Don't bulk !!!

[RetBodyBuilder]

By Christian Thibaudeau in www.tmuscle.com

There are several good reasons not to bulk up, at least not in the traditional manner. Here are a few:
1. Very few people will ever set foot on a bodybuilding stage. Those who have no aspiration to compete train mostly to look good. Is looking good two months out of the year what you're really after? Of course not. Most want to look good all year long!
I don't mean be stage-ready 365 days a year, but being at a body fat percentage where you look lean and muscular. In my opinion, someone who's training for aesthetic purposes should never go above 10% body fat. Trust me, 10% is actually not that lean! But it's a point where muscle definition and muscularity are sufficient to make you look very good. It also leaves you within four weeks or so of being in superb, super-lean condition.
So what if you're at 13% body fat and don't have that much muscle? Should you bulk up? No! You should go down to 10% then gradually increase your nutritional intake until you reach a point where you're gaining 1.5 to 2 pounds per month. This will allow you to gain muscle at your optimal rate while staying at 10%.
2. The leaner you are, the better your body becomes at nutrient partitioning. This means that lean individuals are more effective at storing the ingested nutrients in the muscle (as muscle tissue or glycogen) or in the liver (glycogen), and less effective at storing them as body fat. Simply put, leaner individuals can eat more nutrients without gaining fat.
3. The fatter you let yourself become, the more fat cells you're adding to your body. As we saw earlier, this will make it easier to gain fat and harder to lose it in the future, not to mention that the fatter you are, the less insulin sensitive you become. This is one of the reasons why fatter individuals are more effective at storing nutrients in the form of body fat than their leaner counterparts.
4. Building a good looking body isn't something that happens overnight. Many people have this distorted idea that within a year of training it's possible to look like a competitive bodybuilder. Not the case!
Building a great body is a 24 hour a day job. It isn't limited to the hour you spend at the gym; it's about the lifestyle. By eating good all year long, you aren't using a fad approach but rather changing your habits. It's much easier to lose fat when you're already used to eating well 90% of the time.

So Should I Eat Like a Bird?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you should eat a low calorie diet year 'round. I'm not against eating large amounts of food. In fact, to build muscle you must ingest more calories than you expend every day. However, the message is to use the correct amount of food to allow your body to build muscle at an optimum rate. You shouldn't stuff yourself trying to force-feed muscle onto your body.

The following table gives you an estimate of what your caloric intake should be set at depending on your lean body weight (total body weight minus fat weight. For example, someone who's 210 at 12% body fat has a fat mass of 25 pounds and a lean mass of 185 pounds.)
Caloric intake relative to lean body weight to support optimal growth (considering a normal activity level)
Lean Body Weight Caloric Intake to Support Optimal Growth
120lbs 2455kcals
130lbs 2634kcals
140lbs 2813kcals
150lbs 3037kcals
160lbs 3260kcals
170lbs 3440kcals
180lbs 3663kcals
190lbs 3885kcals
200lbs 4064kcals
210lbs 4244kcals
220lbs 4467kcals
230lbs 4646kcals
240lbs 4868kcals
250lbs 5091kcals
260lbs 5270kcals
270lbs 5494kcals
This caloric intake should allow you to gain around two to three pounds per month. If you aren't gaining that amount, slowly increase your caloric intake until you reach that rate of growth (add 250kcals at a time).
If you're gaining more than three pounds per month, you might be adding fat. If you're gaining a lot more than three pounds (like 5-7 per month), reduce the caloric intake.

Take Home Messages
• Don't get fat. In my opinion, no man needs to be above 10% body fat, and getting there isn't that hard. It can take time if you carry a lot of fat, but every man can get there and maintain this level.
• You can't bully your body into adding more muscle simply by overeating.
• You can limit your rate of gain by not ingesting enough nutrients. So adding good food if you're lacking in that department will help you gain muscle faster, but past a certain point, continuing to jack up calories will only make you fatter.
• Have realistic expectations. You won't gain 20 pounds of muscle in three months, not even in six months. Gaining 1.5 to 2 pounds of muscle per month is the most you can expect. And for most, gaining more than ten pounds of solid muscle per year (once they're past the beginner stage) will be very rare. However, gain 5-7 pounds per year for ten years straight and you'll be one huge beast!
• Being lean makes it easier to stay lean and to gain muscle through better nutrient partitioning. Getting fatter makes it easier to gain more fat and harder to lose it.
• Trying to gain muscle mass should never be a justification for eating crap. If you want to eat a junk diet, at least have the decency to admit it's because you like your food too much to give it up. Don't try to pass it off as a "bulking diet." Pizzas, Big Macs, and donuts don't have higher anabolic properties than clean food!

