Starting my bulk. How much should I bulk to and how long will it take?

[Cicero]

First off, I only want people who know what they're talking about to answer.

Alright, so I'm starting my bulk, but I need advice on what weight I should bulk to, I was thinking I'd bulk to 160 lb. then cut down to 150 lb. and just do smaller versions of bulking and cutting. Due to my disease losing weight to fast and to much can hurt me really bad. So will doing these smaller versions of bulking help me? I'm currently 150 lb.. Also, how long would it take to bulk 10 lb. when I have a disease that causes malnutrition? Also, I've seen on other sites that you must know your calorie intake in order to know how to feed yourself and how much. But I asked my doctor, and he just said I should eat 4,000 calories a day :eek: Is this due to my malnutrition? (FYI, my disease causes natural malnutrition, technically, it's the same level as the kids in Africa [the ones we see on the charity commercials] but I look pretty healthy, so yeah. I'm not skin and bones).

Also, for when that time comes for when I need to cut. What would be a good eating plan that will help me in my cut?

[Apollo.]

I'm not sure about what way to go with a disease that causes malnutrition. I usually do a 3 month bulk then a month cut. I usually take in 3500-4000 on my bulk cycle so 4000 isn't an outrageous amount really. Try and split your calorie goal into 40%protein 40%carbs and 20%fats.

As for how long it will take to bulk 10lbs that's all down to how clean a bulk you want, if you want 10lbs lean muscle that's going to take quite a while whereas if your not to fussed about additional body fat then 10lbs would probably be possible in a month or two.

I usually try and bulk to 10% more than my starting weight but that's not to much of a big deal you can change that around to suit you.

As for your eating plan it would take a lot of information to be able to make you an accurate one like bf% and what not. Best advice I can give without that is bodybuilding.com have great eating plans for both bulking and cutting. I presume you already know the basics like the 30g of protein per meal spread between small meals if your at a stage of bulking and cutting.

[Zenos]

First off, I only want people who know what they're talking about to answer.

Alright, so I'm starting my bulk, but I need advice on what weight I should bulk to, I was thinking I'd bulk to 160 lb. then cut down to 150 lb. and just do smaller versions of bulking and cutting. Due to my disease losing weight to fast and to much can hurt me really bad. So will doing these smaller versions of bulking help me? I'm currently 150 lb.. Also, how long would it take to bulk 10 lb. when I have a disease that causes malnutrition? Also, I've seen on other sites that you must know your calorie intake in order to know how to feed yourself and how much. But I asked my doctor, and he just said I should eat 4,000 calories a day :eek: Is this due to my malnutrition? (FYI, my disease causes natural malnutrition, technically, it's the same level as the kids in Africa [the ones we see on the charity commercials] but I look pretty healthy, so yeah. I'm not skin and bones).

Also, for when that time comes for when I need to cut. What would be a good eating plan that will help me in my cut?

What is you're bodyweight?

The reason i ask is despite many peoples fear of calories,you do have to know how many calories you ned to maintain you're bodyweight at the weight it is and then to gain you must add calories.

Sadly most people thionk it's all about the protien alone.

Peary Rader said that to maintain you're bodyweight you need about 3300 calories,and that if you want to gain weight you need to add 1000 caloriea a day.


The doc suggested you eat 4000 calories a day,thats about the amount a 175 pound bodybuilder back in the 1940's and 50's would have consumed if he waqnted to push his bodyweight up beyond 175,so thats about right.

See as supps where developed in the 50's and there was not that many available and before supps where invented,the bodybuidlers of the back back then whipped up their own stuff,i'll look around and see what I have written down as to their secret recipes!

heres one:

Reg Park’s home-made workout drink

Here’s the recipe:

2 Pints of diluted orange juice concentrate + honey ( make sure the honey is natural.If it's turneed to sugar on the bottom of the jar it's natural).

Just as you’d expect from Reg Park, it’s a simple and basic drink.

But if you run the numbers, you can see why it’s so effective:

The drink contains a boatload of concentrated energy. Nearly 600 calories and 142 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates.

Not to mention nearly 2,000 mg of potassium.


Steve Reeves's recipe:

1/2 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 gallon water
a little sea salt

The water keeps you hydrated, the honey provides simple sugars for quick energy (but not so much that you kill your fat loss efforts) and the lemon juice replaces the minerals and electrolytes lost when you sweat.


Now if you are a fan of Arnold...and who isn't?

This is from his Encyclopedia of a Bodybuidler

The following recipe is under a subheading called "High-Protein, High-Calorie Drinks"

Level I (there are three "levels") Recipe, Page 741:

20 oz milk or juice
4 oz cream (or 1 oz safflower oil and 3 oz water)*
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lecithin
1/2 cup good-quality milk-and-egg protein powder
Flavoring (very ripe banana, vanilla extract, other fruit flavoring, etc.)


*For those with a slower metabolism, substitute safflower oil and water for the cream. If additional calories are not a problem, try alternating cream one day with oil and water the next.