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12-11-2012, 12:53 PM #1
***Dieting 101: Lean Bulking***
Dieting 101: Lean Bulking
Hi all, GB here. This write up will hopefully serve as a basic guideline for those looking to add lean mass. Note I didn’t use the word ‘bulk’. I used it in the title to lure you in because I’m evil that way. Now that I have you’re attention, I want us to forget the word. At least in the traditional sense. Let’s take a look at what bulking means, traditionally:
The term ‘bulking’ generally refers to the phase a bodybuilder periodically goes through where he tries to add as much mass as possible, with little regard to bodyfat. This is generally done on the off season of competitive bodybuilders. It is the direct counterpart to ‘cutting’ (for a detailed write up on cutting, see my sticky on the topic here : Dieting 101: Cutting ). It’s not uncommon for bodyfat to reach proportions of 25% and higher in some guys! I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in adding a bunch of bodyfat, then having to spend months and months on a grueling cut just to hopefully yield a few pounds of lean muscle… and that’s only if you do everything right.
Bulking is an old-school philosophy and while it obviously works, it isn’t the only way to add muscle. These days, a lot more attention is being paid to methods used to add muscle without all, or at least most of the unwanted bodyfat. It’s a slower, but more consistent process. It’s generally referred to as ‘lean bulking’ or ‘adding lean mass’. We’ll call it ‘lean bulking’ for the sake of this write up.
Choose a goal and stand behind it
People are always wanting to add lean mass and lose bodyfat. Ask 10 guys what their goal is, and that’s what it’ll be for 9 of them. Of course. Who wouldn’t want that? That's the holy grail, the reason we're all here. While it is possible to do both (called a body recomposition), it’s outside the scope of what this article deals with, so we will focus our efforts strictly on adding lean mass, not reducing bodyfat. Perhaps we'll address body recomp in a future write up.
Note the title: Choose a goal and stand behind it. This is what I always suggest to people. If you want to add lean mass, then let’s put together a plan and see it through to completion. If you want to reduce bodyfat, then let’s focus our efforts on that goal. That’s not to say we ignore increases in bodyfat on a mass plan, or ignore muscle loss on a cutting plan. Quite the contrary, but more on that later. It’s just that I’ve seen so many people bounce back and forth trying to micro manage both goals simultaneously, that they never really allow enough time for one or the other to take effect… and ultimately wind up looking about the same as when they started out. I should know; I’m one of them. So I say – decide what you really want to do, and then focus your efforts on that goal. Give it a good 90 days before you abandon what you’re doing. Results don't happen overnight. Nor are results linear; you will go through periods of growth spurt, and periods where nothing seems to happen despite your best efforts. It can be frustrating, but when you stick with it and remain consistent, the results will speak for themselves. Note when I say "give it 90 days before you abandon what you're doing", that's with regard to the primary goal. The need for tweaks and minor changes throughout are common and to be expected.
What is lean bulking?
Lean bulking can be defined as the effort put forth to add as much lean mass (i.e. muscle) as possible with as little change to bodyfat as possible. Very few people can add mass without adding some bodyfat. A bit of added bodyfat should be expected, but that doesn’t mean you have to get sloppy and out of shape (see traditional bulking). Most guys will have a predetermined bodyfat percentage number threshold in mind at the onset of a lean bulk. e.g. if I start my lean bulk at 10% bodyfat, I’ll allow myself to get as high as 13% before pulling back and making some revamps to get things back in check.
I always recommend people start at a relatively low bodyfat percentage to begin with. For me, that’d be < 13%. In my experience, most people starting off higher usually aren’t happy with the end result. Going from 10% to 13% isn’t all that bad for most. 16% to 19% might be.
How much do I eat?
Here starts the great controversy. First, you have to realize that our bodies don’t need a great deal of surplus calories to grow. If you’ve read my posts on this topic before, you’ve probably heard me say “more is better doesn’t apply in bodybuilding”. It’s the truth. For most, a few hundred calories over maintenance is all that’s needed. If your body can optimally use 300 additional calories/day to slowly add muscle, feeding it 1000 calories extra/day isn’t necessarily going to speed up that process and build more muscle. What it will do is make you fat (again, see bulking).
