While you have to watch out for consuming too many calories when losing weight, the exact opposite applies to bulking. Bulking is therefore necessary to gain mass. Mass that you can later convert into muscle mass. This is how you keep getting bigger. At least: If you do it the right way.
Bulking the right way
During bulking, you eat more calories than your body burns, because you need enough energy and nutrients to actually grow your muscles. Without a calorie surplus, it is significantly harder to build exactly that muscle mass, because your body does not have enough building blocks to recover optimally after heavy workouts. In addition to recovery, bulking ensures that you become stronger. Because you consume more energy, you can train harder, lift heavier weights, and make faster progress.
You can bulk in two ways, and everyone bulks in their own way. However, the best way is by consuming nutritious products such as proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. If you do it this way, you primarily build muscle mass and limit unnecessary fat gain. Bulking is therefore essential to provide your body with the right fuel for growth, recovery, and strength gain. It is an important phase for anyone who truly wants to become stronger and more muscular.
Lean vs Dirty Bulking
As we just established, during bulking you consume more calories so that you have enough energy and building blocks to allow muscles to grow. There are two common ways to do this: Lean Bulking: This involves consciously maintaining a small calorie surplus, usually about 200 to 400 calories above your maintenance level. Here, you focus on nutritious products such as lean proteins, whole-grain carbohydrates, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats. The goal is to build as much muscle mass as possible while simultaneously keeping fat gain as low as possible. This process is often slower, but ensures that you remain physically leaner and need to cut less after the bulk.
Dirty Bulking: This is far from a controlled approach. It involves consuming a large calorie surplus, often without paying much attention to the quality of food. People are more likely to choose high-calorie products such as fast food, snacks, and sugary meals to easily consume a lot of calories. The advantage is that weight gain happens faster and it can be easier to eat enough. The disadvantage is that, in addition to muscle mass, you also store much more fat, meaning you often have to cut for longer later on to reach a lower body fat percentage again. Main difference therefore lies in the control and quality of food. Lean bulking is a slower, healthier, and more strategic way of building muscle, while dirty bulking yields faster results on the scale but usually also causes more unwanted fat gain.
From bulk to Hulk: a few tips
- Ensure a small calorie surplus. Make sure you consume between 200 and 400 extra calories per day. This ensures you have sufficient building blocks without storing too much fat.
- Ensure you get enough protein per day. Protein is important for muscle recovery and growth. Count on approximately 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Good sources include chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, fish, lean beef, and protein shakes. Whey protein is absorbed the fastest in this regard.
- Heavy and consistent workouts. Bulking only works well if you keep challenging your muscles. Try to get stronger by applying progressive overload, where you train with increasingly heavier weights and perform more repetitions.
- Choose nutritious calories. Eat mainly foods such as rice, oatmeal, potatoes, pasta, nuts, avocado, vegetables, and fruit. This way, you get enough nutrients alongside extra calories. It is fine to have a cheat day, but don’t make it the basis of your bulking period.
- Distribute your meals smartly. Many people sometimes struggle to eat large quantities. In that case, spread your calories over 4 to 6 meals a day. No one said you have to divide those calories over three meals, right?
- Drink your calories if eating is difficult.
- A shake with milk, oatmeal, banana, peanut butter, and whey is an easy way to get extra calories. For many, this makes bulking a lot easier. See what works best for you! Be creative with your shakes. If you need inspiration, let me know!
- Get enough sleep. Muscles grow during recovery. Try to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Your muscles recover best when you reach the deep sleep phase. This is also where the most growth hormone is produced.
- Track your progress.
- Weigh yourself 1 to 2 times a week and take progress photos if you like. A good bulk involves gaining about 0.25 to 0.5 kg per week. Is your growth off track? Are you gaining weight too fast? Then eat a little less. Are you gaining weight too slowly? Then eat a little more. It is simply a matter of adjustment.
- Be patient. Building muscle takes time. Don’t expect huge changes in a few weeks. Think in terms of months instead. Do set a realistic goal for yourself.
- Avoid too much junk food. An occasional cheat day isn’t a big deal, but if you mainly eat unhealthy food, you will gain fat faster than muscle mass, and that fat is simply harder to lose. Energy intake is also lower, which can make cutting more difficult.
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