lean bulking or not

[chefbo]

guys I am looking into my nex tbulking phase . now I have gained some great quality muscle , still need to work on the wheels but need suggestion on this phase. should I go old school with tons of cals from whole milk , meats, poultry fish , carbs etc(white carbs) or keep it lean and clean and maintain the definition that I have. I know this is only a question I should be able to answer but just want to hear from your experience about this. in the past I have only gained around 12-15 lbs mostly water and fat which I did lose when I cut but with our age what would be the best route?

[halfApint]

Depends, I think the goal should always be to lean bulk unless you complete. Personally I care what I look like year around. Also after a "dirty bulk" I always find it more difficult to lean back out. I mean at that point my body is use to eating and all the good stuff, then I'm Ganna just say nah go fuck yourself. Well my body says hey! Fuck me!? Fuck you! ... And makes me suffer lol

[chefbo]

never thought about it , but you are right . i'm not competitive so why go all the waywith just a dirty bulk and have to work twice as hard to get it back. decision made. clean all the way keeping what i have and building on it. thanks halfapint. way to open my eyes about it. you know everything on most sites and magazines are catered toward the 20-30 something crowd and not to us who have to work really hard to gain and even harder to keep it.

[kubes]

What is your current bf%? I like a lean bulk so the cut after is a lot easier

[milleniumgirl]

Sorry to disappoint you but there is no such thing as lean bulking. Either you bulk and put on some unwanted weight in the process of you cut and shed some lbs after the bulking cycle.

[Mz1220]

I'm with half pint on this. Plus the older I get it seems the harder it is to loss the fat. Another problem I run into Is when I gain weight like that my blood pressure sky rockets with it. I never feel good carrying all the extra weight around. If I was in my 20's or early30's it wouldn't bother me as much. That's just me. I like to stay pretty lean.

[halfApint]

Sorry to disappoint you but there is no such thing as lean bulking. Either you bulk and put on some unwanted weight in the process of you cut and shed some lbs after the bulking cycle.

There's no way to be lean, adjust your diet, and instead of gaining 25lbs over 3 montbs with a double chi and getting to 20% BF to increase your carbs and healthy fats along with your macros to gain a clean quality muscle and "some" fat while still maintaining a lean physique? I whole heartly disagree....

[chefbo]

around 8% at the moment

[chefbo]

well let me rephrase it then and say clean ! what I am saying is now after talking with halfpint, i'm not gonna be chugging down tons of fat calories just to get size on.. what I had planned at the start was to do more calories to put on as much size as I can and then I realized I don't need it . I'm not competing , I have no one to impress but myself , so as long as I make gains that satisfy myself it is all good.i don 't want to get into a super debate on this I was just looking for experience with this type of thing from people my own age, to see what has worked for them. Men especially at my age tend to hold onto fat in certain areas more than 20-30 something males. we don't have the level for cardio as our younger counterparts do and it is rightfully so. Just poking around asking advice, thanks for clearing me up on that.

[kubes]

well let me rephrase it then and say clean ! what I am saying is now after talking with halfpint, i'm not gonna be chugging down tons of fat calories just to get size on.. what I had planned at the start was to do more calories to put on as much size as I can and then I realized I don't need it . I'm not competing , I have no one to impress but myself , so as long as I make gains that satisfy myself it is all good.i don 't want to get into a super debate on this I was just looking for experience with this type of thing from people my own age, to see what has worked for them. Men especially at my age tend to hold onto fat in certain areas more than 20-30 something males. we don't have the level for cardio as our younger counterparts do and it is rightfully so. Just poking around asking advice, thanks for clearing me up on that.

As long as your calorie intake isn't to high you shouldn't put on that much extra fat. Look at it as growing into your food intake. Make slow calorie adjustments of 500 calories ed and as long as you are still gaining then leave it alone. When you slow down then bump up the calories another 500

[halfApint]

well let me rephrase it then and say clean ! what I am saying is now after talking with halfpint, i'm not gonna be chugging down tons of fat calories just to get size on.. what I had planned at the start was to do more calories to put on as much size as I can and then I realized I don't need it . I'm not competing , I have no one to impress but myself , so as long as I make gains that satisfy myself it is all good.i don 't want to get into a super debate on this I was just looking for experience with this type of thing from people my own age, to see what has worked for them. Men especially at my age tend to hold onto fat in certain areas more than 20-30 something males. we don't have the level for cardio as our younger counterparts do and it is rightfully so. Just poking around asking advice, thanks for clearing me up on that.

I am sorry bro I did not specify, I am not in my 40's I am only 27 years old but with that said it just reinforced my point 10 fold. It IS harder for you to cut down, it IS easier for you to hold more fat in your abdomen - damn, everyone knows as we get older everything just gets more difficult. If you are in your 40's and are @ 8%bf clearly you must 1) know what you are doing and 2) look very good ... with that being said, why ruin that and look like a pudgy jersey shore dude who only cares about if he's bigger than the guy next to him lol. I garentee you if you blow up like a balloon you really wont give a shit what the scale says, because no one else will either - right? I did a "lean bulk" I didn't watch my cals as much as I watched my carb intake - this may differ from person to person because I am not a HUGE eater per say. I started at around 6% BF and gained 12lbs over the course of 10-12 weeks. Now that may not seem like a lot, but I am only 5'7 on my best days and have more of a runners build, so it is a lot for me, especially all said in done my abs were still visible. IF I DO A CYCLE, its 1 per year, basic stuff. So most of my "cutting" and "bulking" has always been done naturally to be honest.

My suggestion. Start at 8%, you know what you are doing so increase whatever you need to increase to grow, get to around 10/11/12/13/14% and maintain there for a while - while still looking good!

+12lbs after a "lean bulk" - Started at 6% shredded and
ended up there, whats that, around 10%? Is it worth losing
what I worked so hard for to be a little bigger? I was as strong
as an OX and still looked pretty good.
http://i62.tinypic.com/6sgvt1.jpg


As long as your calorie intake isn't to high you shouldn't put on that much extra fat. Look at it as growing into your food intake. Make slow calorie adjustments of 500 calories ed and as long as you are still gaining then leave it alone. When you slow down then bump up the calories another 500

Agree, make sure you track your carbs too. Too much fuel with no where to go = lets store for the after party! lol

[Anabolic Plus]

As long as your calorie intake isn't to high you shouldn't put on that much extra fat. Look at it as growing into your food intake. Make slow calorie adjustments of 500 calories ed and as long as you are still gaining then leave it alone. When you slow down then bump up the calories another 500

For the over 40s i would think this is the way to go. that way if your gaining too much fat its easy to pull the cals back a little.