Fall Bulk Week 8 Final Review
Week 8 is in the books and the Fall Bulk has reached it’s conclusion. These are the final results and where we go from here.
I knew I wouldn’t reach my goal of averaging 180 pounds in week 8. So, instead of overloading on carbs and calories, I stayed the course and shot for at least one weigh-in of 180.
On Christmas day, I hit my highest weight of the year at 180.1 pounds, 14.3 pounds heavier than my lowest weight in August. My weekly average also went up by 0.8 pounds from the previous week at 178.3.
Even though I fell 1.7 pounds short of my goal, I still consider this bulk to be a success. I gained 6.4 pounds of mostly lean muscle in 8 weeks. And I kept detailed records of my nutrition and workouts, which will provide invaluable insights.
I didn’t track my macros or calories on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but here are my average nutrition numbers for the other five days.
| Calories | |
|---|---|
| Average Calories Consumed | +3,236 |
| Average Calories Burned | -2,871 |
| Average Calorie Surplus | +365 (13%) |
The average macros and calorie surplus are nearly identical to week 7. And my resultant weight gain was spot on, so I’ve found a good target for steady weight gain.
Going into the bulk, I had a fairly aggressive goal of gaining one pound weekly. I could keep up with that rate for the first two weeks, but you can see a definite decrease in weekly weight gain from weeks 3 through 8.
The trendline equation on the weight graph shows the slope is 0.7383, meaning I averaged about 0.74 lbs/week of weight gain for the entire bulk. This is probably a more realistic target for me in the future.
Also, my research and experience suggest that a half pound (0.5) per week is about the most lean muscle your body can generally produce naturally. Anything more than that is likely just water weight, glycogen storage, or fat.
Some body fat gain and water weight are expected while following a relatively high-carb diet and having a calorie surplus. However, I believe I can minimize this by targeting 0.6-0.7 lbs/week of weight gain.
To do this, I will keep the surplus in the 7-10% range, which is ideal for lean bulking. But first, I plan to do a one-week metabolic reset, so check back for more details about how that works.
