Why is bulking such a big secret to the general population?

Fithealthyforlife

I want to preface this by saying that since doing things correctly, I've been very successful at adding muscle. It's slow, of course. I mean you can't gain muscle at the rate you can gain fat, but it's still possible, and this is a big deal. Here's why...

I never had success building muscle until I started counting calories and macros using MFP. I worked out in high school, and was always sore and tight from it, and my weight never increased, even though my strength did considerably. I used to just think that 2000 calories was the normal diet, and that I was supposed to eat that, without taking into account my age, sex, height, weight, LBM, and activity level. I also thought that I could just go by hunger signals and I'd automatically eat the right amount. Wrong again!

I thought that if I lifted, my body would just allocate the resources needed to making more muscle. Boy was I wrong. None of the books I read talked about intentionally eating extra food. Even Dr. Franco Columbu didn't mention it in his books. Trainers never told me, either. They just suggested taking protein supplements or eating more pasta.

I also used to think that people got fat not by eating too much, but by eating "unhealthy" foods. I had no clue that people gained muscle not by working out (by itself) but by eating slightly more food than required (let alone correct macros). I also thought fat was evil due to the popular media, and that we should all be on a low fat diet. I didn't know much about caloric density of various foods. I didn't know that muscle growth required a dietary surplus!

When I joined MFP and heard about maintenance, surplus, and deficit, it all started making sense. I was underweight and at my lowest weight ever due to cutting out a lot of foods for the 3 previous years to try to cure a health issue I was facing at the time. Unfortunately, I not only cut out junk foods, but a lot of helpful ones, too. It took 3 years of unintentionally eating a deficit, but I lost 20 lbs, most of which was muscle, because I had started out at 6% bodyfat. I wasn't really working out at the time. Miraculously, I stayed lean and hard and never became skinny-fat, despite losing muscle.

Now by eating 14% over maintenance each day and working out, I've regained half of the muscle in a few months. It's slow and requires dedication, but it works.

So, why did I never hear about bulking before joining MFP? Why are we taught that if we just work out, we will gain muscle, when clearly that is wrong? Why is it such a big secret? I wasted my high school years in terms of working out. No wonder I burned out back then...I didn't have enough physical food resources to keep it up, so I lost motivation due to overtraining.

GiGiBeans

I heard of bulking. I disregarded it as something competitive bodybuilders do to get huge muscles. After eating at maintenance for a while and spinning my wheels at gaining strength or muscle, I slacked a bit for holidays, ate more and my lifts jumped up again and again.

Fithealthyforlife

I heard of bulking. I disregarded it as something competitive bodybuilders do to get huge muscles. After eating at maintenance for a while and spinning my wheels at gaining strength or muscle, I slacked a bit for holidays, ate more and my lifts jumped up again and again.

Exactly. The one time I had heard about it, I heard someone say that football players eat extra food to "bulk up" and purposely gain not only muscle while working out, but fat, making them stronger and harder to tackle, but that it was a dangerous practice in general due to the fat gain.

I never equated "bulking up" with muscle gain in a normal person after hearing this.

livingleanlivingclean

I think it's becoming more mainstream - I have seen so many people (guys in particular) at commercial gyms, not ones overrun by competitors, and most of the ones you see regularly are bulking. It's the wrong way, as they're adding a lot of fat at the same time, but they know they have to eat.

There is somewhat of a culture here for young people going to big music festivals in summer...all the guys want to be ripped, ANC huge. They spend half the year growing and the other half losing the fat for festivals!

Amadbro

Because society I.E. "Hollywood" is aimed more at the physical activity perspective of fitness and nutrition. When you turn the channels on your TV I can guarantee you will see many more "gimmick" exercise devices then you will nutrition related items/cooking shows/recipes.

So society develops this hypothesis of exercise = fit. When in reality its exercise+proper nutrition=fit. The 2 go hand in hand and great fitness cannot be achieved with just one.

skinnyinnotime

I know what you mean, it's like since I joined mfp I do wonder what on earth I have been eating all my life, it's been so pot luck lol!

When I'm silly enough to mention protein to my friends I may as well be speaking Alien to them.

Fithealthyforlife

All good answers. Thank you all.

