Bulking...lack of fat gain? Par Deus? Anyone?

[HarmsWayBC]

I have been bulking for nearly 10 weeks, after losing over 80 lbs in 2 years..so far my bodyweight has gone from 161 to 171....strength, size is up a great deal.....

however, while the 10 lbs. i have gained is noticable, my caliper measurements have NOT increased! This is something I am happy about, but despite the supposed lack of fat gain, my abs are disappearing...since my skin fold measurements are have NOT increased, I am assuming I have put on a lot of water weight. Is this normal? I assume I have gained a little fat (maybe visceral fat or in areas that I do not measure), but my waist is still 30.5 inches....but my abs are blurry and disappearing..is this just water?

It should be noted that I do have a lot of loose skin still from my dramatic weight loss...

I just don't understand why I am not gaining fat, yet still losing abs due to water retention....is this normal when bulking for anyone else?

 

[_jaap_]

yes when bulking it is very normal to lose your abs. Actually for natural peeps it is impossible to gain weigth without going up in bodyfat%.

So if you gained 10 pounds lately it is very probable that you have gained some fat. This is not a problem though it is just a normal machanisem which cannot be avoided when bulking. Just keep on pumping and add more muscle mass.

 

[Par Deus]

You would definitely be holding more water on a bulking phase than on a diet.

Considering you have really minimized fat gain, at the least, you are doing quite well, so don't concern yourself with this issue.

ParDeus
www.avantlabs.com

 

[javaguru]

You're going to gain fat on a bulking cycle, that's why they have cutting cycles. Only the drug assisted or newbies can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, once you're an experienced trainer you must alternate between cutting and bulking. Also, I'm sensitive to sodium and all the extra food I eat really smooths me out from the water retention, so probably not all of your "smoothness" is caused by fat gain.

John Berardi has some interesting articles at http://www.testosterone.net. Use the search engine for previous issues to look up Massive Eating and the Diet Manifesto. He also has a version of massive eating for fat loss called the "Don't Diet Diet." I've found the massive eating to be very effective.

BTW, I have to add my mantra, "Always keep a food log!"

 

[=w=]

Out of curiosity Par what is your take on the meal combining methods of Massive eating?

 

[_jaap_]

bump, would like to hear par deus views to. I am trying massive eating right now and i like it

But i have seen some sneers at tc in par's mag so i dont expect a good review

 

[HarmsWayBC]

As usual, Par Deus is wise and his words put my mind at ease...

As for the Massive Eating articles, while I am not a huge fan of many of T-Mag's rants and raves.....i did find this article quite informative....and there was hardly any mention of Grow!

 

[MR. BMJ]

Water weight and fat gain will both increase on a hypercaloric diet unless you are some genetic freak! Like Par Deus stated, you seem to be doing good at keeping fat gain to a minimum, which is great. I might be mostly water weight. You could always cut carbs out for 1-3 days and see if the loss of water weight made a difference (sort of like the first couple of days on a keto diet). This will be counterproductive to "mass gains", but it shouldn't hurt you either if you try it. All things aside, this is normal man, and I wouldn't worry about it...just stick to what you have been doing, it seems to be working great. GREAT JOB!!!

BMJ

 

[skinnyfat]

I have noticed the exact same thing, except I have gained 20 lbs and DID increase my caliper measurements by 1mm, and my waist by 2 inches, so I know I've gotten fat.

When I was lean, I used to notice that after a "cheat day," my abs are smothered the next day, but I don't have an increase in caliper measurements. That's probably because of water retention, and goes away in a few days. I'd say your definition loss is mostly due to water.

 

[_jaap_]

bump wanna hear par deus on massive eating