Help - Time to Bulk

[Mr_Kobayashi]

From Skinny-Fat Bastard to Just Skinny… Time to Bulk

I was your average skinny-fat guy. Bulk? I was already ~20%bf. Cut? I weighted 132 pounds (5’4). So I was thinking, what the hell was I supposed to do? After a year of playing soccer pretty intensely, I started weight training during the season (been at it for about 2-3 months). Bulking while doing the amount of aerobic training/conditioning required for soccer wasn’t really working out… Now I’ve become just plain skinny. Well you’ve got to have a “base” to begin with right?

So anyway, after reading lots of bulking articles and John Berardi stuff, I’ve got a plan, but of course I need the input of more experienced people.

I’ve included some pix btw

Weight: 128.7 pounds
Height: 5’4
Bodyfat: According to Tanita, I’d say 11-12% (need input here)?

PROPOSED DIET:

Meal 1 - 1 cup oats, 3.53oz blueberries, 6 whites 1 whole egg, 1 tsp flaxseed, apple.

Meal 2 - 6oz chicken (raw weight), 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 cup broccoli, 1 onion, mesclun salad.

Meal 3 - 1 cup rice (cooked), 4.23oz lean sirloin beef (raw weight), tomato, onion, mesclun.

Meal 4 (preworkout) - 25g carb energy, 1 scoop whey.

Meal 5 (post-wo) - 50g carb energy, 1 scoop whey, 1/2 cup oats.

Meal 6 - 5.3oz sweet potato, 1 tsp flaxseed, 6 oz chicken, broccoli, onion, mesclun.

Meal 7 - 7oz blueberries, 7oz cottage cheese, 1 tbsp 100% natural PB.

TOTAL: 2800 cals (C/P/F): 340/200/70
49%/28%/22.5% roughly.

All advice is appreciated. I’ve got some specific questions though:

1. Are these too many/too little cals? I’ve calculated using Berardi’s Massive Eating thing, and this is much more cals than other calculators put me at.

2. My goal is to hit 143 pounds (65kg). How much weight should I be looking to gain a week so as not to gain a heck load of bodyfat as well? Estimated, how long will this take me?

3. As you can see from my pix, I was a fat-skinny guy, so does that make me endo? But now I’m skinnier, am I still endo or ecto or what? This has to do with calorie calculations as well, I’m not sure whether I should be calculating like ecto (faster metabolisms) or endo (slower).

As a former fat kid, I like to eat But I don’t want to make it so I gain 20 pounds but only 2 pounds of muscle or something like that

[AJL_1240]

[quote]Mr Kobayashi wrote:
From Skinny-Fat Bastard to Just Skinny… Time to Bulk

I was your average skinny-fat guy. Bulk? I was already ~20%bf. Cut? I weighted 132 pounds (5’4). So I was thinking, what the hell was I supposed to do? After a year of playing soccer pretty intensely, I started weight training during the season (been at it for about 2-3 months). Bulking while doing the amount of aerobic training/conditioning required for soccer wasn’t really working out… Now I’ve become just plain skinny. Well you’ve got to have a “base” to begin with right?

So anyway, after reading lots of bulking articles and John Berardi stuff, I’ve got a plan, but of course I need the input of more experienced people.

I’ve included some pix btw

Weight: 128.7 pounds
Height: 5’4
Bodyfat: According to Tanita, I’d say 11-12% (need input here)?

PROPOSED DIET:

Meal 1 - 1 cup oats, 3.53oz blueberries, 6 whites 1 whole egg, 1 tsp flaxseed, apple.

Meal 2 - 6oz chicken (raw weight), 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 cup broccoli, 1 onion, mesclun salad.

Meal 3 - 1 cup rice (cooked), 4.23oz lean sirloin beef (raw weight), tomato, onion, mesclun.

Meal 4 (preworkout) - 25g carb energy, 1 scoop whey.

Meal 5 (post-wo) - 50g carb energy, 1 scoop whey, 1/2 cup oats.

Meal 6 - 5.3oz sweet potato, 1 tsp flaxseed, 6 oz chicken, broccoli, onion, mesclun.

Meal 7 - 7oz blueberries, 7oz cottage cheese, 1 tbsp 100% natural PB.

TOTAL: 2800 cals (C/P/F): 340/200/70
49%/28%/22.5% roughly.

All advice is appreciated. I’ve got some specific questions though:

1. Are these too many/too little cals? I’ve calculated using Berardi’s Massive Eating thing, and this is much more cals than other calculators put me at.

2. My goal is to hit 143 pounds (65kg). How much weight should I be looking to gain a week so as not to gain a heck load of bodyfat as well? Estimated, how long will this take me?

3. As you can see from my pix, I was a fat-skinny guy, so does that make me endo? But now I’m skinnier, am I still endo or ecto or what? This has to do with calorie calculations as well, I’m not sure whether I should be calculating like ecto (faster metabolisms) or endo (slower).

As a former fat kid, I like to eat But I don’t want to make it so I gain 20 pounds but only 2 pounds of muscle or something like that :D[/quote]

Hey, you have some very legitimate questions and have obviously done some good research here before asking.

