If you’re like 99% of the bodybuilding population out there, your ultimate goal is simple: an impressively muscular physique with razor-sharp definition to match.
You want to be huge, and you want to be shredded as well. Because of the strong desire for this “ideal body”, most people eagerly dive into their programs headfirst. Everyone is motivated to bulk up, but at the same time are afraid of putting on excess body fat.
To significantly gain muscle – and to add as much of it to your frame in as swift a period of time as possible – there is always the fact that you’ll inevitably gain some extra body fat to go with it.
This is simply the nature of the entire process and if you really want to travel a significant way in the “bulking” direction, you have to be willing to accept this.
In order to gain muscle size, you must consume a surplus of calories in order to support protein synthesis. However, there is no way to divert 100% of this caloric surplus towards muscle growth. A certain amount of it will always end up as stored body fat.
If you want to make dramatic changes to your appearance over the shortest period of time, it is always best to focus on gaining size for a set period of time, followed by focusing on losing body fat for a set period of time.
Considering this information, it’s clear that the goal of the bulking phase is to gain muscle size, to build up as much as possible while doing what you can to minimize gaining extra body fat. However, it’s important to remember that during the bulking phase, your goal is not to lose body fat, merely to gain as little as possible.
This can be accomplished in 3 main ways:
1) Make sure that your caloric surplus is limited to a precise amount. Because this surplus is what fuels muscle growth, it’s tempting to eat too much in the mistaken belief that this will help you gain muscle tissue, but actually the only thing you’ll gain with haphazard eating is body fat.
The general rule of thumb for muscle gain is to take 15-20% more calories than you need to keep your weight. If you are already within this range, there’s no need for you to add more.
2) Pay attention to your food choices. The vast majority of your food intake should be coming from lean, high quality proteins, natural/high fiber carbohydrates and healthy/unsaturated fats.
Don’t just eat anything and everything; make sure you’re concentrating on proteins, especially lean proteins, and keep an eye on your blood sugar. Also, avoid all those saturated fats.
3) Implement cardio sessions. While you don’t have to push yourself too hard, having a few cardio sessions during the week is a good way to minimize fat gains during a bulking cycle.
Keep these sessions no more than 10-20 minutes long, sticking to high intensity/low duration forms, as these kinds of session have the advantage of not causing the same amount of muscle loss as longer duration forms.
Once you’re at a size you’re happy with and the muscle gain you want, you can focus your attention on losing that body fat. However, you want to keep working to avoid losing the muscle you’ve just gained. And remember that while bulking up, you’re going to gain body fat. There’s simply no way around it.
The trick is to minimize it rather than try to totally avoid it, and you can do this with a reasonable diet and sensible exercise.
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