How do I change from a lean out to a bulk phase and not screw it up???

[kittykat07]

I have done a good lean out and am sitting about 10% or less bodyfat.....
So where and how do I go to the bulk phase...also with adding some good non diet or clean foods in the mix????

 

[pyrobatt]

Eat a little more, don't change your training and stay consistent. That's basically it.

Try adding 100 to 200 calories /week. This is a faster way of the traditional reverse diet.

 

[AntM1564]

Eat a little more, don't change your training and stay consistent. That's basically it.

Try adding 100 to 200 calories /week. This is a faster way of the traditional reverse diet.

This. I would add those calories in as carbs. I would also aim to have those extra cals pre or post workout.

 

[The Solution]

Very easy. Reverse dieting can be summed up as slowly adding back in calories, tapering off cardio, and focusing on adding kcals/dropping cardio when you stall (do not gain weight)

now, gaining weight is not the #1 priority. we both know the scale is the least valuable tool. I would highly suggest reading these links first and foremost to help understand how to set up your diet, cardio and training routine (which you may already have in place) but are good resources.


General Philosophies of Muscle Mass Gain | BodyRecomposition
Macronutrient Intake for Mass Gains - Q&A | BodyRecomposition
Training Frequency for Mass Gains | BodyRecomposition
Cardio and Mass Gains | BodyRecomposition

Philosophies, Macro intake, training , and cardio articles for you to understand and help set up what you need to do before moving forward towards more supplements or advanced workout routines.

A good video:

[video=youtube;A3gTGLulLnI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3gTGLulLnI[/video]

Another good resource to read:

Reverse Dieting: Reversing Metabolic Damage | Body Transformation Fitness

This shows that caloric expenditure from cardio and calories are the two major assets to consider in the reverse diet
so if you drop say 1 hour of cardio think about how many calories in the week that would account for , and no changes in calories means you are still going to be up say 300 kcals the week due to less cardio, and will also help keep away from catabolic activites (cardio)

and another great resource:

The Definitive Guide to Reverse Dieting | Muscle For Life

1. Engage in heavy resistance training (weightlifting, ideally) 3 to 5 times per week.

This has two big benefits for your metabolic rate:
it speeds it up in the short term, burning a significant amount of post-workout calories, and
it builds muscle, which speeds up your metabolic rate in the long term.

2. Slowly increase your calories each week until you’ve reached your total daily energy intake.

The idea here is simple: slow, gradual increases in your daily calorie intake until you’ve reached your average TDEE. (If you’re not sure how to calculate average TDEE, check out this article).

I like to increase in increments of about 100 to 150 calories with 7 to 10-day intervals. That is, I increase my daily intake by 100 to 150 maintain that new level of intake for 7 to 10 days. I then do it again and again and again until I’ve reached my TDEE.

In terms of which macronutrients to increase, focus on increasing your carb intake more than anything else.

You don’t need more protein than 1 gram per pound to build and preserve muscle and you don’t need more than 0.3 to 0.4 grams of fat per pound of lean mass to maintain health. Carbs, on the other hand, can continue to benefit you and your workouts as you raise your intake higher and higher.

So, for example, when I finish cutting, my daily calorie intake is usually around 2,000 to 2,100, which is more or less my basal metabolic rate.

Given my body composition and exercise schedule, I should be able to eat about 2,800 calories per day without gaining fat (my average total daily energy expenditure as calculated in the article linked above).

And also remember this

after the long term diet ends you may lose weight as you add back calories and drop cardio which is normal:

The LTDFLE | BodyRecomposition

LTDFLE stands for Long-Term Delayed Fat Loss Effect (I’d note that I have also seen a LTDGE which is a Long-Term Delayed Growth Effect but that’s another topic for another article). Basically, this is the phenomenon whereby fat loss continues to occur even after the diet has been ended and/or calories have been raised back towards/to maintenance or even above. In the same way that fitness sometimes continues to increase after the period of heavy loading, it’s almost as if there is some type of fat loss inertia whereby the diet continues working even after the person ends it.

 

[wkdsean8831]

im in the exact same situation, i am keeping all my meals the same, the only thing im adding in is a shake that i can easily manipulate the calories/carbs/fat/protein. im going to see how i go and i will just adjust the shake when i need to.

 

[kittykat07]

Very easy. Reverse dieting can be summed up as slowly adding back in calories, tapering off cardio, and focusing on adding kcals/dropping cardio when you stall (do not gain weight)

now, gaining weight is not the #1 priority. we both know the scale is the least valuable tool. I would highly suggest reading these links first and foremost to help understand how to set up your diet, cardio and training routine (which you may already have in place) but are good resources.


General Philosophies of Muscle Mass Gain | BodyRecomposition
Macronutrient Intake for Mass Gains - Q&A | BodyRecomposition
Training Frequency for Mass Gains | BodyRecomposition
Cardio and Mass Gains | BodyRecomposition

Philosophies, Macro intake, training , and cardio articles for you to understand and help set up what you need to do before moving forward towards more supplements or advanced workout routines.

