| For most of the bodybuilding population, the eventual | | | | mistaken belief that this will help you gain muscle tissue, |
| goal is nothing less than a strong, muscular physique | | | | but actually the only thing you'll gain with haphazard |
| with impressive, razor-sharp definition. | | | | eating is body fat. |
| Everyone wants a great body, but for those people | | | | Generally speaking, the caloric surplus necessary for |
| who strive for nothing less than an ideal body, they | | | | supporting muscle growth is approximately 15-20% |
| don't just want to be huge: They want to be shredded. | | | | more calories than you'd eat to maintain your current |
| In pursuit of this goal, many plunge into their programs | | | | weight. If you're already at that level of consumption, |
| headfirst, eager to get started and gain muscle. Bulking | | | | you don't need to go any higher. |
| up might be the motivation, but everyone is worried | | | | 2) Make good food choices. Most of your food intake |
| about gaining excess body fat at the same time. | | | | should be in the form of high quality lean proteins, |
| To significantly gain muscle - and to add as much of it | | | | healthy/unsaturated fats and natural, high fiber |
| to your frame in as swift a period of time as possible - | | | | carbohydrates. |
| there is always the fact that you'll inevitably gain some | | | | Instead of thoughtlessly eating every food item at |
| extra body fat to go with it. | | | | hand, be sure that you're primarily keeping to lean |
| This is just one of the realities of the bodybuilding | | | | protein sources. It's also important to keep your blood |
| process. If you're truly committed to bulking up, there's | | | | sugar levels stable by choosing the right kinds of |
| no other way around it: It's a fact you'll have to accept. | | | | carbohydrates and avoiding large amounts of |
| The reason for this is because in order to gain muscle | | | | saturated fats. |
| mass, you have to consume a surplus of calories to | | | | 3) Implement cardio sessions. While you don't have to |
| support the necessary protein synthesis. The difficulty | | | | push yourself too hard, having a few cardio sessions |
| is that there's no way to ensure that 100% of all these | | | | during the week is a good way to minimize fat gains |
| extra calories go towards muscle growth. Some of it | | | | during a bulking cycle. |
| will inevitably end up as stored body fat. | | | | Keep these sessions no more than 10-20 minutes long, |
| As all bodybuilders know, in order to make dramatically | | | | sticking to high intensity/low duration forms, as these |
| change your appearance in the quickest amount of | | | | kinds of session have the advantage of not causing |
| time, the most effective way to do so is to focus on | | | | the same amount of muscle loss as longer duration |
| gaining size. For a set period of time, gaining size will be | | | | forms. |
| your goal. Only then can your priority shift to focus on | | | | Once you've achieved the amount of muscle size that |
| losing body fat. | | | | you want, a goal which is completely up to you as an |
| Considering this information, it's clear that the goal of | | | | individual, it's time to move into a fat loss cycle. In this |
| the bulking phase is to gain muscle size, to build up as | | | | way, you can focus on stripping off the excess body |
| much as possible while doing what you can to minimize | | | | fat gained during the bulking cycle, while still maintaining |
| gaining extra body fat. However, it's important to | | | | muscle size. |
| remember that during the bulking phase, your goal is | | | | Simply remember that while bulking up, gaining at least |
| not to lose body fat, merely to gain as little as possible. | | | | some body fat is unavoidable. With this in mind, the key |
| There are three primary ways to accomplish this: | | | | to keeping body fat down is to minimize the gain rather |
| 1) Make sure that your caloric surplus is limited to a | | | | than trying to avoid it altogether, which is impossible. |
| precise amount. Because this surplus is what fuels | | | | Focusing first on bulking up and only then on fat loss is |
| muscle growth, it's tempting to eat too much in the | | | | the way to gain muscle quickly and effectively. |