Bulking

Training Bodybuilding
1

Ok, I got a question for folks: During bulking how high do you allow your body fat percentage to get before you start feeling you are ‘too heavy’. I have been working on bulking recently and I’ve let my BF get to about 14% and I have to say I am starting to feel a bit bloated. I lift mostly for athletic performance not body-building, so I would guess I am a bit more tolerant of a higher BF% then some folks on here. I thought it would be interesting to get a feel for what different folks find comfortable/workable.

2

I don’t go by numbers but what I see in the mirror. If I had to set a number limit, I would probably put it at about 18% at the most for most people even though this is all about what you feel comfortable with. I am dieting down now after getting up to about 243lbs this past year. Currently I am at about 219-220lbs. I feel I already have a decent base of mass so I doubt I will let it get that high again because it has already served its purpose. I do credit it for the amount of size I have built over the last few years since I got more serious about bodybuilding.

3

bump…id like to kno the answer to this also…

4

i say that answer depends. you say you lift for athletic performance. what sport? obviously if you are an offensive lineman you are gonna carry more fat than if you are a point guard.

5

The Professor is correct.

6

All answers to this question will be totally arbitrary, since they’ll all depend on personal aesthetic taste, bodyfat distribution patterns, etc. That being said, I never let myself get over 10%. I’m at the tail end of 2 Mag-10 cycles and am approaching that, so I’ll probably be tapering off the calories here pretty soon.

7

You’ll probably find that those who distribute fat more evenly can and will go higher in bodyfat % on a bulk as the extra fat helps with leverage and lifting and thus mass gain. It’s also easier for a person who distributes their fat evenly to get rid of that fat without sacrificing muscle when it comes time to cut. In contrast the guy or gal who predominately stores fat only in one area (the gut for example) needs to be more careful as this extra fat is not doing anything leverage wise to help add mass and is more difficult to get rid of.