I hate Natural Bulking :(

[hawaii50]

Any of you feel the same way? I'm up 25lbs in 3 weeks.. strength through the roof.. but i look and feel like a cow i mean, SUUUURE i could be super strict and follow a completely planned out diet.. but i know that i bulk way faster just getting my protein in, and then cramming a ton of calories from ANYTHING down my throat...

gosh, sorry i'm just complaining only 5 more weeks... anyways, gotta get back to eating

 

[super_rice]

when i am (was) eating like crazy to put on weight, i felt great - rested, full, and strong as a bull. i just look a little fat

don't you feel terrible when you're all cut and dried out? i have no problems being lean, but being "bodybuilder" must suck ass!

 

[ScottK345]

Damn, 25lbs in 3 weeks, thats impressive. I have been eating like crazy and was proud of my 10lbs in 6 weeks.

 

[hawaii50]

when i am (was) eating like crazy to put on weight, i felt great - rested, full, and strong as a bull. i just look a little fat

don't you feel terrible when you're all cut and dried out? i have no problems being lean, but being "bodybuilder" must suck ass!

i used to be a really fat kid.. i think its mental. so when i'm all cut i feel great. but its SOOO hard for me to stay lean..

Damn, 25lbs in 3 weeks, thats impressive. I have been eating like crazy and was proud of my 10lbs in 6 weeks.

once again.. its the ex fat kid thing... slow metabolism.. i can build muscle by walking though.. i started @ 168 under 10% (had abs.. so its a guesstimate) and i'm 194 today and a gut. lol oh yeah.. i'm packing in @ least 8,000 a day.. AT LEAST!!!

but all my lifts have gone up up up!!!

 

[ScottK345]

hehe it is depressing bulking up once you start getting a gut, but I want to be pretty thick so i gotta deal with it. How tall are you?

 

[hawaii50]

5'7" i just wanna be 180-185 @ 8-9%

 

[riverrock]

Yes, I look like I barged in the door of the bakery with a sawn-off shot-gun and stole all the pies when I bulk natty!!!!

 

[blut wump]

Yummy, I love pork pies. Unless you're a BBer, you just need to adjust your idea of 'lean'. I reckon anything below 20% is lean. I'm working on it.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Thats alot of weight in 3 weeks. KEEP KILLING THAT SHIT!!

 

[BiggT]

That's an enormous amount of weight to gain in 3 weeks. Were you extremely depleted/dehydrated when you started the bulk? What does a sample daily menu look like for you?

 

[harhar]

Im happy as long as I dont have a gut big enough to show through a loose shirt.

 

[BOOEY]

Damn, 25lbs in 3 weeks, thats impressive. I have been eating like crazy and was proud of my 10lbs in 6 weeks.

Sorry I have to disagree with all of you guys. 25 lbs in 3 weeks is 8 lbs a week. That is completely counter-productive! I don't think the body can grow more than 1-2 lbs of muscle a week naturally (and that's best case scenario). So that would mean you're gaining at least 6 lbs of fat and water a week. You might be blowing up now, but you're going to have your work cut out for you when you start cutting.

 

[Tweakle]

1-2lbs a year is more like it if you're a natural who's close to maxxed out

the problem with suicide bulking even on juice is you gotta do a lot of dieting and/or cardio to take off that fat.. and the end result is usually nothing more than a lot of cash pissed away on groceries and fatpants

 

[BOOEY]

1-2lbs a year is more like it if you're a natural who's close to maxxed out

the problem with suicide bulking even on juice is you gotta do a lot of dieting and/or cardio to take off that fat.. and the end result is usually nothing more than a lot of cash pissed away on groceries and fatpants

Exactly. Hell, I used to have that mentality of EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT when bulking. But it was never practical. I ended up gaining 40 lbs in the offseason, just to have to cut 30-35lbs when cutting. No more of that shit. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[hawaii50]

