The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Is it more beneficial to slowly gain weight/muscle or to gain 15 or 20 pounds in a few months and then cut down?

 

Last winter when I bulked, I started WAY over maintenance. Then kept going that way until it was time to cut. And I gained a lot of fat. Instead of slowly dipping into the bulk, I just decided to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. "Oh, you want ice cream? It's midnight....but bulking so screw it..."
This time around, I'm going to try to stay 250-500 cals over maintenance, keep up my cardio, and try to gain, but stay leaner than last year. Then when I plateau, I'll raise it another 250-500 cals.

 

If you gain slowly, you're more likely to be putting on muscle and not as much fat. If you throw on 15 lbs in a month, most of it is going to be fat/water weight.

 

It depends on your goals. It sounds like you asking about a "permabulk", slowly gaining quality mass over time. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. It takes longer, but the results are typically better in my opinion. On the other hand, a larger calorie surplus paired with heavy training tends to help people that have been working out for a long time break through plateaus. With this method, you'll definitely gain more weight via fat and water retention and you'll have to cut to get back to your previous BF %. The goal is that after the bulk and cut, you have gained muscle mass without increasing BF.

 

Lean bulk brah

 

So I'm giving myself the next 6 weeks to drop this last 17lbs and then regardless of whether I can lift or not I'm gonna bulk. I hate to just put on fat for no reason but once I hit 200 I honestly cannot let myself get below that. A guy posted a picture of himself and I just can't fathom being like that. He looks so bad.

 

Probably look about like I did last year

 

A popular route seems to be doing a longer "clean"/lean bulk. You eat over maintenance but you eat the "right" things. This is what I did for about a year and a half before I went keto for a few months. I always ate "clean," but I was eating a lot of clean. It worked for me. I was gaining muscle slowly and also losing some fat. It was a slower process but it worked, and my body felt better. This seems to be the preferable method for putting on muscle without adding fat, and keeping it there, rather than see-sawing back and forth between bulking and cutting.

 

NO BODY wants to look like that!


Just kiddin man. <3

 

Also you don't look like snorlax during the winter

 

I can deal with that. Because at that point at least I know where I'm going

 

It's definitely fair to say that I don't think I will ever see 200 again. I was 5'7" 175 my freshman year of high school, and 5'11" 215 when I left my senior year. I gained a shit ton of muscle, and then a shit ton of fat in the following years when I wasn't playing rugby and football. 225 is my long term goal. I always get close and then let off the gas and tail spin out of the good habits, ending up back around 245/250 with a 8-10 pounds of that being water weight. Whenever I get serious back on my diet, I always lose 5-6 pounds in the first week.

 

I never want to be that small again, I was skin and bones.

 

This morning I hit 217 but I'm still high fat % and loose skin so the plan is drop to 200 be at or below 14% and then start slowly gaining mass in December should experience been gains again since I won't have lifted for almost 6 months at that point. And then bulk until April and start a cut and end the cut in sept then bulk through the fall and winter and then cut again in spring. Then hopefully have surgery

 

After this weekend I will definitely see 220+ again. Pizza, burgers, wings, pasta, pizza, lol all the foods I haven't had in a year. Today is my one year since I started loosing.

 

August 10, 2015 the day I joined the gym


August 10, 2016 not the best but it's all I got


193 lbs lost.

 

Fuck yea. Super proud of you dude.

 

Holy shit dude! That's fucking amazing. Congrats. That's hard work and dedication right there!

 

hard work and diet

 

AWESOME!!!