Bulking Results, Not What I Expected

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hi,i’d like to ask your opinion. Almost two months ago i gathered my strenght (mostly mental) and started a bulking diet.
I’ve been a skinny guy since forever, and i started the diet at 51kg (112lbs)
In 40days i went from 51 to 65kg(143lbs), it’s not much but for me it was a great victory.

However the results were pretty different in my mind.
Except for slightly fuller cheeks and some more extra meat on wrists i look almost identical, the big differencea are a pretty huge belly and some fat on my pectorals.
Now, i tought the extra weight was supposed to “spread” over the entire body and not only on my friggin belly.

I still need to reach 70kg to complete my goal, but i’m afraid i’ll only gain more belly.
Is it normal for the bulking plan to do that? It requires time to adapt or i’ll need to eventually cut? I’m pretty confused about the whole thing, i’d like some opinions, thanks

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It’s a touchy subject with some people, but the reality is that no matter how much you overeat, your body can only build new muscle so fast. Sadly, even for the genetically gifted, it’s never much more than a few lbs of actual muscle in that type of time frame (Even ‘assisted’, 6x Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates always said you’d be lucky to get 2 lbs a month with the best genetics and all the steroids in the world!)

My advice to to eat more reasonably, definitely ensure that you’re supporting all of your hard training, and recovery throughout the week, and then let your body do its thing. We all want to rush things, but time is the one variable that not even the smartest trainer can mess with.

S

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First of all, you’re not supposed to gain practically a fucking pound a day dude.

Second of all, what does your weight training look like?

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
It’s a touchy subject with some people, but the reality is that no matter how much you overeat, your body can only build new muscle so fast.
[/quote]

This. OP, read the following:

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Yeah, roughly 4 pounds a week is way to much. 1 pound a week is a better goal, even then slightly under would work.

6

I would like to understand your thought process. This was not a single day event. It happened over a 40 day period.

When you gained the first 5kg, did you not evaluate yourself in terms of how you looked in the mirror? Did you gain strength in proportion to this weight gain?

What compelled you to gain the next 5kg? And then another 5kg on top of that?

Surely it must have have been clear sometime during this 40 day period that you were gaining mostly fat? What made you carry on gaining weight?

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There was a kid on the forums a few years ago. Artem, about 16 or 17 years old.

He started off around 5’11" and 140ish and ended up gaining about 100 pounds in one year. Drank two gallons of milk a day, ate a ton, didn’t train right. After all that weight gain, he could barely squat his bodyweight or put half-bodyweight overhead.

But hey, he gained 100 pounds. That was his rallying cry and security blanket to deflect any comments from the tons and tons of vets who were trying to steer him down a better path and give him legit advice the whole time.

When he finally did decide to cut, he went about it his own way, eventually crash dieting for a while and dropping 50 pounds in three months, and losing another 25+ pounds the month after that. From there, he talked about wanting to start a “clean bulk”, but that thread fizzled after two weeks and he didn’t talk about his training anymore after that.

So he gained 100 pounds in a year, and then dropped almost 80 in the course of four months. When it was all said and done, with about a year and a half of “big eating”, bulking, and cutting, he didn’t look all that different. A major disappointment that a ton of people saw coming.

Sure, the scale still showed a net weight gain, but looking at the pics (and understanding why he was hesitant to post more after the last weight loss), you have to wonder if there was a better way to go about the whole thing from the start, instead of just focusing on seeing the scale move up and up.

Am I rambling here or am I using a story about a former member to drive home a point relevant to your situation? Probably both.

8

^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.

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[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

Also, George Leeman got very fat on his journey to becoming very big and strong. He posted on here when he was 16 under Newb/MegaNewb/UberNewb with a Taco Bell avatar that was very fitting. He was insanely strong for his age, but also obese. It comes with that approach.

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[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

While this is a fine example that tangible results and common sense should dictate one’s actions over the course of time, what on earth does it have to do with George Leeman?

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[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

While this is a fine example that tangible results and common sense should dictate one’s actions over the course of time, what on earth does it have to do with George Leeman?[/quote]
George Leeman successfully executed the most epic dreamer bulk in recorded gains history. His diet and methods should not be replicated by any sane human under any circumstances.

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[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

While this is a fine example that tangible results and common sense should dictate one’s actions over the course of time, what on earth does it have to do with George Leeman?[/quote]
George Leeman successfully executed the most epic dreamer bulk in recorded gains history. His diet and methods should not be replicated by any sane human under any circumstances.[/quote]

Lol i agree it was epic. Seriously epic.

But George Leeman knowingly became a fat ass in pursuit of his strength goals. And he apparantly had results to show for it along the way, which is why he kept going.

The guy above seems to equate this to what Artem did.

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Best bulking recipes.

