Gaining weight

[Calikid32190]

Alright guys I’ve been on a bulk since feb 3rd when I weighed 136 pounds to my current weight now at 148.5. I’ve been doing 0.5 a week so a lean bulk. I’m trying to hit 155 before I cut to 145. Now I’m struggling badly to get those last 7 pounds it seems. This is my moving averages for this month on 3000 calories. I want to say I’ve been on 3000 calories for about a month and a half. Before that it was 2800 and instead of just doing the small 100 calorie increase I decided to do 200 and it seemed to get me moving again.

Now here I am again it’s only been a month an a half and 3000 calories should be more than enough for my weight but as you can tell it’s starting to drop to under 0.5 again. Is it really time to increase calories already?

My workout program is the fierce 5 intermediate so you can see the work I would be putting in since it’s on the forums. I switched from the novice program about 2 months ago.

If I were to look up my TDEE it wouldn’t even have me at 3000 calories to gain 0.5 it would have me at less but that’s way wrong as the numbers in the pic show. Any advice on what may be going on?

I seriously eat the exact same thing everyday so my calories never change and it’s just easy and convenient for me.

https://imgur.com/a/pcjeNDv

[AdamWW]

You can’t ‘look up’ your tdee

If you’re not gaining, you have to eat more.

However, it stills looks like your weight is going up... so I’m not sure what the issue is.

Trial and error is the only way to know what you need, so if you’re stalling, then consume more.

How tall r u? These are pretty low weights

[Calikid32190]

You can’t ‘look up’ your tdee

If you’re not gaining, you have to eat more.

However, it stills looks like your weight is going up... so I’m not sure what the issue is.

Trial and error is the only way to know what you need, so if you’re stalling, then consume more.

How tall r u? These are pretty low weights

I’m 5”9 but it’s supposed to be low because I’m only going for 0.5 a week. A lean bulk and yes granted I’m still gaining this week the fact it’s been dipping the last 2 weeks is a concern. Probably means I’m about to stop gaining until I increase again. I never know how long I should wait until I decided to bump up calories as you can tell because i started beginning of feb at 136 to basically today’s oct so about 8 months at 0.5 should have me at 16 pounds gained. Yet I’m at 148.5 so I’ve gained about 12.5. 3.5 under where I should be and that’s because I see my weight gain dropping and I tell myself it’s going to come back up and then it doesn’t and I have to increase. Sometimes I wait to long and that’s what I’m trying to figure out. How long do I give myself for not hitting 0.5 before I say let’s increase?

Also just realized the pics were put out of order so that may be confusing you. I’ve steadily been able to stay at 0.5 but now I’m going under and I’m looking at the period of the 16th to today that gives 2 weeks. There’s new pic


https://imgur.com/a/Ejnduet

[AdamWW]

I’m 5”9 but it’s supposed to be low because I’m only going for 0.5 a week. A lean bulk and yes granted I’m still gaining this week the fact it’s been dipping the last 2 weeks is a concern. Probably means I’m about to stop gaining until I increase again. I never know how long I should wait until I decided to bump up calories as you can tell because i started beginning of feb at 136 to basically today’s oct so about 8 months at 0.5 should have me at 16 pounds gained. Yet I’m at 148.5 so I’ve gained about 12.5. 3.5 under where I should be and that’s because I see my weight gain dropping and I tell myself it’s going to come back up and then it doesn’t and I have to increase. Sometimes I wait to long and that’s what I’m trying to figure out. How long do I give myself for not hitting 0.5 before I say let’s increase?

Also just realized the pics were put out of order so that may be confusing you. I’ve steadily been able to stay at 0.5 but now I’m going under and I’m looking at the period of the 16th to today that gives 2 weeks. There’s new pic


https://imgur.com/a/Ejnduet

You don’t need to gain precisely .5 per week... weight gain isn’t linear, especially if you’ve been bulking since Feb.

If you’re still getting stronger, you feel good, and the weight is still steadily going up, I see no reason to increase.

If you stop gaining weight or if your strength progress stalls for 1-2 weeks, etc, then increase it. It won’t be a perfect linear trend.

Also, 155 at 5-9 is a pretty low weight to shoot for on a bulk... is there a reason you’re picking an arbitrary number?

You’d be better off ‘bulking’ for as long as you can while still making strength progress and staying somewhere in the 12-16% BF range if you’re concerned with appearing lean... but really anything <20% is perfectly fine to remain healthy.

