How Much Fat to Add

I'm sure this has been covered so point me to the right places if so.

I want to bulk and understand that you need about 500 cal above maintenance calories (which should be around 4500 cal for me given lifting, sports, etc.). So I've started to do this, using mostly extra protein and NLarge type drinks. I'm adding weight but also notice some fat jumping onto my stomach. I'm only around 8%BF so I really notice when the abdominal fat increases. And it's noticeable from day to day.

I've been here before. Every time I start to add some size, I get scared by the amount of fat that goes on and try to do some lean muscle diet, without much success.

I read that you can target 10% of your body weight as a bulking goal which for me would be around 23lbs. So far I've added around 3lbs. Can I really put on another 20lbs without looking like the Michelin man?

It depends, as people have different propensitites to store fat. It also has to do with your actual diet, choice of foods, cardio being done, etc.

~SC~

I think the problem is in the "nlarge type drinks", consume cleaner carbs instead

diet is pretty clean -- maybe not competition clean but consistent over time.

Roughly, breakfast is a protein shake plus oatmeal. Morning snack of fruit or protein shake. Lunch would be chicken breast, plus vegetables, no dressing. Post-workout protein shake. Another fruit snack. Dinner would be lean meat (chicken, fish, etc.) plus complex carbs plus veg. When bulking, I add another protein shake before dinner.

Cardio is usually hockey around 4x per week for an hour. HR would be between 130-160 bpm. Calories burned around 700 per hour, so 2800 calories per week.

I'm at 220lbs, 8% BF.

So, what's a reasonable pace to gain and is 10% of body weight reasonable?

Thanks

So where is the nlarge?

And 10% is a lot, but doable, unless you weigh like 320 pounds ripped :wg:

bump protein upp and lower carbs while keeping kcal the same and se if that makes you gain less fatt. Add alot of seeds to every carb rich meal(except pwo).

are you getting any efa's in that diet?

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Originally Posted by woodiechopper

diet is pretty clean -- maybe not competition clean but consistent over time.

Roughly, breakfast is a protein shake plus oatmeal. Morning snack of fruit or protein shake. Lunch would be chicken breast, plus vegetables, no dressing. Post-workout protein shake. Another fruit snack. Dinner would be lean meat (chicken, fish, etc.) plus complex carbs plus veg. When bulking, I add another protein shake before dinner.

Cardio is usually hockey around 4x per week for an hour. HR would be between 130-160 bpm. Calories burned around 700 per hour, so 2800 calories per week.

I'm at 220lbs, 8% BF.

So, what's a reasonable pace to gain and is 10% of body weight reasonable?

Thanks

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nice start....but some work needs to be done....read how to bulk sticky
and mike xxl's how to bulk sticky...and then formulate a diet around these guidlines.....

hey guys, I've read the stickies, etc (been on the board about 3 years). I'm not a hard core bodybuilder: through hard work and some help, I added around 40lbs of muscle to my 6'3" frame over the past 4 years. I'm now at 220-225lbs, 8% BF and am looking to gain 10-15 more lbs of muscle. My question is whether I should just bulk without worrying about the fat I add (yes, I'll eat a good diet) or whether adding fat is a sign that I'm eating too many calories. Since I started bulking, I would say I added 5lbs and probably about 1-2 lbs of that were fat (some may also be water).

I'm not going to eat a perfect diet. 5 days out of the week I eat right, but I travel and, yes, I do eat white bread and oatmeal cookies when I travel. I take EFAs and CLAs and creatine, glutamine, and some other stuff as well.

So, bottom line -- with a good but not perfect diet, if I am bulking, how much fat can I put on before I should worry? That's my question.

Johan -- when you say add a lot of seeds, what do you mean?

flax seeds, psyllium seeds and so on. The fiber in them lower gi, lower cholesterol, aids in creating a good bacterial fauna in the digestive track(good for digestion), helps alot when bulking to keep everything working.