Can I do a lean bulk?

[RebelAlliance_12]

Hey guys, My name is Robb, I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for real advice!

I'm 5'10 205ish lbs,currently am like a 36 waist in jeans and a medium in most shirts. My ultimate goal is to get bigger, but I've always had a bf issue. My question is am I too " bodybuilding fat" to lean bulk or can I try to add a little muscle mass for a few months??

 

[mickems]

I don't have your answer but, I am curious. what exactly do you mean by lean bulk? the reason I ask because, it seems people have various definitions of what they call lean bulk.

 

[RebelAlliance_12]

Do a slower style bulk not a huge calorie surplus

 

[BiologicalChemist]

LEAN BULKKK...where to begin.Oh welcome to the board.. I'm with mickems, there's no real definition of a lean bulk. But what you mean is to gain weight/muscle mass in the leanest way possible or with the most minimal fat gain. This is what bodybuilding is all about..this it what many pros do all year round by eating a very strict diet high in protein and varying carbs and fats almost ALL The Time. It's hard to do but pretty simple..

I Have used the term lean bulk several times. It just means eating a clean healthy diet thats got a good ratio of protein, carbs, fat for your goals. It's also based off of your own body's metabolism and genetics. So a bulking with lean muscle mass and little fat to look good is much easier when you're already lean and low bF% also depends on your muscle mass ratio. More muscle...Less fat = leaner. It's possible but keep in mind it's basically physiological contradiction to build muscle (anabolic = also initiates fat storage) and lose fat (catabolic = fat burning + muscle burning) but it CAN be done. Especially with the aid of consistency, discipline and a few goodies...

From your pics I can tell u got what is takes cuz u have a strong beard game and a superman Tank....but not to be rude. Your BF% looks too high while your muscle mass looks too low. You need to start from scratch. Whats your lifting experience?diet? ...You should just start hitting the gym a lot learn how to lift build a solid foundation of muscle mass to work with then worry about that BF% and cutting etc...or you could go straight into cutting with a very strict diet, a lot of working out (all muscle parts/full body routine a week), cut that fat off while hopefully building some muscle ...or vise versa.

Good luck.

 

[ToolSteel]

I'm just gonna throw this out there...

The Anabolic Diet. Google it.
Forget the words bulk/cut.
Eat when you're hungry. Bust your ass in the gym. HEAVY weight.

In 2 months you'll see a dramatic change.

 

[MrRippedZilla]

Based on your pics, I would personally cut before bulking since your easily over 20%bf and I'm not sure how a bulk would benefit you from an appearance only perspective.

With that said, are you going to bulking natty or on cycle? That would be the primary factor in deciding the type of bulk.
If your doing it natty, then it would make sense to do a lean bulk (smaller caloric surplus, slightly higher protein than recommended, etc) since your history suggests a high caloric surplus would lead to unnecessary fat gain.
If your doing it on cycle, then it really doesn't matter since AAS makes things like p-ratio & other genetic determinants irrelevant.

 

[snake]

Just eat right my man; keep the protein up to 1 gram/ lean body weight and the fats down.

 

[Itburnstopee]

In my understanding, a lean bulk is basically a recomp. That is, if you mean to not gain any fat and just muscle. Which is possible but happens very slow and is best done as a skinny fat person who has never lifted before. They just basically eat at maintenance. If you mean to just gain barely any fat then I suppose it would be possible but it would take long and I do not think that much muscle would be gained. These people just eat like 100-200 cals above maintenance. I would take what MrRippedzilla said into consideration.
My advice: cut bulk cut.

 

[rburdge84]

If I were you I would focus on loosing bf first before trying to bulk. If you approach it as a lean bulk you will either compensate on the lean or the bulk. Focus on compound movement and full body workouts. Do your cardio but also don't starve your body. Keep us posted and good luck

 

[DocDePanda187123]

Based on your pics, I would personally cut before bulking since your easily over 20%bf and I'm not sure how a bulk would benefit you from an appearance only perspective.

With that said, are you going to bulking natty or on cycle? That would be the primary factor in deciding the type of bulk.
If your doing it natty, then it would make sense to do a lean bulk (smaller caloric surplus, slightly higher protein than recommended, etc) since your history suggests a high caloric surplus would lead to unnecessary fat gain.
If your doing it on cycle, then it really doesn't matter since AAS makes things like p-ratio & other genetic determinants irrelevant.

You really think irrelevant or just less relevant?

 

[MrRippedZilla]

You really think irrelevant or just less relevant?

In terms of natural/genetic determinants? Yes, they become irrelevant.


The nutrient partitioning benefits of AAS would automatically result in an increase in p-ratio. This means that enhanced athlete doesn't have to worry about gaining only fat if they pass a caloric surplus "limit" - a natural athlete does.
For a natural athlete, a higher p-ratio would mean a great risk of muscle loss when dieting. This concern doesn't exist for an enhanced athlete because, IME, AAS also has the benefit of lowering the caloric/protein intake required to maintain LBM.

AAS also allows greater rates of glycogen resynthesis/storage due to, among other things, an increase in skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity.
This, again, allows an enhanced athlete to consume more calories (especially carbs) without worrying about where those cals are going. In natural athletes, insulin sensitivity tends to vary wildly and, though it can be improved through diet/training, it still places an extra limit that needs to be considered when bulking.

Of course we haven't even considered what impact adding other compounds (t3, gh, insulin, etc) would have and just how further redundant genetic determinants become with the addition of these aids...maybe another day....


