You must first ask yourself, why do you need to bulk up?
Is it simply to look good? For sports? Answering this question will greatly increase your chances of getting on a bulking plan that serves your needs more effectively.
In this article I’ll go through the two approaches you can take to bulking, which can lead to very different outcomes. Both outcomes serve entirely different purposes.
Dictionary Definition of Bulking: to increase in size; expand; swell.
Of course, you already knew that. But, what kind of size are you in need of? Lean muscle only, any kind of body weight (fat) or a combination of both?
Let’s say, for instance…
1. You want to bulk to look good.
You won’t look good with fat, so your best approach is to get on a bulking plan which is a clean bulk, where you only eat clean foods (no junk), and stringently count your calories, and monitor fat and weight gains so you keep fat gains to a minimum.
Also, when bulking to look good, I always advise that a person starts out with the minimum amount of body fat that they can, and looks to add not much more than 1.5lb a week of body weight.
This accomplishes two things:
First of all, starting out with a low body fat means when you finish bulking you won’t have much fat to cut. So, when you do start cutting, you only have to cut for a very short time. Therefore, you don’t lose valuable muscle-building time, and you also aren’t at great risk of losing a lot of muscle mass from an extended cutting period.
Second of all, most people completely overestimate the amount of muscle they can/do put on, and find themselves adding 2.5lb of body weight or more a week for several months. The problem is, much of these gains will be from fat, and, unless you monitor with calipers, you are unlikely to truly notice just how much fat you’ve put on until people start commenting on it, and your trousers don’t fit you any more. Seriously.
I advise you aim for 1.5lb of body weight a week, most of which should be muscle with minimal fat.
All nutrients should come from good, clean, whole foods and junk food should be kept an absolute minimal.
This is known as a ‘clean’ bulk.
2. You want to bulk for strength / sports.
Having a little extra bodyweight may benefit people in many sports, but, fat levels should always be kept to a minimum, still. Especially in sports which require speed such as sprinting, jumping, etc. In such sports, having fat will be of no benefit whatsoever, and will only serve to slow the athlete down.
Note: For sports which rely completely on speed rather than strength, I advise a clean bulk.
In other sports – such as wrestling, rugby, American football, etc, having some weight in the form of fat may be of benefit. As I say, you should always strive for solid muscle and low fat, but, gaining fat is far easier and quicker than gaining muscle. And, having 10-15lb of extra bodyweight in the form of fat (particularly on a big-framed person) may actually help to improve their performance.
In this instance, it’s simply a case of eating a lot more than you normally do, and training hard with heavy weights. Of course, you don’t want to end up obese, and you want to primarily gain muscle mass, but by eating a little junk here and there to get your calories up, you will find you can gain a lot of ‘bulk’ (from muscle and fat) in a rather short time.
This type of approach is known as a ‘dirty’ bulk.