I think maybe another contributing factor is that a lot of people don't actually gain muscle, but still end up looking good from working out.

When I was in high school ten years ago, there were some guys who definitely bulked. One in particular played football and was quite thin to start with in 8th grade, but by senior year of high school, he had added at least 40 lbs of muscle and was very lean. That easily fits within the half pound a week rate.

But most people i've met who've had major transfomrations from lifting were actually chubby to start with, and dieted down (cut fat). Since they had already eaten a surplus for years and years in order to get chubby, and were active and/or worked out all that time, they already had gained a lot of muscle. Maybe that's another reason society isn't too aware of bulking...the obesity epidemic means that a lot of people have already bulked for years without realizing it. Then they think they're building muscle when they go on a deficit and step up their lifting program, but they're not. So society as a whole sees little need for actually adding muscle, when you think about it. Nothing wrong with this approach, except that it heavily penalizes people who have never over-eaten, because if they follow the same programs, which are popular, they won't gain anything. And then they're labeled hard gainers (by themselves) because they failed to build anything on a deficit.

But even among those who work out in the general population, you still hardly ever hear bulking (or cutting, even though a lot of people are doing it without knowing the word for it) discussed routinely.

It was definitely the best kept secret for success in my opinion. Without MFP, I'd still be spinning my wheels and not accomplishing anything.

CarlKRobbo

You probably never heard as people have such a bad misconception of Bulking..

For example - Most people who hear that I'm bulking think straight away of Arnie. When I say I do Powerlifting\Strongman, they think of Andy Bolton\Big Z......

They always associate that term with the Heavy weight's, and never seem to realize that you can Bulk, only adding say 25lbs on, which for most will not make them anywhere near those guys above.. It's a wrong way to think of it... I'm not trying to stir, but it's as bad as assuming every woman who's loosing weight is trying to get to a size 0!! Most Women aren't, and most Men aren't trying to be the next Arnie, but people always assume the extreme when it comes to any kind of weight gain\loss....

Springfield1970

All good answers. Thank you all.

I think maybe another contributing factor is that a lot of people don't actually gain muscle, but still end up looking good from working out.

When I was in high school ten years ago, there were some guys who definitely bulked. One in particular played football and was quite thin to start with in 8th grade, but by senior year of high school, he had added at least 40 lbs of muscle and was very lean. That easily fits within the half pound a week rate.

But most people i've met who've had major transfomrations from lifting were actually chubby to start with, and dieted down (cut fat). Since they had already eaten a surplus for years and years in order to get chubby, and were active and/or worked out all that time, they already had gained a lot of muscle. Maybe that's another reason society isn't too aware of bulking...the obesity epidemic means that a lot of people have already bulked for years without realizing it. Then they think they're building muscle when they go on a deficit and step up their lifting program, but they're not. So society as a whole sees little need for actually adding muscle, when you think about it. Nothing wrong with this approach, except that it heavily penalizes people who have never over-eaten, because if they follow the same programs, which are popular, they won't gain anything. And then they're labeled hard gainers (by themselves) because they failed to build anything on a deficit.

But even among those who work out in the general population, you still hardly ever hear bulking (or cutting, even though a lot of people are doing it without knowing the word for it) discussed routinely.

It was definitely the best kept secret for success in my opinion. Without MFP, I'd still be spinning my wheels and not accomplishing anything.

Brilliantly said! But mention logging calories to anyone I know, including personal trainers, athletes, body builders, and they look at me like I'm bonkers obsessed. Stuff em! Too much hard work for most people. I love feeling the control, after nearly 30 years feeling out of control and losing and gaining fat and LBM randomly.

Amadbro

You probably never heard as people have such a bad misconception of Bulking..

For example - Most people who hear that I'm bulking think straight away of Arnie. When I say I do Powerlifting\Strongman, they think of Andy Bolton\Big Z......

They always associate that term with the Heavy weight's, and never seem to realize that you can Bulk, only adding say 25lbs on, which for most will not make them anywhere near those guys above.. It's a wrong way to think of it... I'm not trying to stir, but it's as bad as assuming every woman who's loosing weight is trying to get to a size 0!! Most Women aren't, and most Men aren't trying to be the next Arnie, but people always assume the extreme when it comes to any kind of weight gain\loss....

