what is bulking

nancyjay__

OK when I try to make sense of something I blurt everything out and it might not make sense at first so be patient with me please.

I've noticed that when people bulk they gain a lot of weight but more often than not they mostly gain fat. Now since we can't turn fat into muscle why don't these people just do this very slowly and add minimal amounts of fat and muscle but instead the opposite. Wouldn't that just be a set back. My question is what is the true meaning of bulking and are people just using the term to loosely and in a joking manner.

Also how much muscle can a body gain so how long would it take to have well developed muscles?

Thanks

S4Lyons

It depends where you started were you skinny or were you fat ?
But a bulk is to make sure that you're constantly gaining muscle, allot of people arent in tune with their bodies so they don't know what cal surplus they need so for some lean gains aren't in their interest affordable, think about it if you just go over by 1000 cal you know somewhere under the flub your slowly gaining...
But it's more focused at 'hard gainers' id still recommend leaner gains any day

terizius

Nancy, glad you are trying to understand all this. I'll try to lay it out for you.

Bulking means eating more calories than your body actually "requires" while doing a lifting program. The lifting program is important, because if we just eat extra, it will all turn into fat. Even with an intense lifting program, some of that extra weight will be fat because the body simply can't turn all of it into muscle (but it does need the extra to build extra muscle). The commonly accepted limit to muscle growth is about 20lbs in the first year, getting progressively less as the years go by. Also, most say that the ratio of muscle to fat is 1:1, meaning for every pound of muscle gained, the body will also store 1 lb of fat. Once people have reached their goal weight or too high of a body fat % (usually around 15%), they will cut to lose the fat. Its still important here to lift regularly and eat enough protein to let the body know that it needs to keep the muscle during the cut. BTW, without lifting, the body will tend to keep fat over muscle since its a richer source of energy.

What you described is called a recomp. This is where people eat a maintenance calories (no extra) while lifting heavy. Over time, one can build muscles with the benefit of staying lean the entire time and not having to do a cut. The downside is that its a much slower process than doing a bulk/cut cycle.

Most people like to see results sooner, and bulk/cut is the most efficient way to gain muscle size. Hope this helps.

S4Lyons

@terizius, completely agree but just adding on to what you said it doesn't mean you'll stay the same bf % year round it you can gain more muscle than fat therefore when you reach a new weight if your muscle to fat ratio differs in the socially more acceptable happy region you'll more than likely have a lower bf % than where you started

nancyjay__

terizius wrote: »

Nancy, glad you are trying to understand all this. I'll try to lay it out for you.

Bulking means eating more calories than your body actually "requires" while doing a lifting program. The lifting program is important, because if we just eat extra, it will all turn into fat. Even with an intense lifting program, some of that extra weight will be fat because the body simply can't turn all of it into muscle (but it does need the extra to build extra muscle). The commonly accepted limit to muscle growth is about 20lbs in the first year, getting progressively less as the years go by. Also, most say that the ratio of muscle to fat is 1:1, meaning for every pound of muscle gained, the body will also store 1 lb of fat. Once people have reached their goal weight or too high of a body fat % (usually around 15%), they will cut to lose the fat. Its still important here to lift regularly and eat enough protein to let the body know that it needs to keep the muscle during the cut. BTW, without lifting, the body will tend to keep fat over muscle since its a richer source of energy.

What you described is called a recomp. This is where people eat a maintenance calories (no extra) while lifting heavy. Over time, one can build muscles with the benefit of staying lean the entire time and not having to do a cut. The downside is that its a much slower process than doing a bulk/cut cycle.

Most people like to see results sooner, and bulk/cut is the most efficient way to gain muscle size. Hope this helps.

This is awesome Thanks!

IvanOcampo

What is a bulk?
this will explain it ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeOh18mWWzg

nancyjay__

IvanOcampo wrote: »

What is a bulk?
this will explain it ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeOh18mWWzg

Bulking is Murica

adamitri

terizius wrote: »

Nancy, glad you are trying to understand all this. I'll try to lay it out for you.

Bulking means eating more calories than your body actually "requires" while doing a lifting program. The lifting program is important, because if we just eat extra, it will all turn into fat. Even with an intense lifting program, some of that extra weight will be fat because the body simply can't turn all of it into muscle (but it does need the extra to build extra muscle). The commonly accepted limit to muscle growth is about 20lbs in the first year, getting progressively less as the years go by. Also, most say that the ratio of muscle to fat is 1:1, meaning for every pound of muscle gained, the body will also store 1 lb of fat. Once people have reached their goal weight or too high of a body fat % (usually around 15%), they will cut to lose the fat. Its still important here to lift regularly and eat enough protein to let the body know that it needs to keep the muscle during the cut. BTW, without lifting, the body will tend to keep fat over muscle since its a richer source of energy.

What you described is called a recomp. This is where people eat a maintenance calories (no extra) while lifting heavy. Over time, one can build muscles with the benefit of staying lean the entire time and not having to do a cut. The downside is that its a much slower process than doing a bulk/cut cycle.

Most people like to see results sooner, and bulk/cut is the most efficient way to gain muscle size. Hope this helps.

Explained very nicely and easy to understand too! Thank you!

scottf4413

terizius wrote: »

Nancy, glad you are trying to understand all this. I'll try to lay it out for you.

Bulking means eating more calories than your body actually "requires" while doing a lifting program. The lifting program is important, because if we just eat extra, it will all turn into fat. Even with an intense lifting program, some of that extra weight will be fat because the body simply can't turn all of it into muscle (but it does need the extra to build extra muscle). The commonly accepted limit to muscle growth is about 20lbs in the first year, getting progressively less as the years go by. Also, most say that the ratio of muscle to fat is 1:1, meaning for every pound of muscle gained, the body will also store 1 lb of fat. Once people have reached their goal weight or too high of a body fat % (usually around 15%), they will cut to lose the fat. Its still important here to lift regularly and eat enough protein to let the body know that it needs to keep the muscle during the cut. BTW, without lifting, the body will tend to keep fat over muscle since its a richer source of energy.

What you described is called a recomp. This is where people eat a maintenance calories (no extra) while lifting heavy. Over time, one can build muscles with the benefit of staying lean the entire time and not having to do a cut. The downside is that its a much slower process than doing a bulk/cut cycle.

Most people like to see results sooner, and bulk/cut is the most efficient way to gain muscle size. Hope this helps.

Very well written. I got a lot out of that. Thank you.

terizius

^^ Thanks, my pleasure.