Bulking - First Attempt

Bulking - First Attempt

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Discussion

MocMocaMoc

Original Poster:

1,524 posts

140 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Looking to build some proper muscle over the winter, then cut around spring.

Any advice for a first timer? Is it really just 'lift and eat like f*ck'?

Obviously eating clean, getting the right fats and protein etc.

Not looking forward to getting fat...

balders118

5,837 posts

167 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
I'd say the main reason people new to bulking don't put on weight is simply because they don't eat enough. If you train hard and lift well, no matter what style of training you're doing, you will put on weight as long as you nail the diet.

goldblum

10,272 posts

166 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
MocMocaMoc said:
Not looking forward to getting fat...
At around 20% bodyfat you will not be 'fat',just not lean.You should work out exactly your dietary needs and make sure you do not have a huge surplus of calories.



HonestIago

1,719 posts

185 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Word to the wise; unless you are on AAS then forget about trying to gain more than 1-2lbs per month. The way to ensure you don't gain too fast is to log your calorie intake and weigh 1-2x per week. Adjust calories up or down every 2 weeks if you need to.

Another thing I'll say (though others will no doubt disagree) is that a perpetual calorie surplus is far from optimal. I'd opt to eat maintenance or even fractionally below on your off days and then obviously a surplus on training days. Depending on your appetite I'd strongly recommend intermittent fasting even while bulking, it WILL keep you leaner and maintain better insulin sensitivity.

Bulking is a marathon not a sprint, think of it as a 12-18+month thing rather than <6 months. You will not grow much muscle at all in a short timeframe, but a lb per month over 1-2 years will substantially improve your physique. Gaining 6-8lbs muscle and 10lbs fat in 6 months will not. Chances are when cutting you'd lose half the muscle anyway.

Just a few pointers which I wish I'd paid attention to in the past. Feel free to disregard! laugh

didelydoo

5,528 posts

209 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Unless you've got your diet dialed in you will get fat, quickly to. A lot of articles say to eat excessivley- if you're a natural and you do this, you'll get fat- if you're not bothered by this, then it's very effective, provided you don't mind the dieting at the end.

MocMocaMoc

Original Poster:

1,524 posts

140 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
All good advice, thanks fellas!

I'm around 10% BF now - so hopefully lean enough to not worry too much about fat gains, but it'll be a s0d watching all that work (getting down to that) just go...

Hopefully I'll be ripping t-shirts in the arms before the gut ; )

SHutchinson

2,040 posts

183 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Have you considered steroids?

balders118

5,837 posts

167 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
SHutchinson said:
Have you considered steroids?
Always best to go straight for roids. No point in half measures, eh??

MocMocaMoc

Original Poster:

1,524 posts

140 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
SHutchinson said:
Have you considered steroids?
Are they worth it, in your experience?

balders118

5,837 posts

167 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
MocMocaMoc said:
SHutchinson said:
Have you considered steroids?
Are they worth it, in your experience?
They get you massive with little effort and as far as I'm aware there are no negative side effects. It's a no brainer!

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

242 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Lol at the steroids comments! First time bulking go on the gear! lol or not.

I've done it and have some threads on it from a while back, I got real fat but did gain a fair chunk of muscle. I was subscribing to the Dante (DC) method and it worked all right.

I was experimenting at the time, he actually suggests lots of good quality foods but also cardio to keep the fat down. His results are completely unquestionable but I also think its fair to say lots of folk are chemically enhancing too.

Lee

didelydoo

5,528 posts

209 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
balders118 said:
They get you massive with little effort and as far as I'm aware there are no negative side effects. It's a no brainer!
hehe

Fas1975

1,777 posts

163 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Best way of bulking I've found is a training program called Maximum Overload Training. Whilst there are no shortcuts, Max OT is the quickest way I've built muscle.

Max OT works on the principle of lifting heavy. Heavy heavy heavy. Focus on one body part per session. 3-4 exercises per body part. Pick a weight. If you can do 6 reps of a particular exercise, it's too light. Add enough weight until you can do 4 reps. After your warm up set, go straight to this max weight and bang out no more than 6 reps. As soon as you can do 6 reps of any weight, add more weight.

Download a movie called "I want to look like that guy" http://iwanttolooklikethatguy.com/ (also on youtube). Forget the extreme bodybuilders diet, but look at how this guy bulked. his trainer is a natural bodybuilder pro and he's been using Max OT for 15 years.

Read this

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/james1.htm

Enjoy. I will post up some bicep pics if I can find them. January to May. Transformation was noticeable, and I was only doing it half-a$$ed

Smiffack993

177 posts

212 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
didelydoo said:
balders118 said:
They get you massive with little effort and as far as I'm aware there are no negative side effects. It's a no brainer!
hehe
Yep you're clearly unaffected by them if you think that! Jesus!

MocMocaMoc

Original Poster:

1,524 posts

140 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Ordinary_Chap said:
Lol at the steroids comments! First time bulking go on the gear! lol or not.

I've done it and have some threads on it from a while back, I got real fat but did gain a fair chunk of muscle. I was subscribing to the Dante (DC) method and it worked all right.

I was experimenting at the time, he actually suggests lots of good quality foods but also cardio to keep the fat down. His results are completely unquestionable but I also think its fair to say lots of folk are chemically enhancing too.

Lee
I'm keeping the cardio up. I know the bodybuilder types will scoff, but Im no bodybuilder ; )

I do lift already, but nowhere near enough to build real muscle. Nor do I eat enough.

balders118

5,837 posts

167 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
Smiffack993 said:
didelydoo said:
balders118 said:
They get you massive with little effort and as far as I'm aware there are no negative side effects. It's a no brainer!
hehe
Yep you're clearly unaffected by them if you think that! Jesus!
Maybe I wasn't sarcastic enough! I'm am very strongly agaisnt steroids, besides all the bad side effects I see it as cheating when someone takes them, massivly reducing any admiration for goals gained. Thats just my opinion though, each to their own.

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

242 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
MocMocaMoc said:
Ordinary_Chap said:
Lol at the steroids comments! First time bulking go on the gear! lol or not.

I've done it and have some threads on it from a while back, I got real fat but did gain a fair chunk of muscle. I was subscribing to the Dante (DC) method and it worked all right.

I was experimenting at the time, he actually suggests lots of good quality foods but also cardio to keep the fat down. His results are completely unquestionable but I also think its fair to say lots of folk are chemically enhancing too.

Lee
I'm keeping the cardio up. I know the bodybuilder types will scoff, but Im no bodybuilder ; )

I do lift already, but nowhere near enough to build real muscle. Nor do I eat enough.
Real bodybuilders don't scoff at cardio. A lot of pro's do two hours a day upwards.

Dropping cardio for short periods of time to increase recovery from heavy weights can be a useful approach sometimes.

Republik

4,525 posts

189 months

Monday 20th August 2012
quotequote all
The best cardio I've found whilst still bulking is 10-12 minute sprints once or twice a week. Another one to try is interval training. You really don't need to run mile upon mile to stay fit, and kind of goes against the bulking principals anyway.

SHutchinson

2,040 posts

183 months

Tuesday 21st August 2012
quotequote all
MocMocaMoc said:
Are they worth it, in your experience?
No idea. But, surely there's no negatives for you. You'll achieve the Raoul Moat look in no time and it's not like having a tiny knob is going to be a hindrance for you!

Hope this helps.

SHutchinson

2,040 posts

183 months

Tuesday 21st August 2012
quotequote all
Oh, you might need to upgrade from the 106 though. Raoul Moat wouldn't fit in one of those. Too much arms init!