Does this seem right? Opinions...

[kitpapa]

*seem right

Ok I dnt know how much info I need to put into the post itself but...
As most of you know I did 2 figure comps this spring. Last one was May 27th. I usef body fat calipers to test, to give me a baseline. I redo the test every so often to keep check on how things are moving. Same calipers, same test and calculations, etc....

So on May 25th, 2 days before my last contest, I weighed in at 117.5lbs and tested at 11.5%bf. So 104lbs lean mass and 13.5lbs fat.

Today is between 11 and 12 weeks post contest and I'm in a "lean bulk" if you Will, til sometime between January and March where I'll start to cut for Team Universe. Just trying to keep fat gains to a minimum while building overall and bringing up weak spots obviously.

I am 123.5lbs and 14.5%bf. So now I'm at 105.5lbs lean mass and 18lbs fat.

So in just under 12 weeks it seems I have gained 1.5lbs of muscle.

I do a upper/lower 4 day a week. Typically 15 sets for chest, 20 for back, and 25 on lower body days. Lifting heavy with rep ranges anywhere between 6 and 10-12. I recover quite well and am always ready to go by next session. I don't do cardio, was doing a bit of plyo but dropped it bc my knees were not liking it.

Consistently lifting for 1.5years (heavy lifted during pregnancy too)after I had taken a break for a solid year to year and a half. Previous to that I had lifted solidly for abo ut a year and a half.

Does this progress seem decent or too slow? I'm confused because I've had breaks in my lifting. I know women don't put on muscle very quickly so I'm just looking for opinions on the gains so far

[megdaig]

Putting aside the inherent errors in caliper measurements. 1 to 1.5# gain in 3 months isn't unreasonable and a pretty bang on improvement. I wish I had the discipline to lean bulk. Keep it up!

[kitpapa]

Putting aside the inherent errors in caliper measurements. 1 to 1.5# gain in 3 months isn't unreasonable and a pretty bang on improvement. I wish I had the discipline to lean bulk. Keep it up!

Thanks! I tried to limit errors as much as possible but know there will always be some

[ProYeo]

It seems pretty on par with what I did through my competition seasons. I didn't do any caliper measurements or anything, but was able to gauge decently just seeing my stage weight changes for each show.

[oregonchick76]

Water counts as LBM. I would not be surprised if you gained a significant amount of water post-show.
That is not to say that you didn't gain muscle as well, but a lot goes into LBM.

[kitpapa]

Water counts as LBM. I would not be surprised if you gained a significant amount of water post-show.
That is not to say that you didn't gain muscle as well, but a lot goes into LBM.

I know lbm is more than muscle

I don't manipulate water at all or carbs really so I wasnt thinking that would change but I guess it's possible

[oregonchick76]

I know lbm is more than muscle

I don't manipulate water at all or carbs really so I wasnt thinking that would change but I guess it's possible

Oh, I know you know. It was just a thought. It just seems that competitors probably get a little flat with contest prep and muscles get a bit depleted. I'll bet if you follow up in a couple months with another bf test, you'll be able to see if you're consistently adding LBM. You probably just need a couple tests spaced out under similar testing conditions to see what the trend is.

[kitpapa]

Oh, I know you know. It was just a thought. It just seems that competitors probably get a little flat with contest prep and muscles get a bit depleted. I'll bet if you follow up in a couple months with another bf test, you'll be able to see if you're consistently adding LBM. You probably just need a couple tests spaced out under similar testing conditions to see what the trend is.

Yeah I figured I'll test gain in maybe like 2 months.
End goal is jist to look like I belong on the Team Universe stage. I really am gonna work hard for more obviously, but that's the bare minimum I want