The Basics of Bulking

A Beginners Guide to Bulking 

The basic principle is to eat more food than your body requires to maintain your weight. For example if you calculate you roughly consume 2500 calories each day and are not gaining or losing weight then I would just add an extra 300-400 calories each day plus a structured training plan in order to gain Lean Body Mass (muscle with minimal fat).

Food Frequency and Amounts

I would opt for 7 x 400 calorie meals each day for a consistent calorie overfill which will allow for Lean Gains. As this is a basic guide I would not worry too much about calories burned more emphasis should be given to hitting the right foods at the right time consistently.

 

Types of food – some not all sources have been listed below

Protein

Beef

Chicken

Fish

Lamb – not often

Pork

Quark

Yogurt

Milk

Cottage cheese

Whey protein

Milk protein – pre bed

Carb Sources

Oats – any time of the day except pre-bed

Wholemeal pasta/rice – any time of the day except for pre-bed

White rice and pasta- To be consumed post workout

Potatoes – preferably post workout

Sweet potatoes – any time of day except pre-bed

Fats – generally avoid this pre and post workout

Fatty fish e.g salmon – not post workout

Nuts

Oils

Peanut paste/butter

Olive oil

Vegetables

Variety with most meals

 

A rough daily meal plan

Upon waking – BBW Premium whey protein – ripe banana

40-60 minutes later – breakfast :Eggs with some yolks, turkey rashers, wholemeal toast or oats, half-fat cheese,

Supplements – green tea extract, multi vitamin, fish oils, cissus

2-3hours later – Meal Replacement or weight gainer

90 mins later - train – Pure iBCAA 8:1:1 - electrolytes

PWO shake – Performance Protein V2 – 40 g of dex/malto – 5g of taurine

1 hour later – chicken breast – rice or pasta or potatoes – salad – minimal fats

Supplements – green tea

2 hours later – low fat yogurt with half scoop of bbw whey and nuts

3 hours later – beef/fish/turkey – salad – low carb – moderate fats

Supplements – multi vitamin, fish oils, cissus

3 hours later – BBW Premium Casein Protein/quark/cottage cheese with spoon of Udos or Olive oil – Fish oils

 

Training

Should be intense and structured, I would keep cardio to a minimum and at a slow pace. If you do decide to do more cardio than thrice weekly then more calories will need to be added to them days depending on expenditures.

 

Rep Range – I would opt for 8 – 12 rep range to pack on lean mass and minimise impact on joints.

 

Exercises – compounds e.g. bench press, squats, militaries and dead lifts, I would also use a few isolation moves at the end of each session to pump blood and nutrients in to the muscles. Each compound exercise should consist of 1 warm set or more if necessary and then 3 working sets where you gradually up the weight so you can start failing on the last rep of the last set.

 

Splits

Chest and triceps

Back and Biceps

Shoulders and calves

Legs 

by Mark Marcou