Fall Bulk Week 6 Review
My weight is up exactly 1 pound over last week’s average. Will it be enough to get back on track and reach my goal?
Week 6 was the most stable I’ve had since before Thanksgiving. That means I had more success hitting my calorie and macro targets each day, translating to gains in the gym and on the scale.
I added an extra set to many exercises this week to increase the total workout volume. Also, I could get an extra rep or go up in weight on many of my lifts. Strength gains typically precede size gains, so I was happy with that result.
On the scale, my weekly average weight increased from 175.8 to 176.8, or a whole pound in 7 days. This pound-per-week weight gain is precisely on par with my goal of gaining 8 lbs in 8 weeks.
However, weeks 3 through 5 had smaller gains, so I’m still facing an uphill battle to get to 180 lbs in the next two weeks. I will adjust my nutrition to meet the challenge without going overboard and just getting fat.
Here are the weekly averages for calories in, calories out, and calorie surplus.
| Calories | |
|---|---|
| Average Calories Consumed | +3,081 |
| Average Calories Burned | -2,646 |
| Average Calorie Surplus | +435 (16%) |
This was the first week of the bulk I averaged over 3,000 calories eaten per day. At the same time, my calorie expenditure stayed about average, resulting in the largest cumulative surplus so far at 16%.
With extra energy on board, the needle finally moved significantly on the scale. So, I will aim to replicate these nutrition numbers in week 7.
I saw my weight drop slightly on Monday morning after Sunday’s planned lower carb, lower calorie day. I expected this result and felt the appetite and insulin reset were worth it.
However, coming into the week at 176 pounds means I will have to hit several high-carb days to get this week’s average up to around 178 pounds.
Keep up with my daily check-ins, or follow up with my week seven review to see how I do!
