Bulking is a time when you are primarily focused on building muscle. You must be willing to train like an animal and eat more calories than what you are used to eating. It is very important that you set goals for yourself when trying to successfully bulk. You can only gain .5 to 1 pound of muscle naturally every week, so set realistic goals for yourself so that you don`t get discouraged when you`re not gaining the amount of weight you`ve set yourself out for.
Your main concern when trying to bulk is your diet. Clean bulking is eating clean, making sure that you don`t gain any fat. Dirty bulking is thinking that by eating pizza and cookies that you will gain mass. Doing this will cause weight gain, but not the kind of weight you want to be gaining. Your diet should consist of the same bodybuilding foods that you would normally eat, just in a higher caloric amount. Aim for an excess of 300 to 500 per day and make adjustments at the end of the week if you feel that you`re not gaining enough muscle.
Most bodybuilders use supplements to assist with muscle growth. The three most frequently used on a bulk are creatine, whey protein, and glutamine. Creatine holds water, making your muscles look harder. Whey protein is just a more convenient way of getting your daily protein needs, and glutamine is an amino acid used to keep fat gain to a minimum while doing a clean bulk. There are many other supplements that aid in muscle growth, but for the beginning bodybuilder, these three are your best choices.
Don`t confuse bulking with cutting. Cutting is the exact opposite of gaining muscle. When cutting, you are trying to shed as much fat as possible while not worrying so much about muscle gain. It is very hard to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, so bodybuilders have two choices. To cut or to bulk. Which one are you? Until next time, later.
