Bulking Up - What the Hell!!

Bulking Up – What An Awful But Necessary Mission

So I’ve spent the past few days reading everything I can on my first serious mission – bulking up. The theory behind this is to build up muscle in the ‘bulking phase’ before losing all excess fat in the ‘cutting phase’.

The first dozen or so articles I read basically advised me to eat and eat so that my calorific intake exceeds my exercise, resulting in weight gain. The articles were not so concerned with the quality of food, more the quantity. Being a complete amateur I can only say that instinctually this didn’t ring true for me. So I kept hunting and reading and finally found a series of articles that discuss the concept of ‘clean bulking’ (as opposed to dirty bulking). I’m happy with this information and will follow this road.

Clean vs Dirty Bulking

Quite simply, dirty bulking is eating pretty much anything you like, putting on a lot of weight and accepting that a large portion of this will be fat. While doing this you work out like crazy and build muscle and eventually spend a fairly intense period cutting before a comp – that is, losing the excess fat.

Clean bulking, on the other hand, is about putting on weight by increasing your intake of nutritionally sound foods eg. Bigger or more meals while adhering to mainly clean foods. This method will definitely result in less bulking as you are only aiming to eat enough to allow maximum weight gain in the form of lean muscle. It is again accepted that there will be fat gain, especially for females, but the less fat gained the better. This means the cutting phase is shorter and less intense.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_truth_about_bulking;jsessionid=2553B35C6053C2C93651FA1CB00F0F86-mcd02.hydra

The bigger theory is that a body can only put on a certain amount of muscle and this is the maximum that can be achieved. No amount of eating can increase this maximum speed so the excess food is unnecessary and also detrimental.

Yes, I’m going down the less traditional road. I simply can’t be in the fitness industry and condone a feeding-frenzy-for-one! I also must take into consideration my personal battles I’ve had with food, and I believe that a massive food party would mess with my head beyond belief. And I’m not doing anything to sabotage the balance I have in life. One of my ‘rules’ when it comes to health and fitness is to not only talk-the-talk, but also walk-the-walk. This way I have to consider exactly what it is I am parroting on about because I will use the same measuring stick on my own life. Let’s face it, who wants a personal trainer that doesn’t practise what they preach. That just doesn’t make any sense.

Clean Bulking Starts Now

I’ve done the calculations. I weigh around 61kg right now and fluctuate 1kg each way depending on life. According to the calculations I require approximately 2,400 calories per day in order to put on weight to achieve muscle growth. It’s more than I normally eat and I’m feeling really full all of the time. I’ve had to change the order of my day to fit most carbs in the morning and less in the evening. Please note: this has nothing to do with the fear of storing carbs as fat at night – anyone who knows me knows that I don’t subscribe to this theory.

So here’s my latest daily intake – which is open to change if need be;

Breakfast:        Protein Shake. Oats, skim milk & banana – full as a bull after this!

Snack:              Protein Shake, Fruit

Lunch:              Salad & Tuna sandwich, or, Brown Rice & Vegetables

Snack:              Nuts, Crackers & Cottage Cheese

Dinner:            Lean Meat & Salad (I’m normally a dinner carbs girl but that’s changing now)

Snack:              Yoghurt, Fruit

And believe it or not – this can equal 2,400 calories!

The other consideration is the ratio of protein and carbs I’m getting. According to the sources I need about 205grams of protein per day. With the above I’m still only hitting about 180g max which is disappointing. I’m going to have to add yet another shake or start finding alternative and interesting sources to eat. I understand that real food is far superior to shakes however it’s bloody hard to eat more food let alone eat protein filled goodies.

Carbs are coming along nicely – surprise surprise! – and fats are usually found within my food choices eg. Avocado, olives, good oils.

My next consideration is the supplements I need…