hi,

I've just gained 5 pounds in a single week. I think that's a little too much. the fat around my waist is still not too bad though, pants still fit so I could go on like that for a while. but I think 5 pounds is still too much because I doubt it was all muscle that I gained :)

so how much should you gain at most in a week at most (lean muscle mass + fat) ?

thanks

shoot for ~1lb/week.... initially (if you've been fairly carb depleted) alot of gain at the outset will be water gain and then things settle down.

When progress stalls increase cals by ~10% until you start gaining again.
repeat this process till the end of your bulk.

I think 5 pounds in a week is too high unless you're 1) young, 2) just starting out, 3) on steroids.

But...you may not be as concerned with fat gain. Also, a lot could be water.

Experience and years training will have a lot to do with this. A new trainee can put on a LOT of muscle in one year, while a professional bodybuilder might be extremely pleased with just 10 pounds of muscle in a year.

1-2 lbs of weight per week is probably a good number as long as the majority of that is muscle. The first week is usually water weight and then the body equalizes from there. If you're in the middle of your bulk and you gained 5 lbs I would be concerned.

alright thanks. its the first week after vacation so I think it would definetely be water. would be cool if I could go on like that but I doubt it :)

I don't have a bodyfat scale though, so its hard to figure out if I'm eating too much fat ..

Even if your young, just starting out or on steroids anytihng more than about 2lbs a week is just fat or water. I'd guess out of that 5 pounds you gained 1 pound of muscle... maybe.

yeah your right retro, I didn't think it was all muscle though :)

1 pound of muscle per week would be awesome..

I'm not on roids btw ;)

alright thanks. its the first week after vacation so I think it would definetely be water. would be cool if I could go on like that but I doubt it :)

I don't have a bodyfat scale though, so its hard to figure out if I'm eating too much fat ..

Eating fat...won't make you fat. :nono: You don't need a bf scale. Waist measurements will give you a good indicator (especially for males).

You ideally want to keep sat. fat to a reasonable number. You need good fats as part of a healthy diet (especially important during a bulk). Gaining weight in the form of fat is purely a function of too many cals and not balancing your activity against your intake.

Progressively overloading your muscles (working out) will send your body a directive to use the adidtional cals for muscle building and hopefully minimize fat storage. By shooting for 1lb/week and tailoring the % of cals to your body's needs and how you understand your body to work....hopefully most of your gains will be lean mass gains, some will be water, some will be organ repair etc....

Best way to do that is keep your diet as clean as you can.

Waist measurements will give you a good indicator (especially for males).
Should females expect differently? I'm slowly bulking, but not expecting much change in my waist size. Just wondering why you added that bit in brackets.

Should females expect differently? I'm slowly bulking, but not expecting much change in my waist size. Just wondering why you added that bit in brackets.

Fat is stored around beta receptors found in your body. Men and women have beta receptors in different parts of their bodies, for men it is around the chest, abs and waist area. For women it is the breasts, hips, and posterior :tucool:. Because men store alot of their fat around their beltine it is easier for a man to tell if hes gaining fat by his pants size than it is for a woman. Also women naturally have a higher BF % than men.

Yup what he said ;) (nice answer....ya beat me to it)

Fat is stored around beta receptors found in your body. Men and women have beta receptors in different parts of their bodies, for men it is around the chest, abs and waist area. For women it is the breasts, hips, and posterior :tucool:. Because men store alot of their fat around their beltine it is easier for a man to tell if hes gaining fat by his pants size than it is for a woman. Also women naturally have a higher BF % than men.
I see what you mean. I could be getting fatter even though my waist isn't getting bigger. Gotcha. I knew that, but wasn't thinking that way.

I think 5 pounds in a week is too high unless you're 1) young, 2) just starting out, 3) on steroids.

But...you may not be as concerned with fat gain. Also, a lot could be water.

Experience and years training will have a lot to do with this. A new trainee can put on a LOT of muscle in one year, while a professional bodybuilder might be extremely pleased with just 10 pounds of muscle in a year.

Agreed.

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