I will generally start around 500 calories over maintenance and adjust up/down from there as needed. In most cases, the adjustment will be down, not up. It's very important to consistently monitor your progress so you know when it's time to make a change, and what change to make. Generally, I recommend a combination of tools: Scale weight, your own assessment in the mirror, how your clothes fit, and most importantly, measurements! Pick 1 day a week to take these measurements, and try to be consistent with the day and time. While this isn't a science experiment, we do want to keep things as 'controlled' as possible in order to yield the most accurate results.
Macronutrient Breakdown
Here’s another place where I see a lot of people making what I’d consider a big mistake. Or better put, a missed opportunity. People seem to think that ‘bulking’ automatically means you must raise your protein intake to obscene proportions. There are a few problems with this. First, I see a lot of people with their protein already too high regardless of the goal. 400g and up. Unless you’re a 250lb bodybuilder on tons of gear, chances of you needing - not to mention your body being able to assimilate - 400+ grams of protein on a daily basis are slim. 1.5-2g per pound of LBM is usually sufficient.
My second issue is this: protein should always be sufficient. If you’re cutting, you need sufficient protein to halt the breakdown of LBM due to a prolonged hypocaloric diet, cardio, etc. If protein is sufficient, then why would you need to raise it to add mass? Do you think you’re body is going to use more? It won’t. In fact, you could actually get away with less protein due to the protein/muscle sparing properties of carbs and fats, which will both be higher on a hypercaloric diet.
What we do want to pay attention to are those other 2 aforementioned macros: fats, and particularly, carbs. Of the 3 macros, carbs have the most profound effect on blood glucose levels and therefore, the release of insulin . Insulin is a highly anabolic hormone, so having it present in your bloodstream is a good idea where adding mass is concerned. My ideal macro breakdown for lean bulking is:
40% protein, 45% carbs, 15% fats. On a 3000 calorie per day diet, that would equate to roughly 300g protein, 340g carbs, and 50g fat. Depending on the individuals stats and protein requirements, I may even ‘steal’ some of the protein to add more carbs, and wind up with something looking like 270g protein, 370g carbs, 50g fat. Of the 3 macros, fat is most easily stored as bodyfat. For this reason, and the fact that we will be eating in excess of maintenance levels, I like to keep this macro relatively low, hence 15%, and definitely no higher than 20%.
How do I arrange my meals?
There are many ways to go about this, so realize now that my way is neither the ‘right’ way, or the only way. This is something very individualistic and you will need to play around and tailor a plan that best suits you.
On workout days, I like to have carbs in every meal with the exception of the last. This will ensure I’m creating an anabolic environment throughout most of the day. Some people can get away with carbs in their last meal, but I’m not one of them unfortunately. You will have to experiment to find what your own body responds best to.
On non-workout days, I’d have carbs in the early part of my day only. We have less activity obviously, therefore less demand for energy. Based on our macros from above, this would look something like:
270g protein, 185g carbs, 50g fat. We’ve basically cut the carb macro in half. This will obviously lower calories overall, which is what we want, because we are also trying to keep bodyfat in check. Remember that you can always add or remove if need be, based on your progress.
Typical Workout Day Sample Diet (macros only)
Based on 6 meals/day, my diet would look something like this:
5am (preworkout): 45g protein, 85g carbs, 8g fat
8am (postworkout): 45g protein, 85g carbs, 8g fat
11am (PPWO): 45g protein, 80g carbs, 8g fat
3pm: 45g protein, 60g carbs, 8g fat
6pm: 45g protein, 60g carbs, 8g fat
9pm: 45g protein, trace carbs, 8g fat
What I did here was keep the highest concentration of carbs focused around my workout window, then tapered off at the end of the day.
