The Winter Bulk

Bulking. Adding muscle. Packing on good weight.

At some point in your fitness journey, most people want to add some muscle. You can definitely add muscle and strength while you are cutting body fat, but that really only works for those people that are starting out and relatively untrained. As I have blogged about A LOT, cutting BF and adding muscle happen best in completely different nutritional environments. Cutting BF and getting ripped is best when you are at a calorie deficit, which will not really build a lot of muscle. Adding muscle happens best at a calorie surplus, which will in almost all cases cause you to gain body fat too. So just to hammer it home once again, PICK 1 GOAL! Ripped or mass! And then work at that goal without being disillusioned about getting ripped and stacking on 30 lbs of muscle LOL. The only place that happens is in a body building magazine ;-)

Winter Bulking

Tons of people love to bulk in the winter months, and it makes perfect sense. You know if you are really bulking that you will add some BF, but that is ok. That is really the trade off you make to gain more muscle. And you are wearing more clothing in the winter. Nothing is wrong with that, it’s the truth! I like being leaner in the summer because I have more places where I would take my shirt off (pool, vacations, etc). It’s not an ego thing, I really feel better (and less self conscious) when I am leaner. So I save my real bulking for the WINTER!

How to Set Up Your Bulk

First things first, if you are coming right off of a deficit… don’t jump right into a BIG surplus! That is a guaranteed way to pack on some BF. Your body and metabolism is probably a little slower right now from running your deficit. If you jump right into a ton of calories, you will pack on BF.

Work up slowly. By slowly I mean adding 200 calories every week or so to your goal. You just want to ease into your bulk.

Calories and Macros on Your Bulk

This is a little tricky for some people. I have no problem running percentages like 40/40/20 and 30/50/20. For some reason that rubs a few people the wrong way LOL You can look at grams of protein and carbs and fats, but the percentages will get you to the same point. What I will say is that when you get to your surplus, you want protein between 1-1.5g per lb of body weight. That will ensure you have enough protein at each big meal to get good protein synthesis.

Calories – I would start with the typical P90X plan to find your maintenance (BW*10 + 20% + 600). That is your body weight *10, adding 20% of that number, and finally adding 600 calories for an average workout. That ASSUMES you are working out 6 days a week with a full program like Body Beast or P90X.

Then you want to add 300-500 over that. If you have never bulked before, I would start with +300 over maintenance to work up to. These are just estimates and don’t really factor in your real maintenance. You just want to play it safe.

Macros – I like 30/45/25 for bulking. 30% protein for most people will put you in that 1-1.5g of protein per lb of body weight. If you want to check it. Take your BW and times it by 1.25. That should be your HIGH end of protein. If you are getting enough protein, add carbs and place them around your workouts. That will give you great energy and recovery. Carbs are your best friend while bulking!

Then it’s time to EAT! Track like you always do and get that food in. WARNING – THIS MAY SOUND LIKE BLASPHEMY – you might not be able to eat only “clean” food on your bulk. THE HORROR! LOL But really, it’s hard to get up into 3000-4000 calories with only chicken, rice, and broccoli. So as long as you are tracking all your food, don’t feel bad for having some of the things you avoid while cutting. That is a perk to bulking, you can fit in things like some pizza or lasagna. Just track it, be honest, and don’t cheat yourself by going on a binge!

Bulking Dangers

As I just hinted… there are dangers in bulking and mainly they come from getting too comfortable. Too be honest, it’s where I have been the last couple weeks! When you have so many calories to work from, you can get tempted to add a little of this or that and not really track it. Or like I tend to do when I let it slip a bit, just track the calories. I can tell you that macros still matter. That protein still matters. You don’t want to let anything get out of control and then have more work than you need to get back to ripped.

Now I am getting back into the zone. It’s a good thing too! It’s easy for me to gain weight, the good and the bad kind LOL But it is really easy for me to add BF when I am at a careless surplus. So let me example be a good warning! We don’t want to go back to where we were. :-)

Couple Questions for the Comments…

• Are you bulking this winter?
• How has it been going? Are you experiencing some of the same temptations I have?
• How many calories over your calculated maintenance need are you? Is 500+ close for you?

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