If you’re attempting to create muscle, but it appears to take forever, your diet may not be adequate to support the muscular growth you want. This is because to boost muscle protein synthesis; you need a lot of calories, which are difficult to come by if you’re simultaneously attempting to maintain or reduce weight. Typically, increasing your calories by 10% to 20% is required for bulking. Experts advise bulking before cutting.
Bulking may be the solution in some cases. Bodybuilders employ bulking tactics in their off-season to gain as much muscle as possible. This allows them to make rapid progress in their physiques. However, before eating, you must first grasp how to bulk up effectively. You must also evaluate your starting place, your goals, and the amount of time you have. Here’s what you should know before you begin.
What exactly is bulking?
Bulking is an attempt to gain weight fast, primarily in the form of muscle, by eating more calories than your body requires in conjunction with a training program intended to increase muscle accretion. Whenever someone wants to bulk up, they usually consume as much as they can in terms of the nutritional content of the food. All high-calorie foods are fair game, and they are frequently consumed in abundance to meet daily calorie needs for bulking. The issue with this strategy is that the average Western-style diet is high in fats, carbohydrates, and processed foods while being low in protein. People who increased their calories by 1,000 per day while maintaining a Western diet gained weight, but 50 to 67 percent of the weight gained was fat.
While bulking aims to gain muscular weight, most people want to increase muscle mass rather than fat. Therefore, clean bulking is a more strategic phase that emphasizes complete, unprocessed diets high in protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables. Furthermore, a high-protein bulk is more likely to increase muscle mass and decrease fat gain. Any amount less than 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day will not aid in bulking. To restrict weight gain from fat mass, you may need to consume 2.2 to 3.4 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day. However, exceeding grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day should be avoided unless under the supervision of a medical practitioner.
Why Are People Consider Bulking?
Bulking can be done for various purposes, including:
- Gaining muscle and strength for a competition such as a powerlifting or bodybuilding.
- They are underweight and wish to gain weight to improve their health indicators.
- They need to meet a specified weight class for a sport, or they want to bulk up for a role in a play or film.
How Can You Begin Bulking?
When you’re ready to start bulking, decide how much muscle you want to grow, how many weeks you have been bulking, and what kind of bulk you wish to attain t—clean vs. traditional or “dirty bulk.” Most bulks endure between 6 weeks and 4 months. Some claim to be in a bulking phase that lasts up to a year. Longer does not always mean better. Next, determine your daily calorie requirements. Begin by calculating your resting metabolic rate (RMR). This figure indicates how many calories you require to perform fundamental chores and maintain your weight. Once you reach that number, add another 10% to 20% of calories per week to add roughly 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent of body weight increase per week.
If you’re unsure how much you’re eating now, consider documenting your consumption for a week with a food journal app to see where you’re starting from. Tracking your diet with an app can also be beneficial during your bulk to ensure you are meeting your daily calorie objectives.
Bulking Nutrition
A typical bulk would perform well for you if you don’t mind accumulating body fat while bulking. A standard bulk entails eating whatever you want to meet your calorie targets. Fast-food and other processed foods are acceptable targets. However, this bulking method may result in greater body fat increase than muscle mass—you must decide whether this is acceptable for you. On another note, if you aspire to gain muscle while losing body fat, you should prioritize the quality of your foods and protein. Protein consumption should be between 2.2 grams and 3.4 grams per kilogram of body weight when combined with a strength training plan to enhance muscle and strength growth during a bulk. This amount will require more than three meals to be digested. For young adults, each meal should contain about 0.25 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, and for adults, each meal should have about 4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
What Should You Eat?
A diet rich in whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean protein is best for gaining lean body mass. The number of meals per day has little bearing on weight gain as long as the overall calorie targets for the day are reached.
However, bulking diets are frequently high in calories, making meeting calorie objectives with only two to three meals per day problematic. As a result, it may be a good idea to spread your calories out over the day so you may eat your complete meal without feeling bloated. Because you’ve already established your calorie requirements, you can now calculate how much protein you’ll require each day. To do so, divide your weight by 2.2 to get your body weight in kilograms. Then divide that total by 2.2 and 3.4. That is your new daily protein intake range.
The remaining calories can be divided among complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats. Do not be hesitant to include high-calorie foods such as ice cream and cheese in your diet. These foods have nutritional value and can assist you in meeting your daily high-calorie goals.
Bulking Exercises
Unfortunately, increasing your diet and eating as much as possible will not help you gain lean muscle unless combined with a rigorous strength training regimen. Resistance training and a high protein diet are crucial for boosting muscle-building potential.
Super-sets, body part splits, and set-rep schemes are advanced training approaches that can help you bust through plateaus and avoid training boredom. In addition, implementing a few high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions per week can be an excellent method for limiting fat gain. Furthermore, evidence suggests that HIIT workouts promote muscle growth.
Try to do three to six sets of six to twelve repetitions at a moderate intensity of 60 percent to 80 percent of your one-rep max while bulking with resistance training. Resting time should be limited to roughly 60 seconds. The training volume should subsequently be increased to 12 to 28 sets per muscle every week.
Safety Recommendations
While nutrition and exercise are vital for making the most of your bulking period, you are still putting your body under more stress. To assist your body in recovering, repairing, and attaining your muscle gain goals, prioritize sleep, hydration, and stress management in addition to nutrition and training.
If you stick to a traditional—or unclean bulk—diet for an extended length of time, you risk developing additional body fat and increasing your health risks. As a result, classic bulks are better used in the short term.
Furthermore, rapid weight gain can strain joints and generate stretch marks.
Remember to take your time and build muscle carefully to avoid quick weight gain and the danger issues that come with it.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
It is feasible to bulk without adhering to a strict food regimen. Attempting a bulk without a strength training plan or eating exclusively ultra-processed meals, on the other hand, can result in more fat growth than muscle gain. Combining a clean bulk with a consistent strength training program is the way to go if you’re serious about growing muscle and want to maximize your training efforts while minimizing fat gain. However, choosing how many calories to consume, the types of meals to eat, and designing a fitness regimen on your own is difficult.
If this is the case for you, a qualified strength and conditioning coach or personal trainer and a licensed nutritionist can assist you in developing a routine and meal plan that fits your lifestyle and will help you achieve your goals. You should also consult with a medical practitioner if you intend to consume more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
