How much weight to gain per week for natty lean bulking?

[AllKindsOGains]

I have always increased calories by 1-200 every time I hit a stick point in gaining 1 lb a week. What are your guys' opinions?

Calories are currently at 4100 a day and I increase that if I go 2 weeks without gaining a pound. I agree that a pound a week is a bit much if I want that to be solid weight, but it's worked for me thus far. I am at 164 right now. I'll shoot for 1/2 pound a week from now on?

[zempey]

I doubt you will see 1lb per week lean mass natty unless everything is dialed in dead nuts and you have superior genetics. Maybe 1-2lbs a month is a more realistic goal.

[AllKindsOGains]

Maybe 1/2 lb a week then

[Times Roman]

my diet is pretty spot on at TDEE + 500 cals/day over
my lifting protocol is fairly intense with a 3+1 work/rest protocol

and I'm lucky to be gaining 2lbs/mo lbm

sounds like shit. but if it's a STEADY growth rate, that means about 25lbs over a year.

now, for me, there's an upward limit how much I will allow this to go. but with you, in a couple of years, it could be impressive.

Cheers!
---Roman

[musclestack]

Agree with Zempey. Unless you are a newbie to lifting, I wouldn't expect more than 1.5 pounds of lbm per month, assuming you have average genetics. Also understand that LBM gain is not linear. You may have a month where you gain 1.5 pounds, and another where you gain .5 pounds. It only gets harder to consistently gain that amount month to month the bigger you get. If you go a few weeks without any change, adjust your diet/training until gains start to come around again.

[bw2506]

Fwiw and for me, my weight is anything but steady on a week to week basis...when i went from maintenance to bulking (500 calories over) tgere were two weeks i stayed about th same weight and then boom thenext week my weight went up... Im the type who can eat prob 10-12k calories a day if i allowed myself and would be a fat blob in a month...from ur avi u appear pretty lean...i started off at like 275 and got down to 216 at 8.1 percent bf and tgen down to 209...so tge thought of bulking scared me bc i was afraid of getting fat but knew my lower body had to grow..what im getting at is that if ur worried about losing the abs, dont be..ur gonna have to eat and eat alot to make urself grow

[Buster Brown]

You body grows in spurts and you may have been experiencing a solid growth spurt given your age, diet and training. Upping your calories after steady growth without any added growth is a sign of plateauing. Accept it..... For now anyway and keep your calories up so that you can keep what you have. When will your body grow again? One thing is for certain..... If you don't allow for any down and you go balls to the wall year round then your growth WILL suffer. Growth does not happen in a linear pattern. If that was the case we would all be 300 lb beasts. Change your routine up every 8 weeks or so to avoid adaptation....that wil definitely help you.

[Khazima]

Great advice above.

I'll be lean bulking with a 250-300 surplus, roughly 2lb a month, with my stage of lifting hoping for about half to be muscle. As buster said there are growth spurts so I imagine some months it'll be more muscle than fat and others more fat than muscle.

[AllKindsOGains]

You body grows in spurts and you may have been experiencing a solid growth spurt given your age, diet and training. Upping your calories after steady growth without any added growth is a sign of plateauing. Accept it..... For now anyway and keep your calories up so that you can keep what you have. When will your body grow again? One thing is for certain..... If you don't allow for any down and you go balls to the wall year round then your growth WILL suffer. Growth does not happen in a linear pattern. If that was the case we would all be 300 lb beasts. Change your routine up every 8 weeks or so to avoid adaptation....that wil definitely help you.

What aspects of my training should I change?

[Buster Brown]

What aspects of my training should I change?

You grow out of the gym, not in the gym so the first thing to analyze in terms of your training is frequency. Are you training for pure strength and size or a certain look? Without knowing your exact training routine its hard to criticize. If your current routine isnt working for you in terms of gaining then it's time to change up for 8 weeks..... Then change it again. If your game write up your current routine.

[AllKindsOGains]

You grow out of the gym, not in the gym so the first thing to analyze in terms of your training is frequency. Are you training for pure strength and size or a certain look? Without knowing your exact training routine its hard to criticize. If your current routine isnt working for you in terms of gaining then it's time to change up for 8 weeks..... Then change it again. If your game write up your current routine.

I count out 4,100 calories in a little notebook using a calculator and food scale every day. I have gotten there by slowly increasing calories when I stall gaining weight. I eat every 2-4 hours, and get at least a gram of protein per pound of body weight, with at least 50 grams of fat. The rest is spillover from either of those macros but mostly carbs. Every time I add calories it is in carbs.

