Some bulk issues to calrify, please help

S

soccergod

0
Hello,

I am trying to bulk and gain strength at same time. SO i started last week and i eat 2600 calories which cleary wasnt enought because my stats are:

male
16 yrs old
157 lbs
5ft 10

So this week i have bumped it up to 3000 calories or so. I am eating all healthy, no cheating for me for 5 days.

I am doing 5x5 for all compound excercises.
I am eating right, and lifting right. But when can i see results?
WHen do you guys think ill gain some weight because i havent yet.
thanks
 
I usually weight myself once a week. I like to go around 1-2 pounds of weight gain a week. if you're not gaining weight you need to eat more.
 
Well I am 5'10, 140 lbs, 16 years old and I eat 3000 calories, so you might want to up your amount a little bit more..

How many days do you work out a week?
 
Karky said:
I usually weight myself once a week. I like to go around 1-2 pounds of weight gain a week. if you're not gaining weight you need to eat more.
Click to expand...

I read this great article today:

Testosterone Nation - The Truth About Bulking

He states on there that your body can only realistically gain 2 pounds of muscle per month(without using steroids or other types of drugs that is). If you gain 1-2 pounds of weight a week, most of that is fat according to him. According to him, 1-2 pounds of muscle mass gained per week is impossible.
 
realworksuks said:
I read this great article today:

Testosterone Nation - The Truth About Bulking

He states on there that your body can only realistically gain 2 pounds of muscle per month(without using steroids or other types of drugs that is). If you gain 1-2 pounds of weight a week, most of that is fat according to him. According to him, 1-2 pounds of muscle mass gained per week is impossible.
Click to expand...

No one claimed to gain 1-2 pounds of dry muscle mass. Aiming for 1 - 2 pounds per week is a good goal, considering you are at a surplus of around 500-700 calories when bulking, 1-2 lbs is fairly reasonable. Remember, most of us are bulking not trying to reduce BF and gain muscle at the same time.
 
Hey guys thanks for the reply!

I am on a full body routine 3x a week with all good compound movements.
I get around 160 - 170 lbs of protein. I think its enough becaust it seems like it.

hmm for carbs, i have rice 2x a day, and 1 potatoe so i think my carbs are kind of high. I am not sure of the exact number.

As for 3000 calories, should i try this for a week or just upp it by 100- 200 calories right now?

thanks
 
realworksuks said:
I read this great article today:

Testosterone Nation - The Truth About Bulking

He states on there that your body can only realistically gain 2 pounds of muscle per month(without using steroids or other types of drugs that is). If you gain 1-2 pounds of weight a week, most of that is fat according to him. According to him, 1-2 pounds of muscle mass gained per week is impossible.
Click to expand...

You try gaining a steady what? 0.05 or 0.1 kilos of weight gain per week without keeping a food logg (which i dont) its pretty hard since there are so small numbers, some weeks you would go below and loose weight, which aint optimal for bulking.

and dont tell me to just keep a food logg. some people just dont do that. I got my reasons.

Also, if you are able to gain 2lbs of muscle per month, that doesnt mean if you eat so you gain 2 lbs per month, that all of it will be muscle ;) I doubt the body will put everything into muscle, it will put some into fat too (the muscle/fat gain ratio can ofcource be made better by a good diet) so i like staying on the good side of things and putting on a bit more than i can gain in muscle.
 
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i think the reason i am not gaining any weigh tis because i am doing 5x5 heavy weights.

Is this ok and can i stick with it? or should i do something different
 
There are only two possible reasons why you're not achieving any fitness goal.

1) Your nutrition is lacking.

2) Your training is lacking.

In that order. If you're going to the gym and hitting the weights hard, then it's probably your nutrition that's weak. As a beginner to weight training there are several reasons you may not be seeing a weight gain. As a beginner any weight training routine will work, as long as you're working hard.

The first, and most likely, if you truly are eating over your maintenance calories, is that you're losing fat and building muscle at the same time. While this is normally impossible to do--lose significant amounts of fat while gaining significant amounts of muscle--as a beginner almost anything will work freakishly well.

The second is that if the level of weight training you're undertaking is completely new to your body, your body first spends 3-6 weeks or so optimizing what it has before actually building any new muscle. It does this because it's a very clever biological machine that is programmed to be as efficient as possible.

The third is that you're not eating enough calories, because you're a lazy knob and haven't figured out what your BMR is and how much more than your BMR to eat. Quit being a knob. It takes like 5 minutes. Google is your friend. I can tell you what your BMR is off the top of my head, for someone who's moderately active, 16 yrs old and 157 lbs, assuming about 12% bf, your maintenance caloric intake is ~ 2700 and to gain weight you should eat ~ 3200. (~ = approximately, + or - 25 calories)

One more thing..find some way to measure your bodyfat every time you weigh yourself. You can get skinfold calipers for $10 that are accurate enough. You don't know **** unless you measure your bodyfat as well as your weight to determine whether you gained/lost fat and gained/lost muscle.

