I’ve found that I can juggle various macros while keeping caloric intake constant and see slow changes in my physique. Obviously you could get away with more protein (185g isn’t really excessively high), or if your fat intake is relatively low, raising it a bit higher than ‘minimum’ might actually give you a nice boost in hormone production and help your joints a bit (of course I’m speaking as a beaten up middle aged guy here -lol).
Still, your rate of gain isn’t a negative thing, you put on a lb/week, obviously not all muscle, but not so much that you’ve over-bulked and ruined your physique behind so much fat. If your goal is to one day compete, force feeding growth is a myth you should fully grasp. I wouldn’t suddenly slam on the brakes if I were you, BUT, I would definitely either
-hold constant and then slowly pump the brakes in a couple of weeks is you keep getting softer
-Throw in ‘control’ days and keep most days the same as they currently are
-Juggle some macro breakdowns and see how your body responds
[quote]bignate wrote:
hmmm 10lbs on a bulk in almost three months? ur not doing it right. [/quote]
How much muscle do you think you can gain in 3 months?[/quote]
Thanks for the back up my friend.
To the original comment of “ur not doing it right” …I’m not claiming to be doing it right, honestly. I’m here for objectivity and criticism…as long as it’s constructive.
Waylander…I agree with your view of the situation. It was a typo btw…it’s closer to 18-19 lbs of weight gain…but, a lot of the initial gain in weight was water and glycogen restoration from a large increase in carbs. I probably should have reverse dieted and brought up calories/carbs over a period of time. But…yea, I think people have a warped sense of how much they can gain of quality mass in short periods of time…just because you are gaining ridiculous amounts of weight does not mean most of it is actual muscular mass…
[quote]bignate wrote:
hmmm 10lbs on a bulk in almost three months? ur not doing it right. [/quote]
How much muscle do you think you can gain in 3 months?[/quote]
Ya, this, especially since I’m assuming you’re doing this naturally?
Right now, it seems that you’re at that point where you could really push your body to that next level, but it will require you to force yourself to grow a little. I think if you push your cals up progressively and keep training hard, you’ll get there, but doing a mini-diet now won’t result in much net gain from that first pic.
[quote]bignate wrote:
hmmm 10lbs on a bulk in almost three months? ur not doing it right. [/quote]
How much muscle do you think you can gain in 3 months?[/quote]
Ya, this, especially since I’m assuming you’re doing this naturally?
Right now, it seems that you’re at that point where you could really push your body to that next level, but it will require you to force yourself to grow a little. I think if you push your cals up progressively and keep training hard, you’ll get there, but doing a mini-diet now won’t result in much net gain from that first pic.
Also, try and take better progress pics :P[/quote]
Many thanks for the insight. Putting it in that perspective does allow me to see that I’d be in basically the same boat as I was before assuming I were to “mini-cut”.
And…yes, naturally trying to acquire significant amounts of lean mass takes a lot of time, work, and focus on macros. At least for me it has been that way…
Again…appreciate the advice coming from a dude like yourself.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’ve found that I can juggle various macros while keeping caloric intake constant and see slow changes in my physique. Obviously you could get away with more protein (185g isn’t really excessively high), or if your fat intake is relatively low, raising it a bit higher than ‘minimum’ might actually give you a nice boost in hormone production and help your joints a bit (of course I’m speaking as a beaten up middle aged guy here -lol).
Still, your rate of gain isn’t a negative thing, you put on a lb/week, obviously not all muscle, but not so much that you’ve over-bulked and ruined your physique behind so much fat. If your goal is to one day compete, force feeding growth is a myth you should fully grasp. I wouldn’t suddenly slam on the brakes if I were you, BUT, I would definitely either
-hold constant and then slowly pump the brakes in a couple of weeks is you keep getting softer
-Throw in ‘control’ days and keep most days the same as they currently are
-Juggle some macro breakdowns and see how your body responds
S[/quote]
Your advice and perspective is greatly appreciated! Thank you…will be looking into shifting around the macros a bit.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
OP you’re doing well keep going, but don’t get overzealous and turn out sloppy plz.[/quote]
Thank you for the good words man! I have to say…I have an all or nothing sort of mindset. I tend to be extreme in ways. For instance…when I eat over macros a bit…I’ll get a defeatist sort of attitude and then just go absolutely ape shit on food. Sort of like…well I fucked up already, what does it matter. In retrospect, that’s retarded. I end up turning nothing into perhaps at least a little something.
At times this translates to the thought process of…“well, I gained a little fat…fuck it now might as well all out fat bulk”. I don’t allow myself to actually do that, but the thought creeps in from time to time. I’ve been tracking macros just as meticulously on a bulk as I did when I was trying to get lean before…
[quote]bignate wrote:
hmmm 10lbs on a bulk in almost three months? ur not doing it right. [/quote]
How much muscle do you think you can gain in 3 months?[/quote]
Ya, this, especially since I’m assuming you’re doing this naturally?
