Basics on Bulking UP!

sevenminaya

"First of all, bulking up is not about eating everything in sight and trying to lift as heavy as possible hoping that all of the increased weight gain will come in the form of muscle. This old school strategy will only lead to excessive fat gain. The best time, in my opinion, to bulk up is after you have been dieting for a long period of time. At this time your body will act like a sponge and absorb all of the nutrients that you give it at peak efficiency in response to the fact that it has not been getting such an influx of nutrients for a while.

Bulking Up Basic #1 : Increase your protein intake to 1.5 grams of protein per pound bodyweight. Protein sources should come from lean low fat sources like chicken, turkey, 93% lean red meats, tuna, egg whites, shrimp, tilapia, mackarel, and salmon.

Bulking Up Basic #2 : Increase your carbohydrate intake to between 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. In order to gain muscle, a carbohydrate increase will be required to keep your energy levels high, and thus fuel your workouts, and in order to help shuttle the amino acids from your proteins into the muscle tissue (since carbohydrates increase insulin levels and insulin is necessary for the transport of the aminos into the muscle). The key thing to ensure that muscle mass is maximized as opposed to fat gain when consuming carbohydrates is to ensure that your intake of them is mostly from low glycemic index ones (slow digesting/released carbs) like brown rice, oatmeal, pasta and sweet potatoes.

Bulking Up Basic #3 : Increase your intake of good fats. Some fats are necessary to ensure good hormonal production and thus muscle growth.In order to get your good fats keep the essential fats at 3 tablespoons per day for guys and 1.5 for women in the form of flax seed oil, fish oils or extra virgin canned olive oil. Your workouts should be limited to 60 mins and intense weight training."

ericgAU

Good read. Thanks for posting. I agree that the process of bulking is definitely notr an excuse to eat everything in sight. If you aim for between 250~500 calories over your maintenance this should result in quality muscle mass and minimal fat storage. Another thing worth mentioning is cardio. I wouldn't totally cut out cardio either. Incorporate 3 x 20 min cardio sessions per week.

foodfight247

Excellent post. I've been on here nearly a year and decided that after "phases" of trying to gain weight, I'd best see how many other people are trying to gain. It's good to see how other people are progressing.

Blaqheart

Thank you very informative and well -written.
I made notes and will incorporate this into my weight gaining goals.

I do agree the "eating everything in sight" approach doesn't work and isn't healthy. I am trying to avoid this on my way to gaining weight and muscle.

Lifting heavier weights could end up being detrimental as you may end up lifting and injure yourself.

I will continue to work at my gym in the 30 min circuit weight machine room 3 x week and keep my 20 min cardio on recumbent bike daily. It makes me feel good and is good for heart. I use the "Peak Fitness" while doing my cardio. I am up to two rounds.

I appreciate you have included examples of foods. This is helping to solve my dilemma of what should I eat.

I do have a question; would coconut oil be acceptable as a replacement for evoo?? Not sure if anyone has heard the news about the extra virgin olive oil. Most you buy isn't really extra virgin. It is quite hard to find the real oil. Just because the label reads extra virgin doesn't mean it really is. Seems a lot of brands use it even though they know the product is a mixture of different oils from different countries. Someone emailed me an article on this because they knew I was using evoo. I will look through my emails and see if I saved it. If so I will post the link to article. It is a shame you think you're buying a certain product then find out it wasn't what you thought.

I now use coconut oil for everything and I do mean everything. It is better to cook with because it has a higher cook temp and can even be used to relieve dry skin. No it doesn't taste like coconut, but i myself do enjoy the taste.

Once again thank you for the wonderful article and do continue to post more.

Thank you all for the tips and feedback on the article.
~Namaste,
Blaq

RaeLB

I think I'll try this.