Clean Bulk Advice

hassell90
hassell90 Posts: 6 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Recently finished a 8 week cut, dropped 7lbs in 8 weeks at 1800 calories a day, looking lean again, anyway I want to try out a clean bulk but the tdee calculators are giving out completely different results which is confusing me about how many calories I should eat

I'm 23, 5 foot 8, 150 lbs and workout 4 times a week for about a hour at a time, don't really bother with cardio

Would like someone's input preferably someone who has clean bulked before on what they think I should eat calorie wise

Thanks

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    So many special bulks these days. Clean ones, dirty ones, mini ones. What does it all mean? Are there special cuts too? Have advances in science given us new ways to add mass or is there still just the one?
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Most of calendar year 2012 was a clean bulk for me...so many sweet potatoes and salmon and...ugh...

    ...this time, I'm doing it with more Chipotle and ice cream and...yum...

    Good luck.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    Most of calendar year 2012 was a clean bulk for me...so many sweet potatoes and salmon and...ugh...

    ...this time, I'm doing it with more Chipotle and ice cream and...yum...

    Good luck.

    You have to TRY to make chipotle "dirty"...

    And ice cream is a great source of milk fat and calcium
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Most of calendar year 2012 was a clean bulk for me...so many sweet potatoes and salmon and...ugh...

    ...this time, I'm doing it with more Chipotle and ice cream and...yum...

    Good luck.

    You have to TRY to make chipotle "dirty"...

    And ice cream is a great source of milk fat and calcium

    I'd consider the corn chips "dirty" by most definitions...and I'm pretty sure ice cream is the poster food of "dirty". Just in case, the rest of my diet would certainly get me kicked out of the clean eating club.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    Most of calendar year 2012 was a clean bulk for me...so many sweet potatoes and salmon and...ugh...

    ...this time, I'm doing it with more Chipotle and ice cream and...yum...

    Good luck.

    You have to TRY to make chipotle "dirty"...

    And ice cream is a great source of milk fat and calcium

    I'd consider the corn chips "dirty" by most definitions...and I'm pretty sure ice cream is the poster food of "dirty". Just in case, the rest of my diet would certainly get me kicked out of the clean eating club.

    Oh, yeah, you put in your effort there...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    eh, I would say just go with bulk and eat moderately healthy ...
  • nygiants1313
    nygiants1313 Posts: 120
    i only count calories on a cut....on a bulk i pretty much eat a ****tttttttt load few thousand calories a day but of only strictly healthy food,,,,on a cut it sucks because you get a hungry but must watch out....get hungry on a bulk just eat fruits veggies meats whatever til your stuffed...i have no scientific knowledge if this appropriate or not its more like bro science but all the serious lifters i know that bulk hard they bulk by basically eating as much healhty food as they can get in their mouths within the day and lift very very hard. I have seen the results on them and they dont gain much fat at all maybe just a few pounds that are easily trimed in 3 weeks its not much at all
  • sarahstrezo
    sarahstrezo Posts: 568 Member
    Most people refer to a "clean bulk" as the fact that you don't go balls out eating a crap ton of food just because you are bulking. My idea of a "clean bulk" is a gain of about 1 lb a week for men ( and 1/2 lb a week for women). so….you eat whatever calorie level you need to to gain at that rate.

    It will take trail and error. Start adding in 100 cals each week until you consistently gain weight at 1 lb per week. If you are gaining faster, eat less. If you aren't gaining, eat more.
    It's really pretty simple.
  • djpro1337
    djpro1337 Posts: 68 Member
    I've never really "clean bulked". But, you should be eating 500 calories more than if you were to maintain your weight, and you should be eating 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Foods to stick to are lean protein, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats. You are bound to add a little fat though.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Recently finished a 8 week cut, dropped 7lbs in 8 weeks at 1800 calories a day, looking lean again, anyway I want to try out a clean bulk but the tdee calculators are giving out completely different results which is confusing me about how many calories I should eat

