When it comes to bulking, there are 2 different sides to bodybuilding. Side 1 claims that you should run a minimal calorie surplus, about 70kcal to 300kcal over your total consumption. The other side claims that the more you eat, the more muscle you build. They recommend a calorie surplus of at least 500kcal. There are no upper limits to calories. But what should you do?
1. What is a Lean Bulk?
Lean bulk is about building as much muscle as possible while building as little fat as possible. So it’s all about the quality of the mass, not the quantity of mass. Unfortunately, you will probably never succeed in building pure muscle without generating fat. However, this fat gain should be as low as possible.
How high should be your caloric surplus?
Opinions differ on this question. One half says that even a small surplus of 70 kcal is enough for fat-free muscle building. The other half considers a calorie surplus of 300 kcal to be ideal. According to my research, the calorie surplus of 300 kcal is the most common, which is why I would rather advocate 300 kcal. You also have to bear in mind that tracking calories to 70 kcal is very difficult, as errors can always occur and it can quickly happen that you are on a light diet for 2 weeks but think that you are running a small surplus. Above all, make sure that your diet plan consists almost exclusively of healthy food and no junk food or lots of sugar!
Strategies:
1. Partitioning carbohydrates
This is a strategy that involves consuming carbohydrates at the two times of the day when insulin sensitivity is at its highest. These two times are
- in the morning after getting up
- after training
This strategy is followed by many bodybuilders, as they assume that a large proportion of the energy from carbohydrates is stored directly in the body as fat.
2. Regularly Mini-Cuts
Do you want to build more muscle but don’t want to get fat at the same time? Then the 3:1 strategy is probably something you should take a closer look at!
The 3:1 strategy means that you eat a daily surplus of 300 kcal for 3 weeks and then diet for 1 week in which you eat 1000 kcal less per day than you consume. With a high-protein diet, you should therefore ensure that you build up more muscle in the 3 weeks than you lose in the 1 week and also lose some body fat
3. Dont miss on cardio!
Most bodybuilders think that cardio is just a diet thing that you can easily do without in the bulk. However, that’s not the whole truth!
Cardio helps you improve your cardiovascular health and stay fit. Cardiovascular exercise improves your heart’s ability to pump blood and deliver oxygen to your body. Cardio also improves your endurance and work capacity, which can lead to better performance in your workouts.
A good recommendation is 2-3 sessions of low-intensity cardio for about 20-30 minutes each.
How many fats, carbs and protein do you nedd?
Since you can’t stuff yourself with all kinds of food, it’s important to have a yardstick for the proportions that you can use as a guide.
A good ratio is:
20-30% of calories should come from protein (approx. 2g per kg body weight)
- Make sure that these are high-quality protein sources such as eggs, fish, meat or similar
- Also make sure to spread your protein intake throughout the day. A good guideline is 4-5 meals spread evenly throughout the day, all containing roughly the same amount of protein
50-60% of calories should come from carbohydrates
- long-chain/complex carbohydrates from rice, whole grains, potatoes and legumes should make up the majority of your carbohydrates as they are the best way to get healthy energy into your body
- Sugar should be consumed immediately after training, if at all. This type of carbohydrate should only make up a small part of your diet
- Sugar from fruit, on the other hand, should be consumed more often
- the best carbohydrate sources for bodybuilders: White rice, pasta, oats, bananas, bread, quinoa,…
20-30% should consist of fat
- Focus more on unsaturated fatty acids
- Good sources of fat: Avocado, almonds, olive oil,…
Disadvantages:
- studies have shown that you don’t build as much muscle with lean bulk as with dirty bulk. In addition, your strength will not increase as well as in dirty bulk.
- just like in the diet, you have to give up certain things like chocolate, fast food, sweet soft drinks,…
- it is difficult to count calories accurately in lean bulk. So it can easily happen that you are in the cut even though you think you are in bulk
2. What is a Dirty Bulk:
Let’s move on to the more extreme view of bulking: the more you eat, the more muscle you gain. Here you can eat anything you want without feeling guilty. The aim is to increase your body mass as quickly as possible, regardless of whether you eat 5000 kcal a day or 10000 kcal. Make sure you eat every 2-3 hours to stay in the anabolic (building up) phase and not enter the catabolic (breaking down) phase. If you are a hard gainer, then the dirty bulk is ideal for you. But it’s only recommended for people who are under 25 and really struggling to put on weight, because let’s face it: eating as much as you want and what you want is definitely anything but healthy.
Strategies:
1. Eat enough Protein:
At least 2g per kg body weight is a must! You can even go up to 3g per kg of body weight (above that, however, it becomes harmful to the liver).
2. Eat everything in your way:
As someone who is dirty bulking, you should never waste a chance to eat. Your body can use a constant supply of nutrients to build mass. According to the motto: Eat big to get big
3. Fats and Carbs are a must!
At the end, it comes all down to: eat everything you can!
Disadvantages:
- health risks: Cardiovascular risks, digestive problems, diabetes, high blood pressure,…
- can lead to excessive fat gain
- reduced performance/motivation/recovery with a constant feeling of fullness
- can result in a very long cut if you get too fat
Final Result
The bottom line is that while both sides have their pros and cons, the dirty bulk is more for individuals who have real weight gain issues or powerlifters/strongmen. For the rest, I would clearly recommend a controlled lean bulk if you are concerned about your health. Although the dirty bulk gives you more muscle, this is difficult to see with a high fat content.