Thread: Bulking and fat

You can minimize the fat gain but as long as you are eating a calorie excess you are going to gain fat.

I know but why would they eat calories in excess?

If it was for protein requirements, couldnt that be filled with whey supplements.

Nutrition partioning is not 100% to your muscles. You cant control exactly where the cals go. With a properly set up diet and training you can keep fat gain to a minimum. Other factors also influence partioning. You could do a body recomposition type of diet where you can grow some lbm and cut some fat at the same time. This requires careful diet planning as slightly higher cals and it will turn into a bulk or lower cals and it will turn into a cut. You also need to have a lot of patience as results are slow.

Originally Posted by vze1r2ht

Got a question. Why do many lifters say that during a bulking phase, fat is not avoidable?

Cant they take whey protein to give them enough protein and carefully balance out the carbs and fats without getting fat?

BULKING PHASE......this means adding muscle and in order to do that you need to be eating more calories than what you are buring. In doing this you will add some amount of fat, but the amount added depends on how clean the food is and other variables.

I think it's okay to add fat while you are "bulking". The whole purpose to bulk is to gain mass and then turn most of it into muscle. When I bulk I eat almost anything with the exception of the really junky foods. I have no problem with stopping after i gain enough weight to where i want to start cutting. I think it just takes will power to stop eating as much after you're done bulking.

I agree, Jake. I eat anything to bulk - candy, taco bell, ice cream, whole milk. its not just protein that makes muscles, it takes calories and nutrients that arent found in a protein shake as well. for me- I eat the same to get muscular as i would to get fat, and i dont even take protein shakes. but i have a high metabolism.

Originally Posted by vze1r2ht

I know but why would they eat calories in excess?

If it was for protein requirements, couldnt that be filled with whey supplements.

Calorie surplus is THE ONLY way you can get bigger. You add a little fat, then you cut it off afterward...no biggie.

This is my favorite "bulking article".

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=781428

Originally Posted by jakeluvspunk

The whole purpose to bulk is to gain mass and then turn most of it into muscle.

I assume you mean gain mass, then burn the fat off, exposing the underlying muscle.

yeah, that's exactly what i mean....thanks for the correction

Cool. There are still those people out there who think fat can turn into muscle and visa versa.

It is alot easier said than done in trying to only bulk on a limited amount of calories to only build muscle with no fat gain. I am currently on my fourth month of a bulk and my stength amd muscle mass have shot up considerably, but so has my bodyfat somewhat. I am 6'3 and currently weigh 240. I started my bulk at 220 in September. How have the lifts gone up, in four months the dumbbell press has gone up 20 pounds per side, full squat is up 50pounds and deadlift is up 60 pounds; however, my waistline has also gone up about two inches.

I find I gain muscle fastest when I'm consuming excess calories & not doing too much cardio. Whilst doing that, fat gain is pretty-much inevitable.

Gaining 10lb of muscle and 5lb of fat is probably easier than 5lb of muscle & no fat gain.

Adding a little fat also makes you that bit stronger as the fat gives some cusioning between muscle fibres, improving mechanical advantage.

Originally Posted by GreenMan

I find I gain muscle fastest when I'm consuming excess calories & not doing too much cardio. Whilst doing that, fat gain is pretty-much inevitable.

Gaining 10lb of muscle and 5lb of fat is probably easier than 5lb of muscle & no fat gain.

Adding a little fat also makes you that bit stronger as the fat gives some cusioning between muscle fibres, improving mechanical advantage.

Agreed....most people make the mistake however, of cutting too fast after a bulk and losing hard earned muscle in the process.

Originally Posted by PWGriffin

Agreed....most people make the mistake however, of cutting too fast after a bulk and losing hard earned muscle in the process.

Very true.

Years ago I spent a couple of years on short bulking & cutting cycles. Three weeks bulking, three weeks cutting then a week off. It seemed to suit me very well. You don't diet long enough to trigger the starvation reflex, and don't bulk long enough to just turn into a fat bloater.

I'm currently in a cutting phase - I'm about 190lb and 15%bf. When I get down to 10%, I'm going to start back on this system.

Originally Posted by GreenMan

Very true.

Years ago I spent a couple of years on short bulking & cutting cycles. Three weeks bulking, three weeks cutting then a week off. It seemed to suit me very well. You don't diet long enough to trigger the starvation reflex, and don't bulk long enough to just turn into a fat bloater.

I'm currently in a cutting phase - I'm about 190lb and 15%bf. When I get down to 10%, I'm going to start back on this system.

I'm going to start a cut around the same time as when I start my next AAS cycle...might even throw in some clen and t3....but if I can trade weight (10lbs of fat loss and gain 10lbs of muscle) then I should look like a different person....weighing around 215 @ 7 or 8% BF

Originally Posted by Pedigree

Calorie surplus is THE ONLY way you can get bigger. You add a little fat, then you cut it off afterward...no biggie.

This is my favorite "bulking article".

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=781428

Wow I think I will add pop tarts for a few weeks and see how that goes. Anyone eat them? Looking for some flavors you guys like.

Originally Posted by ABLQ2

I agree, Jake. I eat anything to bulk - candy, taco bell, ice cream, whole milk. its not just protein that makes muscles, it takes calories and nutrients that arent found in a protein shake as well. for me- I eat the same to get muscular as i would to get fat, and i dont even take protein shakes. but i have a high metabolism.

Are you sure that those things are contributing to muscle gain? Yes you are taking in more calories, but what value do they have when it comes to creating muscle?

all calories are not created equal.

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

Nutrition partioning is not 100% to your muscles. You cant control exactly where the cals go. With a properly set up diet and training you can keep fat gain to a minimum. Other factors also influence partioning. You could do a body recomposition type of diet where you can grow some lbm and cut some fat at the same time. This requires careful diet planning as slightly higher cals and it will turn into a bulk or lower cals and it will turn into a cut. You also need to have a lot of patience as results are slow.

Im Bout Ym Buisiness Fuk Yall Bebops...lets Get It...1

Originally Posted by HardToSquat

It is alot easier said than done in trying to only bulk on a limited amount of calories to only build muscle with no fat gain. I am currently on my fourth month of a bulk and my stength amd muscle mass have shot up considerably, but so has my bodyfat somewhat. I am 6'3 and currently weigh 240. I started my bulk at 220 in September. How have the lifts gone up, in four months the dumbbell press has gone up 20 pounds per side, full squat is up 50pounds and deadlift is up 60 pounds; however, my waistline has also gone up about two inches.

6'3", 240? I'm the exact same size!
And my waistline has also done the exact same thing!

Originally Posted by The13ig13adWolf

all calories are not created equal.

No, but some are more equal than others.

Originally Posted by gmontem

Wow I think I will add pop tarts for a few weeks and see how that goes. Anyone eat them? Looking for some flavors you guys like.

Frosted Cherry.

I eat two of them along with whey protein a couple of hours before I lift. Under 1/2 of the carbs are from sugar, so you have some instant energy. The rest are actually good carbs. Two cherry pop tarts and a whey protein shake is 600 calories, 81g carbs, 44g protein, and 16g fat.
It works for me, so why change a good thing?

Originally Posted by JOHNYORK

Im Bout Ym Buisiness Fuk Yall Bebops...lets Get It...1

was that english?