Thread: bulking question

i know that when bulking you need to eat more calories than are used but could your gains double or even triple if one ate double or triple thier maintence level while on the same workout routine? any opinions??

Originally Posted by Rpn1984

i know that when bulking you need to eat more calories than are used but could your gains double or even triple if one ate double or triple thier maintence level while on the same workout routine? any opinions??

Ummm.... The simple answer - no.

Your ability to partition nutrients into muscle tissue is not going to be that big... Eating more is not going to automatically mean more muscle gains - and your body will just pile all that excess energy into your fat cells.

In terms of how much more you should eat than maintainence - it isn't as simple as a matter of 'eat 500 cals over maintainence' as many people think (another BB myth! ). It is all a factor of the individual, their partitioning capacity and their maintainence calorie intake.

For example, a 120 pound 55 yr old post-menopausal female with a maintainence calorie intake of 1500 cals is going to have much less of an ability to partition the nutrients from 500 cals than a 200 pound 20 yr old male with a maintainence of 3500 cals.

Also - most people will never come close to the mythical '1 pound of muscle/week' gains that are proposed as 'goals'. Especially those who are not the ideal 'young, healthy (juicing) male'.

Most people (esp. females) would be better off slowing things down and aiming for 1-2 pounds of gains over the course of 1 month. Sure - it is slower, but it is more likely to be actual lean mass and not just fat.

So my advice for adding lean mass is to start at maintainence and then add 10% more calories then sit at that level for 2 weeks. See how your body responds. If you get no gains, then increase cals again by a further 10%.

Continue until you hit an intake in which you get good gains without eating to a level that will cause excessive fat gains.