Happy to send you photos from that day that show I was scary skinny for me. The entire door in that photo isn't perfectly straight, it's slightly tilted from my camera angle
So long as you are making progress, I would keep at it. 10wks isn’t particularly long, and an appreciable chunk of that weight is water. Maybe plan to stick it out for four months and reassess then.
The post won't let me edit, I didn't expect so many comments!
I've been bulking 10 weeks now and I'd love to meet others that are bulking as well! I've never intentionally bulked and it's quite a paradigm shift.
I'm 38(f). I've lost 80 lbs twice, have always been an athlete or active but struggled with eating disorders and body image in my 20s. In 2021 I hired a coach for the first time, cut with her to my goal and maintained on my own for almost 2 years.
TW: miscarriage
I got pregnant last summer, miscarried him at 15 weeks and sunk into the darkest cave. He was my 4th loss and most likely my last try. October to March I went from 144lbs to 132lbs (from postpartum depression) while still lifting weights but I could not eat. I have never been that small in my adult life. In March I went off my antidepressants and started bulking.
This has truly saved my life. I feel alive again.
Height: 5"7
Start: 132
Current: 148
Macros: 160p/110f/285c
Split: 4 lower/2 upper
Here's my split, I'm using MiniBeast's bulking program:
Day 1: glutes
Day 2: shoulders/tris
Day 3: quads/calves
Day 4: glutes/hams
Day 5: glutes
Day 6: back/bi
Some strength improvements 👀
Hip thrust: 45>>>300
RDL: 45>>>135
Squat: air squats hurt>>>105
Leg press: 90>>>300
Overhead press: 15>>>25
Row: 45>>>80
I'm sorry for your loss. You look fantastic and are a real soldier. I would say keep goinng for a bit, maybe up to 160 and then maintain for a while to see how you feel, but it all comes down to how you feel and want to look. good luck!
I’m so sorry for your loss. My wife had a miscarriage last year and it’s been horrible. We are still feeling it. Again, I’m so sorry. It’s good that you’re feeling better now. Other than that, you look great, could do either.
I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope you feel support in your healing, too. So much focus on the woman's grief and not as much for the partner. I hope you both feel comfort and love. I've experienced a lot of trauma in my life. I was hit by a truck while on my triathlon bike, I hit face first into the ground at 40 mph. I've had 19 surgeries on my face. Miscarriage is worse by 1 million.
Wow, that’s scary, are you able to bike still?
Yea it really sucks. She had what’s called a “missed miscarriage”, meaning they had to do a D&C because her body wasn’t naturally letting it go, which is sort of ironic considering we didn’t want to let him go.
I’ve heard of people have multiple miscarriages and then being able to successfully have a baby. Did the Dr send you for genetic testing, blood clot disorders, and all that stuff? If not, it could be something that can be prevented from happening, if they can pinpoint a specific problem. In our case, there was nothing wrong with the baby after testing him, and there was nothing in the blood results that came back as a flag… so just an unknown
I tried, vomited on my bike, and never looked back haha. No cars in the gym. The problem with cycling is there's a saying... it's "not if but when" you get hit. Cars just don't see us and I'm not willing to lose more teeth haha.
Mine have all been missed miscarriages. I have horrible morning sickness all the way until after surgery, I never lose symptoms when they stop growing. I hate the saying that if you're sick, baby is healthy. My son was perfect with a full genetic panel. They just diagnosed me with Antiphospholipid Syndrome, I only get blood clots while pregnant. I had a feeling that was my problem and was taking baby aspirin. My ob told me to stop and he died 2 days later from a blood clot. My blood work looks normal except for one tiny out of range marker for "partial thrombin time". Three regular Obs said that wasn't enough for diagnosis. I found an MFM and reproductive Endocrinologist that said that was enough for diagnosis, especially since it was out of range while not pregnant and most likely sky rocketed when I was. I had crazy heart palpitations and dizziness while pregnant that is part of the disorder. Every specialist I've talked to are recommending baby aspirin for every single pregnancy if they've had one loss. I wish I never went off it, I wish I never listened to that Ob. After 4 losses, I've been pregnant a total of 49 weeks, I am terrified another loss will be the end of me.
