What is bulking?
It is usual to define the bulking phase of a bodybuilder's diet by what it is not; however it is simply 'a systematic attempt to gain muscle'. If you want to add 'and strength' to that sentence then that's fine, just remember you can get stronger without adding muscle, but you can't add muscle without getting even the smallest bit stronger.

Bulking and cutting are the productive phases of bodybuilding; bulking is the addition and cutting the subtraction. When cutting you are removing body fat while trying not to lose muscle – conversely in bulking you are trying to add muscle without adding too much fat.

What about lean bulking and clean bulking?
You will hear these terms over and over again, they are purportedly ways of not adding fat while maximising muscle mass, or even the holy grail of losing body fat and adding muscle at the same time. They are certainly very attractive, but they are not the most effective! Simply put, you cannot serve two masters; focus on two things at the same time and you limit the possibility of gaining success at either. Not to say there is nothing good in the systems that fall under those headings; a concentration on healthy foods and an avoiding excess fat gain are at the foundation of any good and proper bulking program. However, the difference is that a properly constructed bulking program recognises that we are human beings not machines, there are limits to both physiology and sanity, we have taste buds, and that even Jay Cutler takes a break sometimes.

What is dirty bulking?
More often than not a poor excuse to eat a lot of junk food!

Okay, so bulking is the systematic addition of muscle tissue, and a bulking diet is one that supports this in the best way possible through the use of quality foods designed to maximise muscle gains, minimise fat gain and support maximum effort in the gym and a healthy life outside of it.

Now we know what it is we are doing – let's do it!

The building blocks
Food comes in many forms; every food is a protein, carbohydrate, fat or a combination of those three. Some foods also are nice enough to contain alcohol for extra calories and a buzz factor. As bulking bodybuilders our first priority is to get enough of these macronutrients, i.e. protein, fat and carbohydrate, into our bodies to be the behemoth of our plans.

Protein
Protein is the subject of more debate than can ever possibly be imagined, the amount of spilled ink and hours spent is truly phenomenal. Battle lines are drawn; wars are fought over just how much we need – which seems a bit of a bother to me. We don't actually know how much we need, we can measure certain requirements in others, or have them done on ourselves, but when it comes to us as individuals training our butts off and living our normal lives on top of that – really and honestly – no one knows.

Don't despair though; for years bodybuilders have wrestled with this very problem and combined with a bit of science it gives us more than just a little insight into what works for most people. And that is always the best place to start, never re-invent the wheel unless you really have to! The net result of this received wisdom is a recommendation of: 1.5g of protein per lb of lean mass (estimated), or if you are very lean or light: 1.5g per lb of bodyweight.

Why 1.5g?
Protein is important and emphasised for bodybuilders because it is involved in almost every biological process in the human body. Not only is it required to make muscle, it is needed to make enzymes, hormones and for proper immune system function, and for the formation of body tissues.

Only protein creates muscle: only amino acids from protein can be incorporated into new muscle tissue. Protein is the critical nutrient when it comes to repairing muscle tissue
Protein enhances insulin release: insulin is the number 1, big daddy anabolic hormone of them all; not only that, it helps make muscle glycogen from carbohydrate, improves protein uptake, and prevents muscle breakdown
Protein boosts the immune system: without protein you cannot make antibodies, no antibodies – no immune system. Arginine, glutamine and histidine are the three big players in the function of the immune system, run short of these three and you quickly become catabolic instead of anabolic
Protein provides glutamine: this is really a massively important amino acid, it has multiple roles from proper gut function, to immunity, but it also promotes water retention in muscle and liver cells – supporting protein synthesis and warding off catabolism

And that is just scratching the surface of the metabolic importance of protein. Packing the protein in really should be a no-brainer, after all successful bodybuilders from current Mr Olympia Jay Cutler to the very first Larry Scott back to Eugene Sandow and beyond have done it to be their best, (darn it even Rocky did it!).

Fat
If ever a nutrient has had a bad press it has been dietary fat. Responsible at one time for making people gain weight, to the rise and fall of communism, fat has hardly ever been the dietary good guy. Many people are simply fat phobic, and the health conscious are often the most pathological of those suffers. Fat has been making a comeback, studies on omega 3 oils, the Atkins diet and much more besides have put fat back in the dietary news. The question is – what role does it have in our bulking diet?

There is no doubt fat is important, read any nutrition text book and you find that there are essential amino acids found in protein, and there are essential fatty acids in fat. Essential is shorthand for the fact that human body cannot make these nutrients itself, we have to supply them – usually that's by eating or drinking them. Fats are essential to health, but we don't need a lot of them, we simply need the right ones. The nutritionally savvy may know of optimum ratios – and if you want to go down that road, feel free, but for now getting the good ones and avoiding the bad ones is the first and most important step before you go anywhere.

So what fats do we go for? Firstly omega 3 fatty acids derived from fish, fish oil and flaxseed oil. Your omega 6s and 9s will come from a good quality diet, as will most others such as gamma linolenic acid, alpha linolenic acid and such like. Secondly avoid saturated fat and trans fatty acids; and thirdly monounsaturated fats are fine – just remember they are calorie dense so use sparingly.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates appear last for a reason; in macronutrient terms they are not essential, you can make energy from protein and fat. Optimum, well even sensible nutrition, says you need carbohydrates for energy; however, they also have other important roles.

Firstly, it goes almost without saying, that if you are using protein for energy you are not using it to grow muscle, so a bulking diet spares protein for growth by giving you plenty of energy for intense workouts and our busy modern lives. Secondly good carbohydrate foods come with masses of other health and, therefore, growth benefits from fibre to the multitude of micro nutrients they have.

The key to a good carbohydrate intake is for it to be around 2 to 3 times that of your protein intake, made up almost entirely of non refined, unprocessed sources. We are talking fruit, and more importantly lots of vegetables. The anti-oxidant constituents combat the inflammation of hard training and even help confer benefits in terms of reducing the risks of cancer and heart disease. By sticking to unrefined carbohydrates you control insulin levels keeping your energy levels stable and minimising unwanted fat deposition to boot.

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