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Bulk - gain per week

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After a 3 yr break; I spent the last 6 months dieting off all the fat gained. Got about a month left then gonna spend the summer reverse dieting; hoping to reach the calorie surplus point by September.

I wanted to ask what I should be aiming to gain per week? This will not be new muscle Im looking to gain. Just looking regain too where I previously left off in 2015.
 
~1% bw per week is what I always do with my reverses. Any more than that, and you're just asking to gain too much fat.
 
~1% bw per week is what I always do with my reverses. Any more than that, and you're just asking to gain too much fat.

Thats much more aggressive than I was thinking. I'll be thrilled if I can gain at that rate without putting too much fat back on. I was hoping I would hear I could get away with half that.
 
Im not an expert on reverse dieting but id shoot for 1/2 that amount. Im 250lbs and wouldnt want to target 2-2.5lbs a week. About 1lb/week seems more reasonable if minimizing fat gain is the goal. That would put you around 500cals over maintenance per day.
 
If you will be going on a cycle then the weight gain is going to be really fast and mostly in the first 2 or 3 weeks. Of course most of that will be water. If you aren't changing what you are on then the weight will come really slow if you are merely just taking in more calories and trying to stay lean. Two or three pounds in a month would be great then, and that will slow down too.
 
I wouldn't be looking at the scale too much. Sure you want to be putting on very small amounts gradually but the body doesn't always work like you think it will. The most important factor is you have an idea in your head and you stick with it. You grow optimally whilst staying as lean as you had originally planned. If you start putting on unnecessary water/fat you know to ease things a little. The most important factor is you don't just chase a weight for the sake of being that weight as you will get sloppy to attain that weight if it's a high target. I was going to add don't be scared of a little fluff but obviously for someone who had such a long break and got fat things are different. I would keep a fairly tight limit on your bf% whilst you grow so excluding the first few weeks you probably want to keep it at 2 lbs per week. Although if you jump up one week and look good just go with the flow :) Just stay lean and you will be gtg.
 
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I wouldn't be looking at the scale too much. Sure you want to be putting on very small amounts gradually but the body doesn't always work like you think it will. The most important factor is you have an idea in your head and you stick with it. You grow optimally whilst staying as lean as you had originally planned. If you start putting on unnecessary water/fat you know to ease things a little. The most important factor is you don't just chase a weight for the sake of being that weight as you will get sloppy to attain that weight if it's a high target. I was going to add don't be scared of a little fluff but obviously for someone who had such a long break and got fat things are different. I would keep a fairly tight limit on your bf% whilst you grow so excluding the first few weeks you probably want to keep it at 2 lbs per week. Although if you jump up one week and look good just go with the flow :) Just stay lean and you will be gtg.

Agreed, im not looking to chase a specific weight as much as just looking to see whats too much gain per week so I know to back off if/when needed. And yes im currently bodpod testing every 6-8 weeks and keeping track of measurement changes at home weekly.
 
Another question if yall dont mind, for those reverse dieting from a very low carb cut, how much carbs/calories are you adding back per week and is it ok to give a bigger jump the first few weeks?

Ive searched on it pretty good but all I seem to find on the subject is it saying to increase carbs by 5-10% per week. Im so low on carbs now that will be like an extra 2 carbs per day; an extra creamer for my coffee I guess. At that rate itll take a year just to reach the point of getting out of ketosis and regaining my water weight... Hoping I can get away with adding 25-50g back per week at least until Im out of ketosis.
 
After a 3 yr break; I spent the last 6 months dieting off all the fat gained. Got about a month left then gonna spend the summer reverse dieting; hoping to reach the calorie surplus point by September.

I wanted to ask what I should be aiming to gain per week? This will not be new muscle Im looking to gain. Just looking regain too where I previously left off in 2015.

first question is why 2015? why does that matter?
second question is what does it matter how much you will gain if it isnt muscle?------understanding all aspects of offseason, if you will, and what a calorie surplus entails. what would it matter how much weight you gain if that weight isnt muscle?

if it were me or someone I was working closely with, i would say minimal weight gain, that is fat. focus on gaining quality weight, not weight
the scale is information, but that all, not a measurement to live and die by, as it really doesnt matter what the 3 numbers ever say

you eat "enough" to do this. no more, no less
what enough is for you, will take time to learn, and acclimate to, after youre finished with your calorie deficit, but once you find what that amount is, thats what you do. I dont see the purpose of adding excess just to add excess and make the scale rise.
 
