Advice on Bulking

So it’s necessary to be 20% bodyfat to gain muscle?

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
So it’s necessary to be 20% bodyfat to gain muscle? [/quote]

It’s not necessary to be 10%.

You’re not listening - if you are smart about it and work hard, you will not simply become a “fatter version of your current self” just because you are carrying more fat to start off with.

[quote]RSGZ wrote:
Bricknyce wrote:
So it’s necessary to be 20% bodyfat to gain muscle?

It’s not necessary to be 10%.

You’re not listening - if you are smart about it and work hard, you will not simply become a “fatter version of your current self” just because you are carrying more fat to start off with.[/quote]

That’s a fair point - if working hard and smart involves taking the correct steps to reduce bodyfat or minimize gain of it.

Of course it’s not necessary to be 10% to gain muscle. SHW powerlifters do it everyday, even though most look like shit from an aesthetic standpoint.

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
RSGZ wrote:
Bricknyce wrote:
So it’s necessary to be 20% bodyfat to gain muscle?

It’s not necessary to be 10%.

You’re not listening - if you are smart about it and work hard, you will not simply become a “fatter version of your current self” just because you are carrying more fat to start off with.

That’s a fair point - if working hard and smart involves taking the correct steps to reduce bodyfat or minimize gain of it.[/quote]

That’s exactly it - no one wants to get fat to put on size. But it doesn’t mean that you will put on loads of it based on your starting point.

I’m still eager to carry on adding size, the only reason I’m cutting down now is because I’m no longer feeling comfortable.

[quote]
Of course it’s not necessary to be 10% to gain muscle. SHW powerlifters do it everyday, even though most look like shit from an aesthetic standpoint. [/quote]

Agreed, they are big and strong mother-truckers though.

Too many shakes. The actual food choices look alright. Estimate your calories as well. Keep a food log. Make yourself accountable.

I find in dieting, if you just use a decent template as your foundation (Quality Mass Diet in your case) and keep track of your progress over several weeks and tweak it little by little, eventually you will get something ideal.

Clearly there are some rules you should adhere to like:

  1. On a bulk eat surplus calories, On a cut, eat less.
  2. Majority whole foods

But you can tweak your macros, and the surplus/deficit amount, timing, food choices, etc. etc.

Not everything is set in stone. Experiment