Right now, it seems that you’re at that point where you could really push your body to that next level, but it will require you to force yourself to grow a little. I think if you push your cals up progressively and keep training hard, you’ll get there, but doing a mini-diet now won’t result in much net gain from that first pic.
Also, try and take better progress pics :P[/quote]
Many thanks for the insight. Putting it in that perspective does allow me to see that I’d be in basically the same boat as I was before assuming I were to “mini-cut”.
And…yes, naturally trying to acquire significant amounts of lean mass takes a lot of time, work, and focus on macros. At least for me it has been that way…
Again…appreciate the advice coming from a dude like yourself.[/quote]
Glad to help man.
As Way also said, don’t let yourself get out of hand. But, by that same token, don’t let a little fat gain stop you. Find that happy medium.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
OP you’re doing well keep going, but don’t get overzealous and turn out sloppy plz.[/quote]
Thank you for the good words man! I have to say…I have an all or nothing sort of mindset. I tend to be extreme in ways. For instance…when I eat over macros a bit…I’ll get a defeatist sort of attitude and then just go absolutely ape shit on food. Sort of like…well I fucked up already, what does it matter. In retrospect, that’s retarded. I end up turning nothing into perhaps at least a little something.
At times this translates to the thought process of…“well, I gained a little fat…fuck it now might as well all out fat bulk”. I don’t allow myself to actually do that, but the thought creeps in from time to time. I’ve been tracking macros just as meticulously on a bulk as I did when I was trying to get lean before…[/quote]
Hah, yup been there done that.
Just remember, the people who always yell gain more weight gain more weight blah blah blah most likely have never been lean before. Good call on keeping track of cals.
Good posts. I cant really add anything to what the other experienced guys have said. Keep on going but keep an eye on everything. And of course keep killing the weights
[quote]ESX wrote:
So you’re putting on 1.5 lbs a week?
78 lbs a year?
10 lbs in 3 months is closer to the mark i’d think. Thats still 48 lbs a year! How long could you carry that on for?
I’d go for 1/2 lb to a lb a week. 24-36 lbs a year. Thats a massive gain in weight for a natty!
[/quote]
This post bothers me. Why would someone look at their progress and then have the mentality that you can map out that progress to predict what will be seen in the future?
You would limit gains to .5lbs a week, not because that is how fast your body is growing, but because you are planning a whole year’s worth of gains before they happen?
I never said 1/2 lb a month? 2 lbs a month is fine for “me personally” when trying to put on weight. Saying that for the last few weeks i’m putting on a pound a week and all is fine, but to think that this progress will carry on without becoming 30 odd pounds overweight by next spring would be naive. Adding 52 lbs in a year just isn’t possible for the majority of natural body builders.
Adding 24 lbs to a frame in 12 months is a decent amount for someone 5’7, and if just 60% of that is muscle its going to make a huge difference to their appearance.
You’re a unit and i don’t doubt you know more than me. But i would rather bulk for 2 years straight and stay within a certain shape than smash it for 6 months, lose shape and have to cut down. Thats just me though!
[quote]ESX wrote:
but to think that this progress will carry on
[/quote]
Yeah, that right there would be what your mistake is. You shouldn’t be basing how you eat and train on some predicted rate of growth. You should be basing it on the results actually seen. If you gain too much fat, you slow down the rate of gain or hold that weight for a while…or in some extreme cases, diet down for a while. You don’t limit your rate of gain to some arbitrary number, ignore the progress being made, all based on some assumption of what you would gain in a year.
[quote]ESX wrote:
but to think that this progress will carry on
[/quote]
Yeah, that right there would be what your mistake is. You shouldn’t be basing how you eat and train on some predicted rate of growth. You should be basing it on the results actually seen. If you gain too much fat, you slow down the rate of gain or hold that weight for a while…or in some extreme cases, diet down for a while. You don’t limit your rate of gain to some arbitrary number, ignore the progress being made, all based on some assumption of what you would gain in a year.[/quote]
Yeah i agree with the above. But surely you have to take into account that after a while gains will have to slow down at some point. Rightly or wrongly I personally like to have a number to gauge progress on. Its not stuck in stone and if i’m not getting soft i’ll increase calories to try and get some extra gains. On the other hand, if i’m getting a bit softer week after week i’ll increase cardio and play about with carb timing. I just like to have a figure in my head when i jump on the scales every few weeks.
You don’t look like you gained a lot of fat. It was actually a pretty good job for 3 months. Congrats man! no need to be that worried yet. I would actually up the calories on off days and definitely up the protein. An old poster here kept pushing on 2 pounds/lb, when I gave it a try I saw quick results.