Conclusion
Somebody had to say it and it was me. I'm tired of seeing young kids with good potential, who are lean and have nice shapes to start with, ruin their bodies by following the bulking advice from self-proclaimed Internet "gurus" who advise them to eat as much food as they can, even junk food if it can help them jack up their calories. All this will accomplish is helping them add heaps of fat to their lean bodies.
I agree that a lot of young lifters don't eat enough to support maximum muscle growth, but eating junk or super-excessive calories isn't the way to go. The basic message is good: if you aren't gaining muscle, you're probably not eating enough. However, that doesn't mean you should eat too much and it doesn't mean you should eat crap!

[KyleAaron]

Yay, "clean bulk". This is the same guy who claims that a "black ops bodybuilding project" meant that he

"gained 27 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks, and was doing seated overhead presses with 375 pound for 5 cluster reps."

While "Sebastien gained 20 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks and added 100 pounds to his front squat, while cutting body fat for the bodybuilding contest."

and "Kevin gained 24 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks, while losing 14 pounds of fat and adding 50 pounds to his bench press"

and then there's Christian's training partner Nick, who supposedly added 20lbs of muscle in 8 weeks.

As Casey Butt pointed out,

"Thibaudeau’s Canadian, and the winning Clean & Jerk in the 207-231 lb weight class at the 2009 Canadian Senior Weightlifting Championships was only 355 pounds. Thibaudeau can press more than that on a light day. Now that he’s one of the strongest drug-free men in history at his bodyweight, he should certainly consider reviving his Olympic Weightlifting career and winning all those Canadian titles that he didn’t win back when he was actually competing."

So if Thibaudeau tells me the sun will rise tomorrow, I'll probably sleep in. And if he tells me we should all diet down to low bodyfat and "clean bulk" back up, well... I won't.

[JolietKev]

Excellent post OP!

[rangerNY]

I know this is bodybuilding.com, but does anyone else find it a bit silly that 10% bodyfat or less (generally regarded as competition athlete levels) is required to "look good"? Lots of talk about how the media and manufactured perfection distort the self-image of young women. Are we doing the same disservice to the 95% of all weight trainers that have no intention of ever stepping on stage?

[chodan9]

I know this is bodybuilding.com, but does anyone else find it a bit silly that 10% bodyfat or less (generally regarded as competition athlete levels) is required to "look good"? Lots of talk about how the media and manufactured perfection distort the self-image of young women. Are we doing the same disservice to the 95% of all weight trainers that have no intention of ever stepping on stage?

Hm
I don't think so, %10 is not so low as to be unattainable IMO, not easy of course, but attainable, thats not even a competitive bf percentage in bodybuilding, and the article said"very good" i think most guys can carry %15 and look fine, but carrying %20 or more long term is probably not healthy. Most competitors step on stage at %6 or less I would think.

[uncbob]

Gotta agree 100%

I see guys at gym who "bulk up" and never get the extra fat off which is what they mainly gained

They would much better with 15-20 pounds less fat

But then their arms wouldn't be as big

You don't have to pack on the blubber to gain lean muscle mass

Most are kidding themselves when they say they are Bulking Up

[rangerNY]

Hm
I don't think so, %10 is not so low as to be unattainable IMO, not easy of course, but attainable, thats not even a competitive bf percentage in bodybuilding, and the article said"very good" i think most guys can carry %15 and look fine, but carrying %20 or more long term is probably not healthy. Most competitors step on stage at %6 or less I would think.

Oh, I get that 10% BF would be last place in any serious contest, and I also believe that 10% is difficult, but reachable (for everyone but me - LOL). I'm just wondering about the subjective view that you can't look good without getting to 10%. Given the difficulty many many men would have getting to that level, it starts to sound like telling a 16 year old girl that anything less than perfect white teeth (veneers) and a 38C bra size (breast augmentation) at 110 pounds is going to get her laughed off the beach.

I'm really asking the question more than making a point. I understand that bodybuilding, even as a hobby sport, probably involves pushing one's body to levels that others might find unusual. This sort of thing does make me wonder, "What the hell am I doing?" when I find myself obsessing about diet and training and how I'm looking and going to look.

