Update on My Muscle Building Phase
"Stay ready so you don't have to get ready." - Charlie Bullock
I started a muscle building phase in February of this year and wanted to provide an update. I've been working with a coach the whole time which has been instrumental.
General Stats (as of July 5, 2025): Starting date: 2/1/25 Starting weight: ~182 lbs Current weight: 194.6 lbs Goal weight: 200-205 lbs
Nutrition: Starting Calorie Target: 3002 | Macros: 197g protein / 97g fat / 312g carbs Current Calorie Target: 3418 | Macros: 210g protein / 113g fat / 387g carbs Food Tracking: 146 out of 154 days tracked in MacroFactor
No matter what your body composition goals are, if you're not where you wanna be, tracking your food and eating according to a structured nutrition program is the number 1 thing you're not doing that would make all the difference. You do not have to be perfect here. I've been eating pizza, burgers, dogs, ice cream, and beer all weekend as I'm writing this.
Training Program: 4x per week Upper/Lower Body Split, ~1:15-1:30 per lift, 83 workouts logged, 0 missed.
So many people think I must "live in the gym" but it's not the case. 4x per week. 1:15-1:30 per workout. That's it. And I could build you a very effective program that only requires 45-60 mins per workout. Everyone can find that time.
By logging lifts in Trainerize, I track weight and reps completed for every exercise during every workout. Progressive overload (increasing weight/reps over time) has to happen in order to build muscle, so it needs to be tracked.
Workouts have not changed much - same general split throughout. Main tweaks: swapped out weighted tricep dips (were causing issues), reviewed exercises with coach at 3 months and swapped a couple, messed with rep ranges around the 3 month mark to break through plateaus.
If you're trying to build muscle and you're mixing up your workouts every week, you're doing it wrong. It's also so much easier mentally repeating the same workouts week after week.
Other Stats: YTD daily step average ~12-13k. Sleep average 6-7 hours per night (about to get crushed when Stella arrives).
Key Lessons Learned: 1. Once you have lost weight, it's very hard to gain weight. I now often have to seek out high calorie foods instead of low calorie ones - swapping in nut butters, breads, and rice that I had cut out. 2. You have to be lean to start a muscle building phase (~13% body fat or below 15% for men). Start lean and go slow. Starting lean and going slow is what will ensure you look and feel great the entire time. Lose the fat first. If you start at higher body fat and increase calories too quickly, you'll put on way more fat than you need to.
I'm almost 6 months into this and at the same rate will hit ~200 some time around the 9 month mark.
Stay well, Hal the Health Coach
