Diet and Nutrition

Hey guys,

Today I'm going to break down something very BIG when it comes to building muscle and gaining weight. And it's the "Good", the "Bad" and the Ugly when it comes to "Bulking" up.

Specifically I'm talking about the "Bulking" Technique. If you don't know what that is, in simple terms it's when your diet and training are both focused on MAXIMUM muscle gain and a large part of this has to do with consuming very large amounts of calories each day.

Now there's a good side to this, a bad side to this and an UGLY side to this (as you'll soon see). And in the next few minutes you'll know if it's for you and if it isn't what other route you can take to reach your muscle building goals.

Here are some pics from my most recent transformation using the Bulking Technique:

Even though the "bulking" technique is an effective way to build muscle it's not for everyone. So if you're thinking about "bulking" then there's some key things you need to know FIRST to see if it's right for you.

The Good Side of Bulking

It's a Proven Method to Build (LOTS Of) Muscle

As I said before the "bulking" technique is an effective way to build muscle. It's been used by many top pro bodybuilders and fitness professionals for YEARS. And because this technique uses the approach of MASSIVE calorie intake I feel that the bulking technique is great for:

"hardgainers"
skinny guys
ectomorphs
guys with fast metabolisms
basically anyone who naturally struggles with building muscle.

The reason why I say this is because the bulking technique helps you build muscle and gain weight no matter how stubborn your "genetics" are.

It's also fairly simple to follow and very focused. Aside from eating the wrong things at the wrong times, you can "almost" eat whatever you want, as long it it provides the right amount of carbs, proteins, and fats.

And probably one of the main benefits of the bulking technique especially for newbies trying this out for the first time is that results are seen rather quickly compared to other muscle building strategies.

The Bad Side of Bulking

You WILL Experience Fat Gains

Probably the biggest down side to Bulking is that, if done correctly you WILL see fat gains. Since you're essentially "over eating" (consuming more calories then your body burns) on a daily basis then should expect to see some fat gains.

May Be BAD For Your Health

Bulking, can actually be bad for your health. For starters when you "Bulk" it's typical to decrease the amount of cardio you do, so you can dedicate more calories to muscle growth. Second, it's typical for things like your cholesterol and blood pressure to increase due to fact that you're experiencing extra muscle and fat gains and doing less and less cardio. And it's for these reasons why Bulking is meant to be a short term strategy for fast muscle gains. That's why most bodybuilders only "bulk" for a few weeks or at most a few months in their off season and then take more conservative approaches to reach their goals.

Since fat gains go hand in hand with bulking it's best to start a "bulking" phase when you're at a low body fat. (Trust me on this one) If you can't even see the outline of your abs then you'll need to drop some body fat first BEFORE you start a "bulking" phase.

Due to the fat gains that you'll experience, this technique is also not ideal for those who want to keep their waist line small and their body fat % down while they're building muscle.

The UGLY Side of Bulking

Unwanted Fat Gains

If done incorrectly you can put on ALOT of unwanted body fat using the "bulking" technique (Which you'll soon see).

And going with that, the more body fat you have, the longer it takes to "cut" the fat and shed those "pudge" pounds. Trust me, if you thought building muscle was hard, going on a cutting diet for months in my opinion is 10x worse.

True story...

So when I first set out to transform my body the first technique I learned was the "bulking" technique. Following a meal plan and workout plan designed to build MAXIMUM muscle gains just made the most sense for me at the time, especially for someone like me who seemed "allergic" to building muscle at the time.

After about 4 - 5 months I gained ALOT of muscle, but also ALOT of fat (which as you know is somewhat expected but in large part was due to some KEY mistakes (which i'll touch on shortly)

Even though this "initial" transformation was over 2 years ago I didn't realize how much fat I actually put on during that "bulking" phase until I looked at a picture of myself this summer after my six pack challenge with my sister.

(Keep in mind that fat gains are expected when you use the "bulking" technique but the MONSTROUS FAT GAIN I experienced was due to ALOT of mistakes on my part.)

Here's what happpens when you Bulk up the WRONG WAY:

My First Transformation: Me at (184 lbs) and 4 Months Later (226 lbs)

So here are a few Key Mistakes I made that lead to those fat gains:

Didn't Do the Recommended Cardio

Remember how I said you have to "limit" your cardio when you're bulking. Well I took that a little too far and virtually ELIMINATED cardio from my workout plan, which is a BIG NO NO when you're bulking up PERIOD (unless you're actually underweight with a low body fat and even then that's only for your first few weeks).

First I'm not gonna lie, I was lazy. I kept saying I'll do cardio next time (for months). Not only is this bad for your heart and your entire cardiovascular system but its also bad for your fat gains. Since I was consuming SO MANY CALORIES each day, that 20 - 25 minutes of cardio per workout was CRUCIAL to keeping my fat gains to a minimum.

I can go on and on about the excuses I made, but let's just say live and learn. And FYI, cardio is essential even when "bulking".

