I’m lost!!!

[kuysniks]

So I just recently started bulking and I’m scared that I might be eating too much. I’m 5’0 122 pounds and am trying to put on some more glutes. I’m eating 2170 which is 300 more than my maintenance calories. I’m also eating 130g protein a day which is hard to maintain . Will eating like this get me the results I want? I’m mostly focused on gaining a booty but as a petite woman it’s easy for me to get fat in places I don’t want. I workout 5-6 times a week (mostly strength training)

 

[anne56]

@kuysniks The whole point of a bulk is to feed your body enough energy to build enough muscle, which does indeed come with fat. Most people typically cut after a bulk, which gets rid of the fat while keeping most of the muscle. If the idea of gaining fat bothers you then you probably shouldn’t bulk and focus on building muscle over a longer period of time.

 

[marytx0]

@kuysniks Can’t really say as everyone is so different, but those are fairly normal numbers. You could even take it down to 2070, but I’d try keep the protein up. Protein gets easier once you get consistent with it & figure out what to eat.
Bulking will almost always result in some fat gain (that’s why you cut after). If you’re somewhat new to lifting, a recomp is a good option. It’s just a slower process.

 

[sweetkf]

@kuysniks Everyone’s body behaves differently. You’ll have to trial and error calories and track your own results. Take measurements. Don’t rely on the scale.
Bulking and then cutting is the fastest way to progress but the nature of bulking can and often does add fat in addition to muscle.

 

[deadpool]

@kuysniks I'm the same height, and with how I carry fat (entirely in my stomach), it didn't make sense for me to start off with a bulk. I started by just getting my weight down through diet, and once I didn't have much excess fat (which for me happened around 107lbs), I went into my first bulk. I bulked to about 118, then cut to 110, and I'm doing a really long bulk this time around and might get up to 122 before I cut again.

All that to say - you can certainly keep going with your bulk, and your muscles will grow, you just may need to do a longer cut afterwards depending on your goals.

 

[inthepottershands]

@kuysniks so imo, bulking is overrated, while training hard is underrated. but even if we don't care of what i think, 300 calories worth of surplus is a little too much in ur case. ur not underweight, so generally, under these circumstances, ur body won't respond as well to bulk as if u were, let's say, 105lbs.

130g of protein for 2170 isn't very hard though, but it can be quite a lot of volume if ur not used to it. if u really want to bulk up, 150 or even 100 calories on top of maintenance might be just enough, especially if extra fat gain isn't something u want. while u gain muscle mass (and inevitably fat) in bulk, u will merely maintain those muscle gains during cut, which makes it easier to just eat around maintenance fulltime, especially for non-advanced lifters/casuals.

make sure u lift heavy and close to failure, and progress on ur lifts, especially priority lifts (which in ur case might be something like bulgarians, hip thrusts, RDLs, kickbacks, lunges, some kind of squat, etc). combination of high volume (more sets for priority muscle groups) and high intensity (heavy and close to failure/to failure) will absolutely explode whatever muscle ur targeting. as long as u can recover from such training, meaning ur able to efficiently hit same body part again according to ur split, u won't overtrain

 

[sandralois]

@kuysniks You only need 100-200 calories over maintenance to build muscle, and 0.72g/lb of protein (0.8g/lb at the most) which would be about 85-95g at your weight

edit to add the study showing 0.72 g/lb (1.6g/kg) is as much protein as needed for muscle growth and maintenance

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698222/

 

[mich01]

@kuysniks Don’t worry, keep training and your glutes will be better trust me time will tell, more food is needed for the strength training

 

[butterfly2222]

@kuysniks Are you putting on weight? If yes, how fast? That’s how you’ll know.

 

[alexfrankone]

@kuysniks I’m 4’10” and my last bulk I was eating 2,000.
Just monitor how quickly you’re gaining weight and adjust accordingly! I gained 4 pounds in like 6 weeks.

 

[onlyhuman777]

@kuysniks Waitt so you’re maintenance is 1870!? I’m 5’1 and when I was 122lbs my maintenance was no more than 1500, and when I was bulking I did over 2k calories and regret it till this day. I would think your maintenance would be your bulk? But seeing other people’s comments, maybe over 2k is normal. I personally will never enter a bulk again lol

 

[marryjanes]

@onlyhuman777 A lot of TDEE calculators are wrong. I highly doubt ur TDEE is 1500 as 1400 is that of a child’s.

 

[smudger2485]

@marryjanes 5’1 is often the height of a child. i broke 5’ in like 4th grade, admittedly it took another 3 or 4 years to hit 100lb

 

[onlyhuman777]

@marryjanes I’ve been in a 1300 deficit for the last few months and it’s been working well for me, in my maintenance I was doing 1550 so it’s defo correct for me

 

[marryjanes]

@onlyhuman777 Hopefully you don’t plateau like I did:/ I went through that faze of eating low and stopped losing weight. My period also stopped. Didn’t work for me. I always felt shaky and weak too.

 

[onlyhuman777]

@marryjanes I’m sorry to hear that I hope you’re doing well now! Yeah tbh I’m doing it to just lose my lower belly fat so I hope it works so I can go back to a maintenance after

 

[jodi1028]

@onlyhuman777 She’s fine lol. Maybe she’s extremely active.

 

[marryjanes]

@kuysniks If that is too much it is such a small amount anyways that you will notice fat gaining very slowly aka ur not gonna balloon over night. It’s better to eat too much and cut later than not eat enough and waste gym time! I really think that’s a good amount though, I’m also 5’1 and I eat around 2200 when I’m bulking and barely ever gain a substantial amount of fat.

 

[pete71]

@kuysniks Yep, this tracks fine. Gotta eat to grow, but growth still takes time even when bulking. If it helps, I'm reaching the end of a bulk on 2,800 calories at 5'0" and I'm around 130lbs right now. When you find your weight stagnating you'll need to up your calories by 200 or so. Make sure to weigh yourself daily and take weekly averages so you know how much you're increasing by (or if you're maintaining) because you can then adjust your calories.

In response to another comment, your protein is fine and good for growth. I'm on 161g at the moment. You could get away with eating less protein if you're finding it hard to keep up though.

 

[paulclays]

@kuysniks That seems like a lot of protein. You should be fine at around 90-100 grams. The overall caloric intake seems fine to me. Being 250 calories above maintenance is usually what I recommend if you're being consistent.

Make sure that your training is matching the bulk. You need a routine that focuses on hypertrophy and progressive overload with a lower body focus so your glutes can grow (although don't neglect the rest of your body either). You can reassess in a few weeks if you wanna keep bulking or want to switch things up.