Hey guys, I am currently bulking. I started in August at 138 pounds. I am now 147-149 pounds and I can’t seem to put on any more weight. I was steadily going up about a pound a week but that dropped off. My current macros are 350-400g carbs, 120g fat, and 130g protein. I workout 4-5 days a week. I am 19 years old.
I would suggest eating more protein.
Bump up protein intake…
How much more? 150-160? or more than that?
Well you’re already eating an absolute shitload of carbs and fat, so I think you could probably drop the carbs down to 300g and up the protein by 50g.
It’d be the same total calories pretty much, but with substantially more protein. I think that’d get you growing again and then when that slows you’d bump the carbs up again (while still eating the extra protein, obviously).
That’s how I’d approach it, personally.
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Thanks for the advice! ill give it a shot
How tall are you?
I’m guessing you’re a trainer, so, two mental exercises I propose:
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Client comes to you, asks for advice. “Coletti, man, I don’t know what to do. I gained around 10 pounds in the last four months but it’s all done. The scale’s not moving anymore. What do I do now?”
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I’ll give you $165,000 as soon as you hit 165 pounds. So… what do you do?
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Hey Chris, 5,8.
Yes I am, Honestly those to exercises really put things into perspective for me. I guess I get so caught up in other peoples plans that I neglect my own and overthink things! Great advice!
Add a tbspn of peanut butter to the end of each meal.
Let’s be realistic. You have gained 10 pounds in four months and that is very exceptional. Is it all muscle? Probably not but that is not the goal of bulking anyway right? If someone gains 5-10 pounds of pure muscle in one year they have done a great job in my opinion. So, realistically why don’t you reassess your desire to gain weight at any cost and start looking at what I call “the slow road to success.” In other words, be happy for your 10 pound gain and now kick it into a slower but possibly more muscle productive gear. So over the next four months try to gain 6 more pounds but make sure it’s pure muscle (or at least 90% of it). You will then be around155 pounds up from 138. You will look much bigger because of the four months of bulking and you will also look much stronger because of the work you will do from now until April.
Just one possible approach-
Good Luck To You!
Plateaued Weight Gain
There is an always will be plateaus when it come to gaining or losing weight.
With that in mind, let look at the cause of it and how to get around it.
The General Adaptation Syndrome
Simplistically, this means you body will adapt to any new stimulus; that meaning an increase or decrease in caloric intake, performing the same training exercises, etc.
When adaptation occurs, progress stops, you plateau. The key to “Jump Starting” your progress is that you need to change something.
The Reason For Your Plateau
The primary reason for you plateau is that you body’s metabolism has adjusted to your new caloric intake.
A secondary issue is most likely that you body has also adjusted to you training program.
Getting Past Your Plateau
Calories are the key to gaining or losing weight.
Increase your caloric intake beyond the roughly 3290 calories you are presently consuming allows you to break through the plateau.
Research (Drs John Ivy and Layne Norton) found that an increase in caloric intake of approximately 20% was the most effective at increasing muscle mass an minimizing an increase in body fat.
That means you would need to increase your caloric intake to around 3448 calories per day.
Varying Your Training Program
This is the foundation of “Periodization Training”. “Periodization Training” is based on “The General Adaptation Syndrome”.
Put another way…
:“Everything Works But Nothing Works Forever”
To reiterate, the body learns and adapts to any new stimulus. When that occurs, progress stop. That applies to diet (caloric intake) as well as training.
That means you need to change your exercises up by dropping the intensity and progressively ramping it back up. This is “Periodization Training”.
Kenny Croxdale