ive recently decided to start bulking up. im thinking long term towards next summer.
18 yrs old
158 lbs
5’9
im thinking of starting at 3000 cals
macros breakdown
290g carbs
290g protein
75g fat (not enough fat?)
5 days a week weight training
Any tips or advice? is the macro breakdown appropriate for bulking?
Looks good.
What kind of foods do you want to eat?
If you haven’t measured your calories before, seems like a good start. Just evaluate how your weight changes over a few weeks to see if you’re gaining too slow/fast.
Thanks Brent.
The general rule of thumb for gaining is 15+ calories per pound. You’re getting 19 calories per pound. If you really need that much to grow, then do it. I personally would start out more conservative. If anything, you can always go up. But having to deal with EXCESS fat gain (SOME fat gain usually comes when “going anabolic”) too soon is a bit of a drag and you can wind up spinning your wheels a bit in the beginning.
The breakdown is good, but that’s an awful lot of protein for a buck-sixty noob, and such a high protein intake isn’t usually needed except in low calorie diets. I’d go with the standard 2-2.5/kg or 1-1.25/lb, keep the fat where it is, and make the difference with carbs (but this is just the way I PERSONALLY do it).
22% of the diet is fat, which is good.
ahhk thanks. the foods that i am going to eat is
tuna
baked beans
almonds
olive oil
chicken breast
peanut butter
rice
im going to order some Surge recovery. (Surge workout fuel later on, once i rlly get into gym) and Superfood for anitoxidants etc, coz its too much of a bitch to cook vegetables.
also, from reading thibadeau’s carb cyling. im taking in all my carbs at breakfast, immediately PWO and 60- 90 min PWO for the insulin boost. fat and protein in 3 meals. carbs and protein in 3 meals. comments on that one?? much appreciated
Welll hmmm…
What have you been eating now, how many calories. Where has your weight been going, up, down?
kind of hard to give advice, when the info given is pretty meaningless unless you are starting with 3000 calories and making adjustments after assessing progress.
Point is, I don’t know what 3000 calories is to you, I don’t know how much you burn each day etc. So some background is needed to give advice. Granted I am heavier than you but I am dropping weight eating about 300 calories on training days.
At 158, you need to eat big, but you could be a track runner for all we know and 3000 calories could be a deficit.
Who carb cycles at a buck-60?
sorry, its not rlly carb cycling. i jst take in all my carbs at 3 points in the day. breakfast, pwo and 60-90 min pwo. my days dnt change in terms of the amounts of carbs i eat. i jst took that from the cycling page
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Thanks Brent.
The general rule of thumb for gaining is 15+ calories per pound. You’re getting 19 calories per pound. If you really need that much to grow, then do it. I personally would start out more conservative. If anything, you can always go up. But having to deal with EXCESS fat gain (SOME fat gain usually comes when “going anabolic”) too soon is a bit of a drag and you can wind up spinning your wheels a bit in the beginning.
[/quote]
15+ calories per pound? I have heard at least 20+ calories per pound. I guess it all depends on one’s metabolism and experience level. Personally I have to eat at least about 22+ calories per pound to move the scale.
[quote]Fandango wrote:
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Thanks Brent.
The general rule of thumb for gaining is 15+ calories per pound. You’re getting 19 calories per pound. If you really need that much to grow, then do it. I personally would start out more conservative. If anything, you can always go up. But having to deal with EXCESS fat gain (SOME fat gain usually comes when “going anabolic”) too soon is a bit of a drag and you can wind up spinning your wheels a bit in the beginning.
[/quote]
15+ calories per pound? I have heard at least 20+ calories per pound. I guess it all depends on one’s metabolism and experience level. Personally I have to eat at least about 22+ calories per pound to move the scale.[/quote]
15+ includes 20+.
I go by the guidelines 10-12 to lose; 12-14 to maintain; and 15+ to gain. They are not set in stone, and they take into account that not everyone’s young and most people’s lives are VERY sedentary. Most guys who workout have 60-90 minutes of activity a day and the rest of the day is spent sitting and lying around.
@ austin_bicep
b4 this diet my eating was very scattered. some days il only eat twice a day nd they dont hav to be proper meals.
i can do this for a while and keep my weight stable within maybe a 2-3kg range up or down, jst my metabolism i guess. so im pretty sure 3000kcals wont be a defecit. il either be lowering it or keeping it as is.
[quote]rmac92 wrote:
and Superfood for anitoxidants etc, coz its too much of a bitch to cook vegetables.
[/quote]
eat your damn vegetables … and steak
It’s unlikely 3000 calories is a deficit for someone whose 160.
I don’t think it makes much sense to eat the exact same amount of food every day. Eat more on your training days and less on your off days. Maybe that means getting scientific as fuck and following a precise macro plan. Maybe that just means eating less carbs on non training days.
If you want to go buckwild with your mass-gaining I’d recommend you start with something like this and makes changes from here.
Lift 3 days a week. Do a version of the Starting Strength Program. You can find it on the Starting Strength Wiki. Unless you’re a midget, if you’re 160 then you’re probably still a novice or an advanced novice at the most.
Training Days: 480g Carbs, 160g Protein, No extra fat
Off Days: 240 Carbs, 240 Protein, 60g Healthy Fat
Have good crap when you want. If you want pancakes eat some pancakes. If you want a nice burger, eat the burger. If you want a slice of nice cake then eat the cake. Don’t waste your time deviating from your diet to eat little debbie cakes, M&Ms, McDonalds, or other shit food that doesn’t even taste good. That’s my humble advice.
Once you’re doing 5X5 Squats 3 times a week and pushing your assistance work with a quick pace you won’t care about conditioning.
@fighting scott
i have a good 5 day program. you mentioned lifting 3 times per week. is there anything wrong with a 5 day program for a beginner?
[quote]rmac92 wrote:
@fighting scott
i have a good 5 day program. you mentioned lifting 3 times per week. is there anything wrong with a 5 day program for a beginner?[/quote]
Yeah. MOST (not all) beginners will do just fine with full body sessions three times per week for their first three to six months of training, a) because they’re so weak that they can’t even make much of an inroad of damage to a muscle or to excel in a lift, and b) they are inexperienced with lifting and a typical beginner’s program teaches them how to lift.
What does your good five day program look like? It can be good, but not for you at this point of experience.
i was doing this program for around 3 months between september to mid december. strength grow rapidly, however mass didnt as i didnt eat right. however i am now soo.
each session consisted of 6 exercises, 6 sets for each
week A was higher reps for majority of exercises (between 6-10)
week B was lower reps for majority (between 2-8)
chest and biceps monday, legs (tuesday) core (wednesday) back and tris (thursday) shoulders (friday)