First Time Bulking

Diet and Nutrition
1

Hello all,
This will be my first time ever trying to see the scale go up. I saw it drop this summer, and now I plan to bulk throughout the winter.

I want to do a clean bulk to minimize fat gain, since I never want to go back to being big and squishy. Since I’m a beginner to lifting, I’m doing Rippetoe’s starting strength routine (very excited).

I am wondering if I should just stick to what I was doing to diet, just increase calories. Are there formulas for how much proteins, carbs, and fats I should roughly get during a bulking phase? Or is it more of a wing it and watch the mirror kind of thing.

I have read a lot about how former fat guys need to do things a little bit differently, so I want to make sure my approach to this isn’t flawed.

My current stats are:
20 years old, 6ft tall, 178lbs@18%bf, noob to lifting.
When I was losing weight, I followed the 7 habits, tried to get 200g of protein, like 22g’s of each fat (olive oil, flax, sat.), and kept my carb intake low.

From what I know already, my calories to maintain is roughly 2600, so I’m guessing I should slowly ramp that up to about 3200, and make sure I get plenty of protein. What kind of ratios should I be looking at for P/F/C?

Any input greatly appreciated, thanks for all your help so far.

2

Oh! i forgot to add this.
I have been taking Metabolic Drive, Surge, and I used HOT-ROX over the summer. Happy with all of them. I was planning on only using Metabolic Drive and Surge for a while. I figure since I’m just a beginner I don’t need to go too crazy with supplements.

I am in college, so I can’t go nuts buying up everything that’s good for me (even though I’d love to). I was thinking about adding fish oil to it. Is this a good idea? From what I read, fish oil seems like a good choice (better sleep, fat loss, etc.) If anyone has any thoughts on this please post them. Thanks a million.

3

Hey, there, korykk. Long time, no speak. (grin)

Winging it works for some people, but I have greater faith in having a plan, following your plan, and adjusting it based on your results.

If you’ve been eating 1g of protein per pound of body weight and 0.4g of fat per pound of body weight. That part of things doesn’t have to change that much.

Continue to get 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Increase fat to 0.5g of body weight. Eat fibrous green veggies, all you want, at every/any meal. You should also get 3 servings of fruit, one at each of your P+C meals (or at least the first 3) and a serving of beans (1 cup) on a daily basis.

For Peri and PWO nutrition, you’ll continue with a serving of Surge and a whole-food starchy carb meal. I still like a 2:1 ratio of starchy carbs to protein in the PWO meal.

But now we get to start adding some EXTRA calories into the mix I’d start, maybe, with some oatmeal at your first P+C meal of the day. Shoot for about 250 calories in that one addition alone. On any week that you would weigh and measure and the scale doesn’t go up a little, you would need to increase calories by another 250 calories per day in the form, once again, of starchy carbs. You would add it to the second P+C meal of the day.

So long as you’re willing to raise calories by 250 on any week you don’t gain scale weight, you should make steady progress towards your goals.

Except for a couple of HIIT sessions per week (19 minutes in duration, 7 sprints), cut out any cardio you are doing.

Those are my quick thoughts. Same structure. Numbers not that different. Just a slight increase in calories.

How does that sound? Systematic, simple and straight forward enough for you? (grin)

4

Sounds good to me. I didn’t pay all that much attention to calories when I was losing, just kind of ballparked it. Now I see I’ll have to keep track and get some more structure.

So I’m adding calories in the form of carbs. Is there a number that I should not exceed or try to stay under for daily carb intake?

When I first thought about what I would be adding, I figured it would be in the form of meat protein, turkey etc. I also thought the number of calories would be more than 250.

I’m planning on playing sports a lot more when I get back to school. A lot of basketball, racquetball, frisbee, and ping-pong! I know the HIIT sessions are important, so I’ll definitely do them. I bring this up because you mentioned to cut cardio and I read a bit about not doing too much cardio while bulking. You don’t think it will hinder progress do you?

I’m excited to have full control over my nutrition living off campus. I’m fairly new to cooking as well, so if you have any tips for me I would appreciate it.

What are your thoughts on the fish oil, and possibly other supplements?

Thanks so much. All the helpful input is great motivation.

5

Taking fish oil would be a great idea. Do it.

As for other supplements, try creatine.

6

Invest in an AccuuMeasure and track body fat. They’re not that expensive. You can track the skin fold an inch off of the umbilicus. If body weight is going up and fat is barely going up, you’re golden.

I’m a numbers person, but if ballparking it gets you the results you want, there’s no need to be more precise.

I have no problem with your being active as much as you would want to be active. You’ll have to eat to support your level of activity. That’s why I said, on any week scale weight doesn’t go up a little, you need to increase calories in the form of carbohydrates by 250g.

So I’m adding calories in the form of carbs. Is there a number that I should not exceed or try to stay under for daily carb intake?

The number of carbs a person needs is highly individual, so you’re going to have to make adjustments to your plan based on your results and your goals. Putting together a plan and tracking what you’re eating will allow you to dial things in with a bit more precision.

