So you decided to change your body and now you want to pack on muscle mass while you’ve often heard about “bulking up” as bodybuilders and many guys in your gym use this to refer to gaining weight and growing muscles.
In order to “bulk up” there are some basic rules that you need to learn.
You may start using anabolic steroids and you know that they are extremely helpful at adding muscles and strength. And you know that they are helping you add weight and strength fast. Nonetheless, regardless of what steroids you use, they are not effective without a proper diet and workout plan.
There are different styles except for bulking. There is also cutting (when you want to maintain muscles and burn fat). That’s why most people go through bulking (adding muscle mass and it usually adds some fat) and then go through cutting (shedding off the excess fat and getting a hard and dry body appearance).
Mastering The Bulking Cycles
If you start to use anabolic steroids to assist your bulking plan then do it carefully and wisely. We would assist with the proper steroids that you need based on your goals, personal stats, and other factors. But as said, do not attempt growing muscles with anabolic steroids while eating pizza and sitting on the couch all day long.
You’ve got to work a lot for bulking up, both in the kitchen and in the gym. With proper steroids and proper administration, however, you would reach your goals faster than you ever dreamed.
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Remember though – bulking up is never an easy task. It depends on various factors such as steroids, genetics, lifestyle, and so on and so forth. There are different strategies you can apply for different needs. Moreover, everyone is different too. You need a proper lifestyle to achieve your goals. If you are going to follow these basic rules of bulking up, you are very likely to love the results.
The three main factors that help you bulk up are enough sleep and rest, proper nutrition (balance of macros), and hypertrophy (muscle growth) training.
Diet Plan
Increase Your Calories
Of course, you can’t grow out of nothing. Your muscles only grow when you properly “feed” them. And to grow something, you need something. Remember that your body burns calories so you need to find out your maintenance calories (based on different things) and then eat more than that. By around 10-30%.
You’ve got to take in more calories on a daily basis. Or at least on a weekly basis. So start calculating. There are online calculators that can help you. It mainly depends on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level.
Get The Proper Fuel
Again, start calculating your calories and your nutrients. Out of 100% of calories, you would need about a 40/30/30 percentage ratio of protein to carbs to fats during the day. Respect the ratio considering that one protein and carbohydrate is having 4 calories while one gram of fat contains 9 calories.
A little difference in the plan is acceptable. As said, we’re all different. But you can’t grow muscles without enough carbohydrates or fats and you definitely won’t grow muscles without proteins.
A tip: save most of the carbs for the workout days to take advantage of the quick energy that you need during intense workout sessions to grow muscles. Carbohydrates are your fuel to perform in the gym. However, to grow muscles I would recommend working out almost daily (we’ll get into this later).
Proper Protein Intake
Do not assume that you can take 6 portions of protein all at once and you’re all set. Your body can’t assimilate a lot of protein all at once. That’s why the best way is to spread the protein intake throughout the day. This way, your muscles would grow 24/7.
Make sure you’re getting enough protein by keeping in mind the earlier mentioned things about calories and fuel and spreading it throughout the day. You will need around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (2 grams per kilogram).
Avoid Processed Foods
There’s no doubt that your beloved hamburger or pizza with extra large fries is going to make you meet your calorie goals. Nonetheless, there are good reasons why doctors recommend avoiding them. I recommend it too. Even if you’re bulking. Processed foods won’t help you with anything for your insides and general physique.
Junk food comes with a lot of sugar, salt, and saturated fat. This could easily pack on an extra layer of fat, instead of muscle mass. It may ruin your motivation and it ruins your energy in the long run.
I strongly recommend sticking to a plenty of veggies and lean meats plan. Awesome carb sources would be whole grains, oats, potatoes, rice, etc. All combined with veggies. Add some lean meats for proteins. No need to mention avoiding refined oils that add extra calories and saturated fats.
The Takeaway
These are just some general rules for you to bulk up when talking about the “kitchen” part. It seems easy, but most gym guys say that the nutrition part is the hardest part. But a proper diet is perhaps the most important thing when talking about the right bulking cycle.
So, if you’re planning to bulk up, first learn how to eat correctly. A proper diet is highly important.
- If you’re struggling with a proper diet plan, you could always ask a professional nutritionist to help you. Usually, the extra money is actually worth it!
Workout Plan
Hit The Weights Hard
As expected, you can grow muscles when you’re hitting the weights regularly. Your muscles grow basically when you meet the 2 conditions: fuel them right (diet part) and break them right (workout plan). By “tearing” your muscles, it allows them to grow further. That’s why you’re going to need to work out at least 3 times a week. But for even better results – 5-6 times a week.
OK, 5-6 times a week might be too much for a beginner. But 3-4 times is perfect. The point is that training more frequently is better. Training your legs 15 sets one hour twice a week is much better than training your legs 30 sets two hours once a week!
Moreover, you need to split up the days between body parts. Don’t go with “upper and lower” body only. Split the body parts by muscle groups. Always switch up exercises (OK, there are a few basic ones, but generally, “shock” your muscles with new exercises).