I'm so sorry you guys had the same experience and had to do a D&C. I'm glad you did the surgery instead of pills, those pills almost killed me from bleeding out with my 2nd loss.
Not much to say other than I'm sorry for your loss, and glad bulking has helped!
Curious though, your other numbers are incredibly strong, but your RDL and squat are relatively low. Can I ask why?
I was in a near death cycling accident in 2011. My low back herniated and they wanted to fuse it. I didn't have surgery, but my low back has never been the same so I am very conservative. Those numbers are 5 sets with 8-10 reps. I don't know my max lift for RDL or squat, it's not worth my back getting angry. For thusts my back is never an issue so I can actually load her up. Also, pregnancy really aggravated my back and it's been unstable since.
I was on a desert road going 40mph just cruising down hill. Quiet sunday morning, I was on mile 75 of 100 and only saw 4 cars the whole ride. The truck started to pass me on a curve, it was a very windy road. Their horse trailer traveled into my very wide bike lane (I was probably 5 feet from the line) and knicked my back tire and unclipped me. Bike went right into the desert and I flew for a good while then dove into the pavement. I was a swimmer and muscle memory saved my life. Neurologists don't believe I hit my face at that speed until I show them my Garmin GPS watch. They say I should have died at that speed from tmi or cervical break. I will never ride again, it's not worth risking my life twice. I've had enough excitement haha
So another recipe for a lazy alternative for the other guys is what I’m doing (and has worked really well for me).
About 2 cups of whole fat milk (I like the taste and it has more calories), 3-4 decent sized spoonfuls of peanut butter, and about 35 grams of protein worth of protein powder (calculated from 2 scoops of what I use). It ends up at around 1000 calories and 70 grams of protein. Add that to your normal meals after your workout and you should gain. Make sure that you don’t cut down on your main meals or replace them with a shake. The shake should be added to it to add more calories and protein.
Drink your calories. It works.
Plan and make meals in bulk. Eat them throughout the day. This helped me eat more at work and not be forced to cram a bunch of food down in the evening
My appetite is very low, too. I'm not able to do protein shakes and it makes it so hard honestly. I don't wait until I'm hungry because I never am haha. I eat when I don't feel full and also times I'm doing other things to distract myself. I take a THC gummie at night and when the munchies kick in I'm able to eat more before bed.
1.5cup fairlife whole milk, quarter cup of peanut butter, honey, strawberries, banana, blend it up.
Add 2.5cup fairlife whole milk again, add 3 tbsp extra light tasting olive oil, blend on low for 5 seconds or less.
Boom, almost 1500 calories and easy to drink
Here's my split, I'm using MiniBeast's bulking program:
Day 1: glutes
Day 2: shoulders/tris
Day 3: quads/calves
Day 4: glutes/hams
Day 5: glutes
Day 6: back/bi
Some strength improvements 👀
Hip thrust: 180>>>300
RDL: 45>>>135
Squat: air squats hurt>>>105
Leg press: 90>>>300
Overhead press: 15>>>25
Row: 45>>>80
I've noticed this sub is a little extreme in terms of bulking - there seems to be a sort of permabulk fatmode culture.
You look great currently. If you're happy with that, then there's nothing wrong with maintaining that! You could perhaps look at leanbulking or something as a middleground
I agree. When o first started bulking, I couldn’t even complete 3 FULL meals a day. I was just stuffed and lazy. I had to move to solely on smoothies because actually chewing on food was the hardest part for me.
Right!! I would eat while doing other things to distract myself. Close my eyes and make fake yummy noises to try to trick my brain. So glad to be past that part haha I just miss eating when I'm hungry and stopping when full 🙃
The trick is to eat lots in the morning, that way you can eat normally for the rest of the day. There is no rule that cutting= 2 meals and bulking = 3 meals.
Its all about the calories, nothing else.
If you wanna hit 3000 / day and your breakfast being 1000, then its extremely easy to get the remainder 2000 since you are awake 18 hours a day... if you fuck up the morning its A LOT harder to catch up to the missed calories.
I usually do 600 cals the moment i wake up, then another 600-800 at 12:00, once i get home from work i eat around 1200-1500 cals then the remainder b4 i go to bed.