Basically,, when you start taking drugs that allow you to surpass genetic limits, then the components in place that set those genetic limits in the first place become irrelevant

 

[trodizzle]

Hey guys, My name is Robb, I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for real advice!

I'm 5'10 205ish lbs,currently am like a 36 waist in jeans and a medium in most shirts. My ultimate goal is to get bigger, but I've always had a bf issue. My question is am I too " bodybuilding fat" to lean bulk or can I try to add a little muscle mass for a few months??View attachment 2271View attachment 2272View attachment 2273View attachment 2274

I think you could lean bulk. The fat I see on your arms, waist and chest doesn't seem bad at all, it's better than where i'm at at this time for sure. I don't see why putting yourself into a slight surplus daily, which is the key to a lean bulk would be a bad thing if you choose to do so. You don't have to be 2000 calories over your TDEE to see gains.

 

[trodizzle]

In terms of natural/genetic determinants? Yes, they become irrelevant.


The nutrient partitioning benefits of AAS would automatically result in an increase in p-ratio. This means that enhanced athlete doesn't have to worry about gaining only fat if they pass a caloric surplus "limit" - a natural athlete does.
For a natural athlete, a higher p-ratio would mean a great risk of muscle loss when dieting. This concern doesn't exist for an enhanced athlete because, IME, AAS also has the benefit of lowering the caloric/protein intake required to maintain LBM.

AAS also allows greater rates of glycogen resynthesis/storage due to, among other things, an increase in skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity.
This, again, allows an enhanced athlete to consume more calories (especially carbs) without worrying about where those cals are going. In natural athletes, insulin sensitivity tends to vary wildly and, though it can be improved through diet/training, it still places an extra limit that needs to be considered when bulking.

Of course we haven't even considered what impact adding other compounds (t3, gh, insulin, etc) would have and just how further redundant genetic determinants become with the addition of these aids...maybe another day....


Basically,, when you start taking drugs that allow you to surpass genetic limits, then the components in place that set those genetic limits in the first place become irrelevant

That's a very interesting read. Do you think this is the same when talking TRT dosages as well or just when people are doing blasts and such?

 

[DocDePanda187123]

In terms of natural/genetic determinants? Yes, they become irrelevant.


The nutrient partitioning benefits of AAS would automatically result in an increase in p-ratio. This means that enhanced athlete doesn't have to worry about gaining only fat if they pass a caloric surplus "limit" - a natural athlete does.
For a natural athlete, a higher p-ratio would mean a great risk of muscle loss when dieting. This concern doesn't exist for an enhanced athlete because, IME, AAS also has the benefit of lowering the caloric/protein intake required to maintain LBM.

AAS also allows greater rates of glycogen resynthesis/storage due to, among other things, an increase in skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity.
This, again, allows an enhanced athlete to consume more calories (especially carbs) without worrying about where those cals are going. In natural athletes, insulin sensitivity tends to vary wildly and, though it can be improved through diet/training, it still places an extra limit that needs to be considered when bulking.

Of course we haven't even considered what impact adding other compounds (t3, gh, insulin, etc) would have and just how further redundant genetic determinants become with the addition of these aids...maybe another day....


Basically,, when you start taking drugs that allow you to surpass genetic limits, then the components in place that set those genetic limits in the first place become irrelevant

Maybe I just see too many ppl with incredibly poor physiques for being steroid users to think it irrelevant.

 

[MrRippedZilla]

That's a very interesting read. Do you think this is the same when talking TRT dosages as well or just when people are doing blasts and such?

It wouldn't apply to TRT.
Of course going from hypogonadal > normal will make a dramatic difference anyway but not to the point where all the genetic limit stuff discussed above can be discarded.

Maybe I just see too many ppl with incredibly poor physiques for being steroid users to think it irrelevant.

Real life or on forums?
I ask because, in general, people with good physiques don't tend to hang out on steroid boards so their is a risk of proximity bias when it comes to developing an opinion on these things.

Then you have the issue of bunk/underdosed gear, the inability to recover properly post cycle (this alone can easily wipe out everything gained), poor diet/training, etc.

 

[DocDePanda187123]

It wouldn't apply to TRT.
Of course going from hypogonadal > normal will make a dramatic difference anyway but not to the point where all the genetic limit stuff discussed above can be discarded.



Real life or on forums?
I ask because, in general, people with good physiques don't tend to hang out on steroid boards so their is a risk of proximity bias when it comes to developing an opinion on these things.

Then you have the issue of bunk/underdosed gear, the inability to recover properly post cycle (this alone can easily wipe out everything gained), poor diet/training, etc.

Both, in my gym and online. A friend if mine juices and him and a few others have made impressive progress. He points out others who he knows run cycles and I'm just surprised. My own personal expeirence also with my first cycle. I agree there are many factors to consider some of which can have significant effects.

 

[saltylifter]

Doesn't look like you do much cardio so I would add that into your routine. You have allot of body fat as it is so I would lean down before trying to bulk up any more.
Eat every 2-3 hrs if you can to get that metabolism burning
Take your proper supplements
And drink 1 gallon of wager a day.
Good luck

 

[Bro Bundy]

I always liked to get as lean as i can before I bulk..Then u dont need to "lean bulk" and make things all confusing..Without drugs you will have more success if you put all focus in one direction..what a "lean bulk" really is is a recomp which is tricky to get right.It takes years of playing around with food to see how u react to certain things.Drugs make this process alot easier.. if u go the natty way u can do it just takes longer