Bulk gone wrong?

[Hoss91]

A bit of history - I have a skinny fat body type, as well as Ehler-Danlos Syndrome Classic type. I have been working out since I was 18, but along the way got doses of fookarounditis. I made a decision last June (one year a go), to stick to a bulk. Well, I did that, but my results are confusing.

-I weighed myself everyday using the same scale.
-I tried to weigh myself and measured my bodyfat once a month using a vita-goods scale https://vitagoods.com/products/body-...-body-analyzer
-I measured my bodyfat consistently using skin-fold calipers at the start, but switched to the scale above for convenience.

Results
18-Jun-17: 154.97lbs; 10.06% BF ; 139.38 LBM; 15.59 lbs of fat [Skin-fold calipers] *Didn't buy body fat scale until later on.

18-Jun-18: 181.47lbs; 20.53% BF; 144.21 LBM; 37.26lbs of fat [Skin-fold calipers] Overall: 26.497lbs increase; 4.834 LBM; 21.67lbs of fat

18-Jun-18: 182.60lbs; 15.50% BF; 154.297 LBM; 28.303lbs of fat [body fat scale] Overall: 27.630lbs increase; 14.92 LBM; 12.713lbs of fat

-Gained 0.75" on arms - 13.5" to 14.25" lol

You can tell which results I prefer lol. The reason why I bought a body fat scale was because since I have stretchy skin, it could mess up the readings of the skin-fold calipers. I wanted another measurement, but this seems like a huge discrepancy.

I also attached pictures. Should I bulk further or lose body fat?

[Hoss91]

Apologies for the double post, but I could not attach any more photos. I attached my genetic potential according to Casey Butt's calculator.

[tommydamic68]

What program are you using to gain muscle? Has it been the same routine for all those years?

[Hoss91]

What program are you using to gain muscle? Has it been the same routine for all those years?

I always did mostly full body workouts - IceCream Fitness 5 x 5, Stronglifts 5x5 or Johnny Candito's programs. For this recent year, last year was a 5x5 routine. This year was a bro split because I was curious to see what would happen, saw strength results, so I continued on.

[CommitmentRulz]

I always did mostly full body workouts - IceCream Fitness 5 x 5, Stronglifts 5x5 or Johnny Candito's programs. For this recent year, last year was a 5x5 routine. This year was a bro split because I was curious to see what would happen, saw strength results, so I continued on.

What did your major lifts bench, squat, deadlift do during that span of time?

[Hoss91]

What did your major lifts bench, squat, deadlift do during that span of time?

Squat only ever gets to 195lbs, then I get knee complications. I do agile 8 before hand. Had members her, personal trainers, powerlifters check my form many, many times. Because I always get knee pain, I bitch out to the hack machine.

I recently pushed deadlifts to 300lbs x 1. Pretty happy about that. Bench press max is 185lbs x3. Overhead press maximum is 115x1.

Overall, pretty weak though lol. I track calories (weigh food) - eat 3800 a day, get .8-1lbs protein per lbs of bodyweight.

Edit: Unrelated, but I also bloat up quite significantly (9 months pregnant by the end of the day) because I eat so much food. Attached are photos (from a few years ago, which I was around the same weight I am now). Doctors say "some people just bloat alot".

[RobVegas]

Hoss,...I'd increase your fiber intake and take a pro-biotic to get rid of the bloat. You can easily increase fiber by taking a Metamucil supplement.

[Hoss91]

Hoss,...I'd increase your fiber intake and take a pro-biotic to get rid of the bloat. You can easily increase fiber by taking a Metamucil supplement.

Thanks for the reply.

My fiber intake is fine - I go to the washroom twice a day like clockwork. Pro-biotics actually made things worse, so I stopped. I tried enzymes, but they too didn't work.

Also tried gluten free, dairy free, FODMAP. lol. The only thing that seems to help (a bit) is lower carbs, but then it makes it impossible to hit 3600-3800 calories a day.

[Junsuiakai]

Squat only ever gets to 195lbs, then I get knee complications. I do agile 8 before hand. Had members her, personal trainers, powerlifters check my form many, many times. Because I always get knee pain, I bitch out to the hack machine.

I recently pushed deadlifts to 300lbs x 1. Pretty happy about that. Bench press max is 185lbs x3. Overhead press maximum is 115x1.

Overall, pretty weak though lol. I track calories (weigh food) - eat 3800 a day, get .8-1lbs protein per lbs of bodyweight.

Edit: Unrelated, but I also bloat up quite significantly (9 months pregnant by the end of the day) because I eat so much food. Attached are photos (from a few years ago, which I was around the same weight I am now). Doctors say "some people just bloat alot".

You are pushing your stomach out, what do you expect? Anybody can do that.

[Hoss91]

The result is very good,you're good! Work further. Keep it up!

I don't know if you're joking lol. To me, it looks pretty terrible.

You are pushing your stomach out, what do you expect? Anybody can do that.

I'm not.That is me just being normal. Morning I have a fairly flat stomach, by the end of the day I look like that.

Besides the bloating, what should I do in terms of exercise? Lose 5lbs of fat? Continue to gain muscle? Which result should I go by? Calipers or BF scale?

[Hoss91]

bump?

[Myfitfriend]

You’ve clearly gained some muscle. Unfortunately probably more fat than you wanted too.

How much weight are you gaining weekly? Maybe your calories are to high.

For your workout routine are you being consistent? Focusing on progressive overload?

You’ve clearly made progress though so well done

[Hoss91]

You’ve clearly gained some muscle. Unfortunately probably more fat than you wanted too.

How much weight are you gaining weekly? Maybe your calories are to high.

For your workout routine are you being consistent? Focusing on progressive overload?

You’ve clearly made progress though so well done

I appreciate the encouragement. I am just confused by the drastically different results from the bodyfat scale and skinfold calipers. From the latter, it suggest I only gained 5lbs of muscle this last year!

[waldoehf]

Body fat can be really tricky to measure as methods of measurement can easily be thrown off due to a myriad of factors. I would say maybe ease up a little on the bulk. Remember, you want to put on muscle, not loads of fat. Although it can be frustrating to bulk a little slower, you won't end up putting on gobs of fat that take months to work off. Keep up the great work, looking good!

[james29052014]

I'd say way too many calories, I bulked from 182lbs to 200lbs with 3500 calories and put on alot of fat, 3800 is a lot for someone your size

[Hoss91]

Body fat can be really tricky to measure as methods of measurement can easily be thrown off due to a myriad of factors. I would say maybe ease up a little on the bulk. Remember, you want to put on muscle, not loads of fat. Although it can be frustrating to bulk a little slower, you won't end up putting on gobs of fat that take months to work off. Keep up the great work, looking good!

I'd say way too many calories, I bulked from 182lbs to 200lbs with 3500 calories and put on alot of fat, 3800 is a lot for someone your size

I was not gaining any weight, which was the problem. So I had to increase it (maintenance is 2800 calories). I think I will lose five pounds as I put on too much fat.

Still a bit discouraging given the numbers in my first post though.