Sorry I have to disagree with all of you guys. 25 lbs in 3 weeks is 8 lbs a week. That is completely counter-productive! I don't think the body can grow more than 1-2 lbs of muscle a week naturally (and that's best case scenario). So that would mean you're gaining at least 6 lbs of fat and water a week. You might be blowing up now, but you're going to have your work cut out for you when you start cutting.

i lost 5lbs overnight now i'm @ 188.. so thats 20lbs in just under 4 weeks.. earlier i was rounding down to 3 weeks.. it was actually 3 weeks and 3 days.

my menu is just eat tons and tons and tons of beef, steak, and fish.. and then drink 5 protein shakes a day.. i'm hitting well over 400grams of protein a day... and the rest is just oatmeal, potatoes, and fats... all for a total of around 8k-10k a day... i look pregnant all day from all the food. some of the weight is from creatine @ 15grams a day too.

my bench went from 190 (don't laugh. i'm recovering from a BAD BAD shoulder injury) to 240 in the last 3 weeks.

 

[TheOak84]

ive been eating 4000 calories since i started the 2nd 5x5 workout, im in the 4th week and didnt gain a god dam pound... i dunno y

 

[Madcow2]

ive been eating 4000 calories since i started the 2nd 5x5 workout, im in the 4th week and didnt gain a god dam pound... i dunno y

Golden rule - if you aren't gaining any weight whatsoever (fat or muscle) caloric excess is not present. Maybe there is body recomp going on but that's not a way to put on maximum muscle regardless. If caloric excess is present, you will gain fat and a bit of muscle. If caloric excess is present and so is quality training where you are getting stronger, you will gain a lot of muscle along with that fat. In either case, absolute weight is increasing.

Also, keep in mind that strength and size gains are not linear. Probably going to have to wait for the deload before you see the bulk of your gains this time. In addition, you might consider training in a different rep range for a period after this and addressing some weak points through different variants of the exercises. That way, when you come back to a 5x5 foundation style program you'll be ready to push forward and adapt again (although this gets harder with experience and increased muscle).

 

[eat big]

Sorry I have to disagree with all of you guys. 25 lbs in 3 weeks is 8 lbs a week. That is completely counter-productive! I don't think the body can grow more than 1-2 lbs of muscle a week naturally (and that's best case scenario). So that would mean you're gaining at least 6 lbs of fat and water a week. You might be blowing up now, but you're going to have your work cut out for you when you start cutting.

Good post. I agree with you also. It's taken me time to bulk, I've put on about 2lbs. per week and made good strength gains. Although, I am getting fatter. Everyone is different and everyone gains differently.

 

[casualbb]

Sorry I have to disagree with all of you guys. 25 lbs in 3 weeks is 8 lbs a week. That is completely counter-productive! I don't think the body can grow more than 1-2 lbs of muscle a week naturally (and that's best case scenario). So that would mean you're gaining at least 6 lbs of fat and water a week. You might be blowing up now, but you're going to have your work cut out for you when you start cutting.

yup. wtf man, you're gaining mostly fat.

 

[hawaii50]

see my last post

 

[JKurz1]

gaining 25lbs in 3 weeks is ignorant..........especially naturally. WHat's the point? Ok, so you gain 25lbs, you MIGHT have gained 5lbs of muscle, mostly water and bloat. Then, you diet, and lose everything you just worked for. WHy not do it the smart way and aim to put on .5-1lbs per week. Yeah it may take some time, but shit, in the long run you are 100x better off.....so it takes a year to gain 10-15lbs, I promise it will yield better results.

 

[Jim Ouini]

I'm gonna try and lose some of the chub I put on over the past 20wks or so; cleaned up the diet a bit and added some cardio (ugh).

I've gone from 203 to 200 in about a week; I have to say it's a bit disconcerting to see the scale go in the opposite direction after all this time. It'll be interesting to see what I can get down to and how much muscle I retain before I start Korte or variant.