A good video:

[video=youtube;A3gTGLulLnI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3gTGLulLnI[/video]

Another good resource to read:

Reverse Dieting: Reversing Metabolic Damage | Body Transformation Fitness

This shows that caloric expenditure from cardio and calories are the two major assets to consider in the reverse diet
so if you drop say 1 hour of cardio think about how many calories in the week that would account for , and no changes in calories means you are still going to be up say 300 kcals the week due to less cardio, and will also help keep away from catabolic activites (cardio)

and another great resource:

The Definitive Guide to Reverse Dieting | Muscle For Life

1. Engage in heavy resistance training (weightlifting, ideally) 3 to 5 times per week.

This has two big benefits for your metabolic rate:
it speeds it up in the short term, burning a significant amount of post-workout calories, and
it builds muscle, which speeds up your metabolic rate in the long term.

2. Slowly increase your calories each week until you’ve reached your total daily energy intake.

The idea here is simple: slow, gradual increases in your daily calorie intake until you’ve reached your average TDEE. (If you’re not sure how to calculate average TDEE, check out this article).

I like to increase in increments of about 100 to 150 calories with 7 to 10-day intervals. That is, I increase my daily intake by 100 to 150 maintain that new level of intake for 7 to 10 days. I then do it again and again and again until I’ve reached my TDEE.

In terms of which macronutrients to increase, focus on increasing your carb intake more than anything else.

You don’t need more protein than 1 gram per pound to build and preserve muscle and you don’t need more than 0.3 to 0.4 grams of fat per pound of lean mass to maintain health. Carbs, on the other hand, can continue to benefit you and your workouts as you raise your intake higher and higher.

So, for example, when I finish cutting, my daily calorie intake is usually around 2,000 to 2,100, which is more or less my basal metabolic rate.

Given my body composition and exercise schedule, I should be able to eat about 2,800 calories per day without gaining fat (my average total daily energy expenditure as calculated in the article linked above).

And also remember this

after the long term diet ends you may lose weight as you add back calories and drop cardio which is normal:

The LTDFLE | BodyRecomposition

LTDFLE stands for Long-Term Delayed Fat Loss Effect (I’d note that I have also seen a LTDGE which is a Long-Term Delayed Growth Effect but that’s another topic for another article). Basically, this is the phenomenon whereby fat loss continues to occur even after the diet has been ended and/or calories have been raised back towards/to maintenance or even above. In the same way that fitness sometimes continues to increase after the period of heavy loading, it’s almost as if there is some type of fat loss inertia whereby the diet continues working even after the person ends it.

My issue is my calories were higher cause of the cardio I was and still am doing...
I have cut back my cardio and tried adding in more calories but I seem to keep losing weight and it's frustrating....
Hints more on the frustration...
I like to do cardio, as weird as some may not understand, but I don't want my body to get real big but I also know my body can hold a lot of muscle and weight at same time but it can also lean out and work from there and .... That's where I am stuck!!!

How do u figure out the TDEE.... Is there a website to figure out. I tried iifym website but the calculator on there doesn't seem to operate anymore or has a mind of its own!!!

 

[The Solution]

You answered your own problem you added kcals and dropped weigh
Add more kcals simple
You don't need a generic online calculator to read your body or the scale

More cardio is not better if your doing less and still losing then you can increase more kcals or drop more cardio

Cardio is not essential it's a way of burning excess kcals and to further a deficit you could drop cardio which would eliminate kcals burned or add more food

Cardio is catabolic but has some health properties and nutrient partitioning benefits I would just keep a few HIIT sessions regardless of goal maybe 2-5 minute HIIT sessions tops if in offseason and introduce cardio last when you stalk when dieting and focus on the diet

 

[kittykat07]

You answered your own problem you added kcals and dropped weigh
Add more kcals simple
You don't need a generic online calculator to read your body or the scale

More cardio is not better if your doing less and still losing then you can increase more kcals or drop more cardio

Cardio is not essential it's a way of burning excess kcals and to further a deficit you could drop cardio which would eliminate kcals burned or add more food

Cardio is catabolic but has some health properties and nutrient partitioning benefits I would just keep a few HIIT sessions regardless of goal maybe 2-5 minute HIIT sessions tops if in offseason and introduce cardio last when you stalk when dieting and focus on the diet

Catabolic is good right?
So for instance, I was doing like 5-6 days of cardio, now it's 3-4days and not as long either.
I also have been eating around 3990 calories when I was doing more cardio to keep(hold) my muscle

I know in the past, 2200-2500 was a stable for me... I Should I eat more than that...
And does it really matter when to eat those extra calories, like pre or post or??

 

[The Solution]

Catabolic is not good, google easily explains that

'catabolism definition. Biochemical reactions that break down molecules in metabolism. Molecules may be broken down to gain their energy or to prepare them for disposal from the body. (Compare anabolism.)"

In the most basic written form, the catabolic process involves anything and everything that naturally occurs or induces the breakdown of larger molecules into several smaller building blocks. These separate parts eventually combine in a process known as anabolism, which greatly benefits muscle tissue growth.

catabolic what you do not want, anabolic what you want.