I’ll try to answer with my opinions, just realise that it’s not coming from an expert by any means.

1)Using Berardi’s calculations is a good place to start, as would just about any other calculation. With any of the calculators, you HAVE to see how it’s working for YOU. Go mostly by the mirror, but don’t be too afraid of some fat gains.

Feel free to take progress pictures and post them for advice if you think you’re gaining too much fat as you go, but make sure you actually have some decent gains before doing so.

2. This one’s probably better answered by someone else, but I’d say that you should be able to gain more muscle weight now than when you get bigger. Basically, it’s easier to gain mass when you have less to begin with.

3. This is hard to tell too unless you post some detail of what you were eating when you looked like each picture. I think any body type can look like any other depending on what they eat and how they train.

That said, I’d say you might put on fat easier with higher carbs than a true ectomorph so try to get most of your carbs from veggies.

Eat clean, get enough good fats, good carbs and complete proteins and increase your calories gradually so your body can adjust.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Mastermind]

[quote]Mr Kobayashi wrote:
From Skinny-Fat Bastard to Just Skinny… Time to Bulk

I was your average skinny-fat guy. Bulk? I was already ~20%bf. Cut? I weighted 132 pounds (5’4). So I was thinking, what the hell was I supposed to do? After a year of playing soccer pretty intensely, I started weight training during the season (been at it for about 2-3 months). Bulking while doing the amount of aerobic training/conditioning required for soccer wasn’t really working out… Now I’ve become just plain skinny. Well you’ve got to have a “base” to begin with right?
[/quote]
Good attitue

So anyway, after reading lots of bulking articles and John Berardi stuff, I’ve got a plan, but of course I need the input of more experienced people.

I’ve included some pix btw

Weight: 128.7 pounds
Height: 5’4
Bodyfat: According to Tanita, I’d say 11-12% (need input here)?

Don’t worry about BF%; look at the mirror

PROPOSED DIET:

Meal 1 - 1 cup oats, 3.53oz blueberries, 6 whites 1 whole egg, 1 tsp flaxseed, apple.

Meal 2 - 6oz chicken (raw weight), 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 cup broccoli, 1 onion, mesclun salad.

Meal 3 - 1 cup rice (cooked), 4.23oz lean sirloin beef (raw weight), tomato, onion, mesclun.

Meal 4 (preworkout) - 25g carb energy, 1 scoop whey.

Meal 5 (post-wo) - 50g carb energy, 1 scoop whey, 1/2 cup oats.

Meal 6 - 5.3oz sweet potato, 1 tsp flaxseed, 6 oz chicken, broccoli, onion, mesclun.

Meal 7 - 7oz blueberries, 7oz cottage cheese, 1 tbsp 100% natural PB.

TOTAL: 2800 cals (C/P/F): 340/200/70
49%/28%/22.5% roughly.

Looks like a great starting place.

All advice is appreciated. I’ve got some specific questions though:

1. Are these too many/too little cals? I’ve calculated using Berardi’s Massive Eating thing, and this is much more cals than other calculators put me at.

The calorie counters are not good for discovering your needs, they are good to discover the direction you need to go. What ever calories you were maintaining at is what you should build on. Just add 200 to 400 calories to your current maintanence level and monitor. Adjust according to results. i.e. look in the mirror and check the scale. If you are heavier and not gaining much in the way of blubber, then keep that calorie level, if you are getting soft, then cut back, if you didn’t gain, increase. Do this every two weeks.

2. My goal is to hit 143 pounds (65kg). How much weight should I be looking to gain a week so as not to gain a heck load of bodyfat as well? Estimated, how long will this take me?

See above. The length of time is impossible to predict.

3. As you can see from my pix, I was a fat-skinny guy, so does that make me endo? But now I’m skinnier, am I still endo or ecto or what? This has to do with calorie calculations as well, I’m not sure whether I should be calculating like ecto (faster metabolisms) or endo (slower).

Don’t worry about it, see above.

[quote]
As a former fat kid, I like to eat But I don’t want to make it so I gain 20 pounds but only 2 pounds of muscle or something like that :D[/quote]

See above.

Rolo.

[Mr_Kobayashi]

Yeah, so basically I should just eat, go by the mirror and adjust. But that still leaves 1 question. Given my current stats, how much weight should I be looking to gain per week just so I have a reference that “wait, this is too fast”, or “man I need to up the cals”?

I understand what Mastermind is saying and that sounds like good advice (check for blubber, mirror test etc… then adjust accordingly) but the thing is, looking in the mirror is quite subjective so I would prefer a more “solid” measurement stick, in this case, weight gained.

Since I have little experience in bulking, I have no knowledge as to what is a “safe” amount of weight to put on a week. This is all to do with calorie levels and not really fat/muscle gain ratios, as whether I gain weight or not is down to my diet rather than training.

I would also like to know this as well so I can set realistic goals, as in whether 5 pounds a week is realistic for example, or only 1/2 pound a week or what.

I understand stats affect this as well, as I am quite light as SWR said, I can gain more weight a week. I am also 18 years old, does this in anyway affect how much I can shoot for?

Thanks for the advice so far.
Cheers.