[JohnGafnea]

I'm not really new to lifting weights, rather just the "Hey I'm going to start thinking about what I eat." thing.

Right now I'm 185 pounds at around 15 percent body fat. I don't plan on ever competing or anything, but I'm confused about the bulking/cutting thing...I don't really want to do either.

I want to get bigger without getting flabby, and I would like to lose as much fat as possible without losing muscle.

Here's my main question: for the above goal, should I keep my calories above or below my maintenance amount?

Thanks guys.

[Matthew D]

Personally, I would keep them close to maintance and see how you do on that.

[Biggs]

If you don't want to cut or bulk (in your words), you've pretty much already decided on maintenance cal levels ... although for most people, "getting bigger without getting flabby" and "losing fat without losing muscle" are two different goals, defined as bulking and cutting... so essentially, you're really saying you want to do both, and if you're just starting to look into nutrition I dare say it will be very very hard to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time... get heavy into nutrition concepts and knowledge, keep a daily dietary log if you can, start at roughly maint. cals and see what happens. good luck!


(ahem, at some point down the road it may also be of interest to you to look into proho's as they have great potential to assist you in either of your goals, but proper nutrition and exact diet MUST be fully understood prior to use IMO )

[BigVrunga]

TOTALLY agree with biggin here:

ahem, at some point down the road it may also be of interest to you to look into proho's as they have great potential to assist you in either of your goals, but proper nutrition and exact diet MUST be fully understood prior to use IMO

I would suggest researching a good cutting diet, and lowering your bodyfat a little before you try to bulk up. When you've got your diet down and you're on the lean side, then you can control the fat-gain better while bulking. Plus, cutting down now will get you used to the whole 'cutting cycle' idea, which is going to help preserve lean mass when you've reached your mass and strength goals and want to get ripped.
You could always go hog wild, eat like a freak, lift like a freak,etc. Youd definately get bigger. Its up to you how much extra chunk you're comfortable carrying around.

BigV

[JohnGafnea]

So almost everyone is always either on a cutting or bulking cycle? How long do people typically go on each? 6 months bulking then 6 months cutting?

[scotty2]

Originally posted by JohnGafnea
So almost everyone is always either on a cutting or bulking cycle?

For the most part. I spent about 5 months bulking, I'll spend about 4 months cutting, take about 2 months maintenance and tweaking. Then, start all over again.

[BigVrunga]

Well, I guess until you get to the point you want to be at, then youll could just maintain, and work on tweaking your diet/training to the point where you're growing with minimum fat gain. But, of course, gains will come much slower.

[JohnGafnea]

Another question: Is it possible to keep your fat gain really low while bulking? And if so wouldn't this mean that your cutting cycles would be much shorter than your bulking, basically just fine tuning every once in a while when you feel you need it.

I mean, say if someone is ~10% body fat and don't plan to enter any contests and is pleased with their BF. If they knew how to bulk really well, could they just keep bulking and bulking until they eventually gain an additional 5% BF, go on a short cutting cycle to lose the ~5%, and then go back to the bulking and bulking again? Do some people who know how to bulk correctly actually do this? Or is it even possible?

Thanks.

[scotty2]

Fact: You WILL gain fat while bulking. If you eat smart, i.e., low GI carbs along with low-fat protein sources, and eating only about 500 cals above maintenance, should keep fat gain to a minimum. Make no mistake, there's almost no way around it, fat will be gained bulking.

[msclbldrguy]

Originally posted by scotty2
Fact: You WILL gain fat while bulking. If you eat smart, i.e., low GI carbs along with low-fat protein sources, and eating only about 500 cals above maintenance, should keep fat gain to a minimum. Make no mistake, there's almost no way around it, fat will be gained bulking.

i second that...every time i bulk...even with slightly over maintenance i gain alot more bf than i'd like. but i cant gain muscle without gaining some fat...hazard of havin no metabolism. there are a few folks...and a coupla of 'em workout at my gym who can gain msucle without much fat at all...its like they can jus look at a dumbell or bench and gain...

[Draven]

Originally posted by msclbldrguy
there are a few folks...and a coupla of 'em workout at my gym who can gain msucle without much fat at all...its like they can jus look at a dumbell or bench and gain...

Sounds like mesomorphs too me . I have the opposite problem, I don't put on much fat but I have a very difficult time gaining mass, the curse of being an ecto.

[BigVrunga]

mesomorphs or chemically assisted Some people do short bulking cycles followed by a short cutting cycle. I suppose this would be the way to go, once you've reached the size you want to be. If you've got a way to go, Id say cut your fat down a bit, read all you can about bulking clean, and then go for it.

BigVrunga

[chrisbell]

hi there im new to this site so hope this goes to the right place i seem to have been in a similar frame of mind to you when i started training about 9 months ago. i needed to loose weight but wanted to gain some muscle I was 248 lbs at 5feet 8 tall and hadnt trained for 15 years. im now aprox 198 lookin a lot healthier. all i did was trained 4 days on weights doin mainly supersets and threw in a couple of cardio sessions when i felt like it. Eat 6 times a day normally suppliment with a couple of servings of whey and a multivitamin, keep the carbs low take in 1gm of protien per pound of body weight. and now weight is constant waist getting smaller biceps approx 16inches and shoulders gettin wider. think im doin something right, and the diet is comfortable with a few cheats a week good luck ! an thanks for readin this