Ive been reading T-Nation forums for the past 3 months pretty religiously…I try not to be a newb and ask question that I can look for on the site.
Im currently working on Bulkin and I have Seen some improvement…I was stuck at 165 for a few years and after reading T-Nation Forums on Bulkin(eating)and Weight Training I have gone up to 182.
My question is the following thou…I was thinkin I will stop bulkin when I reach 195pounds…my Goal is to be at 180lbs Lean muscle with maybe 10-12% body fat…but I want to have some Thickness…
Since I gained weight I havent Noticed a big change in my upper body…Im guessing all the extra weight that I gained is on my legs and back since thats what I feel has grown and changed somewhat. Should I just stop bulkin once Im happy with my size? Instead of picking a certain weight?
You might find that 10 or 20 pounds will simply “hide” on your body. As you said, bulk until you get to a point you are happy with.
Keep in mind though, that as you look at physiques of real bodybuilders your concept of “big enough” or “lean enough” might keep shifting.
Of course, you can always change up what you are doing if your bulk gets out of control and you are getting too fat. This doesn’t mean you have to stop gaining muscle but it might mean you have to reassess dietary habits.
there is no gold standard on when to bulk or cut, generally people work up to a weight goal or a body fat percentage, or a combination of the two
bulk until you feel like you have good enough muscle size to afford to lose some while cutting. Personally, I try to never go beyond 25% bf at the most extreme bulk cycle. Good luck.
Can you perform the same amount of bodyweight reps in the chin, pushup, handstand pushup, inverted row, one limb squat, run as fast? That may be a start. If your performance in these is drastically down, what good did the bulk do for you?
Bodyweight is always there. More weight in the gym on traditional resistance exercises is what, 1.5 hours 4x per week?
The answer you will most likely get from everyone is you should either bulk until you reach a set goal and are happy with progress, or until you can’t stand to look at your blown up self in the mirror. I read somewhere on this site though that once you hit like twenty percent bodyfat i think, your anabolic hormone production starts to taper off.
[quote]That One Guy wrote:
I read somewhere on this site though that once you hit like twenty percent bodyfat i think, your anabolic hormone production starts to taper off.[/quote]
That would be bullshit. I would love to see the research that supports that one.