The Bulking Diet: Necessary or Nonsense? – T-Nation

The Bulking Diet: Two Types Bulking is one of those irritating buzzwords that could mean multiple things. Here are the two most common ways the bulking diet strategy is used: Bulking Like a Jackass: The practice of consuming junk food and a very large caloric surplus to “force” the body to build muscle while accepting a significant amount of fat gain. This kind of bulking isn’t necessary and will likely backfire. Bulking Like an Adult: The practice of consuming a modest surplus of healthy calories to build muscle while accepting some fat gain in the process. This type of bulking is necessary for someone who has a hard time building muscle – naturally skinny guys or “hardgainers.” Let’s break those down. Easy Gainers Vs. Hardgainers The more anabolic you are, the less of a caloric surplus you’ll need to build muscle. To keep things simple, just think of “anabolic” as muscle growth and “catabolic” as muscle breakdown. Being anabolic doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on steroids. Although anabolic steroids are anabolic (shocker), it simply means they build muscle. But your own body produces anabolic (building) and catabolic (breaking down) hormones and enzymes. For example, the testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, and IGF-1…
Read More