulk then bulk again. But like I said, this is all extra confusing to you for some reason so one step at a time. Stop talking about it and just get going.

I don't feel like I am making it difficult. He who fails to plan, plans to fail so I'm trying to make sense of my plan, I'm a detailed person I try not to just dive into things either. I feel like I have enough to go ahead and get started, it may have been easy for you to get with the program of gaining weight and knowing you won't get the benefits of the process for a long while but for me it's hard to swallow for some reason. Even with that I AM going to get started, praying for the best and working hard in the mean time!

Thanks

[scruffylizard]

You stop when YOU feel like stopping. Keeping in mind that a woman in a year can only gain MAYBE 6 or 7lbs of muscle, if she's lucky, and every year that number goes down, so by second year of training one would be lucky to gain between 4-6lbs, and so on. Which is why we say aim to gain about 1lb per month so as not to gain too fast, and too much fat that'll just have to be cut later to see the muscle gained. Oh, and even though you may think you've gained "a ton of muscle" once that fat layer is stripped off you'll see it's not nearly as much as you thought.

This is so 100% spot-on it's not even funny. Win win win win.

[Cara0915]

[QUOTE=Dnkibble;1138112643]

I don't feel like I am making it difficult. He who fails to plan, plans to fail so I'm trying to make sense of my plan, I'm a detailed person I try not to just dive into things either. I feel like I have enough to go ahead and get started, it may have been easy for you to get with the program of gaining weight and knowing you won't get the benefits of the process for a long while but for me it's hard to swallow for some reason. Even with that I AM going to get started, praying for the best and working hard in the mean time!

Thanks

And to answer your other question about bulking while pregnant. No, you can't. Bulking, building muscle requires progressive overload (heavier weight each week/as possible) which means heavier weight than you're used to. A woman can maintain what muscle she currently has by eating around maintenance and dropping the load (weight) but from my knowledge it isn't safe to do weight you are not used to.