I would drop the cardio to 2 sessions of HIIT (5 minutes), and keep kcals consistent, if you keep losing weight then up intake.
Simple.

Again MORE is not better. As you transfer from a diet to a lean bulk you want to slowly increase calories and decrease cardio to help repair your metbaolism and also increase recovery.

 

[kittykat07]

Catabolic is not good, google easily explains that

'catabolism definition. Biochemical reactions that break down molecules in metabolism. Molecules may be broken down to gain their energy or to prepare them for disposal from the body. (Compare anabolism.)"

In the most basic written form, the catabolic process involves anything and everything that naturally occurs or induces the breakdown of larger molecules into several smaller building blocks. These separate parts eventually combine in a process known as anabolism, which greatly benefits muscle tissue growth.

catabolic what you do not want, anabolic what you want.

I would drop the cardio to 2 sessions of HIIT (5 minutes), and keep kcals consistent, if you keep losing weight then up intake.
Simple.

Again MORE is not better. As you transfer from a diet to a lean bulk you want to slowly increase calories and decrease cardio to help repair your metbaolism and also increase recovery.

Wow, so your saying just a simple 5min HIIT is way better than doing like 20min recumbent bike?

 

[The Solution]

Listen to this podcast on cardio:

https://www.rxmuscle.com/2013-01-11-01-57-36/muscle-college/7694-muscle-college-3-12-13.html

This will explain everything for you:

Cardio: What is it?

Can aide in fat loss when combined with resistance training.

Prevents protein synthesis.

Blunts hypertrophy

Longer duration of cardio is detrimental to hypertrophy

Low intensity cardio blunts the size of muscle due to the need for muscle type for long duration training

Low intensity cardio can lower metabolism; metabolic adaption. Non-fat loss after long durations.

Doing sprints lose over 50% more body fat (6-30 sec sprints) compared to 1 hr walk at 3mph.

low intensity drops your metabolic rate; high intensity raises metabolism for up to 24 hrs after. (HIIT)

Fasted cardio - overall fat loss effects, there is no difference; eat so that you have fuel for high intensity cardio; low intensity good for a short break from doing HI cardio

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=131851483
http://forum.simplyshredded.com/topic/2209/layne-smashes-the-myth-of-fasted-cardio/
http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-2-false-hopes-for-fasted-cardio.html
http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-the-fat-burning-zone-fasted-cardio.html
http://alanaragon.com/myths-under-the-microscope-part-3-discussion-afterthoughts.html



New to interval training - start with lower durations 4 sets @ 3 secs and increase as you can; 60 sec total duration will have a big impact on fat loss, 6x10sec and so on; rest 2-4 minutes between sets (when you are on the verge of catching your breath); cycling or sprints

 

[chedapalooza]

TheSolution that layne video on reverse dieting was so clutch for me coming off this cut... I didn't realize HOW SLOWLY you have to add In the calories, but it definitely makes sense allowing the metabolism to keep up and adjust and limit fat gain. I would love to work with him, jeez. My macros are 25-30g carbs
80-100g fat
220-280g pro
Daily... Usually fall in the 1800-1900 kcal range
I would love to get his input and a solid reverse diet plan, ESPECIALLY since I am at such low carbs.

I was at only 30-50g fat for the majority of the cut tho and screwed myself up... I just doubled my fat intake literally as of Saturday.

 

[The Solution]

TheSolution that layne video on reverse dieting was so clutch for me coming off this cut... I didn't realize HOW SLOWLY you have to add In the calories, but it definitely makes sense allowing the metabolism to keep up and adjust and limit fat gain. I would love to work with him, jeez. My macros are 25-30g carbs
80-100g fat
220-280g pro
Daily... Usually fall in the 1800-1900 kcal range
I would love to get his input and a solid reverse diet plan, ESPECIALLY since I am at such low carbs.

I was at only 30-50g fat for the majority of the cut tho and screwed myself up... I just doubled my fat intake literally as of Saturday.

holy cow @ your carbs.
Right out of the gate he may be a bit aggressive, because when you are in a very lean state you will soak up the kcals coming off a cut
I would of just added 50g of carbs out of the gate and maybe 5-10g fat, ride that for 2 weeks (bet you will lose weight) then slowly bump off there based off mirror and your scale.

 

[chedapalooza]

holy cow @ your carbs.
Right out of the gate he may be a bit aggressive, because when you are in a very lean state you will soak up the kcals coming off a cut
I would of just added 50g of carbs out of the gate and maybe 5-10g fat, ride that for 2 weeks (bet you will lose weight) then slowly bump off there based off mirror and your scale.

He did respond to my email, but can't take on any new clients at this time. I am thinking that too... I need to get to some sort of realistic baseline.. The carbs are SO low haha. But I am feeling much better with the increased fat (mostly coming from coconut oil and red Palm oil) so I'm thinking I may stretch this another couple weeks like I originally planned then switch it up to add in the carbs mid August

 

[The Solution]

I would add 50g right away, if not next week.