Keep Normal Amount of Reps
Needless to mention that you would need a full range of motion and proper techniques during workout sessions. What most people don’t know is that for most exercises, you need to aim to finish anywhere between 8 and 15 reps per set. While there are a few exercise types such as the deadlift, bench, squats, and a few more that go well with anywhere between 5 and 10 reps per set, you should aim for the 8-15 reps for most.
Make sure you don’t ruin the technique towards the end. Make sure, however, it’s not too easy at the end of the 15-ish rep. Doing less than 8 reps or with improper technique means the weight is too much. Doing more than 15 reps means the weight is not enough.
Try Drop Sets
It’s quite obvious that you need to work out until your muscles fail or almost fail which means that they can’t take anymore. In order to make sure that you’re “killing” it, you could finish the regular lifting set with much lighter weights (like 25% or so lighter) and get out as many additional reps as you can.
This way, you’re making your body use absolutely every muscle fiber that it got in order to reach total burnout. This would inevitably lead to faster and more muscle growth in the end.
Get Enough Cardio
When you’re in a cutting cycle, it goes without saying that cardio exercises are very important and highly effective. Nonetheless, there’s a long debate over cardio during bulking exercises. A lot of guys still don’t know whether they should do cardio during bulking or not. Many say you should, others say you shouldn’t because this way you lose strength and muscles.
I am a strong believer that without anything “too much” you won’t be losing any strength and muscles. In fact, a day or two of cardio per week is actually helpful as it would keep you healthy by avoiding too much fat gain and burning off the extra calories.
There’s no need to run a marathon, do it to stay healthy. Now, the never ending battle – should you do cardio pre or post workout?
I’m a strong believer that you should do 30-60 minutes of cardio about 1-2 times a week AFTER your hypertrophy (muscle growing) training sessions. That’s because doing it pre workout, it would burn off the calories and carbohydrates (energy) that you need to better perform during strength training. First strength training to take the maximum out of carbs and then cardio to burn the extra layer of fat.
Incorporate Compound Movements
As said, your muscles grow when you “shock” them. It means that you should go with different weights and different exercises too. So mix things up. Don’t do the same basic exercises on a weekly basis. Mix it up with big compound movements. You could go with deadlifts, squats, presses, and pull ups as well as isolation works like calf raises, curls, and others.
You can have a “pull day”, then a “push day”. Then an “isolation day”. Then a “full body day”, later “upper body day”, and later “lower body day” and so on and so forth. Going for new exercises would never hurt.
High Intensity, High Volume, High Frequency
You should focus on frequent workouts and blend them with high intensity and high volume workouts. It would greatly help you build more muscles and add size to your frame. Do the 8-15 reps per set and focus on hypertrophy. This way you increase the Time Under Tension of your muscles allowing them to get stronger and build more muscles.
The Takeaway
It’s quite obvious that I haven’t shared even half of all the possibilities that we can talk about when it comes to proper training (exactly as when talking about proper dieting). But these are just some basic things that you need to know when you want to grow muscles during a bulking cycle.
Properly working out is, as obvious as it sounds, essential for packing on size and muscle mass.
Remember there are different types of workouts for different needs. When you’re in a bulking cycle, you may need hypertrophy (muscle growth) exercises type. When you’re in a cutting cycle, you need those types of exercises that allow you to burn more fat. Moreover, there are workout programs specifically for strength gains. Or you may simply want to work out to remain healthy. They are all different.
- Then again, if you’re having a hard time determining which is the best workout program for you and how to correctly workout – I strongly recommend talking to a personal trainer. Again, the extra money is almost always worth it.
More Things To Consider
As I said, your muscles grow when you first tear them off (in the gym) and then when you feed them (in the kitchen). So, they are actually growing when they are recovering. Recovery is an extremely important part of a bulking cycle. While anabolic steroids do help you a lot to recover much faster you need to make sure you give your muscles enough rest. That’s why you’ve got to get enough hours of sleep.
It’s during sleep that your body releases the highest amount of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) – the vital hormone for growing muscles. It is also the time when your body is repairing the muscles, the adrenal system, managing stress, and so on and so forth. Getting at least 7-8 hours per night is essential for growing muscles.
Moreover, you could calculate your body fat percentage, weight, and circumference measurements. Then track your progress. May take pictures too. Usually, notice the differences every 4 weeks. If you notice that you add too much fat, you may want to reduce calories. If you think your progress hinders – up those calories.
Lastly, I would need to say that you should expect to add some fat during bulking cycles considering you’re eating in a caloric surplus. That’s why it’s not a good idea to start a bulking cycle when you’re overweight. If you’re having a bit of fat and it doesn’t bother you adding a bit more given you add muscles then you’re good to go. But if you’re overweight, better go for a cutting cycle first. After you bulked up enough, people usually go for cutting cycles to shed the extra layer of fat.
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