After you're out of the 2 month period, if you feel like something's not working..adjust one variable at a time (calories in, training routine, whatever) and give it at least two weeks to observe the results. Always try to use scientific method rather than whim. :)
 
soccergod said:
i think the reason i am not gaining any weigh tis because i am doing 5x5 heavy weights.

Is this ok and can i stick with it? or should i do something different
Click to expand...

no, if you're not gaining weight you are not eating enough. changing the way you train wont make you bigger if you dont eat more.
 
lol thanks for that big essay it helped.

I used the calculators online and it showed me BMR is 2558 calories. And i also did the one on here and it was 2558 and so i added 500 ish calories to my diet with healthy foods to reach around 3000. I have a log that i do every week of what i am going to eat. I think i need to add 200 more calories and see how that works. I think im going to add more dates and nuts, im not sure though.

as for training. I am lifting very heavy, i mean i go to the end on everything i do. For example squats, the last set is extremely hard but is do able and i do it. Same for upper body i am doin git intensily. Trying to limit my rest also.

I think it is my diet.
 
Try bumping it up to 3200. Most of those online calculators are a little off..they round. Also, they're based on averages..chances are you need more if that number isn't working for you. Sounds like your training is just fine..as long as you remember to increase the weight once you can do all the reps.

Also, are you drinking a before/during 20g protein+40g carb drink and an another drink after, followed by a protein and carb heavy meal an hour afterwards? Doing all that helps keeps your body in anabolic mode. It can help a lot and also reduces recovery time and soreness.

Best wishes. :)
 
There is a lot of advice being given here. It all seems aimed at a male who is already past his pubescent stages. Puberty is a pretty big factor here. You may be eating enough, but you will never know until you write it down. Also, how are you measuring changes....."Rome wasn't built in a day".

Don't get to caught up on low rep schemes until you have a few years of actual weight training under your belt. A young guy like yourself will do better in higher rep ranges (i.e. 4x8/3x12/2x20 etc.)

Give it time young skywalker. It will definitely take longer than a few weeks.
 
i never understand why young people shouldnt do low reps high weight. I understand why beginners (who often are young people) should do high reps, they need to learn the movement more than work the muscles.
But why do people who havent gone through puberty lift with high reps?
and i dont want the answer "because theire muscles arent develouped yet", or if that is the reason, why should undevelouped muscles only lift with high reps?
 
Hello thanks for the help!

As for my diet, i posted it in the nutrition section before but it was diffierent. Here it is:

Breakfast
1 cup milk
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
apple
1 egg
total: 460 cal

Snack:
22 almonds
10 dates
banana
egg
total: 682 cal/


Lunch:
1 cup dry yields white rice
8 oz chicken
1 cup of mixed veggies
total: 480 cal

After workout:
protein powder with water
total: 110 cal/ 2g carbs/ 23 g protein

Post workout meal:
2 slice of wheat bread
chicken breasts
lettuce
tomatoe
mustard
1 cup of milk
total: 426 cal

Snack:
potatoe
1/2 can tuna
carrot bag
total: 258 cal/ 26 g carbs/ 17 g protein

Dinner:
.8 cup rice dry
whatever for dinner(some kind of meat)
total: about 500 cal

Before bed:
1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese
total: 80 cal

So thats my bulk diet, It adds up to 2986 calories.
I have been doing that for 3 days now and i sometimes get hungry during the day.

I am thinking of adding 300 calories more. But i dont know of what foods. Should i add another egg? Like at my Snack #2 with the tuna and potatoe?
Or can i add more nuts and dates?

As for protein shake. I dont have one before my workout, before my workout is my lunch and then about 1:30 later i do my workout and have my shake after.

Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Punch that all into fitday.com and look at your macronutrient balance. While debatable, I believe that the ideal balance is 30% calories from fat (split evenly amongst saturated, monounsatured and polyunsatured fats), 30% calories from carbohydrates, and 40% calories from protein.

Some people perform better on a higher ratio of carbs (those who are not insulin resistant and tend to have faster metabolisms), so if you feel like you have no energy when you eat only 30% calories from carbs, you could try jumping it up to 40-50% calories from carbs.

Just add calories so as to adjust whatever area is lacking to fix your overall percentages.
 
Ill try putting it into fitday, but as for energy i have plenty because i am eating so much. I dont really feel weak.

As for calorie, can i add another egg? Or what else should i increase? Another protein shake?
dont really know
thanks
 
Mmm.. well 40% protein would require 300 g of protein daily which is more than 1.5 x body weight... and from what I've read it does not do too much good to consume any more than 1.5x, and actually should be somewhere between 1 - 1.5.

Personally, I use 40/30/30 for carbs/protein/fats.
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Also soccergod, I believe a few of your calculations are a bit off. For example
1 cup dry yields white rice
8 oz chicken
1 cup of mixed veggies
total: 480 cal
Click to expand...

1 cup white rice should be roughly 240 calories, 8 oz chicken (assuming it is chicken breast, skin not eaten) 366 calories, and not calculating the veggies is already 606 calories. Maybe 'dry yields' rice is different then what I'm thinking?
 
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