Typical Non-Workout Day Sample Diet (macros only)
7am: 45g protein, 60g carbs, 8g fat
10am: 45g protein, 60g carbs, 8g fat
1pm: 45g protein, 60g carbs, 8g fat
4pm: 45g protein, trace carbs, 8g fat
7pm: 45g protein, trace carbs, 8g fat
10pm: 45g protein, trace carbs, 8g fat
I simply took my lowered carb macro (half of the original 370g) then divided it equally across the first 3 of 6 meals.
In both examples above, you'll see that I have my fat macro split evenly across all 6 meals. Again, this is just what I do, it's not necessarily what you should do. Particularly on the lower carb days, you can lower the fat content in the higher carb meals, and use that extra fat in the no carb meals to make them higher fat. At the end of the day (literally and figuratively), overall calories haven't changed, only the macro placement.
Food Choices
Since 'bulking' and especially 'dirty bulking' aren't part of my vocabulary, my philosophy is that food choices don't change based on goals, only quantities do. With that said, all of the obvious foods should be considered. And for God sake, please have some variety in your diet!! I see so many diets with chicken for almost every meal. Do you REALLY think that's a sustainable diet for any appreciable length of time!? It isn't. You'll get sick of it, and most likely feel discouraged and quit. There are plenty of foods to choose from. Aside from helping you keep your sanity, you'll also take advantage of varying absorption rates and in the case of proteins, different amino acid profiles.
Lean Proteins
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Boneless, Skinless Turkey Breast
'White' fish - e.g. tilapia, flounder/fluke, snapper, orange roughy, tuna, etc.
Egg whites
Lean Ground Beef (I try to stick with 95% lean or better)
Lean Bison
Lean pork (trimmed center cut chops, loin, etc)
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Nonfat Greek Yogurt
Various Protein Powders
Complex (starchy) Carbs
Sweet Potato/Yam
Red/White/Yellow Potato (note - I don't make much of an issue over 'white' potatoes vs. sweet potatoes, especially when adding mass is the primary goal. As long as you're not eating the carb source by itself (and you shouldn't be), the differences beyond vitamin/mineral content are negligible IMO)
Oats
Grits
Cous Cous
Rice (all types... even white)
Beans/Lentils/Legumes
to a lesser extent (i.e. a few days a week):
whole grain 'brown' breads
whole grain 'brown' pasta
Fats
Avacado
Nuts (all kinds)
Nut butters (all kinds - e.g. almond, cashew, peanut, etc)
Oils (all kinds - olive, coconut, etc)
Note on fats: Generally, I find it unnecessary to add fats to my diet, as I get enough from my protein sources + some supplemental fish oil (which is a great idea for many reasons... but I digress). However you may have higher caloric requirements than me, and will need to add a small amount of fats to some meals, particularly low/no carb meals.
Protein/Fat Combos
Whole Eggs
Higher fat ground beef (I'd stick with 90% lean)
Various cuts of steak (e.g. top sirloin, flank, flat iron, filet, etc. Porterhouse, T-Bone, Ribeye etc. are VERY high fat and not acceptable choices, IMHO)
Oily fish - salmon, mackerel, sardines, etc.
Fibrous Carbs (veggies)
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale
Various green lettuces (not iceberg!!)
Spinach
Brussell Sprouts
Green Beans
Alfalfa Sprouts
many other options... think anything leafy green.
Do I HAVE To Eat Veggies?
I don't want to digress too far into why eating veggies is an excellent idea. You'll just have to trust me that it is. Briefly:
Vitamins
Minerals
Fiber
Phytochemicals
Antioxidants (look up 'free radicals' and you'll see why you should be eating foods high in antioxidants)
Essentially, if having a healthy diet and lifestyle is of interest to you (I can't imagine why that wouldn't be of interest to everyone), you should be eating plenty of veggies. Can't stand em'? Don't have time to cook em'? Supplement with a green 'superfood' powder, or do like I've recently begun doing, and start juicing! No, not that kind of juicing - this is the nutrition section, not the AAS section! Vegetable Juicing FTW!!!
Note the above is far from a complete food list, but should give you enough to work with to get started.
GB, What About Fruit?
