Ok, I see there are tons of different plans up here NHE, CKD, TKD, I'm sure there's more.

I'm guessing the reason I never bulked in the past is due to genetics, but perhaps it has more to do with what I ate. Back before I did Atkins it was carbs, carbs and more carbs. Now it's low carb, but I'm wondering if this won't quite work for building muscle.

My first goal is to gain 4 lbs of muscle and loose 1 lb of fat to get at around 171 lbs and 20% bf. The larger goal is to get to 175 lbs 15% bf, which will require loosing around 7 lbs of bf and gaining 16 lbs of muscle.

So my question is, which plan would people recommend as the first one to try?

Thanks,
Mike

My two cents on TKD - probably better for cutting.

Personally, I am more Isocaloic/Zone with my ratios when I bulk, but that's just me. The upside of being Ecto I guess <shrugs>

I use a CKD to lean out ... for contests, I use a contest diet, which is close to NHE in design.

I'm carb-cycling for my mini-bulk right now, which I have done successfully before - keeps the fat gain down to a dull roar on me.

Damned ectos...they get ALL the breaks...

I would assume that I am ecto, but who knows. Though I weighed almost 200 lbs at one point, no one thought that was that weight, but I knew it.

Anyway, I'm guessing that TKD and CKD are out due to the replies so that leaves NHE or sticking with Atkins + more protein and carbs. I'll look into NHE to see the details.

Perhaps I'll just keep trying what I'm doing now and see where that takes me in 4 weeks. So it would be Atkins low carb plus uping my protein whey protein shakes and other protein sources. Guess I'll just need to figure out the number of calories I need, I bet I'm not getting enough to grow.

Thanks,
Mike

I'd lean toward NHE or carb cycling like how I'm doing it (alternating days) or how Chip's doing it (alternating weeks) myself, but Chip and I are both meso or meso/ectos, I think. You might be fine taking TrainerDan's approach, since he's ecto too.

Ok, I am a little different. I did the Body builder NHE for 4 weeks and gained strenght and maintained weight 232 for the month. I went back to CKD last week. I skipped the Tuesday NHE carb up and by Friday I was down two pounds (230). I did CKD carbup this Saturday for 18 hours. I gained 9 pounds on the carb up and as of this morning I am back down to 233. I usually lose two pounds a day during the week so I should lose a net pound by Friday AM (229 I hope). Different metabolism I guess?
ON NHE I never reached ketosis (nor should I have gone into ketosis).
I do like the NHE program and feel it is a great way to built muscle and lose fat. I just think I need to lose more fat before I switch back to NHE.
Currently what works for me. Sunday- Friday Keto days 15% less than Maintenance calories 65F/35P/<5C macro nutrients. Friday Depletion workout followed by clean carb up 18-24 hours (still nhe style) Low fat / protein.
Jag

I think i'm Endo, would NHE, or TKD work best for me?

Ahhhh - now here's the sixty-four thousand dollar question. If any of us here could answer that question definitively, we'd be rich.

You'll just have to try one and see. Personal experience: TKD better for cutting, NHE better for bulking. But I'm a woman, and a meso. And besides, your mileage may vary.

Confused yet?

i'll give TKD a shot for about a month and see how I do. I just thought I would ask since it seemed most people on here that had better success with NHE were mostly meso, or ecto. Thanks!

Oh I was going to ask you Built, do you think honey would be ok for the TKD workouts? I would rather have something more natural than eating candy like others like to use.

Honey might have too much fructose.

I'd stick to dextrose.

So you've decided to do a TKD cut?

Yeah, I would rather cut. With that dextrose, can you buy that online, or can you find it in a normal grocery store?

I take mine in a creatine premix right now, but I believe you can get it in bodybuilding supply stores, and I heard you can get it in winemaking supply stores as well.

I do sloppy TKD when I do it - I just have something sweet I like the taste of before I train, and because I get away with it, I haven't had the urge to improve it.

Enjoy it! I always like TKD.

Now brand Dextrose is available at local HFS.
$3.00 for 2 pounds

Jag