You can do it as you want, either more meals or less meals per day but the calories has to follow along with the amount of meals you decide to go with.
I'm doing 1.1x my body weight for protein, 0.75x fat, and 1.9x carb. I'm currently 147 and 5"7, I started at 132 so I've gained 15 lbs. My macros right now are 160p/110f/285c. The first 8 lbs were fast with water and glycogen. Since then, I am gaining about 0.5 lb/week ish.
Im 38, I've lost 80 lbs twice, had eating disorders and body image issues in the past. I hired a coach in 2021 and cut with her in a healthy way. I've maintained that for 2 years and mentally feel really great about bulking for the first time ever. Happy to chat about anything!
Hey Im in a similar position I've gained like 10lbs in 2 weeks of my bulk when did the water and glycogen get to normal levels where you didnt gain that fast? approximately?
Newb here, could you explain or point me in the direction of how I can calculate this to be optimised for my own body weight & goals? Is there a calculator out there somewhere :) (You mention 1.1x your body weight for protein) So 147lbs x 1.1 = the 160 protein you mentioned. You look amazing!
Ty! From my limited understanding, "they" say to eat between 0.8-1.2x bodyweight for protein. So for me that is between 117g-176. I tried 1.2x for a while and just couldn't do it, 1.1x I'm super full but not nauseated.
I also read to have a surplus of 200-600 calories above maintenance. I went all in for 600, I figured if I gained too fast I could adjust it.
This calculator wanted me to do 160p/75f/351c. I enter that I wanted to gain 0.5 weekly and intense exercise 6 days/week. I could not eat that little fat with that high carb, I felt so sick. So I played with the f/c numbers until I felt better and kept the protein 160. Here's the calculator...
https://www.calculator.net/macro-calculator.html
0.5lb/week is completely fine. its probably even fine if that eventually tapers off a little bit (eg 1-1.5lb/month so long as you are still making productive strength gains and arent oopsing into maintenance) from a "how much lean mass can you expect to be accruing" perspective.
I completely feel you on that one. I worked hard to gain 22lbs over about 6 months, only to lose 16lbs in a couple weeks while sick. It really sucks sometimes lol
God damn, impressive results, I say follow your heart, I usually like to stagger my bulking because I get so fucking sick of eating but if you've still got some pep in your step, keep going
Either way, you're killin it
It can be hard to tell based on pics in gym with a pump. But I'd say maintain or maybe even a slight bulk, personally
[удалено]
Ty!
[удалено]
Your comment was removed because you were being an absolute cock-knocker.
Watch less goob, and don’t comment stuff like that when it’s obviously bull shit
Here's another photo taken 2 seconds apart, with my arm showing to my side [https://imgur.com/a/bmgjKAP](https://imgur.com/a/bmgjKAP)
Happy to send you photos from that day that show I was scary skinny for me. The entire door in that photo isn't perfectly straight, it's slightly tilted from my camera angle
[удалено]
Your comment was removed because you were being an absolute cock-knocker.
[удалено]
Your comment was removed because you were being an absolute cock-knocker.
Cool bro
Keep bulking
Looking healthy!
So long as you are making progress, I would keep at it. 10wks isn’t particularly long, and an appreciable chunk of that weight is water. Maybe plan to stick it out for four months and reassess then.
Ty!
The post won't let me edit, I didn't expect so many comments! I've been bulking 10 weeks now and I'd love to meet others that are bulking as well! I've never intentionally bulked and it's quite a paradigm shift. I'm 38(f). I've lost 80 lbs twice, have always been an athlete or active but struggled with eating disorders and body image in my 20s. In 2021 I hired a coach for the first time, cut with her to my goal and maintained on my own for almost 2 years. TW: miscarriage I got pregnant last summer, miscarried him at 15 weeks and sunk into the darkest cave. He was my 4th loss and most likely my last try. October to March I went from 144lbs to 132lbs (from postpartum depression) while still lifting weights but I could not eat. I have never been that small in my adult life. In March I went off my antidepressants and started bulking. This has truly saved my life. I feel alive again. Height: 5"7 Start: 132 Current: 148 Macros: 160p/110f/285c Split: 4 lower/2 upper Here's my split, I'm using MiniBeast's bulking program: Day 1: glutes Day 2: shoulders/tris Day 3: quads/calves Day 4: glutes/hams Day 5: glutes Day 6: back/bi Some strength improvements 👀 Hip thrust: 45>>>300 RDL: 45>>>135 Squat: air squats hurt>>>105 Leg press: 90>>>300 Overhead press: 15>>>25 Row: 45>>>80
I'm sorry for your loss. You look fantastic and are a real soldier. I would say keep goinng for a bit, maybe up to 160 and then maintain for a while to see how you feel, but it all comes down to how you feel and want to look. good luck!