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Man I think most here can relate to this. Maybe not to this degree, but most people’s first ‘bulk’ in a rude awakening to the fact you’re not going to put on 40 lbs of LBM just through doing the ‘lift big, eat big’ mantra, at least not natty. If I were you, I’d cut back down to something reasonably lean, trying to increase strength the whole time. Even if you ‘restart’ at 112 lbs again, it’ll be a stronger, more muscular ‘you’ than before (if you have been training correctly).

This is a very helpful place, so go ahead and list your stats:
Height?
How much did you lift one the Bench, Squat, Deadlift, and Overhead Press when you first started lifting?
What are your numbers on those lifts now?
What did you eat yesterday?
Do you have a diet you follow or just eat whatever you want?
If you do have a diet plan, could you run it by us?

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Complements his “beauty training” well :slight_smile:

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Thanks everyone for the answers.
Seems like i rushed things, and i gained too much fat blinded by the wonder of “Eat big, gain big”
Now i only need to decide if i should keep “bulking and cutting” or follow your advices, training hard without bulking.

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No bud, you have all of this fundementally wrong. You are in danger of going from one extreme to another.

Post a pic.
Post your routine.
Post what you eat per day.
List the weights you are using for major compound lifts.

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[quote]bellasgnuk wrote:
Thanks everyone for the answers.
Seems like i rushed things, and i gained too much fat blinded by the wonder of “Eat big, gain big”
Now i only need to decide if i should keep “bulking and cutting” or follow your advices, training hard without bulking.
[/quote]

Good for you for responding. If you keep listening to the knowledgeable folks on this thread (not me), you will get some great advice. Just remember that it will be guidance that will require you to put effort into reading and learning for yourself as well.

You might be tempted to be depressed about your fat gain. Don’t be depressed - but do use the frustration as motivation.

What has worked for me on diet is to create a spreadsheet with the food that I eat and list the serving size, calories and macros. People tend to eat the same things most of the time so the spreadsheet can work for this. Then I used one of the myriad calorie calculators to determine a daily target. Then I broke that target up by a macro goal (such as 30% protein, 25% fat, 45% carb… or whatever you decide to target). Then I mixed and matched foods to get close to these totals. Then monitor results weekly (not daily).

I think that if I were in your situation that I would NOT try to cut weight immediately. I would try to establish a maintenance at your current weight. Then research and share your routine with these fine folks and go from there.

19

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

While this is a fine example that tangible results and common sense should dictate one’s actions over the course of time, what on earth does it have to do with George Leeman?[/quote]
George Leeman successfully executed the most epic dreamer bulk in recorded gains history. His diet and methods should not be replicated by any sane human under any circumstances.[/quote]

Lol i agree it was epic. Seriously epic.

But George Leeman knowingly became a fat ass in pursuit of his strength goals. And he apparantly had results to show for it along the way, which is why he kept going.

The guy above seems to equate this to what Artem did.

[/quote]

Leeman ate his way huge, accepted a ton of fat gain in exchange for strength and quality mass, and then successfully dieted down. Most people who attempt that approach end up looking the same year after year. Leeman did not.

20

Leeman began his epic bulk at age 15!!! That was a HUGE factor.

And after years of being bullied/ignored/insulted and havingnoend of troulein school he vented all his frustration on the bar with a “form be damned, fat gain who cares? I dont give a shit if I get hurt…I’m going tomove some weight and get strong as fuck” attitude.

He also had a big ass frame to begin with, one that was able to withstand that kind of torture under the bar AND that had enough room to fill out.

It goes without saying: a nerdy weekend warrior over the age of 25 with a bird frame, who keeps regurgitating Lee Haney’s “stimulate dont annihilate” philosophy, is happy to bench 2 plates for a couple of grinding reps after years of training and who spends more time talking about nutrition and carb backloading than about lifting should definitely not try to follow Leeman’s approach.

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]csulli wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
^^^ That is an excellent cautionary tale.

People hear about guys like George Leeman and think thats the way to do it. I know I’ve been tempted to go that route. But when it comes down to it, I’m not George Leeman and neither are you.[/quote]

While this is a fine example that tangible results and common sense should dictate one’s actions over the course of time, what on earth does it have to do with George Leeman?[/quote]
George Leeman successfully executed the most epic dreamer bulk in recorded gains history. His diet and methods should not be replicated by any sane human under any circumstances.[/quote]

Lol i agree it was epic. Seriously epic.

But George Leeman knowingly became a fat ass in pursuit of his strength goals. And he apparantly had results to show for it along the way, which is why he kept going.

The guy above seems to equate this to what Artem did.

[/quote]

Leeman ate his way huge, accepted a ton of fat gain in exchange for strength and quality mass, and then successfully dieted down. Most people who attempt that approach end up looking the same year after year. Leeman did not. [/quote]