Weight Gain With Strength As the Primary Goal

Hey guys,

First I would like to thank you guys for everything that you do for the lifting community. I am sure this question has been answered a million times but I would still like your input on the next steps in regards to my nutrition. I am a 23 year old male standing at 5’11 with a 210 pound body weight and a waist size of 37 inches. I currently maintain my body weight at a caloric intake of about 3700 calories (207 g protein, 420 g carbs, 144 g fat). I am currently on week 4 of the 12 week strength template with the main goal of increasing my numbers on the major lifts. I was considering entering a caloric surplus for a brief period of time until I got to a 225-230 pound body weight because I would like to gain some additional lean muscle mass (specifically in my arms considering they only measure about 15.5 inches currently). However, I do not want to gain that weight if that means increasing my waist size above 40 inches and severely compromising my aesthetics because I do consider having at least a semi-decent physique a secondary priority. Based on my main goal, would it be safe to increase my body weight for a brief period of time risking overall health. Thank you guys again you have been a big help to me.

Also, in regards to training history, I have followed Barbell Medicine type programming for about 8 months now where I ran The Bridge 1.0 two consecutive cycles and then the 4 day hypertrophy template after that. 1 RMs are as follows:

Squat: 360 pounds
Deadlift: 400 pounds
Bench Press: 330 pounds
Overhead Press: 185 pounds

GCod,

Thanks for the post and for joining our community!

I probably wouldn’t bulk at this point given your waist circumference is right at the first threshold we have for increased risk of diseases caused by too much body fat, which is 37".

I would probably run the Bridge 3.0 right now, do all the GPP, and get your waist down to ~35" before running the 12 Week Strength program (or similar programming) on a slight surplus.