    I'm 23, 5 foot 8, 150 lbs and workout 4 times a week for about a hour at a time, don't really bother with cardio

    Would like someone's input preferably someone who has clean bulked before on what they think I should eat calorie wise

    Thanks

    If you lost almost 1lb per week on 1800 cals, then you should maintain on around 2250... so to bulk add 10-20% to this and enjoy all the food!
  • TriLifter
    TriLifter Posts: 1,283 Member
    Most people refer to a "clean bulk" as the fact that you don't go balls out eating a crap ton of food just because you are bulking. My idea of a "clean bulk" is a gain of about 1 lb a week for men ( and 1/2 lb a week for women). so….you eat whatever calorie level you need to to gain at that rate.

    It will take trail and error. Start adding in 100 cals each week until you consistently gain weight at 1 lb per week. If you are gaining faster, eat less. If you aren't gaining, eat more.
    It's really pretty simple.

    This is exactly what I was going to say. Clean vs. dirty has nothing to do with the quality of calories, only the number. I'm doing a "clean" bulk (but I'm lame and also eat a "clean" diet...whatever the hell that means) and eating only slightly over maintenance.
  • Barbellgirl
    Barbellgirl Posts: 544 Member
    Most people refer to a "clean bulk" as the fact that you don't go balls out eating a crap ton of food just because you are bulking. My idea of a "clean bulk" is a gain of about 1 lb a week for men ( and 1/2 lb a week for women). so….you eat whatever calorie level you need to to gain at that rate.

    It will take trail and error. Start adding in 100 cals each week until you consistently gain weight at 1 lb per week. If you are gaining faster, eat less. If you aren't gaining, eat more.
    It's really pretty simple.

    This is exactly what I was going to say. Clean vs. dirty has nothing to do with the quality of calories, only the number. I'm doing a "clean" bulk (but I'm lame and also eat a "clean" diet...whatever the hell that means) and eating only slightly over maintenance.

    Exactly what these two ladies said. A clean bulk is a small calorie increase over your maintenance, resulting in a slower controlled weight gain.
  • iDad64
    iDad64 Posts: 1
    I would start by visiting this web site. I am certified as a trainer and have been lifting for many years and this guy knows what he is talking about. It is definitely worth your time.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-up-and-gaining-muscle/
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    I would start by visiting this web site. I am certified as a trainer and have been lifting for many years and this guy knows what he is talking about. It is definitely worth your time.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-up-and-gaining-muscle/
    Wow. A first post with a legitimate reference. Wow. :drinker:
    Second (uh, third) what the ladies said. Clean bulk just means don't go crazy adding tons more calories than your body can actually gain as lean mass.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    I found this article helpful after spinning my wheels for my first bulk trying a "lean" or "clean" bulk depending on your definition.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/general-philosophies-of-muscle-mass-gain.html
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
    Recently finished a 8 week cut, dropped 7lbs in 8 weeks at 1800 calories a day, looking lean again, anyway I want to try out a clean bulk but the tdee calculators are giving out completely different results which is confusing me about how many calories I should eat
    Use your own data and add 3500 calories per week per pound.

    You lost about a lb a week @ 1800 * 7 = 12600 cal/wk. Add 3500 for maintenance and another 1750 to gain 1/2 lb per week and you end up with 17850 cal/week or 2550 cal/day. If you want to gain a full lb a week it's 2800 cal/day.

    There you go.

    @ The peanut gallery: Arguing over clean vs dirty bulk doesnt' answer his question, and posting scooby's website when he said "several TDEE calculators are giving out completely different results" isn't helpful, either.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    @ The peanut gallery: Arguing over clean vs dirty bulk doesnt' answer his question, and posting scooby's website when he said "several TDEE calculators are giving out completely different results" isn't helpful, either.

    That is probably my fault. After having read dozens of posts on MFP about "clean" where it referred to the *type* of food and not the *quantity*, I incorrectly read this post.

