Advice from guys that compete; Is "bulking" necessary?

[Kaladryn]

itrain,

i appreciate that and like that idea. I currently take 250gr of protein, 200g of carbs and 50 grams of healthy fats daily so most ~2300 calories daily is not enough to add lean mass my BMR is ~1700 cal x 1.5 (moderate active) so we are talking roughly 2500 calories to keep weight as it is so most likely the reason why i am stuck lol

I wouldn't increase the protein, you need less than most people think, I would bump up the carbs AND the fat. You should be getting closer to 100g of fat per day IMO.

As you probably know, you can greatly increase your metabolism through increased calories, if you eat the right foods at the right times...

 

[ryanbCXG]

Hey Doc, everyone's different. You have to eat enough extra calories to put on that muscle. If your eating 3ooo calories per day, an extra few hundred calories may be enough to do it.

I personally have to eat some crappy foods like pop tarts and cookies to get the extra calories I need to bulk/gain muscle because I just can't stomach all the clean food I need.

I think it would be a good idea for you to get up to 200 then back it down to a lean 185. That's pretty damn big at 5'5.

I have bulked up the DC way and have tried staying lean year round, and they both work. I just don't like looking sloppy in the off season anymore.

Did you have to have a period when you were younger and tyring to break through a weight barrier or get to a new higher weight where you had to get softer?

 

[ryanbCXG]

Question that goes along with my last ? to queef. To you guys that are the really big guys do you feel that you had to get softer at some point in time maybe a bit past what you normally would except to reach a new front in weight? And once you have reached that larger size then in the offseason you dont get as soft and remain lean and do more "refining" (not sure if that is the best word.) That seems to be the case with some people that i have talked to. They like to take 1-2 years early in the game to really pack on the mass maybe get sloppier than they would like but to really build a large foundation and then stay leaner after that. I have seen many people on various sites that are damn big say you should stay lean but they fail to remember a time when they really pushed the weight up and got soft. They dont think it helped but i fail to see how you can exclude it because it obviously affected you even if you dont think it did.

 

[Thunder46]

Over the years I have bulked less and less, when I was younger I put on 60lbs and then dieted like a nut case to get it back off, as I got older/wiser and my metabolism wasnt the same 20 yr old metabolism I learned to keep myu bulking bf% with in an acceptable range.
I also started doing cardio year round, and kept the foods somewhat identical to what I would eat when dieting and kept junk food to a 1 meal a week maximum....just as a cheat meal on diet.
Eating clean has been the biggest thing for me when adding size, now I can add a good chunk with out being a chunk.
I like the feeling of getting bigger and stronger and the funny thing is after a time and eating that much clean food per day I actually start too look forward to dieting and feeling hungrier between meals.

This is just how I am too in the past I was guilty of putting on to much fat in off season just to end up having to do more cardio and dieting harder for about 5lbs of muscle, now that I am older I see that is not the best route for me. This year I only went 25lbs over my contest weight and prep was eazier and I look better

 

[ryanbCXG]

Pictures woudl also help desrcribe much better where the line is....ie through up a pic of you or a net pic that shows just how far one should go. Pictures are said to be worth 1000 words.

 

[b-boy]

i like the jay cutler approach (many can't afford it though). eat a shit load of clean calories and take enough pharma gh to mutate an angus Bull. although expensive as all hell, the results are pretty fucking freaky :lightbulb:

 

[ryanbCXG]

i like the jay cutler approach (many can't afford it though). eat a shit load of clean calories and take enough pharma gh to mutate an angus Bull. although expensive as all hell, the results are pretty fucking freaky :lightbulb:

And for those that are strapped for cash lol

 

[b-boy]

And for those that are strapped for cash lol

as shelby said in another thread, do everything right for many years and you will be pretty fucking freaky! this shit takes time.

for you gotta have it quickly guys: follow a very wise nutritional plan and take as much high quality gh as you can afford, even a little bit will help you stay leaner than you would without it, and don't be afraid of a little cardio here and there :lightbulb:

 

[Queefer]

Did you have to have a period when you were younger and tyring to break through a weight barrier or get to a new higher weight where you had to get softer?

When I was in my mid 20's and didn't use super sups, I bulked from 200 to 260 in 6 months and never really looked back. I had to consume 6000 plus calories to do this but I was %20 bf.

