Finished Bulking, What's Next?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
41

[quote]Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Trust me keep gaining. Us guys over 6 ft really need lots of muscle to look great. I don’t care how good your genetics are. There are no guys like 1morerep who are 6’1-6’2 who look jacked at a lower weight. Our frames are just too large.

Yip, can’t say that better myself.

And it’s a bitch. I’ve spent the last 4 months killing myself just to get from 205 to 220, and I still feel small as fuck.

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control. [/quote]

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

Heck, I’m sure many people are selfish enough for not spending an extra 50 bucks a week for having fun with their friends; the kind of people that will never make the sacrifices enough to have the results wished.

This makes me remember a thread about Aphgan muscle. I recall that one of the bodybuilders said “This guy spends on a year what I won’t be able to spend in my entire life”.

42

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Trust me keep gaining. Us guys over 6 ft really need lots of muscle to look great. I don’t care how good your genetics are. There are no guys like 1morerep who are 6’1-6’2 who look jacked at a lower weight. Our frames are just too large.

Yip, can’t say that better myself.

And it’s a bitch. I’ve spent the last 4 months killing myself just to get from 205 to 220, and I still feel small as fuck.

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control.

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

Heck, I’m sure many people are selfish enough for not spending an extra 50 bucks a week for having fun with their friends; the kind of people that will never make the sacrifices enough to have the results wished.

This makes me remember a thread about Aphgan muscle. I recall that one of the bodybuilders said “This guy spends on a year what I won’t be able to spend in my entire life”. [/quote]

For sure. I know I’m only 21, but I have to stop buying supplements after this spring to be able to afford paying for all my food and shit. I suckled off the food teet of my parents this past year, which was great, but good God I need to be around people my age.

43

[quote]SSC wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Trust me keep gaining. Us guys over 6 ft really need lots of muscle to look great. I don’t care how good your genetics are. There are no guys like 1morerep who are 6’1-6’2 who look jacked at a lower weight. Our frames are just too large.

Yip, can’t say that better myself.

And it’s a bitch. I’ve spent the last 4 months killing myself just to get from 205 to 220, and I still feel small as fuck.

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control.

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

Heck, I’m sure many people are selfish enough for not spending an extra 50 bucks a week for having fun with their friends; the kind of people that will never make the sacrifices enough to have the results wished.

This makes me remember a thread about Aphgan muscle. I recall that one of the bodybuilders said “This guy spends on a year what I won’t be able to spend in my entire life”.

For sure. I know I’m only 21, but I have to stop buying supplements after this spring to be able to afford paying for all my food and shit. I suckled off the food teet of my parents this past year, which was great, but good God I need to be around people my age.[/quote]

Seeing how much I spend on food alone (I don’t use any supplements other than the basics), I really have to hand it to the younger guys who are in school and working part-time that somehow find a way to feed themselves enough food to grow.

44

Keep on going man. As has been said, you will be amazed with the amount of size and weight you will lose after that initial diet.

45

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Trust me keep gaining. Us guys over 6 ft really need lots of muscle to look great. I don’t care how good your genetics are. There are no guys like 1morerep who are 6’1-6’2 who look jacked at a lower weight. Our frames are just too large.

Yip, can’t say that better myself.

And it’s a bitch. I’ve spent the last 4 months killing myself just to get from 205 to 220, and I still feel small as fuck.

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control.

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

Heck, I’m sure many people are selfish enough for not spending an extra 50 bucks a week for having fun with their friends; the kind of people that will never make the sacrifices enough to have the results wished.

This makes me remember a thread about Aphgan muscle. I recall that one of the bodybuilders said “This guy spends on a year what I won’t be able to spend in my entire life”. [/quote]

I wouldn’t be this size if I was still in school…or rather, I would be much fatter from having to get more of my calories from cheaper food sources. I spend about 200 bucks a week on food alone (give or take depending how much steaks are on sale). I spend at least another 40 bucks on RTD protein shakes (It would be cheaper to buy the powder and make them myself but sometimes my time is really that limited during the day and these are just easier to get down).