Fruit is a controversial food in bodybuilding due to the sugar content. Yes you get fiber, tons of great vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, etc. But you still get sugar. There's no avoiding that. My personal preference is to avoid fruit while cutting, and allow it in small quantities while adding lean mass, focusing it around my workout window. Even then, I try to stick with something like blueberries over apples for instance. More nutrients, less sugar. Everybody wins!
Cardio
Cardio is another one of those topics with many different schools of thought. Personally, I would do a light amount of cardio PWO on training days (think 20 mins HIIT, 30 mins MAX) but would definitely do moderate intensity cardio on my non-training days, preferably in the morning while still in a fasted state. 45-60 mins. Whatever you choose to do, the important thing is that you DO CARDIO!!! Don’t let people tell you about how you’re trying to add muscle, and cardio is counterproductive, bla bla bla. When done right, this shouldn’t be a concern. And since you're meticulously monitoring your progress (RIGHT!!? ), you'll know when you need to cut back... or add more.
Post your Q&A and I will do my best to keep up with responding to all inquiries. I hope you find this helpful!!! GB
Written by gbrice75 for Steroid.com
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12-11-2012, 02:04 PM #2Banned
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Great post GB
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12-11-2012, 02:29 PM #3
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12-11-2012, 02:43 PM #4Banned
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I will indeed, also GirlyGymRat has a good thread with a link to pics of b/f estimates, could also be a good sticky since alot of the time a newbies b/f estimate is way off..........
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...n#.UMea-6wwaSo
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12-11-2012, 02:48 PM #5Senior Member
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Great info!
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12-11-2012, 02:58 PM #6
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12-11-2012, 03:01 PM #7
Awesome post GB.
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12-11-2012, 03:04 PM #8AR Admin
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12-11-2012, 03:04 PM #9Banned
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Awesome post buddy! We needed this - thanks!
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12-11-2012, 03:24 PM #10
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12-11-2012, 03:27 PM #11
itll def make things a lot easier!
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12-11-2012, 03:30 PM #12
excellent GB!
another piece of nutriton gold!
many thanks!!!
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12-11-2012, 07:42 PM #13Associate Member
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Great stuff, thank you.
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12-11-2012, 08:55 PM #14
Another great tool for this forum. Thank you GB!!!
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12-12-2012, 08:07 AM #15
Thanks for all your support guys!
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12-12-2012, 01:17 PM #16
I understand the reasoning behind lowering carb intake on "off" days when cutting, such as carb cycling, but from my personal experience during a bulk I've maintained the same amount of calories and macros on both "on/off" lifting days without adding any excess fat (I'm not on cycle, but am in PCT). Not saying that this pertains to everyone, just something that I noticed when bulking. I feel as though if you're doing this "lean bulk" as opposed to eat everything in front of you, you may not have to worry about cutting back on the carbs on off days.
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12-12-2012, 02:50 PM #17
There are many people who do what you do (maintain consistent calories everyday) successfully. Tis' the reason I always say people need to figure out what works best for them, and that 'my way' is neither the 'right' or 'only' way. I've personally found carb cycling (in the context above) to be very effective at allowing for adding lean mass whilst maintaining body fat or at least keeping it in check.
IMO (this is highly controversial, and i'm sure will start a debate within this thread), you absolutely CAN employ nutrient timing. Those who argue against this will say that the only factor that matters is total calories: whether calories are high one day and lower the next, it 'all comes out in the wash'. I disagree. If there was a point in time where our bodies 'added everything up', this would make a lot more sense to me. Since our bodies are in a constant process of breaking down and rebuilding, It's my contention that you can manipulate calories/macronutrients to emphasize lean gains at certain opportune times, and fat loss at others.
If this weren't true or at the very least worth acknowledging as viable, then what would the point of fasted cardio be? If total calories was the only factor, then why bother with fasted cardio? Interestingly (or not), the same people who argue against nutrient timing blow off fasted cardio for the most part. However, I still see PLENTY of professional bodybuilders continue to use fasted cardio as a tool.
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12-12-2012, 02:59 PM #18
Agreed, which is why it's key (from my experience) to focus the majority of calories in Meal 1, Pre and Post workout meals, because I do believe the body absorbs/utilizes nutrients differently throughout the day.