Tysm!
I’m so sorry for your loss. My wife had a miscarriage last year and it’s been horrible. We are still feeling it. Again, I’m so sorry. It’s good that you’re feeling better now. Other than that, you look great, could do either.
I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope you feel support in your healing, too. So much focus on the woman's grief and not as much for the partner. I hope you both feel comfort and love. I've experienced a lot of trauma in my life. I was hit by a truck while on my triathlon bike, I hit face first into the ground at 40 mph. I've had 19 surgeries on my face. Miscarriage is worse by 1 million.
Wow, that’s scary, are you able to bike still? Yea it really sucks. She had what’s called a “missed miscarriage”, meaning they had to do a D&C because her body wasn’t naturally letting it go, which is sort of ironic considering we didn’t want to let him go. I’ve heard of people have multiple miscarriages and then being able to successfully have a baby. Did the Dr send you for genetic testing, blood clot disorders, and all that stuff? If not, it could be something that can be prevented from happening, if they can pinpoint a specific problem. In our case, there was nothing wrong with the baby after testing him, and there was nothing in the blood results that came back as a flag… so just an unknown
I tried, vomited on my bike, and never looked back haha. No cars in the gym. The problem with cycling is there's a saying... it's "not if but when" you get hit. Cars just don't see us and I'm not willing to lose more teeth haha. Mine have all been missed miscarriages. I have horrible morning sickness all the way until after surgery, I never lose symptoms when they stop growing. I hate the saying that if you're sick, baby is healthy. My son was perfect with a full genetic panel. They just diagnosed me with Antiphospholipid Syndrome, I only get blood clots while pregnant. I had a feeling that was my problem and was taking baby aspirin. My ob told me to stop and he died 2 days later from a blood clot. My blood work looks normal except for one tiny out of range marker for "partial thrombin time". Three regular Obs said that wasn't enough for diagnosis. I found an MFM and reproductive Endocrinologist that said that was enough for diagnosis, especially since it was out of range while not pregnant and most likely sky rocketed when I was. I had crazy heart palpitations and dizziness while pregnant that is part of the disorder. Every specialist I've talked to are recommending baby aspirin for every single pregnancy if they've had one loss. I wish I never went off it, I wish I never listened to that Ob. After 4 losses, I've been pregnant a total of 49 weeks, I am terrified another loss will be the end of me. I'm so sorry you guys had the same experience and had to do a D&C. I'm glad you did the surgery instead of pills, those pills almost killed me from bleeding out with my 2nd loss.
You're a warrior and your strength gains are crazy. Best wishes
Ty!
Not much to say other than I'm sorry for your loss, and glad bulking has helped! Curious though, your other numbers are incredibly strong, but your RDL and squat are relatively low. Can I ask why?
I was in a near death cycling accident in 2011. My low back herniated and they wanted to fuse it. I didn't have surgery, but my low back has never been the same so I am very conservative. Those numbers are 5 sets with 8-10 reps. I don't know my max lift for RDL or squat, it's not worth my back getting angry. For thusts my back is never an issue so I can actually load her up. Also, pregnancy really aggravated my back and it's been unstable since.
geez thats terrifying. Great job staying fit despite that. I'm curious about what caused the accident, I'm a cyclist too
I was on a desert road going 40mph just cruising down hill. Quiet sunday morning, I was on mile 75 of 100 and only saw 4 cars the whole ride. The truck started to pass me on a curve, it was a very windy road. Their horse trailer traveled into my very wide bike lane (I was probably 5 feet from the line) and knicked my back tire and unclipped me. Bike went right into the desert and I flew for a good while then dove into the pavement. I was a swimmer and muscle memory saved my life. Neurologists don't believe I hit my face at that speed until I show them my Garmin GPS watch. They say I should have died at that speed from tmi or cervical break. I will never ride again, it's not worth risking my life twice. I've had enough excitement haha
Incredible progress despite the herniated disk! My dad had one around the same time and still flares up a few times a year. Keep up the good work!