Also, the time it takes me to cook for the week is something I doubt I could have pulled off before now. It takes about 3-4 hours at least to season all of that meat and then grill it. It is possibly longer if you add in the time it takes to vacuum seal all of that. Luckily, that means I only have to cook one day a week. The rest of the week just involves thawing meat out for 10min and then nuking it for 3.

With all of that said, the next time you see some guy who is really big, chances are he puts more into being that way than most people comprehend or have the drive to match.

46

[quote]Professor X wrote:
BONEZ217 wrote:
davidtower wrote:
I’ll tell ya…I’ve had an eye opening and humbling experience recently…

I went from 168 to 192 in the past 5 months or so…not amazing but I didn’t gain too much fat. Clueless people at work call me “huge” hahahahah. I’m 5’10"

I decided recently to slowly lean out and see what I’d look like at 8% or so. Well I’m now at 182 without even really trying (just stopped trying to gain weight and maybe lost a little water weight from no creatine) and I already look smaller and not even close to being 8%…more like 10%

So if I continue to cut down…I’d probably have to be back at freakin 168 to be truly lean!!

Granted I look much bigger and better than I did before but it’s like “WTF…what did I just bust my ass for?”

If you think you’d wind up back at your starting weight, you don’t know how to diet.

I’m not saying dieting while preserving muscle should be common knowledge but you must be missing something.

Exceptions would be someone who has the absolute worst genetics for being lean. Or a very muscular individual that is so far above the natural limit that dieting down while preserving most of the muscle is impossible without “help”. Notice there are lot of extreme adjectives in there, meaning it is unlikely that most people can’t hold on to a good amount of muscle when dieting to lose bf.

A lot of these guys will end up back at starting weight for the simple fact that they panic and drop weight almost as soon as they’ve gained it.

Their bodies won’t hold onto more body weight or more muscle if they don’t give their bodies enough time to adjust to the greater weight.[/quote]

I certainly wouldn’t panic if I put on some fat…I did put on some…I think it was mostly that my “before” wasn’t nearly as muscular as I thought it was. Maybe I don’t need to get to my starting weight…I’m probably as lean now at 182 as I was when I was 168. So if I put on 14 lbs of muscle in 5 months that’s probably more than most people did…and certainly more than 95% of the people at my gym.

47

[quote]davidtower wrote:
Professor X wrote:
BONEZ217 wrote:
davidtower wrote:
I’ll tell ya…I’ve had an eye opening and humbling experience recently…

I went from 168 to 192 in the past 5 months or so…not amazing but I didn’t gain too much fat. Clueless people at work call me “huge” hahahahah. I’m 5’10"

I decided recently to slowly lean out and see what I’d look like at 8% or so. Well I’m now at 182 without even really trying (just stopped trying to gain weight and maybe lost a little water weight from no creatine) and I already look smaller and not even close to being 8%…more like 10%

So if I continue to cut down…I’d probably have to be back at freakin 168 to be truly lean!!

Granted I look much bigger and better than I did before but it’s like “WTF…what did I just bust my ass for?”

If you think you’d wind up back at your starting weight, you don’t know how to diet.

I’m not saying dieting while preserving muscle should be common knowledge but you must be missing something.

Exceptions would be someone who has the absolute worst genetics for being lean. Or a very muscular individual that is so far above the natural limit that dieting down while preserving most of the muscle is impossible without “help”. Notice there are lot of extreme adjectives in there, meaning it is unlikely that most people can’t hold on to a good amount of muscle when dieting to lose bf.

A lot of these guys will end up back at starting weight for the simple fact that they panic and drop weight almost as soon as they’ve gained it.

Their bodies won’t hold onto more body weight or more muscle if they don’t give their bodies enough time to adjust to the greater weight.

