I know what you're thinking, "oh great another bulking article" well that is not entirely true. Reading this article will change your life and the way you think about bulking. Now lets think about this for a second, What is bulking?
Take Two
Bulking is the bodybuilders term to putting on muscle mass. Thats right MUSCLE MASS, not FAT ! The amount of misinformation out there is what caused me to waste almost 2 years of my bodybuilding life. Thats right 2 YEARS!
You are probably all wondering how the hell I wasted 2 years. Well before I even started bodybuilding I have always had dreams of getting big, getting huge even, Alpha Male ! Well I read an article on how to get big.
This article stated " to get big you must eat everything in site, everything but the kitchen sink, and then eat that as well". It gave a routine and everything , I was so pumped up and started to workout and eat everything including the kitchen sink. For breakfast I would have eggs and brownies, skittles, "m and m's", ice cream, pizza, whole milk, sweet tarts, the fat on the end of the steak , everything you could think of.
Don't Do This
Well I started gaining weight. I stopped all cardio exercise. I would walk around like a bloated whale. That's right , You guessed it , I wasn't gaining muscle I was getting fat ! I told someone about this and they said " oh well you are supposed to get fat on a bulking cycle !"
So I continued what I was doing and the weight kept coming. Now I was about 3 meals a day , only eating when I felt like it or when I was hungry. I kept gaining weight though. I even had a huge argument with my dad because I did not want to walk to the grocery store because I was afraid I would lose muscle. It was horrible.
I finally realized what was going on before it became too late. I looked in the mirror and after 2 years of this I realized what was going on. I had gained around 5 lbs of muscle and about 25 % of fat.
Try This Instead
Now my story may be a bit extreme but, even if one person benefits from this article I will be extremely happy. Now we all know that in order to get bigger we must consume more calories then our body burns off. To do this we must find out maintenance calories.
- For a bodybuilder that trains hard we multiply 15 x your bodyweight to get maintenance calories
- For the average person it is 12x your bodywieght to get maintenance calories
- EXAMPLE:
- So for a 200 lbs bodybuilder that trains hard his maintenance calories would be 3000 calories per day.
- 200 x 15 = 3000
- So a 200 lbs bodybuilder lifting weights hard needs to eat 3000 calories a day to stay the same weight.
Now, I am going to let you in a little secret. In order to gain muscle you only have to eat 500 calories over your maintenance ! Thats right only 500. NO , there is no need to be consuming 5,000 calories a day like most people tell you. Your muscles have a predetermined recovery ability. No matter how much you eat you cannot recover faster then your set ability. Eating only 500 calories above your maintenance will ensure you do not put on fat during the bulking season. This way you will be lean and be able to take your shirt off year round!
- 4. So a 200 lbs bodybuilder, working out hard needs to eat 3500 calories a day to gain muscle mass.
- 5. 3000 + 500 = 3500
The other thing I want to stress is healthy foods. You may think ok well I am bulking so I can eat this brownie, or I can have this crumb cake. NO ! YOU Cannot ! That brownie or those skittles does not have the proper nutrients to build muscle ! You need to eat healthy ! You need to eat good foods that will help you feel good, and help your muscles as well. So change your bulking diet NOW !
Check Out Our List Of These Recommended Mass Gain Diets HERE!
Healthy Carbohydrates
- Fruit
- Oatmeal
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Brown Rice
- Yams
- Pasta
Healthy Proteins
- Chicken breast
- Lean Beef
- Beef Jerky
- Fat Free Deli Meats
- Protein Shakes
- Turkey
- Shrimp
- Salmon
Read The Ultimate Carbohydrate Manifesto HERE!
Stay tuned for part 2 of my bulking series titled "Break down of macronutrients and Cardio" that's right I said Cardio , Cardio on a bulking diet ! Is he crazy ! Well, you will have to weight and see !
Get Lean,