Bulking Secrets...

[Novabound08]

Aside from the generic response, DIET, DIET, DIET, LIFTING, what are (in your opinion) the most important aspects to a bulk? What worked for you? Be specific. (For example, certain exercises, rest periods, performing no cardio, supplements, 3 or 5 day splits, reps and sets, +500 over maintances, etc). In other words if you could give someone a limited number of points prior to a bulk, what would they be? My goals are muscle mass, with little/no fat gain! Thanks.

[1FastGTX]

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...66#post6416266

[tennisball]

Check this thread I started before my current bulk:

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/s...ad.php?t=17369


I'm doing ABBH right now. It's a 4-day, upper/lower split. I think it's a great beginning/intermediate strength and hypertrophy program, focusing on all the major compound lifts. Most of the population benefits from a routine that hits major muscle groups at least twice weekly, and it has already made a huge difference in my strength and size. You will gain most mass, esp. if you're really just starting out (meaning in your first year or so) with the large, multi-joint lifts (e.g. deadlift, squats, bench, dips, etc).

Diet is still the #1 problem in my book. I'm 500cals/day over maintenance, but I've decided that I need to eat a hell of a lot more. I'm getting used to the massive amounts of food, but adding a few more pro/fat meals in my diet have helped considerably. It seems, after reading a lot of anecdotes, that the more you eat, the better off you'll be for size gains.

The idea of a "slow bulk", in my opinion, is a little bogus. It just takes a long, long time to see the gains you would like. You really are just prolonging the amount of fat that you will have gained on a massive eating phase (unless, of course, you don't show a propensity to gain much fat). Don't worry so much about losing your abs, if you have them.

Make smart eating choices, don't binge on bad foods too much (although a pizza once in a while isn't so awful), and maybe do HIIT once or twice a week. I play tennis 2-3 times a week, and have kept steady state cardio out of my routine for now. I've been gaining some fat, but in 6 weeks, I've upped my weight by over 10lbs (some fat, some lean mass, some water).

As for supplements, always include whey, and I've added a pre-workout shake, and doubled the size of my post-workout shake. I started a creatine cycle while on maintenance for two weeks prior to bulking, which has really improved (if only psychologically) my ability to workout a little longer and heavier in the gym. I've also added fish oil and flax oil to the diet, as well as cut down on coffee and added 4 cups of green tea a day.

Originally Posted by Novabound08

Aside from the generic response, DIET, DIET, DIET, LIFTING, what are (in your opinion) the most important aspects to a bulk? What worked for you? Be specific. (For example, certain exercises, rest periods, performing no cardio, supplements, 3 or 5 day splits, reps and sets, +500 over maintances, etc). In other words if you could give someone a limited number of points prior to a bulk, what would they be? My goals are muscle mass, with little/no fat gain! Thanks.

[A-Pac]

Hopefully your checked out the sticky "bulking" thread here...

Otherwise here is some more info on the subject.

http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=218

[RTE]

No cardio, you can do that when you are maintaining.

Get at least 8 hours good sleep.

Compound exercises working the big muscles - legs and back. Use heavy weights for all exercises.

Drink at least a gallon of water.

Supplement with creatine. Early Teens shouldn't need any supplements except muti-vitamin.

Have at least 2 whey shakes with milk.

Eat meat.

Do a fullbody or split 3 days a week- MWF.

Try to cut activity, put everything into workouts no more than 1 hour. Rest, relax, and grow.

[Oranzith]

my basic plan in terms of exercise, from the month of september through january (bulking) is to be as follows:

4x/week split
walk to garage
lift
walk to kitchen
walk to room
drive to work
wait tables
drive home
walk to kitchen
walk to room


other than that, i dont plan on moving much. in reality i run tennis clinics two times a week as well, which is basically feeding balls (I'm 18)

[swole]

Originally Posted by Novabound08

Aside from the generic response, DIET, DIET, DIET, LIFTING, what are (in your opinion) the most important aspects to a bulk? What worked for you? Be specific. (For example, certain exercises, rest periods, performing no cardio, supplements, 3 or 5 day splits, reps and sets, +500 over maintances, etc). In other words if you could give someone a limited number of points prior to a bulk, what would they be? My goals are muscle mass, with little/no fat gain! Thanks.

That was a good summary that Fast gave you. Eat to where you are going, not where you are. (i.e., if you want to add ten lbs. of lean mass, eat like someone weighing 10 lbs. more than you are now).... Spend most of your time on heavy compound movements, especially bench, squats and deads, like the article said. I would add b.o. rows, weighted dips, weighted pullups, maybe some standing military presses, and not too much more. Three to four workouts per week is enough and you don't have to do all exercises every week. You can pick one or two per body part and rotate them weekly. Limit your isolation work for now... Get to know your body and what it responds to. One of the biggest detrements to growth I have seen in the gyms that I have belonged to by far (and I have seen thousands of people train over the last twelve years) is overtraining. If you are not making progress over time (increasing the weight or reps) then you are overtraining and you will not experience muscle growth. If that happens, it is time to change things. Keep a record of your lifts and do whatever it takes to make improvement over time. That is the key to muscle growth.... A lot of the routines posted on the net are waaaaay too much volume for someone who has average recovery ability and is a non steriod user. Hell, I have good recovery ability, good genetics and tried some of those programs when I used gear (I don't anymore) and even then it was way too much volume. I cannot imagine some of those programs being successful with someone with average genetics and who does not use gear. Some of those programs will have you easily overtrained in a matter of weeks. The best program I have seen for intermediates is DC training. It hits your entire body every four days with a split, so you are working each body part twice within 8 days.. It is tough, but not much volume, and it flat out works.

[Nate]

Deadlifts.

[1FastGTX]

And Squats.

[chicanerous]

Diet! Diet! Diet! I just had a rude awakening, counting my calories for a day and finding that I'm just barely eating at maintainence levels! Without proper nutrition, you're almost wasting your workouts.

[jsbrook]

Lots but no time to post right now. But my biggest piece of advice would be to not stop the bulk just because your abs blur.

[Skoorb]

When bulking, I aim for:

- 1lb lean beef per day
- 1 Gallon Skim Milk per day
- Around 2000 cals per day from oats
- Lots of protein shakes (up to 8 per day)
- Lean chicken
- Lean turkey
- Lean beef / sloppy Joes (manwich)
- Hamburger Helper
- Lots of pasta
- Lots of tuna
- Potatoes
- Rice (Note: If you can afford it you can do things like boneless chicken breast, steaks etc.. etc..)
- Veggies (Fresh if possible)

I'm fatter for reading that.

[swole]

Originally Posted by Skoorb

I'm fatter for reading that.

I eat several servings of Hamburger Helper (without the hamburg) when I need temporary water weight gain. The 1000 mg of sodium per serving does the trick.

Just joking...

[Nate]

When I bulk I actually eat cleaner than when I'm lean.

[tennisball]

No wonder you're such a scrawny bastard, Nate! ha!

How's the deadlift these days?

Originally Posted by Nate

When I bulk I actually eat cleaner than when I'm lean.

[1FastGTX]

Originally Posted by Skoorb

I'm fatter for reading that.

Why?