I’m against setting specific weights you want to hit, etc, because until you actually GET to that weight, you don’t even know how it’ll look or feel...

I’m not saying NOT to increase it, you definitely can, but if you’re still gaining at the programmed rate of strength per the lifting program it means you’re gaining muscle.

[Calikid32190]

You don’t need to gain precisely .5 per week... weight gain isn’t linear, especially if you’ve been bulking since Feb.

If you’re still getting stronger, you feel good, and the weight is still steadily going up, I see no reason to increase.

If you stop gaining weight or if your strength progress stalls for 1-2 weeks, etc, then increase it. It won’t be a perfect linear trend.

Also, 155 at 5-9 is a pretty low weight to shoot for on a bulk... is there a reason you’re picking an arbitrary number?

You’d be better off ‘bulking’ for as long as you can while still making strength progress and staying somewhere in the 12-16% BF range if you’re concerned with appearing lean... but really anything <20% is perfectly fine to remain healthy.

I’m against setting specific weights you want to hit, etc, because until you actually GET to that weight, you don’t even know how it’ll look or feel...

For me I love setting goals for myself. So I picked 155 then cut to 145. Then from 145 to 165. Then 165 to 155 and hang out at 155 for a bit until I make the finish push to 175 then stay at 170. I’m doing 20 pound increments. When I have a goal is just helps me more is all. Also my scale almost has me 14.1 BF. When I started at 136 I was 11.6. Now we know BF is hard to get accurate but the fact remains I’ve gained 2.5 pounds of fat. From 11.6 to 14.1. When my progress stalls I don’t typically eat more I do a reset and climb back up. I’ve learned it’s good to do resets because I would never do them before and I can see how they help.

Why do you think 155 is a low number? If I started at 136 that’s 19 pound weight gain. I picked 155 as well because a lot of my fav UFC fighters are in that weight class and I want the flexibility like them to go to 170 or stay at 155 depending on how my body looks.

[AdamWW]

For me I love setting goals for myself. So I picked 155 then cut to 145. Then from 145 to 165. Then 165 to 155 and hang out at 155 for a bit until I make the finish push to 175 then stay at 170. I’m doing 20 pound increments. When I have a goal is just helps me more is all. Also my scale almost has me 14.1 BF. When I started at 136 I was 11.6. Now we know BF is hard to get accurate but the fact remains I’ve gained 2.5 pounds of fat. From 11.6 to 14.1. When my progress stalls I don’t typically eat more I do a reset and climb back up. I’ve learned it’s good to do resets because I would never do them before and I can see how they help.

Why do you think 155 is a low number? If I started at 136 that’s 19 pound weight gain. I picked 155 as well because a lot of my fav UFC fighters are in that weight class and I want the flexibility like them to go to 170 or stay at 155 depending on how my body looks.

First off, your scale doesn’t know your BF, so don’t use that as a reference.

5-9 and 155 just isn’t a very significant weight... and if you’re still in novice strength levels, why would you waste precious muscle-building time doing cut/bulk/cut/bulk cycles when you could just stay lean for a long time and milk your novice gains until they’re tapped out?

My advice is to continue as long as possible with linear progress in strength, stay under 20% BF for health reasons, and only cut if you’re personally unhappy with how you look... otherwise, again, you’re just missing the chance the capitalize on muscle gains by yo-yo’ing around.

Too many people just enter into cuts without getting strong first.... and they end up spinning their wheels wasting years without adding much real tissue.

Tell me, what are your bench, squat, and deadlift numbers?

[Calikid32190]

First off, your scale doesn’t know your BF, so don’t use that as a reference.

5-9 and 155 just isn’t a very significant weight... and if you’re still in novice strength levels, why would you waste precious muscle-building time doing cut/bulk/cut/bulk cycles when you could just stay lean for a long time and milk your novice gains until they’re tapped out?

My advice is to continue as long as possible with linear progress in strength, stay under 20% BF for health reasons, and only cut if you’re personally unhappy with how you look... otherwise, again, you’re just missing the chance the capitalize on muscle gains by yo-yo’ing around.

Too many people just enter into cuts without getting strong first.... and they end up spinning their wheels wasting years without adding much real tissue.

Tell me, what are your bench, squat, and deadlift numbers?

Bench: 125 was 130 before I did a 15% reset from 130

Squat: 165 was at 205 at one point but I may of been doing it wrong so I did a reset there.

