Fuelling your bulk

Hopefully by now you should be looking at, if not already, changing your lifting ideas and your reps and sets layout for your bulk. Doing this is a great way to increase your chances of a successful bulking phase but what about your diet?

This week we take a look at how best to increase your chances of a good bulk with a change of your diet and what you can implement through your diet for a prolonged bulk.

With an increase in the intensity of your training and a focus on a demand for heavier lifts there is naturally a demand on your body to more from each training session. With this higher demand for your body to work harder you should be aiming to increase the supply of good longer lasting energy packed meals throughout the day. As with the initial training phase from before, you will still be packing the protein into each meal but the energy levels from your food sources should also be increasing to help your body with the heavier loads lifted.

When bulking, it will completely natural to maybe add a small pint of fat to what you are used to carrying on your body’s frame, but don’t be worried about it too much as it’s only natural and the work you’ll be doing in the new year will burn most of it away easily.

Whilst bulking you should be aiming to consume around 5-6 meals a day with each meal adding significantly to your body’s fuelling supply and daily intake of high quality protein and carbohydrates, vegetables and healthy fats. It doesn’t have to be a massive intake with each meal it could be something as simple as a serving of sweet potato with some high grain protein bread but the key is to have your metabolism working overtime as it should help you with consuming these amount of meals each day. Your body will be working harder to burn each meal and your metabolism will be working hard which means it’s using the essential nutrients from all of your food and making sure it doesn’t just store extra fats.

Ideal amounts of protein

If you weigh 150 pounds in weight you should aim for between 150-300 grams of protein each day split of 5-6 meals.

If you weigh 120 pounds in weight you would consume between 120-240 grams of protein a day. These are the guidelines for a bulking season with the emphasis on taking in as much protein as physically possible in 2-3hr slots so your body can aid growth. The lower your intake of high quality foods and proteins means you’ll be aiming at a maintaining of your current level. To move onto the next phase of your physical development and to bulk effectively you should aim for twice your body-weight as it currently is.

When bulking the idea is to supplement your heavier training regime with an increased food intake. This is bound to come with some unwanted fat intake but it’s all a part of the journey of a successful bulk during the off season. You should not be too worried about gaining too much in the way of excess body fat as it’s a part of the journey on your bulk. If you eat correctly and well and give your body the right fats and carbohydrates then you will be fine.

Try to eat at the right times and not too late into the evening in order to avoid the possibility of too much waste of food. Stick to your high protein and complex carbohydrates plan earlier in the day and simple carbohydrates near the end of the day and steer well clear of excessively sugary and fatty or fried foods where possible to really maximise your chances of adding the right weight. You can eat when you’re hungry as long it is good quality and high in protein. When eating for a bulk just think of the harder work you’re doing in the gym regimes and your training and as that increases your nutrient intake should also increase in order to sustain your bulking programme. The key thing is to think of fuelling your workload effectively. Your body will not function unless you put in the work in the kitchen alongside the work in the gym!

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