Bulking VS Lean Bulking

Bulking vs Lean bulking

It's that time of year again where bodybuilders magically transform into soft round Pillsbury Dough boys. You'll see them walking around the gym looking over weight, don't be shocked. Winter or as body builders call it is bulking season. It's the time of year were bodybuilders put away their food journals and food scales and replace them with carbs and snacks. But why do they do this? What is the reason why bodybuilders would sacrifice their hard earned abs. Well the answer is simple, muscle. They do this to put their buddies in a favorable state to gain more muscle for next year.

Bodybuilding is an art and if done currently can produce beautiful results. For bodybuilders instead of paint and pencil our tools for sculpting our bodies are food and dumbbells. We use these two things to manipulate our bodies to grow. During bulking season otherwise called off-season we use this time to bulk up. During this bulking phase our bodies are not in a calorie deficit so with hard work in the gym we can build muscle during this season. Remember muscle can only grow under the right conditions. Assuming that you're working hard in the gym you would have to be also eating a calorie surplus. That's eating more food than you would normally eat, say during your cutting season (the time when bodybuilders reduce calorie in order to lose fat).

However many bodybuilders take bulking to a entire new level and in many cases over do it. You will see them on the day of a contest at 70kgs looking ripped but after the contest many will blow up to 80kgs or sometimes more in a matter of weeks. That is another thing to take note of as well. Bodybuilders tend to gain weight easy after their contest, that is because after being in a calorie deficit for so long our bodies are in a starved state. So when we reintroduce food to our system, our bodies act like dry sponges ans soak up everything real fast.

Many people are okay with bulking but frankly the idea of putting on 10kgs after I've tried so hard to get lean just seems counter productive and scary to me. That's why I've decided to do a lean bulk this year and avoid the dirty bulk that many of my friends ave adopted.

Lean bulking in my opinion is essentially taking a look at your macro nutrient needs and sticking within a reasonable calorie surplus during your off-season. But there is more to it than that. If you're always in a calorie surplus then no doubt you'll put on a significant amount of  unwanted weight over a longer period of time. That is why I also do carb cycling and fasting during my off and on season.

balanced pre leg workout meal

Lets discuss the two. First up carb cycling.

Carb cycling involves eating your carbs based on your daily needs. For example if I have legs on Monday then I would increase my carbs prior to my training and also  right after. But on my other training days I would reduce my carb intake to about half of what I would have taken on my leg day. Why do I only increase carbs on leg days? That is because for this year my only goal is to increase the size of my legs. Also legs  are normally the hardest training days for most lifters so it makes sense to have a bit more fuel to burn on this day.

AN example of a low carb meal

In summary cycle your carbs based on your training needs.

Next lets discuss intermittent fasting.

I've just recently started to implement fasting in my nutrition plan and I must say I absolutely love the results. Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.  During your fasting window which for me is between 16-18 hours you consume zero calories. You can drink black coffee or water during this time. While fasting your body will enter ketosis which is a phase that helps our bodies to burn fat. Don't worry you won't lose muscle mass if you fast for one day of the week. You can read up some more on fasting online to figure out which style works best for you.

Carb cycling and intermittent fasting are two strategies I use during my lean bulk phase. Give them a try to see if they can work for you as well.