Starting to bulk with questions

drybread

Member
Hi first been reading these forums for a while now on my phone and I like these forums over others so asking here. :)

I started working out in mid-late 2012 and followed a 12 week Kris Gethin plan on BB.com 2days on 1day off, but screwed up one ankle, then after getting back into the gym did my other ankle(showing off on a skateboard to my kids), I started to go the gym again around mid 2013 but a bunch of life stuff got in the way and I lost motivation to go, but I didn't go back to a crappy eating lifestyle :)

Now I'm keen to get back in the gym and bulk, I've lost 20kgs(44lbs) and am now sitting at 78kgs(171lbs) I'm 6 foot tall, I could probably lose another 5kgs but I figure I will lose that the first couple of weeks while I get my calories right to bulk because I think I'm going to be a hardgainer, I've always had a high metabolism and it took me years to put on the excess weight. which brings me to my questions.

I've got two dogs both working types that needs lots of exercise and I walk them 1-2 times a day about 2-3kms each walk, then training twice a week where I do a fair bit of running, is all this cardio(I don't plan on doing anymore btw) going to make it even harder to bulk, and do I just up my calories to compensate?

The gethin plan was a 4day split, when I did get back to the gym last year I did do a full body routine but sort of found it boring and I enjoyed going to the gym more often on the other plan, I know I'm really still a beginner but is a uppper/lower or even a phat program ok to run? people seem to say fullbody for a year or until you stall, otherwise don't mind U/L split or even phat.

cheers
 
1. Stop using bb.com routines. Majority of them are stupid
2. IF you got fat, you aren't a hard gainer. True hard gainers have a really hard time getting fat, thus an extra hard time getting muscle
3. That's a lot of cardio, you can just eat to compensate

Look into better starting programs like 5x5, starting strength, westside for skinny bastards. After you build a solid strength base, you can pick which direction you want to go

Once you start squating correctly, you won't want to go back the next day

Edit: you can also look into 5/3/1 if you want to go 4 days/week. But you'll probly have to tweak it so the progression is weekly or bi-weekly. Just hit the mark every week, and change the max to the new max
 
yeh I learnt after I was midway through the Bb.com routine that a lot of them are just supp programs and not ideal for beginners but I continued with it just to finish those 12 weeks, I never did buy into all the supps though, just got myself whey, creatine, orange triad, and fish oil.

I put myself in the hardgainer basket as it took almost 10years to put on that weight of sitting at a desk all day working in IT, coming home playing online poker(profitably) and eating **** food, prior to that I was pretty active. I do realise its a lot of cardio, but its 2 german shepherds I have to keep from getting too bored and tearing the house apart lol

Thanks I'll look into westside for skinny bastards and 5/3/1, starting strength was what I ended up doing before life stuff took up too much time and I lost motivation.
 
You don't qualify what a "fair amount of running" is, but you do mention that you are going to drop it. The thing is, a lot of people equate bulking with just eating and lifting and then neglect overall fitness. Your dog walks are nothing and you need to keep the pups happy, so don't sweat that.

Personally, I would work in something like PHAT or another hypertrophy type routine to help build mass and size. The nice thing about PHAT is that you also work the 3-5 range to support that with strength. On your workout days, make sure you are consuming high GI carbs after you workout and keep the complex carbs up. You can cut back on the carbs on off days, but make sure you are hitting caloric intake that you need. I can't tell you what that would be, but I maintain on about 2800-3000 a day and need an additional 1500-2000 a day to add 1-2lbs per week. I don't like to bulk faster than that. You may need more, but I tend to have a very fast metabolism myself. If I drop even 500 calories a day, I will lose 2-3 lbs in a week easy.

Also, I would look to add in HIIT. This will aid in muscle growth, overall fitness and endurance, and still keep you in a growing state.

Good luck.
 
By fair amount of running, its about an hours worth at training with slightly faster then normal pace walking and running to get the dogs up and going , you work up a real sweat. The dog walks aren't your normal walk either, again its a bit faster then normal pace with a little bit of running thrown in. I really don't think I will want to do any other cardio or HIIT, get a good a good enough cardio sessions as it is. Just the daily walks gets the heart rate up and going, the pace feels similar to what I did on the treadmill when I was losing weight.

Yeh thats why I thought PHAT would be ok, because of those strength days, but I've decided I'm going to do 5/3/1 for a while, it looks like it will be fun and I'm guessing I can swap my assistance exercises around with each cycle or two. Calories wise I'm going to start around 2700-2800 and see how my weight progresses and adjust accordingly. I'll start up a log after I hit the gym on sunday night, keep myself motivated.

thanks again :)
 
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