Deadlift: 170 was at 205 did a reset there as well

My deadlift and squat got that high because I was forced to use PF as my gym and they only have Smith machines which overall aren’t very good. Once I got back into my school using the barbells I did a reset on those 2 and I’m trying to get back to my numbers. It seems to get really hard at times and if I struggle I’ve seen in fierce 5 program you’re supposed to reset and work back up. Not sure how many times you’re supposed to reset before you realize you can’t get past a certain number.

How do I know if I still have novice gains? Also 155 some of those guys are big at that weight so I don’t think the number really tells much if you’ll look small or big.

[AdamWW]

Dude you are nowhere near strong enough to consider cutting...

And you need to stop comparing your weight and appearance with other people.

Sorry but 5-9 155 isn’t going to look big or even impressive unless you’re like 5% BF and not in street clothes.

Get stronger, stay the course...

[Calikid32190]

Dude you are nowhere near strong enough to consider cutting...

And you need to stop comparing your weight and appearance with other people.

Sorry but 5-9 155 isn’t going to look big or even impressive unless you’re like 5% BF and not in street clothes.

Get stronger, stay the course...

Will eating more food make me be able to lift more? I’m just not sure how eating more correlates to lifting more. What would be strong enough to consider a cut?

[faithbrah]

aren't you the guy who does the "anabolic diet"?

Will eating more food make me be able to lift more? I’m just not sure how eating more correlates to lifting more. What would be strong enough to consider a cut?

ever seen those strongman guys? they eat a lot, and they're really strong

weight gain usually results in some muscle & strength gains (if you're lifting)

i wouldn't ask "what is strong enough", but maybe cut when you're starting to hit the upper range of your tolerable bf%

[Calikid32190]

aren't you the guy who does the "anabolic diet"?

ever seen those strongman guys? they eat a lot, and they're really strong

weight gain usually results in some muscle & strength gains (if you're lifting)

i wouldn't ask "what is strong enough", but maybe cut when you're starting to hit the upper range of your tolerable bf%

Yes I do the anabolic diet and yes they’re really strong but the definition is lacking. I want to have both big muscles and definition. Like when I was 136 my abs were crazy I didn’t even have to flex hard at all. Now that I’m 148.5 there kinda there not all the way gone but no matter how hard I flex I can’t get them to look like when I was 136. Certain days they do come in better. I wouldn’t think gaining 12.5 pounds would make my abs lose definition some because 148 pounds isn’t a weight where someone typically looks fat.

I don’t look fat my abs just don’t pop as hard. How do you know your actual bf though? We know a lot of the things are incorrect that measure them.

[AdamWW]

Yes I do the anabolic diet and yes they’re really strong but the definition is lacking. I want to have both big muscles and definition. Like when I was 136 my abs were crazy I didn’t even have to flex hard at all. Now that I’m 148.5 there kinda there not all the way gone but no matter how hard I flex I can’t get them to look like when I was 136. Certain days they do come in better. I wouldn’t think gaining 12.5 pounds would make my abs lose definition some because 148 pounds isn’t a weight where someone typically looks fat.

I don’t look fat my abs just don’t pop as hard. How do you know your actual bf though? We know a lot of the things are incorrect that measure them.

You can't ever know it without dying and getting an autopsy

Who cares what the actual number is? It's pretty easy to tell if your BF level is unhealthy, and beyond that it's purely a matter of preference.

[Calikid32190]

You can't ever know it without dying and getting an autopsy

Who cares what the actual number is? It's pretty easy to tell if your BF level is unhealthy, and beyond that it's purely a matter of preference.

It’s ok for now it isn’t bothering me enough to want to cut weight just yet. So I finished my weigh in today and all 5 days this week I lost weight and I’m no longer gaining my 0.5 it averaged out today l and changed my last 3 days to nothing gained rather than the 0.2-0.3 it had shown.

[Dranseth]

It’s ok for now it isn’t bothering me enough to want to cut weight just yet. So I finished my weigh in today and all 5 days this week I lost weight and I’m no longer gaining my 0.5 it averaged out today l and changed my last 3 days to nothing gained rather than the 0.2-0.3 it had shown.

Are you counting calories correctly/accurately?
Plain and simple, if you are not gaining weight, then up your calories.

[slashnjump]

Alright guys I’ve been on a bulk since feb 3rd when I weighed 136 pounds to my current weight now at 148.5. I’ve been doing 0.5 a week so a lean bulk. I’m trying to hit 155 before I cut to 145. Now I’m struggling badly to get those last 7 pounds it seems. This is my moving averages for this month on 3000 calories. I want to say I’ve been on 3000 calories for about a month and a half. Before that it was 2800 and instead of just doing the small 100 calorie increase I decided to do 200 and it seemed to get me moving again.