 

[blut wump]

Likewise. I just dropped below 120Kg from 124 over a week and a half but it's hard to say how much was water-loss after stopping the creatine. I haven't resorted to cardio yet, though. Just cutting out evening carbs and reducing daytime carbs. I guess the diet will last as long as my enthusiasm for greens and olive-oil-fried cabbage.

 

[Jim Ouini]

The parallels are getting scary, Blurt [sic]

Yeah this diet food ('no, it's a lifestyle!') sucks. And to be honest I've only done one cardio session, for like 20 minutes lol.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Seriously you two (Jim/Blut), this IS creepy b/c though I haven't posted about it I'm trying to lean up as well. Nothing crazy, just a little caloric deficit while I try to keep gaining strength.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Seriously you two (Jim/Blut), this IS creepy b/c though I haven't posted about it I'm trying to lean up as well. Nothing crazy, just a little caloric deficit while I try to keep gaining strength.

I blame it on Madcow disease. That's why he endorses those cheeseburgers during 5 x 5.

 

[blut wump]

LOL. Who mentioned cheese?

Christmas time gets me: I love the baby cheeses. (groan)

 

[Guinness5.0]

I blame it on Madcow disease. That's why he endorses those cheeseburgers during 5 x 5.

Hey mc gets enough credit- those cheeseburgers were MY idea!

 

[rbtrout]

Dang, I feel lucky. I started bulking Saturday, July 16 to make sure I have enough cals in my system to do the final 3X3 phase of the 5X5 routine. Since then, I've put on 11 pounds, with only a slight increase in bf (1.5% that I can tell/measure). A month ago, finishing the intensity phase, I never thought I'd get to a 400 pound deadlift, but in 2 weeks, I'm sure I will. The bulking has paid off in stregth and in size. Once I'm done with the complete 5X5, I'll post the gains.

 

[musketeer]

I think this thread is from a storybook! 25lb natural in 3 weeks? 8-10,000 calories a day consistently - eaten by a dude who started out weighing 168?

When you say you guestimate your BF was 10% because you had abs showing, it makes me question everything else, I've seen abs through guys with 15% BF.

Ronnie Coleman does not eat 10,000 calories a day, and not even Lee Priest bulks up that fast! Dont mean to call you a liar Hawaii50, but I think you need to rethink your numbers a bit!

Good luck to you all the same.

 

[BOOEY]

I think this thread is from a storybook! 25lb natural in 3 weeks? 8-10,000 calories a day consistently - eaten by a dude who started out weighing 168?

When you say you guestimate your BF was 10% because you had abs showing, it makes me question everything else, I've seen abs through guys with 15% BF.

Ronnie Coleman does not eat 10,000 calories a day, and not even Lee Priest bulks up that fast! Dont mean to call you a liar Hawaii50, but I think you need to rethink your numbers a bit!

Good luck to you all the same.

Does sound crazy - but he could be an endo and therefore put on weight real easily. I believe him, but I still think it's ridiculous to gain that much weight in that period of time when 90% of it is just water/fat.

But in all fairness, I'm sure all of us have been at that stage in our lives when all we cared about was size, regardless if it was muscle, or muscle and fat. I remember I used to judge progress by what the scale said, not what appeared in the mirror. Those days are long gone though.

 

[riverrock]

Does sound crazy - but he could be an endo and therefore put on weight real easily. I believe him, but I still think it's ridiculous to gain that much weight in that period of time when 90% of it is just water/fat.

But in all fairness, I'm sure all of us have been at that stage in our lives when all we cared about was size, regardless if it was muscle, or muscle and fat. I remember I used to judge progress by what the scale said, not what appeared in the mirror. Those days are long gone though.

Yes! When I did my first ever bulking cycle on testosterone, I used to like being bigger, but absolutely hated that rim of fat around my waist from the high calorie intake. So, what did I do.............Put on a T-Shirt, looked at myself in the mirror again and said "You Da Man"!!!!!