Ate ALOT of Things I Shouldn't

Since I was under the impression "the more calories I consume the better" I basically ate whatever I wanted, when I wanted. I remember eating things like pasta, yogurt, ravioli and nuggets at crazy hours in night (hey, I was a college student alright 🙂 )

Now that I think about it, my cholesterol must've been through the roof with all the packaged and pre-made stuff I was eating (they're usually jam-packed with sodium). And what made it even worse was the fact that I was eating this stuff at all the wrong times. So multiply these daily bad eating habits throughout 4 - 5 months and BAM you get MASSIVE Fat Gains.

So as you can see Bulking has some good things about it, some bad things about it and some UGLY things about it. But overall I do believe that this is still a very highly effective way to build muscle, especially if you're a naturally skinny guy like me and you natuarlly struggle building muscle.

Who Is "Bulking" Really For???

If you're:

a hardgainer / skinny guy / ectomorph
a person who has a fast metabolism
don't mind gaining some extra fat to build ALOT of muscle
a person who naturally struggles with building muscle
a beginner to intermediate weight lifter

then I'd say the "bulking" technique might be your best way to go. The best program I've seen (and actually used) that'll teach you how to bulk up with the "bulking" technique (the right way) is the No Nonsense Muscle Building Program, if you fall into the category above then I highly recommend you give it a shot.

But if you:

already have a low body fat and have a six pack
want to keep your waist line where it's at while building muscle
want lean musle gains without the fat

then I'd say the "bulking" technique isn't for you. If you fall into the category of wanting to build lean muscle without the fat then I highly recommend you give The Somanabolic Muscle Maximizer program a try, everything about this program (from the workout plans, meal pleans, post workout shakes, etc) is designed to help you build muscle with virtually no fat gain.

Ok guys, that's my rant for today. I hope this helped. Let me know what you think about the bulking technique by leaving a comment below.

Train hard,

Rich

So you're doing everything you can possibly think of to build muscle and gain weight.

You're:

Busting your butt in the gym
Eating more food
Drinking these crazy supplements
Following the muscle building magazines
Spending hours on Youtube trying to figure it all out
Reading TONS of articles
Signing up for countless newsletters

and at the end of it all, weeks later..... You still look EXACTLY the same as the day you started.

And because of this, you're frustrated, tired, pissed off, down, depressed and feel like giving up.

How do I know all this?

BECAUSE I WAS THERE!!!

"I Know What It’s Like to NOT See Results"

To “slaughter” yourself in the gym and still not see any difference. To spend money on “miracle” supplements and none of them work. And the hopeless feeling of not knowing what the heck you’re doing wrong….

Yeah I've been there!!!

But ever since I figured out the "secret" formula if you will, to building muscle I get alot of questions.

And from the countless number of emails I respond to where guys tell me EXACTLY what they're doing to build muscle I've pinpointed a major common factor between most of them.

The #1 Reason You Aren't Seeing Results

The truth is... if you're reading this right now and you know you fall into this category I can tell you that there's a 99.9% chance that....

You're Simply NOT Eating Enough

That's right, the day I started seeing some life changing PERMANENT results was the day I realized I wasn't consuming enough calories each day to ALLOW my body to build muscle AND did something about it.

I used to think all it took was for me to suck down some "miracle" protein drink, nibble on a few snacks here and there and maybe eat a big breakfast and BAM muscle gains.

I'm going to tell you something right now that you NEED to realize.

How to Tell if You're Not Eating Enough

Put it this way:

If you're a skinny guy or a hardgainer and you aren’t constantly nibbling on food and eating every few hours, then you're NOT eating enough.
If at any point during the day you feel hungry or your stomach feels empty then you're NOT eating enough.
If you're trying to gain weight and build muscle and you’re “comfortably” consuming your meals for the day, in other words, it's not a "challenge" for you to complete each and every meals for the day then you are NOT eating enough.

This is such a a BIG mistake I see with alot of skinny guys and hardgainers that it's actually the very FIRST mistake I go over in my "30 Day Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide"

How to Get Over This Hurdle "Blazing" FAST

So I realized that alot and I mean ALOT of guys don't know what, when and how often to eat to truly build muscle and start seeing results.

And that's why...

"I've Included A PROVEN, Super Simple, Easy and Cheap, 30 Day Muscle Building Meal Plan In My NEW 30 Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide"

(Release Date: Thursday July 7, 2011)

I really want you to start getting the results you deserve, which is why I decided to include this Meal Plan with your 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide.

So if you're not getting the results you want and you know your diet isn't up to par then you owe it to yourself to claim your 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide while you still have the chance

In all honesty, when I release this training guide on my blog on Thursday July 7, 2011 this training guide MAY OR MAY NOT have a price tag attached to it.

BUT, I will be releasing this guide to a few select people absolutely FREE of charge who are REALLY interested, and ready to apply what I reveal in this guide to their lives.

So if you want to GUARANTEE that you'll get your 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge FOR FREE then I highly recommend that you fill out the quick form below and put yourself on the Early Release Notification List before it's too late.

Download your 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide

You might be kicking yourself later if you don't.

Train hard,

Rich

P.S. - I'm releasing my 30 Day Build Muscle Challenge Training Guide on Thursday July 7, 2011

But I don't want people to DE-VALUE the life changing results this guide WILL bring, which is why I'm SERIOUSLY thinking about charging for people to get their hands on this guide. It covers ALOT.