7

If you are actually 18% bf, that might be a little high to start a bulking cycle IMO. You can expect to put on some more fat when bulking…

8

Kory, why don’t you get your body fat percentage tested by someone EXPERIENCED. BodPod or hydrostatic weighing are other reasonably accurate/reliable methods for testing body fat. I’m betting that you’re below 18% based on the pictures I saw, but greekdawg is correct that leaner people put on a higher percentage of muscle than do people with a higher body fat percentage.

9

Hey T-Terry I have a quick question:

Why do you suggest a cup of beans a day? I am assuming because of the fiber but I figure there might be something else behind you suggesting it. Thanks!

10

yeah man, lose some more fat before u start bulking. ur gonna turn into a fat fuck if u bulk up while at 18%.

11

[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
Winging it works for some people, but I have greater faith in having a plan, following your plan, and adjusting it based on your results.[/quote]

Exactly. For clean bulking I cannot recommend the Anabolic Diet enough. You are already pretty close to that my eating a high protein/fat and low carb diet so it would be a perfect fit.

[quote]greekdawg wrote:
If you are actually 18% bf, that might be a little high to start a bulking cycle IMO. You can expect to put on some more fat when bulking…[/quote]

No on the AD… Remember- he’s still a noob to this. He can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time for a while.

12

[quote]eengrms76 wrote:

greekdawg wrote:
If you are actually 18% bf, that might be a little high to start a bulking cycle IMO. You can expect to put on some more fat when bulking…

No on the AD… Remember- he’s still a noob to this. He can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time for a while.[/quote]

I didn’r know if he was a newbie or not. I definitely agree, especially if he is a noob. But still, I’m just saying, his bf is rather on the high side.

13

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Hey T-Terry I have a quick question: Why do you suggest a cup of beans a day? I am assuming because of the fiber but I figure there might be something else behind you suggesting it. Thanks![/quote]

Beans have a ton of health benefits. Most people don’t enough fiber. Beans provide slow-release carbs and help stabilize blood sugar levels. In addition to beans, I recommend 3 servings of fruit (80 to 100 calories per serving) for the same reason, to stabilize blood sugar levels. The fructose in fruit refills LIVER glycogen. The liver is responsible for maintaining blood sugar levels.

LOTS of benefits to eating beans (and fruit!), but mostly to manage hunger and blood sugar levels and energy.

14

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Hey T-Terry I have a quick question: Why do you suggest a cup of beans a day? I am assuming because of the fiber but I figure there might be something else behind you suggesting it. Thanks![/quote]

Beans have a ton of health benefits. Most people don’t enough fiber. Beans provide slow-release carbs and help stabilize blood sugar levels. In addition to beans, I recommend 3 servings of fruit (80 to 100 calories per serving) for the same reason, to stabilize blood sugar levels. The fructose in fruit refills LIVER glycogen. The liver is responsible for maintaining blood sugar levels.

LOTS of benefits to eating beans (and fruit!), but mostly to manage hunger and blood sugar levels and energy.

15

[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
Hey T-Terry I have a quick question: Why do you suggest a cup of beans a day? I am assuming because of the fiber but I figure there might be something else behind you suggesting it. Thanks!

Beans have a ton of health benefits. Most people don’t enough fiber. Beans provide slow-release carbs and help stabilize blood sugar levels. In addition to beans, I recommend 3 servings of fruit (80 to 100 calories per serving) for the same reason, to stabilize blood sugar levels. The fructose in fruit refills LIVER glycogen. The liver is responsible for maintaining blood sugar levels.

LOTS of benefits to eating beans (and fruit!), but mostly to manage hunger and blood sugar levels and energy.
[/quote]

Beans and fruit are staples on my carb load days for the very reasons you state here. Beans are a superb food that don’t get the attention they deserve in my opinion. Black eyed peas are 89 cents for a bag that makes a huge bowl when soaked and slow simmered. Excellent glycemic properties. What could be better?

Just be sure to rinse them well or you may turn yourself into a fountain of flatulence =]

16

Tirbulus, Chef Lisa Marie’s “trick” with beans is to soak them for 24 hours in the refrigerator, pouring off the soak water twice. Not only are they tasty and tender, they’re methane-free. (grin)

17

Just arrived at school and set up my room.
I was using one of those small scales to measure my bodyfat before, the numbers would jump around quite a bit, so I took the average. It also had an “athlete” setting, when I turned that on my bodyfat came up at like 13-14%, but I dont know what that’s about, or why there would be a difference in reading. I will look into getting one of the accumeasure gadgets.

At this point, I can really go either way, bulking or cutting. I figured it would be better if I put some muscle on first before I cut. I am very new to lifting, so I also figured I would gain muscle and lose a little fat with it. If it’s a big deal being at like 18% and bulking, I guess I could cut down more.

I will read up on the anabolic diet, I have no knowledge of it right now. I’m excited to learn about it though.

Thanks so much for all your responses so far guys.