I certainly wouldn’t panic if I put on some fat…I did put on some…I think it was mostly that my “before” wasn’t nearly as muscular as I thought it was. Maybe I don’t need to get to my starting weight…I’m probably as lean now at 182 as I was when I was 168. So if I put on 14 lbs of muscle in 5 months that’s probably more than most people did…and certainly more than 95% of the people at my gym.

[/quote]

Indubitably.

48

Hey man,

I was in the EXACT same situation as you. Bulked from 175 to 208 at 6’1’’ and stopped. I hit about 17% body fat and thought it was too much. I cut back to 185 @ 11% and it was the wrong move. Granted, I’m back up to 205 @ only 14% now, I already told myself to be at a dense 200, I’d have to bulk to 220-225.

Really, you gotta get up to there before you can cut back. Trust me, I have (and still am) there.

49

[quote]acelement wrote:
Hey man,

I was in the EXACT same situation as you. Bulked from 175 to 208 at 6’1’’ and stopped. \I already told myself to be at a dense 200, I’d have to bulk to 220-225.

.[/quote]

A dense 200 at 6’1 better be like 4% BF. It’s a good thing to shoot for, but don’t be surprised if you don’t want more :wink:

50

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
acelement wrote:
Hey man,

I was in the EXACT same situation as you. Bulked from 175 to 208 at 6’1’’ and stopped. \I already told myself to be at a dense 200, I’d have to bulk to 220-225.

.

A dense 200 at 6’1 better be like 4% BF. It’s a good thing to shoot for, but don’t be surprised if you don’t want more ;)[/quote]

For real. That’s like 180 or so at my height. I was skinny as hell at 180lbs.

Why are the goals so low all of a sudden?

Yes, we all have different goals, but if you shoot for the basement, you will be less likely to go all out in the effort to reach that goal…which means you will be less likely to even reach the lesser goal.

The guy going to school to be that electrical engineer will probably work harder for better grades than the guy who majors in Phys Ed just so he doesn’t have to study as much.

51

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control.

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

[/quote]

I don’t know about this. I graduated from college about a year ago now and I don’t think that it’s harder now, just different. Now I did a lot in college but I still had more time to train than I do now. I could easily get to the gym 6x per week, (barring finals week etc.) In terms of nutrition, i couldn’t shop at whole foods, but i could still shop at trader joes. My diet wasn’t as varied and I couldn’t eat out as much but it was definitely doable. In terms of supplements i could still afford whey and creatine. Now that I’m out of school I am killing myself to get to the gym 4x per week. However, I do have a lot more money. I can shop at whole foods if i want, buy as many supplements as I want etc.

So when in boils down to it in school i had more time (on average), less money. Now I have more money but less time. You can reach your physique goals under either situation within reason.

52

Now if your economic situation is really tough and you can’t even get the quantity of food you need no less the quality, then yea your gains are going to be tougher to come by and MEYMZ if you are in that situation then i get you. For me, who i consider was in a fairly average economic situation in college, i just spent a little less on beer. I also got to know some of the cafeteria men/women so when I was on a meal plan they hooked me up.

53

So you guys think it’s best to shoot for say 25-35lbs over your target weight before cutting back down?

54

[quote]GVkid wrote:
So you guys think it’s best to shoot for say 25-35lbs over your target weight before cutting back down?[/quote]

It depends on your level of bf. Most people underestimate how much fat they have, so they’d be best served going a bit beyond their target weight in order to cut down to a weight that is suitable for them.

55

“Things I’ve Accomplished”

[i]
Cured Cancer… Check!

Nailed the Swedish Bikini Team… Check!

Achieved World Peace… Check!

Finished Bulking… Check!

TO DO:

  • Nail Swedish Bikini Team again

  • Build Time Machine

  • Get Bigger… no, wait, SCRATCH THAT… I’ve FINISHED BULKING…
    [/i]

56

Ok thanks - I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next year or so… lol

57

[quote]Professor X wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
acelement wrote:
Hey man,

I was in the EXACT same situation as you. Bulked from 175 to 208 at 6’1’’ and stopped. \I already told myself to be at a dense 200, I’d have to bulk to 220-225.

