Bulking?

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Long story short, started dieting and working out in January. Lost 55lbs, got in the best shape of my life. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm too skinny.

I want to put on lean mass. I know I will put on fat in the process, it's inevitable.

My maintenance is 2700 calories. I lift 5-6 days a week now for an hour, high rep hypertrophy style workouts. I am planning to eat 3300-3700 calories daily, with 1.2g of protein per lb of weight.

Is this too much? Too little? Is it ok if some of the calories come from whiskey and beer?

How do you guys bulk, and for how long?

[Ironman8]

I wouldn’t start with adding 500-1000 cals. Start with adding 200 or so and give it 4-6 weeks on a good strength and hypertrophy program before you change anything. Depending on your training history you could see very good gains just by changing up training and not having to make a huge swing in diet. Also remember, you don’t want to be in so high of a caloric surplus that you start gaining mostly fat. You will absolutely gain both, but try to minimize the fat gain as much as you can by keeping the surplus only to the minimum required for your body to gain muscle and recover from the workouts.

Protein: based on research by guys like Layne Norton (and maybe Will Brink) you only need 1g per pound of body weight. That’s even more true when you’re eating in a surplus. There’s some evidence that when you’re in a huge deficit, that there may be a benefit to bumping it up a little higher than the 1g.

Alcohol: I don’t see any issue with drinking 1-2 drinks every now and then but don’t fool yourself into thinking that the cals from alcohol are “just cals” that support your bulk. Alcohol is treated like a toxin in the body and processed out first, putting all the other digestion on hold. This could lead to some fat gain. Just keep it in moderation and you’ll be fine.

If you track macros, you’ll be tweaking your fats and carbs to increase overall cals on the bulk. Protein should remain constant especially if you’re already at the 1g/lb. the higher intense exercise that you do, the more carbs you’ll need. Or if you just prefer carb heavy foods. If your training is slower paced and more strength based, then a higher fat diet with a good amount of cholesterol could help a lot too. Just know that the cals from fat vs carbs don’t really make a difference in weight loss or gain based on the research (aside from insulin resistance issues)...just try to limit processed or refined sugar foods and stick to quality sources 80+% of the time.

[rakkasangrunt187]

I see this as a good formula as far as eating as much as you can. However, keep it healthy and think just because you’re bulking, you up at what you want. I also think you may be putting your body through too much stress lifting 6 times a week. You should go 4 on 2 off and keep it consistent. Another very very important point to bring up is get yourself some good deep sleep. A lot can factor in this as week which is your age. This is better achieved in your 20’s to early 30’s. It sounds like your an ectomorph so you have to really pound in a lot of calories. Fat won’t be an issue if you ate clean. Make sure you also take lots of vitamins and minerals, drink plenty of water. If you’ve been an avid lifter, you need to change up your routine and try something that your body is not used to. IE if you backsquat mainly, try front squatting/ if you conventional deadlift, try sumo/ If you bench press, do dumbbells. Focus on heavy reps at 8-10 per set (4-5 sets) with 90 seconds rest in between. Lastly, be consistent.


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[johnofaustria]

Seconding the responses to slowly increase your calories. Just throwing more food down is a good way to dreamer bulk. Also agree that rest will be vital. Sleep is how you manage your hormones, and without enough every night your endocrine system will be so dorked you won't build the muscle you want.

I think your lifting schedule is good for bulking though, just don't beat yourself up with too much intensity (as percentage of 1RM)

[joffe]

Eating garbage to bulk only makes you fat again.

Eggs and beef will add lean mass and won't make you fat. Scroll to the part with the nutritive advice, I have no opinion on the program.

[TangoUniform]

Agree with the rest on slowly upping your caloric intake, and make sure those proteins are lean.