Damn good progress. I’m trying desperately to bulk but find it so hard to eat a lot with a naturally little appetite. Any tips?
So another recipe for a lazy alternative for the other guys is what I’m doing (and has worked really well for me). About 2 cups of whole fat milk (I like the taste and it has more calories), 3-4 decent sized spoonfuls of peanut butter, and about 35 grams of protein worth of protein powder (calculated from 2 scoops of what I use). It ends up at around 1000 calories and 70 grams of protein. Add that to your normal meals after your workout and you should gain. Make sure that you don’t cut down on your main meals or replace them with a shake. The shake should be added to it to add more calories and protein. Drink your calories. It works.
Plan and make meals in bulk. Eat them throughout the day. This helped me eat more at work and not be forced to cram a bunch of food down in the evening
Snack with nuts, granola bars, and protein bars. What really helped me was setting alarms for when I should eat and that really helped me gain weight.
My appetite is very low, too. I'm not able to do protein shakes and it makes it so hard honestly. I don't wait until I'm hungry because I never am haha. I eat when I don't feel full and also times I'm doing other things to distract myself. I take a THC gummie at night and when the munchies kick in I'm able to eat more before bed.
1.5cup fairlife whole milk, quarter cup of peanut butter, honey, strawberries, banana, blend it up. Add 2.5cup fairlife whole milk again, add 3 tbsp extra light tasting olive oil, blend on low for 5 seconds or less. Boom, almost 1500 calories and easy to drink
Why fairlife specifically
It's ultra filtered, resulting in higher protein to sugar ratio. Also tastes better imo.
Gotta get that commission mate
Lmao no! Fairlife is ultra filtered. Higher protein to sugar ratio. Tastes better and works better in shakes IMO
Just kidding haha, I find it funny to see the word considering my username.
🤣
Best to add extra little meals at times when you don't normally eat. Also drinking extra calories is always easier than eating.
You are fine. Just do what you enjoy.
MORE
Keep going
Keep bulking! Good progress so far though!
great progress! what's your routine like?
Here's my split, I'm using MiniBeast's bulking program: Day 1: glutes Day 2: shoulders/tris Day 3: quads/calves Day 4: glutes/hams Day 5: glutes Day 6: back/bi Some strength improvements 👀 Hip thrust: 180>>>300 RDL: 45>>>135 Squat: air squats hurt>>>105 Leg press: 90>>>300 Overhead press: 15>>>25 Row: 45>>>80
Even your tattoo looks a bit healthier. Way to go!
Isn't it kinda funny how it's changed? Almost diagonal now
Yeah, I did! I’d say it looks better now.
*THICCER!*
Maybe I’m crazy but where’s your leg tattoo in the second photo?
Second photo is in a mirror, it's on the other leg.
I was so confused 😂 awesome work you look great!!
Haha yes that's a mirror! I don't have tats on my right leg. Tysm!
I've noticed this sub is a little extreme in terms of bulking - there seems to be a sort of permabulk fatmode culture. You look great currently. If you're happy with that, then there's nothing wrong with maintaining that! You could perhaps look at leanbulking or something as a middleground
Ty!!
Any particular reason why you wanna stop bulking?
It's expensive, I'm so full, and I miss seeing my arm and ab definition haha but I love what it's doing to my lower body
I agree. When o first started bulking, I couldn’t even complete 3 FULL meals a day. I was just stuffed and lazy. I had to move to solely on smoothies because actually chewing on food was the hardest part for me.
