Bulking
bryanna277
Posts: 56 Member
What is bulking? Ive also see macros a lot too since ive been researching weight gain and lifting. Im interested in methods of bulking as well. Any advice or help is great
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Replies
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From the "Most Helpful Posts (must reads)" sticky at the top of the page: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10226536/bulking-for-beginners0
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Bulking is eating more calories over maintenance in order to obtain muscle mass. Fat % increases as well of course. Calories are broken into 3 main sources known as macronutrients aka "macros"
Fats - 9 cals per gram
Carbs -4 cals per gram
Protein- 4 cals per gram
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The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.0
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Bulking is intentionally getting larger via sustained caloric surplus. Without much exercise, most of the mass gained will be body fat. With proper weight training, a majority of the mass gained will be muscle.0
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For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
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ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
nothing subjective about it. Eat more and lift more to put on as much mass as possible while minimizing fat gains.0 -
adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
How do you calculate the percentage of how many calories you are getting in your daily protien carbs and lifting per day?0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
How do you calculate the percentage of how many calories you are getting in your daily protien carbs and lifting per day?
There are calculators that can tell you how much protein, carbs and healthy fats you should take in every day for a good bulk. This is one of them: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. If you want to bulk, you have to lift and lift heavy to tear down as much muscle fibers as possible to stimulate repair and growth. Your cycle of increased intake should last as long as you continue to gain more muscle than fat and then start a cut cycle when you plateau out or start to gain more fat than muscle. It's different from person to person. There are ways to bulk without having to gain much fat but it's harder to do and works better for people experiencing newbie gains, much more difficult for long time lifters.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?0 -
Also, you don't want to start out eating way over your maintenance but ease into it and then ease back down.0
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ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
No more than the definition of ANY word is 'subjective'. I mean, it's a pretty cut and dry definition..."Eat at a caloric surplus to add mass."0 -
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
How is that subjective? The only thing subjective is the amount of surplus one chooses to use. Sure, you could call it a "clean" bulk (low surplus), "dirty bulk" or "GFH bulk" (large surplus), but either way it involves eating at a caloric surplus (preferably with strength training involved) in order to gain weight.0 -
Bulking is the act of eating at a surplus with the end goal of gaining muscle mass. However, I've seen people bulk while eating at a caloric deficit because their focus is on the end goal, gaining muscle mass. The eating is just a tool to facilitate the end result. If you already have a large fat surplus, you don't have to actually eat at a surplus and can actually cut while gaining muscle mass. This is especially true with newbs to lifting that are granted the gift of newbie gains. So, bulking may be different from one person to the next dependent upon where on the fitness meter you happen to be. The term is widely used and associated with lifters that have been lifting for a while and want to add on additional muscle mass.0
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ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
But most people would call that a recomp, not bulking. You're not going to be adding much mass; you're more likely gaining muscle and losing fat at a very slow rate.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
But most people would call that a recomp, not bulking. You're not going to be adding much mass; you're more likely gaining muscle and losing fat at a very slow rate.
True, I was just trying to play devil's advocate.0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
How do you calculate the percentage of how many calories you are getting in your daily protien carbs and lifting per day?
There are calculators that can tell you how much protein, carbs and healthy fats you should take in every day for a good bulk. This is one of them: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. If you want to bulk, you have to lift and lift heavy to tear down as much muscle fibers as possible to stimulate repair and growth. Your cycle of increased intake should last as long as you continue to gain more muscle than fat and then start a cut cycle when you plateau out or start to gain more fat than muscle. It's different from person to person. There are ways to bulk without having to gain much fat but it's harder to do and works better for people experiencing newbie gains, much more difficult for long time lifters.
What do i do to maintain once i get to my ideal weight?0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
How is that subjective? The only thing subjective is the amount of surplus one chooses to use. Sure, you could call it a "clean" bulk (low surplus), "dirty bulk" or "GFH bulk" (large surplus), but either way it involves eating at a caloric surplus (preferably with strength training involved) in order to gain weight.
What is the difrence in a clean bulk and a dirty bulk?0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »bryanna277 wrote: »adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
How do you calculate the percentage of how many calories you are getting in your daily protien carbs and lifting per day?
There are calculators that can tell you how much protein, carbs and healthy fats you should take in every day for a good bulk. This is one of them: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. If you want to bulk, you have to lift and lift heavy to tear down as much muscle fibers as possible to stimulate repair and growth. Your cycle of increased intake should last as long as you continue to gain more muscle than fat and then start a cut cycle when you plateau out or start to gain more fat than muscle. It's different from person to person. There are ways to bulk without having to gain much fat but it's harder to do and works better for people experiencing newbie gains, much more difficult for long time lifters.