Now here I am again it’s only been a month an a half and 3000 calories should be more than enough for my weight but as you can tell it’s starting to drop to under 0.5 again. Is it really time to increase calories already?

My workout program is the fierce 5 intermediate so you can see the work I would be putting in since it’s on the forums. I switched from the novice program about 2 months ago.

If I were to look up my TDEE it wouldn’t even have me at 3000 calories to gain 0.5 it would have me at less but that’s way wrong as the numbers in the pic show. Any advice on what may be going on?

I seriously eat the exact same thing everyday so my calories never change and it’s just easy and convenient for me.

I'm running a video series on gaining weight and exercise. The series is on my channel.

[SuffolkPunch]

I'm running a video series on gaining weight and exercise. The series is on my channel.

Please note the forum rules on advertising - you can have your link in your signature but if you keep making posts pushing people towards your channel, your account may be suspended.

[slashnjump]

Please note the forum rules on advertising - you can have your link in your signature but if you keep making posts pushing people towards your channel, your account may be suspended.

Sorry about that, guess I'm being a bit overzealous.

[snailsrus]

Bench: 125 was 130 before I did a 15% reset from 130

Squat: 165 was at 205 at one point but I may of been doing it wrong so I did a reset there.

Deadlift: 170 was at 205 did a reset there as well

My deadlift and squat got that high because I was forced to use PF as my gym and they only have Smith machines which overall aren’t very good. Once I got back into my school using the barbells I did a reset on those 2 and I’m trying to get back to my numbers. It seems to get really hard at times and if I struggle I’ve seen in fierce 5 program you’re supposed to reset and work back up. Not sure how many times you’re supposed to reset before you realize you can’t get past a certain number.

How do I know if I still have novice gains? Also 155 some of those guys are big at that weight so I don’t think the number really tells much if you’ll look small or big.

your lifts can go way up.... your still at a novice level. I’m a tiny female with your high weights for your lifts being my lifts atm

[Calikid32190]

your lifts can go way up.... your still at a novice level. I’m a tiny female with your high weights for your lifts being my lifts atm

My big thing is I reset and work back up and I seem to hit the same struggle and I can’t figure out why. I’ve definitely gotten stronger because I’ve never had my numbers in the 200s before. How many times do you reset before you figure out you can’t get past a certain weight? What do you do to get past that certain weight?

[Calikid32190]

Are you counting calories correctly/accurately?
Plain and simple, if you are not gaining weight, then up your calories.

Definitely am, I eat the same exact thing Monday through Friday and my weekend is even the exact same carb ups so I have it down to the tee. I want to stay at 0.5 a week and really don’t want to shoot up to 1 pound a week. I’m very good at cutting though and have never had a problem with it. This is my first real bulk because I typically stop once I look at old pics of myself with my crazy abs and then look at myself at 148 and get mad and decide to cut. I’m ignoring that this time and continuing to push. When I do my resets once I get to a weight I struggle with I work back up and typically still get stuck at that same weight. How many resets do you do before you just stop? I mean I’ve never did resets before I’ve just started doing them and I can see the advantage of doing them now.

[snailsrus]

My big thing is I reset and work back up and I seem to hit the same struggle and I can’t figure out why. I’ve definitely gotten stronger because I’ve never had my numbers in the 200s before. How many times do you reset before you figure out you can’t get past a certain weight? What do you do to get past that certain weight?

I would only reset if my form was suffering, other wise it seems counter productive

[AdamWW]

I would only reset if my form was suffering, other wise it seems counter productive

Same here.

Usually I don't even 'reset' or have a deload week...

If I feel run down, I just have a lighter more 'intuitive' workout for a single day. I actually did that 4 days ago for upper-body and came back today feeling awesome.

It's great to let fatigue settle every now and again, but it doesn't have to be some crazy change. I literally just dropped weights by like 10% and did a couple extra reps instead...

[Dranseth]

Definitely am, I eat the same exact thing Monday through Friday and my weekend is even the exact same carb ups so I have it down to the tee. I want to stay at 0.5 a week and really don’t want to shoot up to 1 pound a week. I’m very good at cutting though and have never had a problem with it. This is my first real bulk because I typically stop once I look at old pics of myself with my crazy abs and then look at myself at 148 and get mad and decide to cut. I’m ignoring that this time and continuing to push. When I do my resets once I get to a weight I struggle with I work back up and typically still get stuck at that same weight. How many resets do you do before you just stop? I mean I’ve never did resets before I’ve just started doing them and I can see the advantage of doing them now.

