Help guide me in bulking correctly 👍💪

[nsrt4me]

Hey guys and gals,
I'm aiming to compete next year for the first time and would love to here some advice from others with experience. I'm 21, 6"0, 200lbs at 9% bodyfat. I've always been on the slender side and never have been over about 12/13%.

My goal is to reach 220 lbs by January and then diet down to 200lbs by may 2014.

My questions:
1. Does this sound like an accurate goal to attain?
2. When would you recommend starting my bulk, and when would you recommend starting to diet down?
*please try to keep comments relevant.**
Thanks !

[bigryan03]

Hey guys and gals,
I'm aiming to compete next year for the first time and would love to here some advice from others with experience. I'm 21, 6"0, 200lbs at 9% bodyfat. I've always been on the slender side and never have been over about 12/13%.

My goal is to reach 220 lbs by January and then diet down to 200lbs by may 2014.

My questions:
1. Does this sound like an accurate goal to attain?
2. When would you recommend starting my bulk, and when would you recommend starting to diet down?
*please try to keep comments relevant.**
Thanks !

I don't want to burst your bubble but you'll likely have to get a fair bit lighter than 200lbs if you're going to be stage ready. 20lbs in 6 months isn't a ridiculous amount but I would personally err on the conservative side and try stay ~210 by Jan.
Try not to get too hung up on weight either. Give yourself plenty of time to diet down and if you're ready early then eat up into the show. Perfect example of this is Paul Revelia (Fitalpaul on the forums). He gave himself plenty of time to get diced and got diced ahead of time which allowed him to eat into the show and look insane.

[fltallpaul]

I don't want to burst your bubble but you'll likely have to get a fair bit lighter than 200lbs if you're going to be stage ready. 20lbs in 6 months isn't a ridiculous amount but I would personally err on the conservative side and try stay ~210 by Jan.
Try not to get too hung up on weight either. Give yourself plenty of time to diet down and if you're ready early then eat up into the show. Perfect example of this is Paul Revelia (Fitalpaul on the forums). He gave himself plenty of time to get diced and got diced ahead of time which allowed him to eat into the show and look insane.

Spot on...except its fltallpaul (Florida Tall Paul)

Agree completely here. Whatever weight you think you will compete at you can probably drop 10-15lbs from that if you want to come in completely shredded.

[red_cat]

Hey guys and gals,
I'm aiming to compete next year for the first time and would love to here some advice from others with experience. I'm 21, 6"0, 200lbs at 9% bodyfat. I've always been on the slender side and never have been over about 12/13%.

My goal is to reach 220 lbs by January and then diet down to 200lbs by may 2014.

My questions:
1. Does this sound like an accurate goal to attain?
2. When would you recommend starting my bulk, and when would you recommend starting to diet down?
*please try to keep comments relevant.**
Thanks !

Good answers already in here. Think of it this way: You're wanting to gain 20 pounds by January, which is 5 months away. Then, you want to lose 20 pounds in 4 months. You might look a little bit different than you do now, as you'll put on SOME muscle in those 5 months of bulking, but you'll be at virtually the same as when you started.

If I were you, I'd pick a late show next year. Maybe aim for October or November? That way you've got the next 9-10 months to slowly add quality mass (20-25 lbs would be a great number to aim for) and you'll have a solid 20-24 weeks to diet down for your show (you'll need more than 16 weeks to get super shredded for a natty show).

[nsrt4me]

Good answers already in here. Think of it this way: You're wanting to gain 20 pounds by January, which is 5 months away. Then, you want to lose 20 pounds in 4 months. You might look a little bit different than you do now, as you'll put on SOME muscle in those 5 months of bulking, but you'll be at virtually the same as when you started.

If I were you, I'd pick a late show next year. Maybe aim for October or November? That way you've got the next 9-10 months to slowly add quality mass (20-25 lbs would be a great number to aim for) and you'll have a solid 20-24 weeks to diet down for your show (you'll need more than 16 weeks to get super shredded for a natty show).

Thanks for the input everyone.
I think picking a show later in the summer would be better for me as stated, so that I have more time to pack on actual muscle mass. The targets of "220/200" were more so an estimate. I think after reading some of your input that adding on the size over a few more months than 5 will actually benefit me by building more muscle mass, rather than just gaining weight.
Would you keep the target weight at 220 or go a little higher? And to come in completely shredded, Im guessing somewhere around 195lbs( I know its more of my condition and how Ill look on stage) would be a better target?

[red_cat]

Would you keep the target weight at 220 or go a little higher? And to come in completely shredded, Im guessing somewhere around 195lbs( I know its more of my condition and how Ill look on stage) would be a better target?

I'm guessing more like 185-190, honestly. You have to take into account that you'll lose some lean mass (not necessarily muscle) throughout prep as well. Here are some numbers for you:

Right Now: 200# @ 10% = 20# of fat

Say you lose 10# (8 fat and 2 lean): 190# @ 6.5% (6% is pretty good conditioning but not super shredded)

Say you lose 15# (11 fat and 4 lean): 185# @ 4.5% (That's pretty dang shredded)

Knowing that you might have to get down to 185-190, I'd go no higher than 215-220 in your growing phase. 30 pounds over your anticipated stage weight is a good place to be at the end of a growing season. I think you aim for .5-1 lb per week from here on out. Some weeks you might gain more and some weeks you might gain less.

[bigryan03]

Spot on...except its fltallpaul (Florida Tall Paul)

Agree completely here. Whatever weight you think you will compete at you can probably drop 10-15lbs from that if you want to come in completely shredded.

Oops! Lol sorry man. I always wondered what your username stood for.

[tumtum]

Oops! Lol sorry man. I always wondered what your username stood for.

haha.. i called him "fit all paul" in my head for years... it wasn't until about a month ago i saw it was FLA TALL PAUL when i linked it to him living in the sunshine state

[bigryan03]

haha.. i called him "fit all paul" in my head for years... it wasn't until about a month ago i saw it was FLA TALL PAUL when i linked it to him living in the sunshine state

SAME! I've always called him fit all Paul.

[demonwareltd]

haha.. i called him "fit all paul" in my head for years... it wasn't until about a month ago i saw it was FLA TALL PAUL when i linked it to him living in the sunshine state

SAME! I've always called him fit all Paul.

Ditto - learn something new everyday! Now I can turn my brain off for the remainder of it