If you’re preparing to bulk up to pack on some serious muscle and strength, you need the best foods for bulking. You must ensure you’re providing your muscles with what they need in order to grow. You’re fueling those muscles with the foods that you eat. Moreover, the foods that you eat are converted into energy, stamina, endurance, and strength for ensuring a successful workout session.
Therefore, if you are serious about bulking, you need to know what you’re eating (and how much). If you’re unsure about what are the best foods for bulking – we’ve got you covered. Here we’re going to share more info regarding the best foods you need for bulking among other tips to grow muscles!
Prepare your new grocery list!
What To Eat When Bulking?
When you are building muscle mass and bulking up, you would want to have at least a 250-500 daily calorie surplus. If you choose to add anabolic steroids that both help build muscle mass and burn fat faster, you may push that number up! However, it’s not only about the calories – it’s about their “quality” too. Those are the right “foods for bulking”. That’s because while there are a lot of foods that are high in calories, some are “empty” calories without nutritional values. They do not supply you with macronutrients that your body needs to bulk up, or the micronutrients.
So, what you need is essentially to know the amount of calories you need to eat a day in order to bulk up, and the foods to get those calories from. Avoid junk food such as processed food, simple carbs, and unhealthy fats you get from fast foods, sugary drinks, and sweets among others.
Make sure you get micronutrients like various vitamins and different minerals and that you get the right balance of macronutrients that varies from one person to another, from one goal to another. Usually, you can keep around 15-35% of fat, 20-30% of protein, and 30-55% of carbs. Remember that different macros contain different calories. 1 gram of protein and carb would contain 4 kcal (calorie). 1 gram of fat contains 9 kcal (calories). May aim for 30% of fat, 25% of protein, and 45% of carbs out of 100% of the calories you consume per day.
Micro and macronutrients are what make the difference between junk and clean/quality foods despite both foods fulfilling a certain number of calories you can consume per day.
Fat During Bulking
A lot of people have a lot of misconceptions about fat. However, a diet rich in healthy fats is essential to both stay healthy and bulk up. It can help hit your daily calorie goal without you gaining actual fat! You just need a certain amount of fats and make sure you get the healthy ones. Such as omega 3s. They help increase muscle protein synthesis (the process of building muscle). Alongside health benefits such as cardiovascular and cognitive positive effects! Moreover, they are crucial for fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K.
- Aim for 30-35% of your daily calories to come from healthy fats!
Protein During Bulking
I’m pretty sure you’ve already heard that protein is essential to your diet when trying to bulk up. Protein is actually essential even if you’re trying to cut fat. In fact, it is essential for any diet as it is crucial for a healthy body. If you want to build muscle mass – aim for as much protein as possible. It is a critical ingredient. Ideally, you need to get around 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day. You need to know though, that protein is the most important when it comes to feeling full. That’s why those who struggle to eat more generally keep their proteins a bit lower. But those who struggle to lose weight, increase their protein intake so they would feel fuller.
- Aim for 20-25% of your total daily calories to come from proteins when you’re bulking!
Carbs During Bulking
Carbohydrates are essential to fuel those hard training sessions and crucial for recovery after them. Carbs play a bigger role in the muscle building process than you may think. Nonetheless, not all carbs are equal! You need to aim for high quality carbs. You may know them as complex carbs that usually have more fiber and lower GI. Complex carbs are healthier than simple, high GI carbs. Although some suggest that simple carbs are better to bulk up. Higher GI carbs can be helpful if you struggle to eat enough food, plus they are easily digested and help replenish glycogen stores faster.
- Anyway, aim at 40-55% of your daily calories to come from carbohydrates.
What Foods For Bulking Should I Eat?
The problem is that it is very easy to go for the wrong foods when you are bulking. The list of foods can (and should) go on and on. But here I am going to share examples of the best foods for bulking.
Dairy
It may be a good idea to avoid dairy when cutting, but when you bulk up it’s an awesome way to get extra fat and calories while stocking up on protein and calcium. It restores your muscle glycogen and maximizes muscle building potential. Whole milk (especially with a protein shake) post workout, or cottage cheese can greatly help!
Nuts and nut butters
Nuts are full of nutrients and healthy monounsaturated fats that can replenish your energy needs. Nuts and nut butters can greatly help bulk you up. They offer a lot of healthy microelements that help build muscle mass. Plus they are calorie dense, providing protein and fat!
Salmon
Salmon among other oily fish should be in your bulking diet thanks to their healthy fats. Be sure that this food can greatly help bulk up, so I recommend eating oily fish like Salmon about 2-3 times a week.
Avocado
Again, another product that is full of healthy fats – very important for bulking cycles. Avocados contain a lot of healthy fatty acids such as oleic acid. It also adds a lot of antioxidants and vitamins into your diet – all boosting the muscle building processes AND helping you to stay healthy. An “avocado habit” can help keep your brain and cardiovascular system healthy!
Whole Eggs
Egg yolks have a bad reputation and lots of people tend to throw them away. Please stop. Whole eggs are actually perfect sources of fat and protein that help your bulking goals. Each egg will provide about 75-90 calories, full of micronutrients, proteins, and fat! Yeah, you may have heard they are high in cholesterol too, but they are actually high in healthy cholesterol!
Lean Beef
While having a restriction on red meat is a good idea, restricting it completely is a very bad idea. When choosing a protein source, lean red meat is excellent! It is a perfect food for bulking for a lot of reasons. Besides lots of fat and proteins that it can provide, which is essential for bulking, it’s also high in numerous microelements that are important when you work out hard and build muscle. For example – heme iron. Looking to build muscle? You need it!
Coconut and Olive Oil
Coconut and olive oils are very important oils for your bulking cycle! They can add calories and healthy fats among those important micronutrients.
Sweet Potato
You need to keep in mind that roughly half of what you eat should contain carbohydrates (because you should aim at 40-55% of your daily calories to come from carbs). Well, sweet potatoes are packed in carbs! An average sweet potato is going to offer about 40g of carbs! And that’s not to mention the minerals and vitamins it can offer. Moreover, you need to avoid refined sugar (during any diet). Sweet potatoes may help lower the sweet cravings.
Oats
Looking for a source of complex carbs? Check out oats! In fact, oats are perhaps what you would see in any bodybuilder kitchen when bulking up! Perfect source of fiber that will aid digestion and provide a stable release of energy! Overall awesome pre-workout meal!
Pasta
White pasta is less healthy, but you can still enjoy it every once in a while during your bulking cycle as it contains 70g of carbs and 350 calories (per 100 g dried weight). It can make a great post workout meal, allowing you to quickly recover and refuel your body for the next session.
Rice
Another very popular bodybuilding food. That’s because it’s another food that will help bulk up. It allows you to eat more without feeling too full, fueling your training sessions and aiding recovery. Add salads to get extra micronutrients!
Dark Chocolate
Whether you bulk up or cut down, you should avoid refined sugars (foods and drinks). But this may lead to sugar cravings! Dark chocolate can help satisfy your cravings. Moreover, it is full of antioxidants and monounsaturated fats. Go for variants that are over 75% of cocoa content!
Ready To Bulk Up With The Right Foods For Bulking?
Keep in mind – these are just examples of popular foods for bulking. You shouldn’t miss them as long as you want to pack on serious muscle mass. Additionally, remember to hit your macro and micro nutrients goals.
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