how much fat do you guys gain while bulking?

R

realworksuks

2
I got my body fat tested today and I had gained a pound of fat in the last two weeks. I guess I attribute quite a bit of that to all of the thanksgiving meals I had, and the overall excess calories.

But I think one pound every two weeks is too damn much...

How much fat do you guys gain while bulking typically? What is a common amount to expect if you are trying to minimize fat gains?
 
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Most people say a 1lb a week of weight is good, but i dont know how much of that 1lb would be fat.

Im disappointed with myself as i havnt been checking bf%, cals....nothing! And im currently trying to bulk. I could moan about myself all day but think ill stop there.
 
It's just a one off reading, BF measurements can be a little off anyway. If you keep getting it tested and the percentage keeps rising over 3 or 4 readings then that's a sure sign you're gaining fat
 
I don't know man, if you really did gain 1 pound of fat in 2 weeks, that seems damn good to me! That means if you bulk for 12 weeks at this same pace, you will only gain 6 pounds of fat. A cut after that will have that fat gone pretty fast. I don't have numbers on my fat gains since I started bulking, but it isn't too much. I am a small bit chunkier, but really, my stomach doesn't look a whole lot bigger, and I'm up to 197 pounds now...
 
MarkMyWords said:
I don't know man, if you really did gain 1 pound of fat in 2 weeks, that seems damn good to me! That means if you bulk for 12 weeks at this same pace, you will only gain 6 pounds of fat. A cut after that will have that fat gone pretty fast. I don't have numbers on my fat gains since I started bulking, but it isn't too much. I am a small bit chunkier, but really, my stomach doesn't look a whole lot bigger, and I'm up to 197 pounds now...
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I guess I hear what your saying man... hmm yeah that makes sense, at least I was feeding my body the maximum calories it can use to build muscle, plus more.

I suck at cutting though, the last time I did it it took me 80 days to lose 2.5 pounds of pure fat. So it sucks to gain a pound of it back in 2 weeks ya know?
 
1 pound of fat a week is NOT a standard thing if you are trying to bulk up muscularly. Essentially it means that you are over-ingesting 3500 calories a week, and your body is having to convert those calories to adipose tissue. This is either occurring because you are eating 3500 calories too much, or, what I've seen more often when people I train are trying to bulk up, you are taking protein supplements in excess of what your body can find use for. Either way, it's probably too many calories.

Out of curiosity, how are you testing your body fat? And also, what is your muscle to fat ratio of increase each week?
 
Here is a good link to follow which I have gotten from another thread cant remember who is was but this seemed to explain a lot to many people about bulking. It basically says that you can gain a maximum of .5 lb of muscle per week, so most weight after that would either be gly. storage and/or fat.

read up, im sure it will help.

TESTOSTERONE NATION
 
illiniphase4 said:
1 pound of fat a week is NOT a standard thing if you are trying to bulk up muscularly. Essentially it means that you are over-ingesting 3500 calories a week, and your body is having to convert those calories to adipose tissue. This is either occurring because you are eating 3500 calories too much, or, what I've seen more often when people I train are trying to bulk up, you are taking protein supplements in excess of what your body can find use for. Either way, it's probably too many calories.

Out of curiosity, how are you testing your body fat? And also, what is your muscle to fat ratio of increase each week?
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He said a pound of fat in 2 weeks, so 3500 cals over that time, 250 extra per day. I wouldn't say that's too much, and really, I don't feel comfortable dancing on a fine line when bulking.

Then again, he just said it is hard for him to lose fat, for whatever reason. If thats the case, you might want to really get down and dirty with your diet numbers, reducing them just to the point where you have a surplus, but not enough of one to put on much fat.

For me, cutting is a pain, but it works effectively. I lost 35 pounds of pure fat in the course of 5 months, so I figure I can lose 6-10 that I gain on a bulk very quickly, especially with added muscle. That's why I just make sure I am in a healthy surplus, and accept the bits of fat. That's just my opinion and my way of doing it.
 