Training: My split is Back, bis, abs; Legs, calves, shoulders; Chest, tris,; repeat.
4-5 exercises per muscle group, always 3 sets or more (I do not count my sets, I do as many as I want)
I go as close to complete positive failure as I can every set excluding 1 warmup (I do not count reps, I go until I can't move the weight any more)
The last set of every exercise is a drop set or a rest pause (go to failure, rest 15 seconds, go again with the same weight)
The mantra I follow is: Go until I can't go anymore, don't pause for more than a second. Keep the tension on the muscle, so if I do pause pause at the contracted point of the movement. Come as close to complete positive failure as is possible. Give it everything.

[Buster Brown]

I would increase my protein to 1.5 grams per pound of lbm........ I don't care how much this is debated by guys half my age as I have tried what some are preaching with less protein and found that I did NOT grow as well as I do with more protein.
I think you are over training to be honest. It sounds like you are giving it 100% but there gets to be a point of diminished return which is where you are at. Try a 4 day split hitting everything once a week giving chest and shoulders some test....ex: chest on Monday and shoulders on Thursday while hitting tris twice a week. I like:
Day1) abs, chest, triceps, forearms
Day2) abs, back, bi's, traps, lower back
Day3) off or cardio
Day4)abs, shoulders , triceps, traps
Day5)abs, quads, hams, calves
Day6 and 7) rest or cardio on Sunday

[AllKindsOGains]

I would increase my protein to 1.5 grams per pound of lbm........ I don't care how much this is debated by guys half my age as I have tried what some are preaching with less protein and found that I did NOT grow as well as I do with more protein.
I think you are over training to be honest. It sounds like you are giving it 100% but there gets to be a point of diminished return which is where you are at. Try a 4 day split hitting everything once a week giving chest and shoulders some test....ex: chest on Monday and shoulders on Thursday while hitting tris twice a week. I like:
Day1) abs, chest, triceps, forearms
Day2) abs, back, bi's, traps, lower back
Day3) off or cardio
Day4)abs, shoulders , triceps, traps
Day5)abs, quads, hams, calves
Day6 and 7) rest or cardio on Sunday

Hey I appreciate the help man, but to be honest I never said that I wasn't still gaining. But this is definitely something I can consider incorporating into my training.Also on the protein that's just what I make sure I never go UNDER. I am already at 300+ grams of protein a day. You do abs a lot man. I go to failure with my ab training also, so if I did abs as often as you I wouldn't be able to stand up straight. Sides that, I appreciate your help man! Good work!

[Buster Brown]

Hey I appreciate the help man, but to be honest I never said that I wasn't still gaining. But this is definitely something I can consider incorporating into my training.Also on the protein that's just what I make sure I never go UNDER. I am already at 300+ grams of protein a day. You do abs a lot man. I go to failure with my ab training also, so if I did abs as often as you I wouldn't be able to stand up straight. Sides that, I appreciate your help man! Good work!

Food for thought once your gains start to slow down.

[shaunjohn242002]

That's a sh%t load of calories at 160 man. That scales gonna move up

[AllKindsOGains]

That's a sh%t load of calories at 160 man. That scales gonna move up

Yessir! I need to start spreading my meals around lol. I always have lighter meals earlier in the day then jam all the rest of my cals into two huge meals before bed because of work and everything. It's some bullshit! Get so full that my stomach stretches.

[Kazumz]

Wow. Half a pound a month? I would be lucky to get 0.2 Pounds a month even when I had everything nailed for about 6 months. I have work, studies and family commitments so that shit was hard. Now I'm a little more lax about it but I never eat shit and always make sure I get my meals on time. I just don't get worked up really badly if I've missed something. The only difference I noticed were the fat gains so I bulked to 15, cut to 14, got to 14.2 and now I'm gonna keep that weight around 14.5 while cutting and getting a better shape.

Mad jelly if your gaining 0.5 pounds a month lean.

[AllKindsOGains]

Wow. Half a pound a month? I would be lucky to get 0.2 Pounds a month even when I had everything nailed for about 6 months. I have work, studies and family commitments so that shit was hard. Now I'm a little more lax about it but I never eat shit and always make sure I get my meals on time. I just don't get worked up really badly if I've missed something. The only difference I noticed were the fat gains so I bulked to 15, cut to 14, got to 14.2 and now I'm gonna keep that weight around 14.5 while cutting and getting a better shape.

Mad jelly if your gaining 0.5 pounds a month lean.

If in 4 weeks you're only gaining .2 lbs, and bulking, you are doing something wrong.

[jesse4466]

I've gained almost 30 pounds of muscle since June. Obviously carrying extra bf as well but that's a goal for later to focus on lowering a bit.. (cardio has been key to healthy bulking as I can still see abs as stomach grows).. Never thought it was possible but then again I never ate correctly until now..

[JTR12]

So many variables. You might consider paying less attention to the scale and more to how you look/feel. I know when I'm overeating/not matching volume to diet I feel more sluggish.