.

A dense 200 at 6’1 better be like 4% BF. It’s a good thing to shoot for, but don’t be surprised if you don’t want more :wink:

For real. That’s like 180 or so at my height. I was skinny as hell at 180lbs.

Why are the goals so low all of a sudden?

Yes, we all have different goals, but if you shoot for the basement, you will be less likely to go all out in the effort to reach that goal…which means you will be less likely to even reach the lesser goal.

The guy going to school to be that electrical engineer will probably work harder for better grades than the guy who majors in Phys Ed just so he doesn’t have to study as much.[/quote]

Good point that I never really considered.

58

[quote]OneMoreRep wrote:
Now if your economic situation is really tough and you can’t even get the quantity of food you need no less the quality, then yea your gains are going to be tougher to come by and MEYMZ if you are in that situation then i get you. For me, who i consider was in a fairly average economic situation in college, i just spent a little less on beer. I also got to know some of the cafeteria men/women so when I was on a meal plan they hooked me up. [/quote]

Thanks for your comments. We’ll I can afford right now a cutting diet and 3 to 4 different supplements, so I think I have no problem. I say surely that I could bulk up to 220-225, not lean as some skinny guys here would want but solid is my guess. But I have a contest at a national level next year, so I’m even cutting for some money to accelerate the process as much as I can, if you get me.

59

[quote]Professor X wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
MEYMZ wrote:
Itchy wrote:
Growing_Boy wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Trust me keep gaining. Us guys over 6 ft really need lots of muscle to look great. I don’t care how good your genetics are. There are no guys like 1morerep who are 6’1-6’2 who look jacked at a lower weight. Our frames are just too large.

Yip, can’t say that better myself.

And it’s a bitch. I’ve spent the last 4 months killing myself just to get from 205 to 220, and I still feel small as fuck.

I’m 5 8" and have bulked previously to almost 220, and felt that could handle more mass. That’s why I can’t wait for my next mass phase, but I need to make the money necessary to go to the next level.

I hear you. My grocery bill is starting to get out of control.

I think economical situation can influence hypertrophy potential. A broke ass student will mostly have a hard time gaining mass because it’s more likely to have limited money for food and supplements. Many of us want to be huge bodybuilders, but have to be conscious that they spend LOTS OF MONEY on their bodies, which of course I would consider not a expenditure, but an investment.

Heck, I’m sure many people are selfish enough for not spending an extra 50 bucks a week for having fun with their friends; the kind of people that will never make the sacrifices enough to have the results wished.

This makes me remember a thread about Aphgan muscle. I recall that one of the bodybuilders said “This guy spends on a year what I won’t be able to spend in my entire life”.

I wouldn’t be this size if I was still in school…or rather, I would be much fatter from having to get more of my calories from cheaper food sources. I spend about 200 bucks a week on food alone (give or take depending how much steaks are on sale). I spend at least another 40 bucks on RTD protein shakes (It would be cheaper to buy the powder and make them myself but sometimes my time is really that limited during the day and these are just easier to get down).

Also, the time it takes me to cook for the week is something I doubt I could have pulled off before now. It takes about 3-4 hours at least to season all of that meat and then grill it. It is possibly longer if you add in the time it takes to vacuum seal all of that. Luckily, that means I only have to cook one day a week. The rest of the week just involves thawing meat out for 10min and then nuking it for 3.

With all of that said, the next time you see some guy who is really big, chances are he puts more into being that way than most people comprehend or have the drive to match.[/quote]

You should listen to him. That’s another reason many guys keep saying “Why can’t I gain muscle”.

Edit:
Wait, you guys who wanna get really big, should listen to him.

60

for what it’s worth OP, i’m hoping to gain about 20 more lbs before I attempt to cut.

go with what these guys say. hang in for the long haul and it’ll be worth it.