Man, I wish I could lose that kind of fat... 35 pounds in 5 months.. that's 1.635 pounds per week... that's fricking awesome.

I only have 14.5 pounds of fat on me, if I could lose it that quickly I would only have to cut for like a month.

I am going to lower my calorie intake to 120% of my maintance and try not to go over that amount.

I can't really even estimate how many calories I was having at thanksgiving.. even though it was pretty much all clean food (stayed away from all the desserts, pop, stuffing... worst I had was mashed potatoes and gravy.) It had to be 3000-4000 calories for about three days during thanksgiving... we had it twice, once with my immediate family and then once with other relatives, on two different days.

I'll give this a go and get my BF tested again in another two weeks and i'll see what happens. My main goal is still to gain the muscle, so I won't let this slow me down.
 
you haven`t said how much muscle you have gained,which makes a big difference,on a bulk you are going to gain fat FACT but if you are gaining a similar or more muscle (hopefully) then dont sweat it,1lb every 2wks IMO is not a big deal.
 
buzz said:
you haven`t said how much muscle you have gained,which makes a big difference,on a bulk you are going to gain fat FACT but if you are gaining a similar or more muscle (hopefully) then dont sweat it,1lb every 2wks IMO is not a big deal.
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Well I really can't tell how much is muscle but I gained six pounds in the past two weeks. I am guessing most of that is from starting creatine two weeks ago, then a bit of muscle and then 1 pound of fat.
 
I've gained about 7-8 lbs. I would say that no more than 3 is muscle, 4-5lbs is fat. Though I have gotten stronger, and feel like i've made some muscle gains, my pants have gotten a bit tighter. When i gained 6lbs in a month of bulking, which was around 1-1.5lbs a week, probably 2/3rds or more was fat. I am going to go on a cut until after Winter Formal ( Dec 8th ), so i can lose some fat without losing muscle, then will go on another bulk but this time will try and only eat in a slight surplus where I gain .5lb a week. Funny how people advised me to "up my calories" when i was already gaining 1-1.5lbs a week, i guess they dont know realistically you wont gain more than .5lb of muscle a week.
 
Phate89 said:
I've gained about 7-8 lbs. I would say that no more than 3 is muscle, 4-5lbs is fat. Though I have gotten stronger, and feel like i've made some muscle gains, my pants have gotten a bit tighter. When i gained 6lbs in a month of bulking, which was around 1-1.5lbs a week, probably 2/3rds or more was fat. I am going to go on a cut until after Winter Formal ( Dec 8th ), so i can lose some fat without losing muscle, then will go on another bulk but this time will try and only eat in a slight surplus where I gain .5lb a week. Funny how people advised me to "up my calories" when i was already gaining 1-1.5lbs a week, i guess they dont know realistically you wont gain more than .5lb of muscle a week.
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You can't really tell how much muscle vs fat you have gained unless you get a body fat test though. A lot of this is in the mind.. it could be playing tricks on you.
 
The key to bulking is to eat the same foods you would while cutting, only in excess.

This will help ensure you are putting on clean dry muscle given your macro timing, consumption, and training are in place.
 
The point of bulking season is to put on those pounds!

Bulking season is about putting on those pounds! The more protein, the more carbs, and the more fat you're intaking means more musce. Gaining fat should not come as a surprise. As far as numbers go, a pound of fat on your first week of bulking shouldn't be a big deal as long as that weight increase starts to reduce after a few weeks. Remember that to build muscle you need a lot of excess calories. And also try to think positive, by giving up definition you gain strengh and volume. Nothing boosts a guys confidence like watching his strength spike up the roof. And especeally since it's winter time and our bodies put on pounds easier because of the seasonal change. And on a side note remember that certain fats are reaponsible for you testosorone levels in your body. Just pack them pounds, build that mass, and come toning season you will be surprise by how much better you'll look by making all that muscle during your bulk. Most importantly, enjoy yourself since this is that one time of year when you don't have to worry that much about what you eat!
 
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