[yard_ape]

I know this is bodybuilding.com, but does anyone else find it a bit silly that 10% bodyfat or less (generally regarded as competition athlete levels) is required to "look good"? Lots of talk about how the media and manufactured perfection distort the self-image of young women. Are we doing the same disservice to the 95% of all weight trainers that have no intention of ever stepping on stage?

Fairly sure this is a bb.com forum set of calipers which in real life is closer to the normal level of 18%

[TheResistance]

Adding 2-3 lbs bw a month and stay @ 10%bf? - Ok no worries.

Thats as realistic as the old BS - " add weight or reps every workout"

90% of these guys talk BS 90% of the time.

[themyth2009]

I think picking a number say 10% is not a good way to go about things. Some people can carry 10% easy others it would be a huge struggle to get to that level. I think most people look more than acceptable in the 12-14% anyway.

Also it assumes everyone has same goal in mind just to look good. Some people want to be strong, etc.

IMO trying to add mass should not be used as an excuse to get well fat or eat crappy foods, etc. Which is well human nature to do so. I did it for years.

[Ed-B]

That's a good article, it makes a lot of sense for the average guy. I agree that the bulking/cutting method is not necessary for most people, and many gain fat that they have a difficult time losing later. I can speak from personal experience on that one...

I also like this author's article on carb/calorie cycling, it takes the concept one step further and presents a method that can be used to add mass while minimizing or even reducing fat.

http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=811783

I do something similar, and it has been working for me. I've been able to add some mass while losing fat, and I have the fuel I need to feel good and energetic for the gym and bicycling. It doesn't seem like I'm dieting, I eat a wide variety of foods. I've just made it a habit to consume them at the times and in the amounts that they're going to be most beneficial for me.

I think that trying to hit competitive body fat levels is unnecessarily difficult for the average guy. And most people don't consider this kind of shredded vascularity to be attractive, anyway.

But somewhere in the range of 8-12% body fat is attainable with a bit of work and discipline. I think that we're being conditioned to see this as the image a healthy male should project. The middle to higher end of that range is where you'll find the cover models on the fitness magazines, and on underwear boxes. Personally, I agree with it. There's no need to carry more body fat than that. Unless and until we shift back into an era wherein food is sporadically available, we don't need to carry that much fat to ride out the next famine. And the metric has become "six pack abs", which I now realize is an obvious and fairly accurate measure of success.

Ultimately, no one is forcing us to do any of these things. We could be fat, dumb, and happy - like the majority of the population.

We're here because we chose to be different. It's only a matter of deciding for yourself how you want to look, what you want to be, and what methods to use to get there. In many respects, it's the luxury of a prosperous society.

[ironwill2008]

Actually, OP, if you spend any time in the "workout programs" forum on this site, the trend is the other way around.

Most of the posts there are from skinny kids, usually 5'10', 140-150 pounds, wanting to know how to add muscle 'without losing their 6 pack.'

[BigMikeLV]

" add weight or reps every workout"

Whats wrong with that idea?

[bustasinclair]

160lbs 3260kcals

• You can't bully your body into adding more muscle simply by overeating.

Hmmm, seems contradictory. I don't know about any other 160# lean mass'ers, but if I ate 3,260, I'd be a blimp in 3 months time.

Take home message = everyone is different and these articles that keep putting numbers into play like this are just asanine.

[kgartin]

I got news...If I ate 3800 calories as his chart suggests, I'd gain about 4 lbs. a week...a lot of it fat.

EDITED TO ADD:
(Busta beat me to it!!)

[RetBodyBuilder]

I got news...If I ate 3800 calories as his chart suggests, I'd gain about 4 lbs. a week...a lot of it fat.

EDITED TO ADD:
(Busta beat me to it!!)

His chart says for a LBW of 190 lbs, you should eat 3885 cals. Is your lean body weight (total weight - fat weight) 190 lbs?

[TheResistance]

Whats wrong with that idea?

Its total crap, not feasible etc

[RetBodyBuilder]

Excellent post OP!

Thanks. If it's possible to build muscle without adding fat (bulking) that would be great anyway

[RetBodyBuilder]

I think picking a number say 10% is not a good way to go about things. Some people can carry 10% easy others it would be a huge struggle to get to that level. I think most people look more than acceptable in the 12-14% anyway.

Also it assumes everyone has same goal in mind just to look good. Some people want to be strong, etc.