Pictures woudl also help desrcribe much better where the line is....ie through up a pic of you or a net pic that shows just how far one should go. Pictures are said to be worth 1000 words.

Here you go, just to give an example of when it's time to stop "bulking". I was an honest 308lbs the night I took this pic(I know, I know, I looked no more then 240)

 

[BabyBeast05]

Depends on the individual situation - the individual's metabolism, how much weight they are looking to gain (do they need to move up a weight class or two?), when are they competing next, etc.

There isn't "one" answer here. You should never get so soft that you can't at least see a faint outline of your abs though, and your lower back should stay fairly lean too - no big love handles.

Personal preference also plays a role - if it's psychologically debilitating for you to go over 10% body fat, you're obviously not going to stick with it for very long. Do what you're comfortable with and you can sustain.

This shit takes years.

Don't you think some of that is genetic tho? I know I can have abs from the front and nasty love handles from the back. I look like two different people from front to back sometimes

 

[ryanbCXG]

When I was in my mid 20's and didn't use super sups, I bulked from 200 to 260 in 6 months and never really looked back. I had to consume 6000 plus calories to do this but I was %20 bf.


Here you go, just to give an example of when it's time to stop "bulking". I was an honest 308lbs the night I took this pic(I know, I know, I looked no more then 240)

Damn that is your stop bulking pic. You are freaking lean for 308. Did you stop because of weight or BF. Doesnt seem like great lighting or anything and you still look damn lean. Maybe my eyes are too tired right now.

 

[Queefer]

Damn that is your stop bulking pic. You are freaking lean for 308. Did you stop because of weight or BF. Doesnt seem like great lighting or anything and you still look damn lean. Maybe my eyes are too tired right now.

Well, I weighed in at my last contest at 260, so that was 50lbs more. And I'll have to admit I was on 20iu of rips at the time. My buddy Matt gave me almost 20kits so I was able to run a lot for a few months and put on a decent amount of size. Unfortunately due to my infection I lost a lot of it before the contest. Thankyou for the compliment

 

[maldorf]

Something here must make a big difference that I as of yet don't use, I suspect copious amounts of GH, because.....the pros, don't get fat lol.

Yep, for me GH was an elixir for staying lean, even if I cheated on a lot of meals during the week I was still sub 10% BF easily. I felt like I could eat just about anything I wanted. I only used abour 4iu/day too, 5 on 1 off. I think higher doses are where you start the get the muscle gain, I didnt think I saw a whole lot of that although its hard to figure out what is doing what when youre on like 4 different things all at once.

I might add that I was on cheap chinese blue tops and suppose if I was using those Rips everyone raves about my results would have been even more impressive.

 

[sammy555]

I like to lean bulk and with the addition of gh very possible. I over eat for 6 days then fast for 24 hours. This allows very slow steady gains while slightly leaning up. As said though you have to accept some water and a bloated belly in the process but you don't need to diet a load of at the end of it. Im by far my strongest ever using this approach and only on acruise dose of Test

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[getbig12]

Great info ...had the same thought

 

[evser]

Don't you think some of that is genetic tho? I know I can have abs from the front and nasty love handles from the back. I look like two different people from front to back sometimes

funny man im the opposite, tiny ass waist no love handles but the fat goes straight to the bellybutton area lol

 

[alpha6164]

Here you go, just to give an example of when it's time to stop "bulking". I was an honest 308lbs the night I took this pic(I know, I know, I looked no more then 240)

Q,

You are too modest man. You call that "soft enough where you stop bulking?" Honesty you look like you are 12% right there. I can still see to 4 of your abs, vascular and lean IMHO. If that is considered the line to stop bulking then i have no problem with that look. No homo

 

[Johnny Smiles]

certain drugs will make you look "smooth" aned hold some water but they also help you get big and break plateaus. i would push those things offseason and if it causes some water gain n smoothness so be it. keep diet clean and it wont be too bad.
-JS

 

[ajdonutz]

Q,

You are too modest man. You call that "soft enough where you stop bulking?" Honesty you look like you are 12% right there. I can still see to 4 of your abs, vascular and lean IMHO. If that is considered the line to stop bulking then i have no problem with that look. No homo

Shit, if hes 12% in that pic he holds 12% better than anyone ive seen lol

 

[stryfe434]

as far as being highly competitive - yea it's necessary.

Unless you have great genetics and aren't looking to compete very seriously bulking and cutting is necessary.