Bulk Gone Away

Training Beginners
1

Hi,

I have been on a bulk now for about 4 months. I have gone from 182 to 210. My original goal was to gain 1 lb a week. Seeing as this was my first time every attempting a bulk I made some pretty bad mistakes and got a bit flabby…

I have gained some strength and some actual muscle in the process though.

pre-bulk:
waist: 37in
arms: 15in

Lifts are for reps…not maxes:
deadlift: 235
bench: 70lb db
squat: 185
db row: 70
curl:70

Now:
waist: 40.5 in
arms: 16in

Lifts (still for reps)
deadlift: 315
bench:185 barbell(got stuck on 80lb db, so swithched it up)
squat: 265
db row: 100
curl: 105

Anyway…my plan now is to just add cardio in 45min on non lift days and 25 minutes on lift days. Cut out dairy and cut down carbs, while keeping my lifting strategies the same.

Any thoughts? I know I made some mistakes along the way but I am hoping these corrections will set me back on the right track.

I can post pics if that would help.

2

post your pre-bulk diet and what you changed in the bulk

adding in intervals/cardio is a good idea, preferably in the morning before breakfast unless you train in the morning

3

Pictures would absolutely help.

Seems like your diet might be a little out of control, but you’re gaining strength.

4

I personally think that starting out at a 37" waist tells me you had too much bodyfat to begin with. Therefore, you insulin sensitivity to carbs would not be good to start out with meaning that your body would preferably store them in your fat cells as opposed to muscle stores.

That being said, you did get stronger in all of your lifts which tells me that you did indeed gain muscle although you put on a good amount more of bodyfat considering your new waist measurement.

Live and learn. I made a huge number of mistakes starting out but I look at it as failing forward. Personally I would solidify my gains by staying at this bodyweight for a couple of months while slowly adding some cardio and slowly decreasing the starchy carbs.

If you are eating carbs in the afternoons and evenings I would start there because your body doesn’t process carbs well as the day goes on.

After a couple of months and your still keeping all of your strength I personally would cut down some more and get your waist definitely under 37" before you start your next bulk.

To give you an example, the largest I ever bulked up to was a 40" waist measurement so I made the same mistake. I’m 6’1" and at the time I got up to like 235 lbs.

Regardless, the positive part of this is even though I put on way too much bodyfat I still believe that my body got used to this weight so it became easier to put on more muscle and be leaner the next time I bulked up to 230 lbs.

In my case I did lose the bodyfat first before my first bulk and got down to like a 32" waist (BTW, I’m not saying you have to get down to a 32" waist before you start bulking again but I’m thinking you want to be at or under 15% bf). But then when I bulked up I ate too far over my maintenance calories and ate too many carbs in the evenings so I put on too much bodyfat too quickly.

I hope this helps.

5

here is me in may

6


and dbl bi

7


here is me now

8

dbl bi now

9

[quote]cyph31 wrote:
post your pre-bulk diet and what you changed in the bulk

adding in intervals/cardio is a good idea, preferably in the morning before breakfast unless you train in the morning[/quote]

My pre-bulk diet was something like this:

meal 1. oatmeal, milk, eggs, green tea
meal 2. chicken, broccoli, olive oil
meal 3. some type of carb (brown rice, pasta), and some type of meat.
meal 4. protein bars
meal 5. some type of carb, and some more meat
meal 6. muscle milk

My bulk diet consisted of whatever I had available at the time

meal 1. oatmeal, milk, eggs, green tea
meal 2. protein bars
meal 3. usually a subway footlong sub
meal 4. cottage cheese and pineapples
meal 5. some type of carb, and some meat
meal 6. cottage cheese mixed with muscle milk

My meals really differed every day, and I honestly just ate until I was full at each meal.

I also figured I might as well not do any cardio since my goal was to get bigger…I wanted all those calories to go toward recovery. I had the mindset that it didn’t matter if I got fat along the way because I would just cut that fat later…my mistake. So for 4 months I stupidly did zero cardio.

10

[quote]randman wrote:
I personally think that starting out at a 37" waist tells me you had too much bodyfat to begin with. Therefore, you insulin sensitivity to carbs would not be good to start out with meaning that your body would preferably store them in your fat cells as opposed to muscle stores.

That being said, you did get stronger in all of your lifts which tells me that you did indeed gain muscle although you put on a good amount more of bodyfat considering your new waist measurement.

Live and learn. I made a huge number of mistakes starting out but I look at it as failing forward. Personally I would solidify my gains by staying at this bodyweight for a couple of months while slowly adding some cardio and slowly decreasing the starchy carbs.

If you are eating carbs in the afternoons and evenings I would start there because your body doesn’t process carbs well as the day goes on.

After a couple of months and your still keeping all of your strength I personally would cut down some more and get your waist definitely under 37" before you start your next bulk.

To give you an example, the largest I ever bulked up to was a 40" waist measurement so I made the same mistake. I’m 6’1" and at the time I got up to like 235 lbs.

Regardless, the positive part of this is even though I put on way too much bodyfat I still believe that my body got used to this weight so it became easier to put on more muscle and be leaner the next time I bulked up to 230 lbs.

In my case I did lose the bodyfat first before my first bulk and got down to like a 32" waist (BTW, I’m not saying you have to get down to a 32" waist before you start bulking again but I’m thinking you want to be at or under 15% bf).

But then when I bulked up I ate too far over my maintenance calories and ate too many carbs in the evenings so I put on too much bodyfat too quickly.

I hope this helps.[/quote]

It does help, thanks.

My body fat might have been a bit high to begin with, but I also think I just have a big pelvic girdle.

As you stated though, hopefully with the cardio and fixing my diet I can drop some of the fat while holding onto some of the muscle.

Looking back I always thought I had to fight the scale to get my weight to go up, but it was clearly going up much easier than I anticipated.

11

Ater looking at your pics, I agree that you MUST have a big pelvic girdle cuz you didn’t look like you started out at a 37" waist. I still think by the looks of your before pictures that you were a bit high on the bodyfat to begin with. Good luck!

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[quote]randman wrote:
Ater looking at your pics, I agree that you MUST have a big pelvic girdle cuz you didn’t look like you started out at a 37" waist. I still think by the looks of your before pictures that you were a bit high on the bodyfat to begin with. Good luck![/quote]

You’re right. He totally should have cut down.

14

[quote]randman wrote:
Ater looking at your pics, I agree that you MUST have a big pelvic girdle cuz you didn’t look like you started out at a 37" waist. I still think by the looks of your before pictures that you were a bit high on the bodyfat to begin with. Good luck![/quote]

You’re saying he his bodyfat was too high to bulk up? Seriously?

OP, your traps look even - may be something to correct at this point in time.

15

[quote]RSGZ wrote:
randman wrote:
Ater looking at your pics, I agree that you MUST have a big pelvic girdle cuz you didn’t look like you started out at a 37" waist. I still think by the looks of your before pictures that you were a bit high on the bodyfat to begin with. Good luck!

You’re saying he his bodyfat was too high to bulk up? Seriously?

OP, your traps look even - may be something to correct at this point in time.[/quote]

Yeah I have noticed that about my traps…I had a clavicle injury on my left side awhile back, and I think it has something to do with that.

That same clavicle injury is the reason why my bench is lagging behind compared to the rest of my lifts.