Weight Gain Questions

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Jordan, recently ended my 20kg cutting phase from 110kg to 90kg and 4-5 weeks of maintenance. Now I am planning to finally start my bulking phase to maybe 95-100kg.

  1. Assuming that I am aiming at gaining 1 kg per month, what should I do if I had a cheat week due to holidays and stuff and I gained 1kg halfway before the end of the month? Do I maintain my caloric surplus, or move back into maintenance calories to try and maintain my monthly weight gain rate at 1kg?

  2. What is a reasonable weight gained to waist circumference ratio while on a bulk? Is it the same as cutting i.e. 5lbs/inch?

  3. How do we account for water retention from increased carbs and higher volume? I am coming off from my maintenance phase with lower carbs and was doing an offseason lowish stress program. Now doing your LP program to get my lifts back up. Dont wanna panic from sudden weight gain I guess.

2

Hey Rosemah,

Thanks for the post.

  1. While it’s probably a bit late to advise not taking a cheat weak…I’d reduce your calorie intake to limit your total weight gain over a month.

  2. Not really any guideline with a strong evidence base. That said, I don’t like to see people gaining more than ~ 2cm per kilo depending on the circumstance.

  3. The volume isn’t going to make a meaningful difference and while there are calculations that could estimate your weight gain secondary to increased carbohydrates, that’s all for short term. I wouldn’t even factor this in.