Bulk time.

gbglifter

gbglifter

Member
Hi folks. Hope everyone has had a lovely summer, or winter if youre in oz,nz etc.

I stopped logging my training as it was basically just going round and round in the same cycles. I eventually managed to get down to 78kg. I managed to maintain strength. My last log was:

Chins: BW+40kg 4+4
30 degree DB: 47.5KG 8+8. Kept doing 8´s there as the heavies were just killing my joints!
Military: 72.5kg 4+4
Dips: BW+62.5kg 4+4

I injured my back a few weeks ago doing deads. Just pulled it basically so I stopped doing them for as well as squats and did legcurls instead. Ive been on holiday for a week but have managed to stay around 79kg/10%bf. Im going to start a bulking period where ca90kg is my target. I can finally start doing proper hst-cycles. My plan is to gain about 1kg/2lbs per week. Obviously around 10 weeks to reach my target weight.

Anyone have any comments regarding my weight gain plans?

Ill try and find a pic when I got down to 78kg.

//Chris.
 
Ask Totez.

I'm happy w/what I do. Clusters, heavy weights, started doing max-stim here and there.

Eat well, don't skimp, plenty of protein but carbs and fats are just as important - people get paranoia when it comes to eating enough to gain.

Do the maths and then real-world determine your maintenance. What you have been eating seems to be fine for 79kg BW, so +500cals to gain etc.
 
Ill more than likely be using a standard vanilla routine, then start clustering as I push past my 4rpm´s. Im considering skipping the SD and just de-loading to the 15´s for a week then, as Before, doing 12´s, 8´s and 4´s. Ive been skipping breakfast a-la leangains-style so Im considering re-introducing the breakfast and just eating as I have been doing the rest of the day for the last few months. Ive been eating ca 12-15lbs of veggies per week so Ill continue with that too. SD or de-load?
 
Ive never done anything but a SD, and it's worked for me. I'm now on my 3rd or 4th HST cycle (can't exactly recall right now) and I'm up about 20 pounds. As Alex stated, proper calories to gain is critical.

Why would you skip breakfast? Would you train fasted??
 
It was lean sci, Im 6 feet. Native: I skipped breakfast because I could! This enabled me to eat Three "large" meals during the day. I would go to bed feeling nice and full and I was able to do this on ca1400-1500 kcals. If I ate breakfast the other meals would be smaller and Id go to be feeling hungry, then get up and eat something! This is the only type of cutting that has ever worked for me. (IF/leangains). If I add in my breakfast I can add the 500 kcals easily. Ill obviously be eating more at each meal during the bulk as 1800 kcals isnt even maintenance. Ill be shooting for around 2400 to begin with then steadily increasing as my BMR goes up.
 
nativetroutbum said:
Ive never done anything but a SD, and it's worked for me. I'm now on my 3rd or 4th HST cycle (can't exactly recall right now) and I'm up about 20 pounds. As Alex stated, proper calories to gain is critical.

Why would you skip breakfast? Would you train fasted??
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I usually didnt train fasted. Id eat lunch at 1pmish then train just after 4.
 
I hear that allot. Diet goes well following leangains and then for bulk breakfast added back in. If it is working well why change just because your caloric intake will rise? The benefits should be the same. Not saying it's a bad idea just an observation.
 
2400 calories is a pretty good estimate, although if you are more active in your day job then that may not be enough to gain. Your maintenance is likely around 1800-1900 calories or so right now I would estimate, so 2400 is about 500 over your probable maintenance.

I would definitely take a 9 day SD prior to starting your bulk simply for the beneficial spike in satellite cells that you get on the 10th day off from training. More satellite cells means more growth potential, this is obviously a good thing going into a bulk. Eat at maintenance during SD so you can find out if that is truly your maintenance and to reset metabolism prior to the bulk.

Make sure your program isn't overly bloated, focus on the solid compounds like you've been doing. I wouldn't count on making all your gains in just 10 weeks, I would give myself at least two cycles, preferrably three before I ended the bulk. If you gain 10kg during your bulk, estimating conservatively, even with a leangains setup, you might gain 60% lean mass and then some will be fat. So... 6kg of lean mass, that's not a whole heck of a lot. Personally, I would aim to hit 100kg over the course of 3-4 cycles then do 1-2 cycles of cutting after that. You won't get that fat during that time, you might get up to 15% bodyfat at most, but if you are following leangains properly, starting at 10% bodyfat and not gaining more than a kilogram a week, I can't see you going much over 13%. Getting back to 10% from 13% should be easy for you, you obviously know what to do to cut the fat back at this point.
 
Totentanz said:
2400 calories is a pretty good estimate, although if you are more active in your day job then that may not be enough to gain. Your maintenance is likely around 1800-1900 calories or so right now I would estimate, so 2400 is about 500 over your probable maintenance.

I would definitely take a 9 day SD prior to starting your bulk simply for the beneficial spike in satellite cells that you get on the 10th day off from training. More satellite cells means more growth potential, this is obviously a good thing going into a bulk. Eat at maintenance during SD so you can find out if that is truly your maintenance and to reset metabolism prior to the bulk.

Make sure your program isn't overly bloated, focus on the solid compounds like you've been doing. I wouldn't count on making all your gains in just 10 weeks, I would give myself at least two cycles, preferrably three before I ended the bulk. If you gain 10kg during your bulk, estimating conservatively, even with a leangains setup, you might gain 60% lean mass and then some will be fat. So... 6kg of lean mass, that's not a whole heck of a lot. Personally, I would aim to hit 100kg over the course of 3-4 cycles then do 1-2 cycles of cutting after that. You won't get that fat during that time, you might get up to 15% bodyfat at most, but if you are following leangains properly, starting at 10% bodyfat and not gaining more than a kilogram a week, I can't see you going much over 13%. Getting back to 10% from 13% should be easy for you, you obviously know what to do to cut the fat back at this point.
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My activity levels do vary at work. I will take that into consideration and adjust calories where needed.

I have been on holiday now and havent trained for 9 days so Im off to the gym in a bit. I did swim with the kids in the pool though. I have already been eating at maintenance foe the past week or so, or perhaps just above.

Ill be doing two splits as before:

1st split:Squats, chins, military, 15degree DB, dips, standing calf then doing hammy-curl. Im putting these in as I got great definition the last few weeks which I never got with squats.

2nd split: Deads, chins, military, dips, 30degree DB, seated calf then leg extension for the same reason as the curls.

Ill be doing abs alternated with obliques as per usual at the end.

Ive set 90kg as my initial goal as I feel its easy to meet. I weighed in at 96/7kg not too long ago but I really felt slower and less agile then. Im considering doing a bit more cardio during this bulk simply to counteract the effects on my respiratory/cardiosystem due to being a fatty. Ill play it by ear at the end of the 10 weeks. I may allow 2 full cycles @ 6 weeks each.

Thanks for the advice Totentanz.
 
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