I recently completed a bulk where I gained 10lbs of lean muscle over the course of the past 3 months.

Goal#

At the start of the bulk I weighed 151.2lbs.

My goal was to reach 160lbs of body weight and maintain it with my daily routine.

Methodology#

Macro targets (per day):

• 200g protein
• 230g carbs
• 152g fat
• 2,800 calories / day

I didn’t bother with tracking my calories every day. That has often created too much mental burden but I did track it on random days just to give myself a sense for how many calories I was actually eating. Turns out, by default I don’t eat a lot! At the start of my bulk I’d finish days at barely 2000 calories after eating what I’d felt like was a lot.

Knowing this helped me calibrate and start eating closer to 3000 calories a day which is when I really started to see good results.

Split:

• Pull: Tuesday
• Push: Thursday
• Legs: Saturday

Zone 2 cardio & mobility training in between

Mentzer Method:

For whatever reason I’ve always found myself to be stronger than I physically appear. Perhaps some part is genetic but another part is how I was taught to train in high school which was optimized for strength over hypertrophy. Historically I followed the classic push pull legs split for workouts, usually lifting 5 to 6 days a week with around 3-4 sets of 6 reps per workout and a focus on explosive movements.

For this bulk, at the advice of a friend, I followed the Mike Mentzer method which focuses on maximizing hypertrophy. At a high level the program focuses on shorter workouts (1-2 sets per exercise), more rest (only 3 lifting days a week instead of 6), and a focus on intensity. There’s some debate on the legitimacy of this method but anecdotally I found that I had some of the best pumps of my life, I grew noticeably larger over the course of the bulk (although it’s hard to prove the counterfactual — I may have grown equally with other lifting methods), and it fit very well into my busy founder schedule.

Hour-long workouts with many reps is an easy way to tire myself out before I reach failure whereas this method allowed me to bang out a 20-30 minute workout while giving it my all. Ultimately, I think the highest order bit is simply lifting with intensity, giving myself time to recover, and eating enough calories.

Results#

Overall I’m very happy with the results of this bulk. I’ve gained the weight I wanted to and I look visibly bigger which is a nice boost to the ego.

Eating was a bit of a pain and getting enough calories without gluten or dairy is quite hard but ultimately it was worth it. I hate the feeling of forcing myself to eat and I’m constantly surprised by how much time it literally takes out of my day just to eat all that food but I found a set of meals that I could stick to and enjoy.

The best thing about this bulk was how much more energy I had. My energy levels were noticeably different and my mood felt remarkably more stable throughout the bulk. I felt fare more optimistic and resilient to setbacks or frustration during the day. I also found myself less anxious and worried because of the extra buffer room. I knew that if I did miss a meal it wasn’t the end of the world. Being in a regular caloric surplus truly is a game changer for me.

Honestly at one point I basically stopped sleeping. This part was a little concerning. I literally just couldn’t fall asleep until very late but then I’d wake up the next morning after just a few hours feeling totally refreshed and fine.

I also found the workouts to be enjoyable and helped me in other areas of my life like getting over my breakup and focusing on my work at Mesa.

Going Forward

I’m a little surprised by how lean I feel even with an extra 10 lbs, I truly was underweight before the bulk. I’ve taken a break for the past 3 weeks because work got a little hectic but within the next few days I’ll kick off round 2 and go for another 10lbs.

I suspect this next 10 will be a little more difficult given that I have been 160lbs in the past and muscle memory helps you bounce back faster after losing weight. From here on out I’ll mostly be putting on net new weight that I’ve never had before.

Data#

All weigh-ins happened first thing in the morning before eating or drinking.

Date	Weight (lb)	Kcals
3/1	160.2	-
2/23	163.4	-
2/15	161.9	-
2/10	162.0	-
2/1	159.0	-
1/31	156.6	-
1/28	158.7	3,117
1/25	156.3	-
1/18	156.3	-
1/13	157.0	-
1/10	155.9	-
1/3	156.6	-
12/29	154.7	-
12/27	154.3	2,325
12/23	152.6	2,692
12/14	152.3	2,023
12/09	151.2	-

Simple summary from my logs. Each row compares the first logged working set range to the latest one.

Lift	Start (weight + rep range)	End (weight + rep range)	% Increase (weight)
BO Rows	60 lb (10-16 reps)	85 lb (9-11 reps)	+41.7%
Incline Bench Curl	22.5 lb (6-8 reps)	25 lb (6-8 reps)	+11.1%
Hammer Curl	20 lb (13 reps)	25 lb (6-10 reps)	+25.0%
Rear Delt Fly	7.5 lb (10-15 reps)	12.5 lb (6-12 reps)	+66.7%
Lat Pulldown	20 lb (13 reps)	85 lb (6-10 reps)	+325.0%
Chest Fly	25 lb (12 reps)	27.5 lb (6-10 reps)	+10.0%
Incline Bench	30 lb (12 reps)	50 lb (6-10 reps)	+66.7%
Tricep Pushdown	35 lb (22 reps)	50 lb (8-14 reps)	+42.9%
Shoulder Raise	15 lb (12 reps)	15 lb (9 reps)	+0.0%
Leg Extension	65 lb (14 reps)	95 lb (12 reps)	+46.2%
Leg Curls	85 lb (14 reps)	95 lb (12 reps)	+11.8%
Squat	95 lb (8-10 reps)	135 lb (5-8 reps)	+42.1%

Meals (non-exhaustive)

Meal	Ingredients	Total Kcals
Base Smoothie	JUST mung bean protein powder, egg whites, Bob’s oats, peanut butter, frozen berries, banana, Fiber Mend, chia seeds	1,191.3
Blueberry Avocado Smoothie	JUST mung bean protein powder, egg whites, frozen avocado, blueberries, Forager yogurt, Fiber Mend, chia seeds, cinnamon	896.3
Ground Beef Pasta	Jovial GF pasta, ground beef, black beans, olive oil	1,300
Ground Beef Eggs	eggs, ground beef	330
Overnight Oats	oats, mung bean protein, almond milk, peanut butter, frozen berries, maple syrup	693
Quinoa Salmon	quinoa, salmon, beef broth, black beans, avocado, tofu	1,010
Chicken Rice	rice, chicken thigh, beef broth, beans, olive oil, quinoa	746.25