??????

Fithealthyforlife

Nice pic. I love Arnold. And Franco. Stallone is ok, too.

jofjltncb6

In...

...because this discussion is relevant to my interests.

Amadbro

Nice pic. I love Arnold. And Franco. Stallone is ok, too.

One of my fav pics. I can't wait to get on stage. I'll never get close to those guys but I will damn sure try my hardest.

MyChocolateDiet

You're right, this was never made clear to me either. And I paid attention in gym class, home ec, nutrition class, and even the specific class for weight lifting I took at a local college. During PT for an injury in which I was supposed to be building a "girdle" made out of muscle to support my back nobody mentioned it either. Neither did I hear about it at a medically supervised weight loss with shakes for the obese who had medical conditions caused by or complicated by overweight which I begged to sign up for. No class from jazzercise to zumba over the course of 3 decades has ever addressed this nor has my college swimming, aerobics or dance class. That's a LOT of fitness related classes to pay and sign up for and attend to NEVER have heard of this concept until free MFP. Well played MFP...well played!

Fithealthyforlife

Is that Bob Vila?

I used to love watching that guy as a kid!

Ok, back to topic. I'm getting side-tracked with all the pics while I'm between sets.

Fithealthyforlife

So far, I think we've concluded that the fitness "world" is either:

-Disproportionately obsessed with weight loss and doesn't have time to think seriously about building muscle except as an after-thought

or

-Full of special snowflakes who can build muscle without eating over maintenance and not keeping track


But that still doesn't answer the "How are you supposed to build muscle? After all, everyone is recommending it for optimal health these days" question.

Maybe "newbie gains" are enough for most people and they're content with building just 5-10 lbs of muscle at a very slow rate. But for the thin people among us who want to build like 40 lbs over a period of years, that's just not enough.

mustgetmuscles1

Just a lack of education. Tons of people that think all they have to do to gain muscle is workout. Or think they can use stored fat to fuel muscle growth.

Huge numbers of people still think all they have to do to lose weight is do some light cardio and eat "healthy". They will go for months and wonder why they are not losing weight.

MyChocolateDiet

Is that Bob Vila?

I used to love watching that guy as a kid!

Ok, back to topic. I'm getting side-tracked with all the pics while I'm between sets.

Yeah we have been doing This old house marathon for a few days now. That was bob and this is his mug. or at least it showed up on bob vila fashion google search and i ran with it.

MyChocolateDiet

Just a lack of education. Tons of people that think all they have to do to gain muscle is workout. Or think they can use stored fat to fuel muscle growth.

Huge numbers of people still think all they have to do to lose weight is do some light cardio and eat "healthy". They will go for months and wonder why they are not losing weight.

yeah but how frustrating is it that I put myself into every educatable opportunity and sometimes my very livelihood depended on gaining muscle and i was working with experts and professionals and this info still did not come my way? even in college i took electives that should have at least touched on this matter enough for me to take it from there. i am sersly galled that it took this website to expose me to this concept.

MyChocolateDiet

So far, I think we've concluded that the fitness "world" is either:

-Disproportionately obsessed with weight loss and doesn't have time to think seriously about building muscle except as an after-thought

or

-Full of special snowflakes who can build muscle without eating over maintenance and not keeping track


But that still doesn't answer the "How are you supposed to build muscle? After all, everyone is recommending it for optimal health these days" question.

Maybe "newbie gains" are enough for most people and they're content with building just 5-10 lbs of muscle at a very slow rate. But for the thin people among us who want to build like 40 lbs over a period of years, that's just not enough.

I would add the medical field as well since some of my frustration comes from not hearing it there when i REALLY needed it. You don't know how many times I have been in front of a PT or a PT (physical therapist, or personal trainer) and stating very clearly that I seek to gain strength. Weight loss is always the first thing and the last thing that comes out of their mouth. Except for my most recent trainer and PT. Because I HUNTED for those dudes. And I've become VERY outspoken and very selective.

MyChocolateDiet

Oops triple post here...i'm on a roll today. Sorry, not sorry.