Dude, trust me from experience as someone who is 5’4", 140lbs on stage and 155-160 in the off season, you do not want to be getting fat at 5’5". Short and fat, been there myself man, NOT a good way to go.
If you’re 5’5" and only 150lbs at 13-15%, you’ve got quite a lot of muscle to add, I’d spend WAY more time and energy focusing on slowly building some muscle on that frame and learning how to eat/train for your goals.
Thanks for the insight… Been trying to “clean bulk” but sorta unsure how. I’ve been eating about 1900-2100 cals/day , low carb, roughly 18g of sugar daily. Eating lots of protein and fats. Any recommendations to keep my strength?? Thanks
So you’re concerned about not being small and skinny anymore?
Just kidding. Everyone has to start somewhere. Unless you are incredibly strong for your weight, you should probably aim to gain 20-30 lbs. of muscle. But this is a long term pursuit, if you try to gain too much weight too fast then you will just get fat. Something like half a pound a week is reasonable. After 3-4 months of bulking you will start to gain fat more quickly than muscle, so the best approach is 3 months of bulking followed by 1-3 months of caloric maintenance. When you are bulking, training volume should be high with moderate intensities, during maintenance you will lower volume somewhat and increase intensity so that the focus shifts to increasing strength rather than muscle mass.
There is a thread on the Sheiko forum that has Sheiko’s chart for optimal height:weight ratios. Of course there are some amazing lifters that don’t fit into that chart, but it will give you a good idea of where you should be. You will have to find that thread yourself, Greg Nuckols also has an article that includes that chart.
Low carb is not the way to go. Maybe if you are cutting for bodybuilding or something else not related to strength, but even then it’s debatable. I would recommend reading “The Renaissance Diet” by Mike Israetel or “The Muscle and Strength Pyramid - Nutrition” by Eric Helms. Just keep in mind that Israetel is writing more for bodybuilding/physique and he isn’t opposed to getting fat, which is why he says you can gain 1-2lbs./week as opposed to 1/2lb like Eric Helms and other say. He has said elsewhere that Helms’ approach is reasonable for someone looking to stay somewhat lean, but there is a possibility that you may lose out on some gains by not maximizing caloric intake.
As for maintaining strength, it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re not cutting. You can include some work in the 80-85% range on the main lifts during bulking phases, just don’t make that the majority of your training.
I mean, I do deadlift 325… raw.
The thing is though, is that even when i add a little bit of carbs I gain a lot of fat overtime. I play basketball for cardio.
Ditch the low-carb diet. That’s not for athletes. Glycogen depletion triggers not only fat catabolism but glucose synthesis from amino acids (protein) as well. This conversion offers an option for the body to add carbohydrate availability and maintaining blood glucose levels even with scarce glycogen stores. The down side is however, that the body’s protein stores (particularly muscle protein) are used in the process. Insulin (hormone that is secreted especially after carbohydrate consumption) also promotes protein synthesis by increasing amino acid transportation through the cell membranes and by increasing the amount of key components of protein synthesis (RNA, ribosomes).
If you want to limit the amount of carbohydrate intake, at least consume some around your training sessions.
Should I just do my maintenance calories then? Because I wanna stay lean, but still remain strong. My strength has not depleted much on just 80g carbs per day…
Well you could add some muscle mass to be at a more competitive weight and since you’re fairly lean, it’s going to need some caloric surplus. Of course you can take you’re time doing it so you’ll pretty much avoid the unwanted fat mass. You’re strength will probably keep increasing from neural adaptation alone, but since that adaptation is limited, in the long run you’re going to need more muscle mass for increased force production.
Disclaimer: you don’t HAVE to do anything. You’ll have a great time lifting as it is but if you want to be competitive, take note of the above.
You’re not alone, most people have no idea how to properly add LBM. Dirty bulk/clean bulk IMO are ridiculous terms and mean nothing. A “dirty bulk” is called getting fat, you just happen to lift weights. A “clean bulk” means you want to add mass without getting too fat, plain and simple.
To really add quality LBM properly, you’re going to HAVE TO ADD a little bit of fat and be ok with that, there’s no way around it. Now, you can certainly add more LBM than fat, but it’s really slow and steady process and takes rigid consistency. Find your maintenance, bump it by 10-15% and see how that goes for a couple of weeks. If the scale is increasing slowly and conditioning is good, keep going. If you’re gaining more than a pound a week you’re adding too much fat, unless you’re ok with that. If you’re not tracking macros and eating very consistently every day, it won’t work.
I think a more reasonable approach is to have a decent surplus, train hard and heavy, gain weight/mass, and when your conditioning becomes too puffy, dial it back slightly for 3-4 weeks, lose a few pounds, then back to gaining.
You should NOT be doing low carbs. Protein should be 1g per pound, fat at 30% of daily cals, and fill the rest with carbs. Don’t be carbophobic.
Your total caloric intake will play the most significant role in your body composition and weight, rather than macro distribution. 80g carbs per day is ridiculously low for someone trying to put on LBM. We are similar stature, I’m 5’4" currently 153lbs, eating between 1900-2100 cals a day, at 180g protein, 45g fat and 200g carbs, maintaining nicely. 80g per day is like contest dieting towards the end man. Raise 'em up! If you want to keep it tight, have carbs with breakfast, pre and post workout only but make sure you’re getting enough.
What’s the purpose of saying this? I hope it’s not meant to be impressive or anything.
It’s because you are adding too much carbs, not because carbs make you fat. Fat makes you fat too. Total caloric intake is the main factor.
I was trying to figure it out myself.
I’m not sure about this. Mike Israetel has said that you should have a maintenance phase before cutting, otherwise you are likely to lose the muscle you just finished building. Just for reference, he is a competitive bodybuilder, a doctor, and a university professor.
If you are trying to gain muscle and getting weaker in the process then you are doing something wrong. You won’t be peaked for a new 1rm all the time, and you certainly don’t need to be, but you should be able to add weight to the bar and do more reps as you get bigger.
Fat makes you fat? Really? I was always under the impression that too much fat doesn’t make you fat, to many carbs do. After all, a keto diet has really high fat…
I’m not asking to contradict, just curious…
Excess calories make you fat. It’s easy to restrict calories by cutting out carbs, but it’s bad for performance (which we are concerned with in powerlifting) and total calories are the factor that determines whether you lose or gain weight.
I’m not doubting the guy’s qualifications, but IMO this makes no sense. How would you lose muscle on a cut without going to maintenance first?
Losing muscle is HIGHLY overrated, and if you’re going from a slight surplus, vs maintenance, it wouldn’t make a difference. If you’re losing muscle on a cut, it’s because you’re significantly under eating, not meeting protein requirements and doing too much cardio, in which case, whether you come from a bulk, maintenance or whatever, you’ll still lose it.
A smart cut will lose fat and not muscle, regardless of what you did before hand.
I promise I don’t mean this in a demeaning way. I’m asking because of your size, and the fact that you don’t have any identifying info on your profile? Are you an adult or a teenager, and are you male or female?
Maybe that’s why you’re 5’4’ and 153 while he is 5’6" and over 230.
According to Israetel, it’s easier to lose muscle that you haven’t had for long. You are likely to lose muscle when you cut no matter what, but you will keep more if you do a maintenance phase first. Also, if you do a caloric maintenance phase and concentrate on heavy weights and low volume you will not get stronger but also avoid the staleness that will come from training with high volume (which is necessary to effectively build muscle as well as cut) all the time.