Personally have done fasted cardio/regular cardio and found that fasted works better despite all the theories people come up with in regards to fasted cardio being pointless.
Again, this is just another reason why people can't just step by step what they read on the internet and have to actually do trial/error.
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12-12-2012, 03:07 PM #19
Amen!!!
Agreed. I've said many times before that ideally, my cardio schedule would look like this (schedule permitting):
45-60 mins am fasted cardio, moderate intensity, steady state
PWO (evening) 20 mins HIIT, immediately followed by 20-30 mins moderate intensity steady state. Obviously, I'd only use this regimen for cutting, but my point is that I think a well rounded cardio routine with variation works best.
Once again, amen!!
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12-13-2012, 12:51 PM #20
Bumpity
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12-15-2012, 09:49 AM #21
Super helpful. But yeah, my concern has always been cardio. I'm an ectomorph - currently at 5'10" 180 lbs and in a bulking phase. Gained 15 lbs in the past month and a half or so. I've always thought cardio would burn that calorie surplus that I am trying so hard to achieve each day. Perhaps the answer is just EAT MORE to make up for the cardio. I don't know. Is there a case to be made for an ectomorph to do cardio during bulking?
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12-17-2012, 09:21 AM #22
I don't think you HAVE to do cardio when you're not looking to burn bodyfat, however from a health standpoint, it's always a good idea to incorporate some IMO. Now don't go nuts and do HIIT for an hour a day, because yea, you'll burn massive amounts of calories which will be counter productive. But a good 30-45 mins a few times a week of moderate intensity/steady state cardio can only do you some good IMO.
Conversely, if you're bulking and begin to see increases in bodyfat, you have every reason to add in and/or bump up your cardio.
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12-17-2012, 09:50 AM #23
Eating when hungry = Lean bulking
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12-17-2012, 09:57 AM #24
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12-17-2012, 10:04 AM #25
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12-17-2012, 10:27 AM #26
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12-17-2012, 08:14 PM #27
Using info you've previously given me i sort of started a program like this...today was first fasted workout, didn't notice any changes (except for "empty stomach" bile-tasting burps, yuuum)
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12-18-2012, 08:24 AM #28
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12-18-2012, 11:31 AM #29
!Probably not lol most importantly i don't know exactly what info people really want, and I am not as nutritionally savvy as everyone else, i really struggle with calorie counting and just try to listen to what my body tells me i need for foods....maybe not the best method, however i will not be working 70hrs a week starting next year so i may have more time to prepare calculatedmeals
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12-18-2012, 11:41 AM #30
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12-19-2012, 09:08 AM #31
I have a 19mo old son and gf in school both work etc...but i WOULD like to share my progress, so should i start a thread but not do like a full log?? Even if no one really follows maybe someone will stumble upon it and it could be beneficial
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12-19-2012, 09:39 AM #32
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12-20-2012, 06:11 PM #33Banned
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This, I find it also helped in the past to compare results for x and y and see what is most effective for myself, fine tune macros, strength gains and muscle development from various routines because you know yourself that what is effective for somebody may not be as effective for you and visa versa
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12-20-2012, 07:27 PM #34Originally Posted by ickythump
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12-28-2012, 12:07 PM #35New Member
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Yo Gbrice,
Is all this protein necessary? I feel like if I start to eat any more than 250 grams a day my lower back starts to hurt. What Can I do?
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12-29-2012, 11:41 AM #36
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12-29-2012, 03:05 PM #37
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12-29-2012, 08:01 PM #38New Member
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I'm not to sure. I do not think there are any kidney problems in my family. I got blood test done about 4 months ago, a few things were elevated but nothing to be concerned about.
I am 5'8'' around 157 pounds. ~13% bodyfat. Goal is 160 lbs with 7% bodyfat.
Here is my current Diet.
Cals
2558
Fat
54 g
Carbs
287 g
Protein
223 g
Sugars
38 g
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12-29-2012, 08:02 PM #39New Member
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12-30-2012, 01:23 AM #40
Great post brother..... well done!
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