Lean Bulking Is Hard — Here Are 3 Tips to Get It Right
Maximize your muscle growth in the wintry months.
On social media, Gen Z calls it the “winter arc” — the period between the end of summer’s warmth and the following spring.
It’s typically when bodybuilders embrace lean bulking.
Lean bulking is a period of intentional overeating with a focus on minimizing body fat gain as much as possible, even at the expense of potential muscle mass.
If you’re bundling up and buckling down to build muscle, lean bulking is one of the best ways to go about it. But it’s a fickle thing to get right; eat too little and you likely won’t make meaningful progress. Eat too much and you’ll potentially have unwanted fat to peel off afterward.
These three tips can help you thread that needle.
A bodybuilding-oriented lifestyle is no picnic.
Managing your body fat through lean bulking takes a good deal of diligence. Here are three tips that might help you stave off unwanted fat gain while adding muscle:
The Smaller Your Calorie Surplus, the Better
To build muscle, you need an energy surplus — spare calories to use as raw material. However, providing more raw material doesn’t necessarily encourage your body to build muscle faster. The general idea of lean bulking is to provide just enough extra energy to fuel hypertrophy.
So, it follows that the smaller your calorie surplus is, the more likely it is that most of your weight change would result from added muscle instead of body fat:
:the more conservative your calorie surplus is, the higher proportion of your weight gain will be muscle instead of fat,” “However, if your surplus is too conservative, that can slow muscle gain.”
A 100-300 calorie surplus for anyone partaking in lean bulking.
The more advanced you are in your gym career, the closer to the low end you should be.
Set a Calorie & Macronutrient Range
If lean bulking is all about precision, the idea of a target range for your calories and macronutrients, rather than a specific number, might seem silly. However, we’d argue doing so affords you the luxury of flexibility.
Giving yourself a 10- or 20-gram leeway in your macronutrient quotas won’t do any big-picture harm and should average out to a consistent value over the course of a week or month. In exchange, you have more flexibility in your food choices and don’t need to panic about, say, going a little bit over your carb threshold.
This is a form of what’s called flexible dietary restraint. Some studies have shown a flexible view of food can improve an individual’s relationship with food and lessen the chances of developing obesity. (3)
Weigh & Measure Regularly
For bodybuilders who embrace lean bulking, habitual and diligent measuring is familiar territory. This means keeping tabs on your weight and body composition. Before we dive in, remember that a fixation on scale weighing can be an indicator of body dysmorphia.
Regular weighing provides a reliable indicator of the general magnitude of your calorie surplus. In simpler terms, how fast you gain weight on the scale corresponds to how far above the caloric maintenance you’re eating.
A 200-calorie average daily surplus should lead to roughly less than half a pound gained on the scale per week.
This is why frequent weighing is essential for lean bulking — it provides more data to account for the daily fluctuations in scale weight that you can’t directly control, such as digestion. If you’re comfortable weighing yourself daily, in a fasted and unclothed state, do so and average the numbers together to get a sense of your weight change.
Regardless, if you’re experienced in lean bulking, you’ll want to aim for, at most, one or two pounds of scale weight per month. You can also, imperfectly, keep tabs on your rate of fat gain by taking progress pictures in the mirror on a monthly basis or using a tape measure around your stomach.
Also remember to get a little extra help from the many incredible dieting and cutting products on our YourMuscleShop website.
Don't forget to use my exclusive Discount Code PEP20 to save 20% off your total order at checkout.
Shop Now :
Home - Yourmuscleshop
Contact Us :
Telegram:
Telegram: Contact @yourmuscleshopofficial
Whats app : +1 424-297-6166
Email :
yourmuscleshopsales1@protonmail.com
www.yourbodybuildingstore.to
www.yourmuscleshop.org
www.yourmuscleshop.store
www.yourmuscleshop.shop
Maximize your muscle growth in the wintry months.
On social media, Gen Z calls it the “winter arc” — the period between the end of summer’s warmth and the following spring.
It’s typically when bodybuilders embrace lean bulking.
Lean bulking is a period of intentional overeating with a focus on minimizing body fat gain as much as possible, even at the expense of potential muscle mass.
If you’re bundling up and buckling down to build muscle, lean bulking is one of the best ways to go about it. But it’s a fickle thing to get right; eat too little and you likely won’t make meaningful progress. Eat too much and you’ll potentially have unwanted fat to peel off afterward.
These three tips can help you thread that needle.
A bodybuilding-oriented lifestyle is no picnic.
Managing your body fat through lean bulking takes a good deal of diligence. Here are three tips that might help you stave off unwanted fat gain while adding muscle:
The Smaller Your Calorie Surplus, the Better
To build muscle, you need an energy surplus — spare calories to use as raw material. However, providing more raw material doesn’t necessarily encourage your body to build muscle faster. The general idea of lean bulking is to provide just enough extra energy to fuel hypertrophy.
So, it follows that the smaller your calorie surplus is, the more likely it is that most of your weight change would result from added muscle instead of body fat:
:the more conservative your calorie surplus is, the higher proportion of your weight gain will be muscle instead of fat,” “However, if your surplus is too conservative, that can slow muscle gain.”
A 100-300 calorie surplus for anyone partaking in lean bulking.
The more advanced you are in your gym career, the closer to the low end you should be.
Set a Calorie & Macronutrient Range
If lean bulking is all about precision, the idea of a target range for your calories and macronutrients, rather than a specific number, might seem silly. However, we’d argue doing so affords you the luxury of flexibility.
Giving yourself a 10- or 20-gram leeway in your macronutrient quotas won’t do any big-picture harm and should average out to a consistent value over the course of a week or month. In exchange, you have more flexibility in your food choices and don’t need to panic about, say, going a little bit over your carb threshold.
This is a form of what’s called flexible dietary restraint. Some studies have shown a flexible view of food can improve an individual’s relationship with food and lessen the chances of developing obesity. (3)
Weigh & Measure Regularly
For bodybuilders who embrace lean bulking, habitual and diligent measuring is familiar territory. This means keeping tabs on your weight and body composition. Before we dive in, remember that a fixation on scale weighing can be an indicator of body dysmorphia.
Regular weighing provides a reliable indicator of the general magnitude of your calorie surplus. In simpler terms, how fast you gain weight on the scale corresponds to how far above the caloric maintenance you’re eating.
A 200-calorie average daily surplus should lead to roughly less than half a pound gained on the scale per week.
This is why frequent weighing is essential for lean bulking — it provides more data to account for the daily fluctuations in scale weight that you can’t directly control, such as digestion. If you’re comfortable weighing yourself daily, in a fasted and unclothed state, do so and average the numbers together to get a sense of your weight change.
Regardless, if you’re experienced in lean bulking, you’ll want to aim for, at most, one or two pounds of scale weight per month. You can also, imperfectly, keep tabs on your rate of fat gain by taking progress pictures in the mirror on a monthly basis or using a tape measure around your stomach.
Also remember to get a little extra help from the many incredible dieting and cutting products on our YourMuscleShop website.
Don't forget to use my exclusive Discount Code PEP20 to save 20% off your total order at checkout.
Shop Now :
Home - Yourmuscleshop
Contact Us :
Telegram:
Telegram: Contact @yourmuscleshopofficial
Whats app : +1 424-297-6166
Email :
yourmuscleshopsales1@protonmail.com
www.yourbodybuildingstore.to
www.yourmuscleshop.org
www.yourmuscleshop.store
www.yourmuscleshop.shop
