Why bulk on carbs?

vm007

Hi,

Planning to do some weight gain approx 5 kg. Just wondering how come almost everyone does a bulk on carbs? Like why not fat? or high protein ? or flexible diet? Why are most bulks carb dominant?

psuLemon

vm007 wrote: »

Hi,

Planning to do some weight gain approx 5 kg. Just wondering how come almost everyone does a bulk on carbs? Like why not fat? or high protein ? or flexible diet? Why are most bulks carb dominant?

There are a variety of reasons. But there should be some clarification. First, people ensure they are getting adequate protein, roughly 1g + . After that, fats should be .35g-.6g/lbm, and the rest can be filled in with carbs. So essentially, if you get adequate protein (for building/repairing muscles) + adequate fats to support hormone health, than the easy solution is just add carbs. Besides, carbs = delicious and nutritious.

From a muscle building perspective, carbs prevent protein breakdown, support recovery, and increase glycogen capacity which increases ATP availability (more energy for powerful lifts). So you will recovery faster, have a greater ability to push more volume, which will directly support muscle building and increases to volume.

AllanMisner

Because of the insulin response, carbs are used much faster than fat or protein. When you eat carbs, you have a blood sugar rise and insulin is released to store it either as glycogen in the liver and muscle or as fat. Also, carbs tend to hold more water, so a carb bulk will add the weight faster.

I'm moving into a cut by dropping my carbs and increasing my fat. On my first day, I dropped 6 lbs (2.8% of my body weight). Carbs make it easy to go up and carb restriction makes it easy to go down (mostly due to water weight).

jemhh

I have never bulked (on purpose at least hahaha boohoo) but I've always thought it was somewhat due to price. It seems like there are more inexpensive carb sources than there are protein sources.

vm007

Did anyone read this?

https://bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-gain-math.html/#more-13913

lol it's like the optimal eating for least amount of fat gain-a person shouldn't eat more than 5200 calories a month for muscle gain for beginner
3500 for Intermediate which would be me.

fitoverfortymom

Carbs are delicious?

vm007

This is stupendous. I thought when I finally learned about CICO for cutting -I was done. If I'd need to bulk -I'd just do the opposite and I'm all set but there is so much to learn. It's like I know nothing at all.

Whatever happened to eat, lift, sleep get big then cut.

I am thinking of following Lyle Mcdonald's diet -4 days of high fat diet - 5th day carb over load -6-7 day over maintenance and rinse repeat.

However, how it'll do for bulk is beyond me.

sardelsa

vm007 wrote: »

Did anyone read this?

https://bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-gain-math.html/#more-13913

lol it's like the optimal eating for least amount of fat gain-a person shouldn't eat more than 5200 calories a month for muscle gain for beginner
3500 for Intermediate which would be me.

That is really slow though.. I mean, as a female, beginner/intermediate I typically bulk with a rate of gain 0.5lb per week, or 2lb per month, so about a 7000 cal surplus per month.

During my second bulk for about half of it I gained 1lb per month, it was so slow. I was getting frustrated and discouraged because I just could not see any progress at all.. so I ended up going back to a regular bulk rate. But I can see myself going really slow when I am more advanced and at the cusp of being happy with my size and muscular development.

sardelsa

vm007 wrote: »

This is stupendous. I thought when I finally learned about CICO for cutting -I was done. If I'd need to bulk -I'd just do the opposite and I'm all set but there is so much to learn. It's like I know nothing at all.

Whatever happened to eat, lift, sleep get big then cut.

I am thinking of following Lyle Mcdonald's diet -4 days of high fat diet - 5th day carb over load -6-7 day over maintenance and rinse repeat.

However, how it'll do for bulk is beyond me.

Don't overcomplicate it. You don't have to go super high carb when bulking, but it can help. While many respond to high carbs when bulking, there are others that keep them moderate and do just fine.

jjpptt2

vm007 wrote: »

This is stupendous. I thought when I finally learned about CICO for cutting -I was done. If I'd need to bulk -I'd just do the opposite and I'm all set but there is so much to learn. It's like I know nothing at all.

Whatever happened to eat, lift, sleep get big then cut.

I am thinking of following Lyle Mcdonald's diet -4 days of high fat diet - 5th day carb over load -6-7 day over maintenance and rinse repeat.

However, how it'll do for bulk is beyond me.

Just for clarity... are you looking for/expecting the most optimal results? Most of us don't live in the ideal/optimal, so eat/sleep/lift is fine for most.

vm007

jjpptt2 wrote: »

vm007 wrote: »

This is stupendous. I thought when I finally learned about CICO for cutting -I was done. If I'd need to bulk -I'd just do the opposite and I'm all set but there is so much to learn. It's like I know nothing at all.

Whatever happened to eat, lift, sleep get big then cut.

I am thinking of following Lyle Mcdonald's diet -4 days of high fat diet - 5th day carb over load -6-7 day over maintenance and rinse repeat.

However, how it'll do for bulk is beyond me.

Just for clarity... are you looking for/expecting the most optimal results? Most of us don't live in the ideal/optimal, so eat/sleep/lift is fine for most.

Just a way to make sure that I gain size without over abundance of excessive fat coming along. That's what I am looking for.

I can and will probably do 250 cals extra over maintenance however, if I start eating carbs I'll gain all the water weight that I had lost from previous weeks of low carbs.

It's funny - i've been 500 cals over my maintenance for the past week or so and I didn't gain a single pound. However, it wasn't carbs it was High protein and fat.

jjpptt2

Water weight =/= fat. As soon as you cut back carbs again, that weight will/should go away again.

What's that expression about the forest for the trees?

vm007

So basically inexpensive and tasty are the reason why bulk on carbs should be done?

I really used to think they had something "special" in them SMH

sijomial

vm007 wrote: »

So basically inexpensive and tasty are the reason why bulk on carbs should be done?

I really used to think they had something "special" in them SMH

Plus the potential performance gains as outlined by psuLemon in his second paragraph.
As muscle gain is driven by your exercise then maximising your exercise performance is important.

"Just a way to make sure that I gain size without over abundance of excessive fat coming along" - that is driven primarily by the size of your calorie surplus.

AnvilHead

vm007 wrote: »

So basically inexpensive and tasty are the reason why bulk on carbs should be done?

I really used to think they had something "special" in them SMH

Glycogen. As mentioned/detailed above by psulemon.

vm007

lol so far I've had my carbs at 120 grams or less. I've noticed when I try to restrict a macro like this- I try to eat nutritionally better versus if I simply look at caloric consumption.

Workouts don't seem like they have suffered but I guess I'd only know once I raise carbs up to like 300g or something.

On workout days I consume 3k calories(high protein) on non-workout days I'm around 2400-2500 (still high protein at least I try)

One day a week I overload on carbs.

I've gained from 80.5 kg to 81.1kg since Oct 16 -2018 and I've given myself until 31 Dec to hit 85kg