    My apologies for any confusion.

    Here's a flower: :flowerforyou:
  • TriLifter
    TriLifter Posts: 1,283 Member
    @ The peanut gallery: Arguing over clean vs dirty bulk doesnt' answer his question, and posting scooby's website when he said "several TDEE calculators are giving out completely different results" isn't helpful, either.

    That is probably my fault. After having read dozens of posts on MFP about "clean" where it referred to the *type* of food and not the *quantity*, I incorrectly read this post.

    My apologies for any confusion.

    Here's a flower: :flowerforyou:

    Same...wow, snarkster, huh?
  • Collier78
    Collier78 Posts: 811 Member
    @ The peanut gallery: Arguing over clean vs dirty bulk doesnt' answer his question, and posting scooby's website when he said "several TDEE calculators are giving out completely different results" isn't helpful, either.

    That is probably my fault. After having read dozens of posts on MFP about "clean" where it referred to the *type* of food and not the *quantity*, I incorrectly read this post.

    My apologies for any confusion.

    Here's a flower: :flowerforyou:

    Same...wow, snarkster, huh?

    <<< Peanut Butter???
  • Danny_Boy13
    Danny_Boy13 Posts: 2,094 Member
    So many special bulks these days. Clean ones, dirty ones, mini ones. What does it all mean? Are there special cuts too? Have advances in science given us new ways to add mass or is there still just the one?

    I agree... too many different labels. Just eat, eat, eat if gaining weight is your goal. But eat sensibly. Just eat more of it to put you in a caloric surplus.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member

    @ The peanut gallery: Arguing over clean vs dirty bulk doesnt' answer his question, and posting scooby's website when he said "several TDEE calculators are giving out completely different results" isn't helpful, either.

    Could you be a little more condescending? 'Cause I'm not good with subtlety.
  • chani8
    chani8 Posts: 946 Member
    I'd really check out Scooby's calculator at http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    because he believes in clean bulking. If also has a page on how much you can expect to gain, eating and lifting however it is you're planning on doing it: http://scoobysworkshop.com/muscle-gain-calculator/
  • pavrg
    pavrg Posts: 277 Member
    Could you be a little more condescending? 'Cause I'm not good with subtlety.
    OP asked a simple question about how to adjust his diet given conflicting information, which no one actually answered. He did not ask for people's opinions on what clean or dirty bulk meant or for people to chide his choice of diction.

    You want to discuss what the merits of different bulking techniques are then make your own thread.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Could you be a little more condescending? 'Cause I'm not good with subtlety.
    OP asked a simple question about how to adjust his diet given conflicting information, which no one actually answered. He did not ask for people's opinions on what clean or dirty bulk meant or for people to chide his choice of diction.

    You want to discuss mean people on MFP then make your own thread.

    Fixed
  • TheTvMan
    TheTvMan Posts: 1
    To the OP I've just done a very similar thing cutting at 1800. I'm working my way back up 200 at a time until I start to gain weight at the required rate. I think this also helps avoiding potential rebound jumping from 1800 to 2500+
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Could you be a little more condescending? 'Cause I'm not good with subtlety.
    OP asked a simple question about how to adjust his diet given conflicting information, which no one actually answered. He did not ask for people's opinions on what clean or dirty bulk meant or for people to chide his choice of diction.

    You want to discuss mean people on MFP then make your own thread.

    Fixed

    Many thanks!
  • tmpecus78
    tmpecus78 Posts: 1,206 Member
    clean bulk? Why not eat foods you enjoy.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I'm on the cookie bulk...

    or the C-Food diet.

    LULZ clean bulk- no one knows what that is because knows ever successfully accomplished it.

    If you are a wominz eat at 250-300 over maintenance to start (if you see no changes- up this number 50-100 calories)

    If you are not a womizez- eat roughly 500 over maintenance to start (if you see no changes- up this number by 100-200 calories)

    eat all the things
    lift all the things

    go forth

    be fabulous

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