On a bulk and feeling HEEEEYOOOOOGE, here with lots o' ??--advice?

[tinark]

OK, I just finished competing in my first BB show, came in at around 8 percent or so. I'm 65 inches and weighed 120 on comp day in April.
Now, I am at 127, around 12 percent and feeling DOUGHY. Yeah, I know it's a skewed self-image. Still feels real...
I am attempting to put on about 3 pounds of muscle and then I want to rip it up again to see what lies beneath, so to speak.

For you experienced bb types (and anyone else who may have the answers)--how do you cope with this? I feel like utter elephantine crap. I am lifting HARD, making great strength gains, and slowly increasing my calories so as to not turn into the blob, but I am still bloating randomly, disturbingly so. I was told I can expect my aldosterone to remain whacked for about 4-6 weeks, which I am at around 4 weeks out now...

How long do you tend to go on a bulk before you go insane and drop a few pounds? Can I cycle--for example, bulk for two weeks, cut for two, or something similar?

What is the role of the "cheat" during the bulk phase? How often? I rarely want anything other than what I've been eating; the volume of food alone is pretty satisfying.

What supps do you continue to use (or introduce) during this phase? I am taking a multi, calcium, vit c, glutamine, and BCAAs; anyone use muscle synergy here? (creatine/hmb/arginine/I forget what else combo)

A million THANKS ahead of time for all of the collective wisdom in this forum. I really appreciate all I've learned here!

Tina

And for some reason I can't seem to post my **** pic! AAAARGGGGH!

[thunderpunch]

Welll to see any real noticeable gains, your bodyfat should have stayed relatively low and there should be more weight gain.

A 7 pound gain and 5% Bf Jump is a BIG fat gain IMO which means your diet is lacking.

BTW this is your choice but isnt competing at 120 a little lacking? Why dont you bulk for a while? Again, your choice.

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tinark said:
How long do you tend to go on a bulk before you go insane and drop a few pounds?

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I've personally only really tried to purposely BULK twice but I've found that once my bodyfat hits and stays around 18% for a few weeks I can't stand it anymore and have to cut.

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Can I cycle--for example, bulk for two weeks, cut for two, or something similar?

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Yep, you sure can, altho 2 weeks is a bit too short IMO. I'd go for at least 4 weeks on any one cycle.

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What is the role of the "cheat" during the bulk phase? How often?

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That I don't know. I wasn't aware that there was a rule about cheating during bulking. Generally I feel the same way, I'm usually eating enough good foods as to not want bad foods. And if that's the case, then I see NO reason to even cheat at all. The less you cheat the less FAT you will gain during a bulk, or in other words, the CLEANER your bulk, the better, the less fat you gain.

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What supps do you continue to use (or introduce) during this phase? I am taking a multi, calcium, vit c, glutamine, and BCAAs; anyone use muscle synergy here? (creatine/hmb/arginine/I forget what else combo)

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Generally the same ones I use when cutting if I can afford it. Plenty of vitamins and antioxidants, glutamine, amino acids, creatine, and I've used muscle synergy before altho on a cut.

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And for some reason I can't seem to post my **** pic! AAAARGGGGH!

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Be advised your photo must be hosted by a website to be displayed. You cannot display a pic from your computer. I use both a personal website and a free web hosting site myself. Yahoo and village photos are two examples of free web hosting sites. So you upload your photo to a website, then you provide the url to your photo between "[img]" and "[/img]". Without the quotes of course.

Hope this helps. I've never competed before but I've been training for 3 years and using proper nutrition for almost 2.