bulking and acceptable body fat gains, help from bodybuilders?

So I'm trying to gain a few lbs of muscle so that I can diet down to 18% BF without being super scrawny. So I'm doing a weight gain routine and lifting every other day. I got one of those Taylor BF scales so that I can measure my BF while I gain, and was wondering what an acceptable level of BF increase is during muscle gain.

I know I have to gain fat to gain muscle, but I'm not clear on what a healthy amount of muscle/fat ratio is. Should I be seeing my BF% increase significantly as I gain muscle weight, increase slightly, or generally stay the same?

I'm looking to put on about 6 lbs of muscle, which would put me at 125lbs- I'm 119 now.

I don't know the answer to this question, interested to hear answers.  I do have a Taylor BF scale and I'm disappointed in it.  The reading fluctuates by 1-2% on a daily basis, and those changes aren't body fat.

im curious too. but its going to take a long time to gain 6lbs of muscle, especially for a female. according to some guys that i've talked to from their experience, if you are a male & doing everything, AND i mean everything right you could gain 2lb of dry muscle per month.  as you know we women aint so lucky, our bodies would rather put on fat. you might gain about 1/3 of fat while building muscle. but i think if you are a newbie lifter your results would spike at a faster rate than normal.

Original Post by rnjt:

im curious too. but its going to take a long time to gain 6lbs of muscle, especially for a female. according to some guys that i've talked to from their experience, if you are a male & doing everything, AND i mean everything right you could gain 2lb of dry muscle per month. as you know we women aint so lucky, our bodies would rather put on fat. you might gain about 1/3 of fat while building muscle. but i think if you are a newbie lifter your results would spike at a faster rate than normal.

I've been lifting for a year, and have been doing free weights since the start of the summer, so I'm way too in for newbie gains, unfortunately, which is why I have  to do a bulk/cut cycle.

 

From articles that I've read, including some on figureathlete.com, it is possible to gain between .5-1 lb of muscle per week, including for women. I'm just not sure how much fat should go along with this.

 

alevin- I don't really trust the scale much either. Fortunately, I had my body comp done with calipers about 2 weeks ago so I know what my starting BF is. That way I already know that the scale is 2% off (it says I'm at 22 when I'm at 20). Mainly I'm using the scale for change over time. :)

 According to Mike Roussel, a 3:1 ratio is generally acceptable - his Build and Burn article is interesting in this context.

 Berardi would probably consider that a bit unambitious looking at his 20 Pounds in 20 Weeks but that's probably not 20lbs of dry muscle protein ;) 

3:1 being 3lbs muscle, 1 lb fat? or 3lbs fat 1 lb muscle?

I'm crossing my fingers hoping you'll say the former.

 

{EDIT} Okay, 3lbs muscle to 1 lb fat. I can accept that!

3lbs muscle to 1lbs fat, yes ;) and 1lb of fat you can diet off in a week, neh?

This seems like it would leave my body comp generally the same, or with only small gains in BF%.