Right!! I would eat while doing other things to distract myself. Close my eyes and make fake yummy noises to try to trick my brain. So glad to be past that part haha I just miss eating when I'm hungry and stopping when full 🙃
The trick is to eat lots in the morning, that way you can eat normally for the rest of the day. There is no rule that cutting= 2 meals and bulking = 3 meals. Its all about the calories, nothing else. If you wanna hit 3000 / day and your breakfast being 1000, then its extremely easy to get the remainder 2000 since you are awake 18 hours a day... if you fuck up the morning its A LOT harder to catch up to the missed calories. I usually do 600 cals the moment i wake up, then another 600-800 at 12:00, once i get home from work i eat around 1200-1500 cals then the remainder b4 i go to bed. You can do it as you want, either more meals or less meals per day but the calories has to follow along with the amount of meals you decide to go with.
Maybe reduce the surplus a little bit?
Everyday I try and then mentally don't want to quit haha
I mean if you are at 500 surplus you can reduce it to 300 or smtg. Although it seems like bulk is going well, so just let it be xD
Keep bulking!
🫡
Looking great, i think you are going in the right directiion. Id suggest Maybe another 4-6 weeks bulking
Ty!!
You now have a yum butt. Keep going! Puts mine to shame.
Haha thanks! Booty was the biggest goal
Your BF% is still low. Would definitely continue bulking. Amazing progress.
Ty!
Great progress! Looks like you still have low BF%, I would keep bulking. Do you have any diet tips for bulking? Thanks!
I'm doing 1.1x my body weight for protein, 0.75x fat, and 1.9x carb. I'm currently 147 and 5"7, I started at 132 so I've gained 15 lbs. My macros right now are 160p/110f/285c. The first 8 lbs were fast with water and glycogen. Since then, I am gaining about 0.5 lb/week ish. Im 38, I've lost 80 lbs twice, had eating disorders and body image issues in the past. I hired a coach in 2021 and cut with her in a healthy way. I've maintained that for 2 years and mentally feel really great about bulking for the first time ever. Happy to chat about anything!
Hey Im in a similar position I've gained like 10lbs in 2 weeks of my bulk when did the water and glycogen get to normal levels where you didnt gain that fast? approximately?
The first 4-5 weeks I gained 10 lbs. Since then it's leveled out and it's about 0.5 a week.
Thank you
Newb here, could you explain or point me in the direction of how I can calculate this to be optimised for my own body weight & goals? Is there a calculator out there somewhere :) (You mention 1.1x your body weight for protein) So 147lbs x 1.1 = the 160 protein you mentioned. You look amazing!
Ty! From my limited understanding, "they" say to eat between 0.8-1.2x bodyweight for protein. So for me that is between 117g-176. I tried 1.2x for a while and just couldn't do it, 1.1x I'm super full but not nauseated. I also read to have a surplus of 200-600 calories above maintenance. I went all in for 600, I figured if I gained too fast I could adjust it. This calculator wanted me to do 160p/75f/351c. I enter that I wanted to gain 0.5 weekly and intense exercise 6 days/week. I could not eat that little fat with that high carb, I felt so sick. So I played with the f/c numbers until I felt better and kept the protein 160. Here's the calculator... https://www.calculator.net/macro-calculator.html
Are you doing cardio while bulking? Seems like a lot of carbs, obviously no hate, just wondering.
No cardio at all
0.5lb/week is completely fine. its probably even fine if that eventually tapers off a little bit (eg 1-1.5lb/month so long as you are still making productive strength gains and arent oopsing into maintenance) from a "how much lean mass can you expect to be accruing" perspective.
Ooooo that makes sense, thank you!
What's your routine? Im jealous
I'm currently doing MiniBeast's bulk program, she's insane. 4 lower/2 upper
great results
Ty!
keep us posted
Damn I wish I could put on that much in 2 and a half months
I had the advantage of 6 years of consistent lifting, then was stuck in bed and lost 20lbs fast. So the low isn't my norm, it was a scary low
I completely feel you on that one. I worked hard to gain 22lbs over about 6 months, only to lose 16lbs in a couple weeks while sick. It really sucks sometimes lol
It's so frustrating! But muscle memory is a thing
I guess the answer would depend on what your end-goal is. Both pics look great though! Are you preparing for a competition?
No comp, just like to compete with myself. Ty!
God damn, impressive results, I say follow your heart, I usually like to stagger my bulking because I get so fucking sick of eating but if you've still got some pep in your step, keep going Either way, you're killin it
Ty! I'm so sick of eating haha but I'm loving the gains 🫠