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Bodybuilding bulking meal plan

What is bulking?

Bulking is a phrase where bodybuilders train hard and eat in a calorie surplus with the aim of increasing muscle mass. Fat gains are usually accepted when following a bulking (calorie excess) diet due to the very nature of inputting more energy (in the form of calories) then you are expelling (bodily functions and training). The excess in calories is needed to increase bodyweight and fuel the efforts of adding muscle tissue.

The other common phrase is cutting, which is the implementation of a calorie deficit diet and cardiovascular exercise to encourage fat loss. Cutting diets are structured in a way to try to minimise muscle loss whilst fat is being striped away, and weight training is also continued for the same purpose.

What is lean bulking?

Taking the two periodisation phrases above, people have come up with an idea of a hybrid where we add muscle but keep fat levels the same, or maybe even loose fat. The idea sounds great, but in reality has some issues. When we mentioned bulking above we did not talking about stuffing your face with fast food every few hours, the so called dirty bulking method. We said bulking is the inclusion of a calorie excess diet to promote muscle growth. Diets can still remain clean with a good ratio and source of nutrients during a bulking phrase, and this is recommended to minimise excess fat gains and promote health. The idea of adding muscle and losing fat at the same is a concept which would work for very few. Newbie’s may be able to accomplish this some what, but only due to rapid gains often seen with people who start training. The other exceptions may be those who are genetically gifted, and those who are taking performance enhancing drugs to aid them. For the most of us we would be much better off spending our time focusing on one goal and implementing the correct regime to achieve that goal.

So what would a sample bulking diet look like?

7:30 breakfast	Generous serving of oats with skimmed milk Large banana 350ml of egg whites cooked Tbsp of flaxseed oil Fruit juice or hot beverage
10:00-10:30	200g of tinned tuna 150g long grain brown rice Generous serving of mixed veg
12:30	Chicken breast Large baked potato Item of fruit, such as an apple or pear
3:30	Serving of a protein blend product /or lean steak 150g wholemeal pasta Mixed nuts and seeds
30 minutes before training	20g of whey protein in water
Post workout	40g of whey protein with 50g of dextrose or maltodexrin
7:00	200g of cooked salmon 250g sweet potato Serving of veg
10:00	Tub of cottage cheese /or serving of protein blend Serving of oats with skimmed milk

An appreciation that this meal plan is merely a guide is needed, and the plan should be tailored for a persons specific set of circumstances. A smart plan would be to run a diet such as the one shown above for a period of time, and then assess the results. You may need to increase overall calories to gain more weight, or maybe decrease serving sizes if fat gains are too great. You may also look to tweak the nutrition around training to suit you, or the food choices due to preference.