how much weight should i gain in a bulk

[Santee]

Ive gained about ten pounds so far I'm 6' and 187 from 165 in the past two month, bodyfat has been jumpin from 12 to 14 and back, but when should I stop bulking? And after I'm done should I maintain my weight for a certain amount of time before I cut down?

[mich29]

Ive gained about ten pounds so far I'm 6' and 187 from 165 in the past two month, bodyfat has been jumpin from 12 to 14 and back, but when should I stop bulking? And after I'm done should I maintain my weight for a certain amount of time before I cut down?

your gains will slow down after awhile and it will become harder to put on weight.when you should stop bulking depending on what your weight goal is.to ensure you don't lose a ton of muscle when you cut I would do a slow modest cut in order to maintain your muscle while losing the fat you gained.

[Santee]

your gains will slow down after awhile and it will become harder to put on weight.when you should stop bulking depending on what your weight goal is.to ensure you don't lose a ton of muscle when you cut I would do a slow modest cut in order to maintain your muscle while losing the fat you gained.

Well my goal's basically to gain strength, and enjoy muscle gains from it

[bigdavid]

I feel like all I've ever done in my life is alter between bulking and maintenance phases haha. If your body fat becomes an issue for you maybe cut down till you get to 10% then start to bulk again. I personally am going to keep bulking probably till I'm around 230 (im currently at about 205). To really answer your question it is all up to you. If you are happy with your fat levels and want to keep bulking then go for it.

[Conciliator]

I'm late on this also, but for those with the same question, Lyle Mcdonald has a great article called Initial Body Fat and Body Composition Changes. Basically, there are several hormonal reasons to stay between 10% and 15% body fat. From a bulking perspective, this means you should stop bulking when you get up 15% body fat, then maintain or diet down to 10-12%, then repeat.

As for a good rate of weight gain, 1 pound per week is great. Another rule of thumb is no more than 1% of your total body weight, per week. Of course, you can gain more, but any more than 1-2 lbs per week and your partitioning will probably shift too much towards fat. Keep in mind that early on in bulking you'll have an increase in weight due to water retention (e.g. from increased sodium intake, higher insulin and glycogen levels, etc). But we're not talking about that. We're talking about the rate of increase in actual tissue mass. In other words, don't worry if during the first few weeks of bulking you're gaining more than 2 lbs/wk, as you're probably gaining quite a bit of water weight as well. But your rate of gain should settle to a good 1 pound per week, or 2 pounds if you want to bulk aggressively. If you're not gaining weight, it doesn't matter what you're eating or how clean you're eating or how much protein you're eating... you need to increase your calorie intake.