Here is all the information you need to know about bulking!

And if you dont want to read, you can just check out this video!

 

What is bulking?

Bulking means, that you increase your calorie intake above maintenence with a goal of gaining more muscle and strenght in the process.

Types of bulking

There are 2 types of bulking that you can choose from.

 

1. Clean bulk

2. Dirty bulk

 

Clean bulk

Clean bulk is done by increasing your calorie intake by roughly 300 to 500 calories above maintenence.

This process will slowly increase your weight, which is really nice, because its going to limit the excess fat gain you might otherwise get from dirty bulking.

You are also going to feel much better physically and mentally than if you dirty bulked, because you are still going to be consuming a lot of high quality foods.

And you are also less likely to feel sluggish and have all the other side effects of dirty bulking like oily skin, stretch marks, and decreased cardiovascular performance.

 

Dirty bulk

As the name suggests, this is a more radical approach to bulking, most people dont even count their calories when dirty bulking, they are just trying to stuff their face 24/7 with various types of high calorie foods.

I would reccomend this approach only if you are VERY skinny.

With this approach you will gain a lot of weight relatively quickly, but its going to be mostly fat, so dont overdo it.

Because someday, you will have to get rid off that fat, and as we all know, dieting is not really that fun, is it?

 

How long to bulk?

There is no pre-determined number that u should follow,  as this mostly depends on your individual goals and preferences and also on how your body will respond to the sudden weight gain.

But there are some signals that will tell you that you should most likely stop bulking.

The main signal being, that if you plateau for a long time, you should most likely consider stopping the bulk, as the bulking phase is here mainly to get stronger and to gain muscle mass, and if you are not getting stronger or bigger anymore, there is no reason to continue the bulk, at that point, u are just adding unncessary fat onto your frame.

 

And the other signal being, that you are already too fat, look at yourself in the mirror, and honestly ask yourself, am i too fat? Or you can ask someone close to you, to tell you if you are too fat, because you might be biased and not realize how fat you have really gotten, so by asking your parents or your girlfriend for feedback, you can eliminate the bias, and really see the reality.

 

Common mistakes

The biggest mistake is not getting enough protein in your diet.

Even tho you are eating a lot of food, you are somehow still not hitting your reccomended protein intake, which is really going to hinder your progress moving forward, so get that in check!

Next mistake is not training hard enough or just skipping the gym all together when bulking.

When you are bulking, your main goal is to get stronger and bigger, and you are not going to do that by sitting at your computer.

 

This goes hand in hand with recovery, you are really pushing your body hard when you are bulking, so you should really focus on your sleep, to make sure you are still able to get bigger and stronger.

And lastly, dont be impatient, if you are clean bulking, and your weight is still not moving up, its fine, its not gonna happen overnight, but if you are stuck for couple of weeks, and the weight is just simply not moving, its a sign that you are probably not eating enough.

 

Cardio while bulking

People are always arguing if you should do cardio while bulking.

But i feel like that this is common sense, you should 100% continue doing your 150minutes of moderate intensity cardio per week.

Because if you stop doing cardio and start to gain weight rapidly, you will just start gasing out mid set, which will cost you some gains you could have made otherwise.

Plus going for a walk after you a had a big meal will help you with digestion! So i highly reccomend doing that!

 

Tips for bulking

1. – If you have problems with eating enough food, you should focus on foods that are more calorie dense, instead of the opposite, low calorie high volume foods are perfect for cutting, but definitely not for bulking . Use for example nuts, avocado, dried fruit, cereal etc.

 

2. – When you are cooking a meal, add some extra olive oil into it, olive oil is loaded with calories, and your meal is going to taste even better with it! And it doesnt add any more volume to the food you are already eating, so its perfect!

 

3. – Take advantage of healthy fats. Focusing on foods that have a lot of healthy fats will make your bulking a lot easier, because 1gram of fat has 9 calories! Meanwhile carbs and protein have only 4calories per 1gram! That obviously doesnt mean that you should not eat carbs and protein, is just want to point out, that its easier to consume more calories when the food is higher in fat.

 

4. – Eat fastfood If you are really struggling with gaining weight, but definitely dont consume it every day, use it more like a reward for yourself when you feel like you deserved it by working hard. Your diet should still be consisted of high quality food and not processed garbage, but sometimes healthy food is not gonna get you there, so you have to be your own judge of whether you should or shouldnt consume it.

 

5. – Make really simple adjustments when it comes to your food. Were you consuming egg whites before the bulk? Just start eating eggs now. Were you eating 0% fat cottage cheese or yogurth? Simply switch to the higher fat variation. This is how you can easily add more calories to your pre-existing diet without even changing it.

 

6. – Consume liquid calories, i feel like this is the best tip of them all. You can start with making different kinds of smoothies, just put in some oats, peanut butter, protein powder and some bananas and you got yourself a high calorie smoothie that is very convinient and easy to get down in a short amount of time! You can also start drinking  juice, find the one that has a lot of calories and that you actually enjoy drinking, and u will easily increase your calories in no time! And dont forget about milk, it can be a game changer!

 

Well, thats all you need to know about bulking!

 

Try using all of this knowledge in your own nutrition plan, and im sure that you will see much better results..or you can just try one of my step-by-step nutrition plans!

And if you still have any questions about this topic, or about anything else that is related to bodybuilding, join our community and get help from me and other like-minded individuals!