One thing too that I have learned from experience is that the body tends to get into growth phases that last just a few weeks and then are gone. Then you lay off a bit and then hit the gas again later. Sometimes it is really hard to predict when you will start growing again. That is the trick, be able to manipulate your body so that you are growing more than you are not. You wont grow consistently all of the time. You will hit what feels like a concrete wall from time to time.
 
first question is why 2015? why does that matter?
second question is what does it matter how much you will gain if it isnt muscle?------understanding all aspects of offseason, if you will, and what a calorie surplus entails. what would it matter how much weight you gain if that weight isnt muscle?

if it were me or someone I was working closely with, i would say minimal weight gain, that is fat. focus on gaining quality weight, not weight
the scale is information, but that all, not a measurement to live and die by, as it really doesnt matter what the 3 numbers ever say

you eat "enough" to do this. no more, no less
what enough is for you, will take time to learn, and acclimate to, after youre finished with your calorie deficit, but once you find what that amount is, thats what you do. I dont see the purpose of adding excess just to add excess and make the scale rise.

Perhaps Im being unclear; I'll try and clarify. In 2015 my wife passed away and I fell off the fitness wagon since then. Finally getting my shit back together and trying to work towards getting myself back to where I was previously.

And yes the whole point of the reverse dieting would be to try and minimize fat gain. I realize I'll need to monitor bf and adjust as I go; just trying to get an idea whether Im looking for say a quarter pound per week gain, 1lb, 2lbs etc.. I dont know whats "too much" gain

Hoping muscle memory will help with the regain but it'll all take as long as it takes. My plan at least is to bulk between 7 to 12% bf, then cut back to 7, repeat.
 
Perhaps Im being unclear; I'll try and clarify. In 2015 my wife passed away and I fell off the fitness wagon since then. Finally getting my shit back together and trying to work towards getting myself back to where I was previously.

And yes the whole point of the reverse dieting would be to try and minimize fat gain. I realize I'll need to monitor bf and adjust as I go; just trying to get an idea whether Im looking for say a quarter pound per week gain, 1lb, 2lbs etc.. I dont know whats "too much" gain

Hoping muscle memory will help with the regain but it'll all take as long as it takes. My plan at least is to bulk between 7 to 12% bf, then cut back to 7, repeat.
What have you been doing in terms of macros and calories? How is your activity level?

I would try to get to a maintainance intake ASAP after the cut is over, let water weight and glycogen stabilize and then do a small surplus like 200-400 calories. Considering muscle memory, you'll probably see some pretty easy gains just from getting to, or a little above maintainance.

In terms of rate of gain, most people recommend 0.25-1% of bodyweight a week depending on advancement/stats, genetics, suppldments and how lean they want to get.
 
What have you been doing in terms of macros and calories? How is your activity level?

I would try to get to a maintainance intake ASAP after the cut is over, let water weight and glycogen stabilize and then do a small surplus like 200-400 calories. Considering muscle memory, you'll probably see some pretty easy gains just from getting to, or a little above maintainance.

In terms of rate of gain, most people recommend 0.25-1% of bodyweight a week depending on advancement/stats, genetics, suppldments and how lean they want to get.

Im at 6 months in on dieting now, starting to drag on me a bit but ive been making good and consistent progress averaging -2lbs per week overall. Im scheduled for bodpod testing this friday but think im around 12% now (from 36%). Was at 1800 calories and lifting 5 days per week. Hit my first stalls the last 2 weeks, so just switched to a 2aDay workout program this week and getting ready to lower calories further if that doesnt work. Trying not to go too low though if I can prevent it

And yeah I'll be thrilled if I can get away with 125-250 calorie weekly increases. Got worried when looking up reverse dieting and saw it saying to only increase carbs by 5-10% each week. I was like thats 1.5 to 3 carbs for me... this is gonna take forever...
 
