| I don't have any personal experience trying to gain at <10% BF so I may be biased BUT a quick look at pics of Ronnie and Lee Priest just to name two pros would seem to indicate they don't try to bulk at <10%. I think the best part of keeping a good journal on your diet and training along with body metrics is that you can more reliably predict how you will fare cutting once you add 2/3/4/5% BF during a bulking cycle and then cut/diet it down for the following season or event. I think that trying to gain a large amount of muscle at low body fat is far too difficult and slow to make a big difference year-over-year.
The better approach is to take a short 1 wk "diet" break after contest BF% and then get back to maintenance + ~10% over; adding more high Q fat and comp carbs. The gaining happens as you add some excess calories and increase the load - going back to the heaviest and most intense workouts (think squats/DL/Leg Press/Cleans/Weighted chins/etc) with low reps and plenty of rest. Continually tracking %BF as it's increasing is still really important so you can kind of SEE where your gaining program will get you by the time you need to start reigning it back in and getting ready for a cutting program again. |