IMO trying to add mass should not be used as an excuse to get well fat or eat crappy foods, etc. Which is well human nature to do so. I did it for years.

I agree. I am about 20% bodyfat now and if I am in the region of 10% bodyfat, I'd look awesome I think. But getting down to 10% will require monumental effort. I'll be happy and will look pretty good at 12-14% I am sure.

[Minotaur]

Hmmm, seems contradictory. I don't know about any other 160# lean mass'ers, but if I ate 3,260, I'd be a blimp in 3 months time.

Take home message = everyone is different and these articles that keep putting numbers into play like this are just asanine.

Ditto. I'm insulin resistant, hence keto. My fat goes to my midsection 'cuz of the IR. I am also hypothyroid. Even though I am on meds. and my numbers are "perfect", you are never really healed.

I was once told by a competitive bodybuilder I worked with that for the average non-competing weightlifter a goal of having a 10-12" drop from chest to waist is about right. I was also told similar by a mens' clothier. Even at my height of 5'5" and a chest of 48", my waist measurement (not pants, but waist) should not be much less than 38" simply because of my build (short thick bones and muscles).

Anyway, one size does not fit all.

[Dreamweaver_01]

Yah I gave un bulking a long time ago, and am on permanent recomp that may involve some very lean bulking. I will use a variety of dieting styles throughout the year and am always trying new things to ascertain how my body reacts. When you're competing Naturally at my age you don't want to have to drop 40 lbs for a contest. For one it is just too hard and there's is loose skin to consider as well.

[kgartin]

His chart says for a LBW of 190 lbs, you should eat 3885 cals. Is your lean body weight (total weight - fat weight) 190 lbs?

Misread!

Okay...so...3260 cals...same thing applies

[namtrag]

what a joke, if I ate what this guy said, I would weigh 250lbs and be 30% bf in no time

[themyth2009]

Yah I gave un bulking a long time ago, and am on permanent recomp that may involve some very lean bulking. I will use a variety of dieting styles throughout the year and am always trying new things to ascertain how my body reacts. When you're competing Naturally at my age you don't want to have to drop 40 lbs for a contest. For one it is just too hard and there's is loose skin to consider as well.

I am thinking the same thing as u are but the article was written for people that do not want to compete. I lost about 20lbs from Jan to June and loose skin was an issue for me. I am trying to figure out a good weight and BF to settle in at. I want to be 10% or less year round and it is what I am shooting for. Might take me a year or two more of recomping to get to that level.

I agree. I am about 20% bodyfat now and if I am in the region of 10% bodyfat, I'd look awesome I think. But getting down to 10% will require monumental effort. I'll be happy and will look pretty good at 12-14% I am sure.

I think in clothes most people would look better in the 12-14% range anway. Little more filled out, etc. So 12-14% would be a good maintenance mark and it would not take that much to get to 10% or so from that point. It is a real battle for me to get and stay below 10%.

[gujuman89]

i used to bulk quite a bit when i was in highschool, but as soon as i started taking weight class they told me about all the bad stuff bulking does and how its not really helping me

[pointreyes]

I supposed to eat around 3300 calories a day?

I find for my body that the figures on this site are a little more accurate for me.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/gainingMuscle.htm

The max I eat a day is 3000 calories. The minimum I eat is 2700 calories a day. So far, I have gained about 2 pounds this year which is close to the expected 5 pounds a year growth for people like me. BF has stayed at 11% this whole time.

[mikieson]

Everyone is different...I can stay heavy eating one meal a day. Where some people have to eat 10k calories a day to stay big.

I dont think bulking is a necessity honestly. Muscle and fat are 2 different things. Why gain fat to try and get more muscle? I know there are lots of theories out there..I just dont think you need to gain fat in any way shape or form.

[namtrag]

people who count calories can eat my shorts !

pass the ketchup!!

if I don't count I put on weight like a champ...went from 184 in early march to 211 in mid May by "just eating reasonable" and not counting calories

[kgartin]

people who count calories can eat my shorts !

How many calories would you say they have?

[ironwill2008]

what a joke, if I ate what this guy said, I would weigh 250lbs and be 30% bf in no time

And I'd still be a string bean! Based on what it actually took me to get to 200 pounds, his calcs are about 800 cals/day short.

Just goes to show how different we all are, and that everyone has to find his/her own best path by actual trial and error. Charts and formulas are a starting point, but not much more.