Perhaps Im being unclear; I'll try and clarify. In 2015 my wife passed away and I fell off the fitness wagon since then. Finally getting my shit back together and trying to work towards getting myself back to where I was previously.

And yes the whole point of the reverse dieting would be to try and minimize fat gain. I realize I'll need to monitor bf and adjust as I go; just trying to get an idea whether Im looking for say a quarter pound per week gain, 1lb, 2lbs etc.. I dont know whats "too much" gain

Hoping muscle memory will help with the regain but it'll all take as long as it takes. My plan at least is to bulk between 7 to 12% bf, then cut back to 7, repeat.

everything was clear. I would still respond exactly the same.
dont know why the numbers matter to you or how having said number is the guide you want to follow/ use or even be of any help
 
Perhaps Im being unclear; I'll try and clarify. In 2015 my wife passed away and I fell off the fitness wagon since then. Finally getting my shit back together and trying to work towards getting myself back to where I was previously.

And yes the whole point of the reverse dieting would be to try and minimize fat gain. I realize I'll need to monitor bf and adjust as I go; just trying to get an idea whether Im looking for say a quarter pound per week gain, 1lb, 2lbs etc.. I dont know whats "too much" gain

Hoping muscle memory will help with the regain but it'll all take as long as it takes. My plan at least is to bulk between 7 to 12% bf, then cut back to 7, repeat.

going through the death of your wife must have been really hard, it isn't a wonder why you stopped exercising. It is great that you are coming back to it though.

You really are overthinking the whole thing. Just gradually increase your calories and keep an eye on your strength gains as well as weight on the scale. Both should go up slowly. Keep an eye on the measurement of your waist to judge your bodyfat. If that starts to creep up too much then cut back on calories some or increase exercise through more weights or cardio.

It isn't too hard to do. What you want to avoid is eating more and more just because another week or month has passed and it is time by your plans to increase cals. Some weeks you might grow more and need more calories, but then youll hit a wall and just adding in more calories will just make you more fat.
 
I wouldn't be looking at the scale too much. Sure you want to be putting on very small amounts gradually but the body doesn't always work like you think it will. The most important factor is you have an idea in your head and you stick with it. You grow optimally whilst staying as lean as you had originally planned. If you start putting on unnecessary water/fat you know to ease things a little. The most important factor is you don't just chase a weight for the sake of being that weight as you will get sloppy to attain that weight if it's a high target. I was going to add don't be scared of a little fluff but obviously for someone who had such a long break and got fat things are different. I would keep a fairly tight limit on your bf% whilst you grow so excluding the first few weeks you probably want to keep it at 2 lbs per week. Although if you jump up one week and look good just go with the flow :) Just stay lean and you will be gtg.

Good advice. You may also want to consider taking 1 or 2 week averages to guage weight gain. Since week 1 could be an anomoly from adding catbs and some additional water retention, id use day 7 as your starting scale weight.

Then look at the change from day 7 to day 14
Then day 14 to day 21

Seeking to average around 1lb a week. If you are gaining too slow or too fast modify cals..

Just my .02.
 
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Perhaps Im being unclear; I'll try and clarify. In 2015 my wife passed away and I fell off the fitness wagon since then. Finally getting my shit back together and trying to work towards getting myself back to where I was previously.

And yes the whole point of the reverse dieting would be to try and minimize fat gain. I realize I'll need to monitor bf and adjust as I go; just trying to get an idea whether Im looking for say a quarter pound per week gain, 1lb, 2lbs etc.. I dont know whats "too much" gain

Hoping muscle memory will help with the regain but it'll all take as long as it takes. My plan at least is to bulk between 7 to 12% bf, then cut back to 7, repeat.

P.s. im very sorry for your loss.
 
realistically you will not be able to accrue more than 1lb of lean muscle a week. so 1.5-2lb a weeks gain would be more than enough considering water and some fat gain. this is for accruing new muscle tissue that you did not have in the past. muscle memory is much faster.
 

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