First of all, you should never give up. I have reset my OHP many times. Progressing can definitely be a slow process.

How long have you been on Fierce 5? Sometimes it can be good to switch up a routine depending on how long you have been doing it. I started with Stronglifts, 5/3/1 BBB, nSuns, now back to 5/3/1 BBB because I respond well to the volume supplemental.

Since you are following a solid routine I would bet that progress has slowed and you need to increase calories. Does your progress stall when your weight becomes stagnant? Maybe it is correlated?

[Junsuiakai]

Dude you are nowhere near strong enough to consider cutting...

And you need to stop comparing your weight and appearance with other people.

Sorry but 5-9 155 isn’t going to look big or even impressive unless you’re like 5% BF and not in street clothes. No


Get stronger, stay the course...

I'm 5'9 159lb my cut goal is 155lb but I been at this for 7yrs lol. OP has a good mindset I would say and I'm mirroring his progress.

Gdjm I'm seriously impressed by his determination. I need to start lean bulking Oct 24th and I can only hope i can be as consistent as him.

My goal will be no more than 1lb a month. It's a lot easier to justify extra calories on a bulk so I hope I dont end up bulking up to 15% ever again..

[AdamWW]

I'm 5'9 159lb my cut goal is 155lb but I been at this for 7yrs lol. OP has a good mindset I would say and I'm mirroring his progress.

Gdjm I'm seriously impressed by his determination. I need to start lean bulking Oct 24th and I can only hope i can be as consistent as him.

That’s a weird comparison. You’re 5-9 and like 10% BF... OP is not.

Also, how strong r u?

[Junsuiakai]

That’s a weird comparison. You’re 5-9 and like 10% BF... OP is not.

Also, how strong r u?

I did 7x3 dips @70lbs this morning. Full rom paused and SS with hanging knee raises with 20lbs 7x10

Tomorrow paused pull ups 7x3 @70lbs as that with laying oblique twists with 15lbs 7x10 lol

Max chin is 120lbs max dip 120lbs

Dumbell squat with weighted vest (50lbs) and 52.5x2 dumbell with pin cant ever seem to load it enough..

Max squat I ever did was like 372

So i dont know what I'm at now cause all i do is weighted bodyweight.

I think this was set 5


Let's just appreciate how all my gains dissapeared in this lighting lol

[AdamWW]

I did 7x3 dips @70lbs this morning. Full rom paused and SS with hanging knee raises with 20lbs 7x10

Tomorrow paused pull ups 7x3 @70lbs as that with laying oblique twists with 15lbs 7x10 lol

Max chin is 120lbs max dip 120lbs

Dumbell squat with weighted vest (50lbs) and 52.5x2 dumbell with pin cant ever seem to load it enough..

Max squat I ever did was like 372

So i dont know what I'm at now cause all i do is weighted bodyweight.

I think this was set 5


Let's just appreciate how all my gains dissapeared in this lighting lol

Yeah, I can't really comment on bodyweight movements like that...

But what I would say is, again, you can't really compare two people that easily because usually strength standards are measured in terms of the Big 3 - 4 movements...

And we also don't know where you started vs where OP is starting... so... yea

[Junsuiakai]

Yeah, I can't really comment on bodyweight movements like that...

But what I would say is, again, you can't really compare two people that easily because usually strength standards are measured in terms of the Big 3 - 4 movements...

And we also don't know where you started vs where OP is starting... so... yea

I'm just mainly saying I admire his consistency. I dont even know what OP looks like. I have never lean bulked before so I'm anxious to start and its motivating to see somebody stick with it for so long.

[AdamWW]

I'm just mainly saying I admire his consistency. I dont even know what OP looks like. I have never lean bulked before so I'm anxious to start and its motivating to see somebody stick with it for so long.

I mean I've been bulking for 6+ months now... it's not very hard to 'stick with'...

[Junsuiakai]

I mean I've been bulking for 6+ months now... it's not very hard to 'stick with'...

In the past. I ended up phucking it up and eating too much but mad props to you too! I guess we will fine out by 2022 how my bulk went lol

I have a ferocious appetite I can put away over 5k calories a day and still want more.