Do I need to bulk to gain muscle mass? 130 pounds, 5’11. Swear I’m like 0% body fat

[gangabarre111]

Hey everyone so I’m tired of being skinny and want some mass! It’s going to be real hard because my shoulders are bony as hell.

I’ve always read about bulking/cutting but it sounds a bit complicated and I want to do minimal macro nutrient counting. I’d like to just generally eat the same thing everyday, get about 90-130 grams of protein and around 2800 cals a day. Lots of brown rice, homemade hummus and lots of lentils. Chickpea pasta too. Oh yeah and maybe a protein powder if I’m lazy one day.

Is it possible to gain like this and just lift? Keep it simple? I’m not trying to go arnold here, maybe Bruce lee.

 

[noah007]

@gangabarre111 People over complicate things all the time. You don't have to do an aggressive bulk or macro counting. Just make sure you are challenging your muscles and eat a lot of good food and enjoy the process. I think people forget that step. It takes time to see results, so don't get discouraged. Hard work and consistency is key!

 

[rakeshreddy]

@noah007 I have to disagree on the macrocounting. It is essential for inexperienced lifters to count. By nature human being eat intuitively like shit and not nearly enough for gains. For example, I am 6'4 and use to think I eat alot. But when I tracked I realize I ate like 2,000-2500 cal and not nearly as much protein. Now I eat 4200 and consume 200-220g of protein and notice a significant difference in my lifts and over well energy levels.

 

[noah007]

@rakeshreddy Sure, track how much you are eating for a few days so you can adjust accordingly. I get that. But the problem with macro & calorie counting is people become obsessive. Are you going to be counting your macros every day for the rest of your life? If you want food to run your life, by all means, macro count, but it is not something that the average person needs to do to make gains or be healthy. It just complicates things.

 

[rakeshreddy]

@noah007 True, but food does run a portion of your life. We have a tendency to be lazy and think fitness is something passive that requires little effort. When in fact it requires effort to take care of yourself and to achieve the physique. This is just one of many tools used to help anyone achieve goals. I'd say calorie counting is one of the easiest things you can do and meal prepping can be very simple. The only way it would get complicated is if someone overcomplicate one of the most simplest tools out there.

 

[sara50840]

@gangabarre111 What damsterick said. You don't have to go on a balls-to-the-wall dirty bulk, but you do need to bulk and eat at a surplus to gain muscle at that body weight.

Track protein and calories. Weigh your food, don't estimate. Eat at a surplus. You will likely have to eat more than you think, ya skinny bastard!

Lift heavy and utilize linear progression while you can. Follow a program with a good reputation. Phrak's Greyskull LP would be a great start.

Eat, lift, sleep, eat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Give it all you've got! Good luck!

 

[gangabarre111]

@sara50840 I’m eating as much as I can!! breakfast is Dave’s English muffin with an avocado on top, two eggs scrambled (I know, but I have my own loved chickens and they’re laying like crazy. I don’t want them to go to waste) a cup of oatmeal with two tbsp of crunchy pb. So in total like, 36 grams of protein in breakfast alone which hopefully is enough. Lunch is tempeh and veggies, dinner is quinoa and tempeh. In between I’ll eat about two pb sammies so 26 grams in between and I’m always full. I might still be cutting short :/

 

[shendude]

@gangabarre111 calorie surplus + progressive overload = gains.

no need to count anything else than calories and protein really. Don't worry about cutting and bulking cycles, just eat 400-500 calorie surplus for a year consistently lifting and you're gonna be good. just make sure to keep a training log so you progressively overload.

it's simple to gain muscle, but it's not easy.

 

[gangabarre111]

@shendude Would you mind explaining what I should write in my training log? Like how much I lifted that day, if I completed the set and if I didn’t how many reps I got ect?

And overloading I assume means trying higher weights?

 

[shendude]

@gangabarre111 Yes. I write sets, reps and eventual failures + weight.

Progressively overloading means using more weight each time for main lifts. I suggest googling or visiting r/fitness FAQ.

 

[gangabarre111]

@shendude Eventually there will be a plateau though. Idk if I could bench more than 20 right now with the bar weight doing 5 sets of 10 reps. My arms get really tired and I can’t finish the sets.

 

[shendude]

@gangabarre111 Then decrease weight or lift the same weight until you can lift it. Plateaus happen. If you can't break a plateau and you're not gaining any weight, you must probably eat more.

 

[inmajorneedofhelp]

@gangabarre111 Update? I'm about to start my bulk up phase.

 

[gangabarre111]

@inmajorneedofhelp Update: just accepting being on the skinnier side and embracing nutrition/cardio/kinesthetics over gorging myself every day and looking not very smart at the gym. I also just really dislike gyms in general. So, healthy, and at least I’m not that skinny.