What do i do to maintain once i get to my ideal weight?
To lose weight, you eat at a deficit. To gain weight, you eat at a surplus. To maintain weight, you eat at maintenance. All of those are based on your maintenance calories; the amount of calories your body uses based on your activity level day to day. The provided calculator should give you that number.0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »bryanna277 wrote: »adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
How do you calculate the percentage of how many calories you are getting in your daily protien carbs and lifting per day?
There are calculators that can tell you how much protein, carbs and healthy fats you should take in every day for a good bulk. This is one of them: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. If you want to bulk, you have to lift and lift heavy to tear down as much muscle fibers as possible to stimulate repair and growth. Your cycle of increased intake should last as long as you continue to gain more muscle than fat and then start a cut cycle when you plateau out or start to gain more fat than muscle. It's different from person to person. There are ways to bulk without having to gain much fat but it's harder to do and works better for people experiencing newbie gains, much more difficult for long time lifters.
What do i do to maintain once i get to my ideal weight?
To lose weight, you eat at a deficit. To gain weight, you eat at a surplus. To maintain weight, you eat at maintenance. All of those are based on your maintenance calories; the amount of calories your body uses based on your activity level day to day. The provided calculator should give you that number.
Thank you0 -
That's a recomp...ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
How is that subjective? The only thing subjective is the amount of surplus one chooses to use. Sure, you could call it a "clean" bulk (low surplus), "dirty bulk" or "GFH bulk" (large surplus), but either way it involves eating at a caloric surplus (preferably with strength training involved) in order to gain weight.
What is the difrence in a clean bulk and a dirty bulk?
The common definitions are that a "clean" bulk is done at a slight surplus (around 250 calories/day), so in theory you'd gain about a half pound a week - which (theoretically) keeps fat gains to a minimum. A "dirty" bulk is done at a much more significant surplus (say, 1000+ calories/day), where you're going to add a lot of fat along with the muscle.0 -
bryanna277 wrote: »ForecasterJason wrote: »
Well, some people could look at it from the standpoint of lifting heavy but barely eating at a surplus. In other words, gains would be very slow, but this is in contrast to a faster bulk and then cutting. I'm not suggesting that people need to do this, but I know people who would still consider that "bulking".ForecasterJason wrote: »The exact definition of bulking could probably be considered subjective, but I'd consider it to be lifting weights and eating enough calories to gain muscle/weight.
OK I'll bite
How can the term bulking be considered subjective ?
How is that subjective? The only thing subjective is the amount of surplus one chooses to use. Sure, you could call it a "clean" bulk (low surplus), "dirty bulk" or "GFH bulk" (large surplus), but either way it involves eating at a caloric surplus (preferably with strength training involved) in order to gain weight.
What is the difrence in a clean bulk and a dirty bulk?
The common definitions are that a "clean" bulk is done at a slight surplus (around 250 calories/day), so in theory you'd gain about a half pound a week - which (theoretically) keeps fat gains to a minimum. A "dirty" bulk is done at a much more significant surplus (say, 1000+ calories/day), where you're going to add a lot of fat along with the muscle.
Thank you0 -
adamhendrickson92 wrote: »For me, bulking is purposely maintaining a high protein calorie surplus for the sole purpose of making them gains.
The key to bulking is to accept that you will gain some fat, but you will be able to earn disproportionately more muscle. Usually while bulking keep your cardio to a bare minimum. Don't get me wrong, you won't get visibly obese or bulky as long as you are hitting the gym consistently - I've been maintaining roughly 10-15% body fat while bulking so my abs are still visible.
Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbs; these are "macros". When I'm bulking I aim for around 35-40% of calories from protein, 35-40% from carbs on lifting days, and the remaining 20-30% from fats.
Slightly more complicated - quality of macros is important as well, carbs have different glycemic indexes, fats are broken down into saturated, trans, etc. Basically I think of it as the more refined and unnatural something is the worse it is, but some people follow the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) idea that as long as you get the right proportions you are good to go. This does work, I ate 20pc chicken nuggets and a big mac daily for a while to bulk on the cheap and built lots of muscle without going over ~15% bodyfat.
I'm just finishing up a bulk to get past 200lbs, so the method I would prefer right now is to hit that calorie surplus, maintaining consistent, well-proportioned macros, while focusing each workout on limitless greatness.
Im keeping my protein at 50 and below.more0 -
Bulking - "the process of lifting and eating more and more in order to make it exceedingly difficult to fit through doors."0
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