Quote:
Originally Posted by kalimus
I agree. But excess calories is what leads to new mass. And if I don't do a cutting routine at all for the next 12 months, extra bodyfat is unavoidable. If I manage to put on 40 pounds, It would be a safe bet that anywhere between 10 and 15 pounds of that will be from fat.
I also hate the process of maintaining the chiseled abs look, and I can only mentally tolerate it for so long. 12-15% BF is still very healthy for a male, and if I only gain 10-15 pounds of fat over a year, I can get rid of that in 8 weeks or so. What I don't want to do is stress putting on some fat at the cost of putting on muscle at too slow of a rate. I mean if I wanted to, I could probably shoot for 20 pounds over the next year, and only gain 4-5 pounds of fat. While that's appealing, I can live with the additonal fat.
I still only do 1 cheat meal a week when i'm trying to put on weight. But I eat other things that, while not "cheat" meals, are still things I don't eat when I'm cutting. Fattier red meat (like the 80/20), peanut butter (more often), and fattier foods in general (more dairy). I still eat the same kinds of carbs, just a lot more of them. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta... same things I eat when I'm cutting. Just in bigger amounts. But trying to hit 3500-4000 calories a day eating whole foods is really hard for me.
And the last thing that I eat is Snickers. Every day after the gym with my protein shake. I never do that when I cut, but I desire the insulin spike after I lift, and it satisfies my sweet tooth  |
One thing I've learned of the past years of doing this is that everybody's body is different. I can pretty easily maintain 9% bodyfat without too much effort. My problem is it's very hard for me to put on muscle so I have to work twice as hard for that where some folks just bulk up no problem.
I gotta admit, I do like running the big muscle heads off when they try to work in with me. I keep adding weight and they get embarrassed when they can't keep up and say they'll just come back. I'm small, but strong
Must be a muscle fiber type thing or something.
I gotta admit, I would trade some strength for more size though
