[0:00] How much muscle can you really build in
[0:02] just 90 days? And more importantly, how
[0:04] can you do it without gaining fat? To
[0:06] find out, I'm testing the three most
[0:09] popular muscle building diets on my
[0:11] brother-in-law. So, by the end of this
[0:13] video, you won't just find out how much
[0:14] muscle he gains, but which one builds
[0:16] muscle fastest, which one burns fat
[0:19] while building muscle, and which diet
[0:21] completely backfires.
[0:23] >> This is a bit of a disaster. So, last
[0:25] year I helped my brother-in-law Dayton
[0:27] drop from 33% body fat down to his
[0:30] current body fat of 17%. And now he's
[0:32] hungry for more.
[0:34] >> Now that I've cut, I really want to bulk
[0:36] up, get bigger at all. I'm not getting
[0:38] fat again. Like, I refuse to get fat
[0:40] again.
[0:41] >> So, to help Damon with his goal, I'm
[0:42] starting him off with our first diet,
[0:44] maintaining. The theory here is that by
[0:47] training hard while eating just enough
[0:49] to maintain your weight, your body is
[0:52] forced to burn off your body fat to fuel
[0:54] muscle growth. And to measure if that
[0:56] actually happens, Dayton's getting DEXA
[0:58] scans before and after each diet to see
[1:01] how much his muscle and fat changes. But
[1:03] because short-term DEXA can be less
[1:05] reliable, we also took ultrasounds,
[1:08] skinfold, and circumference measurements
[1:10] to get a more complete picture of which
[1:12] diet actually works best. Now, to set up
[1:14] his main gaining diet, if you take your
[1:16] body weight in pounds and multiply it by
[1:18] 13 to 16, depending on your activity
[1:21] level, that's roughly what your body
[1:23] needs to maintain. But I know from
[1:24] personally working with Dane for so
[1:26] long, that his current maintenance is
[1:28] right at 2300 calories. And this is a
[1:31] sample day of eating I've created for
[1:33] him to hit that target. As for protein,
[1:35] Dne's targeting at least 100 g of
[1:38] protein per day. Now, while that might
[1:39] sound low, some new research suggests
[1:42] that if you're eating enough calories
[1:44] and you're not bodybuilder level
[1:45] shredded, then your protein needs aren't
[1:47] nearly as high as most people think. In
[1:49] fact, if you take your body weight in
[1:51] pounds and you multiply it by 0.7,
[1:54] that's already enough to maximize your
[1:55] gains, which gives Dayton more room for
[1:58] carbs to fuel his workouts.
[2:00] >> I got my veggies, lean protein, and my
[2:03] carbs. We're 7 days in. My weight hasn't
[2:06] moved. We're doing good. But what's
[2:08] going to have no doubt the biggest
[2:09] impact on his gains is his training. So
[2:12] I'm having Dayton train 5 days a week
[2:14] using my personal favorite workout
[2:16] split. And the plan seems to be working.
[2:18] He's sending me PRs every workout. And
[2:20] with his app, we'll be able to see how
[2:22] much his strength gains from each diet
[2:24] match up to actual muscle growth. But
[2:27] just as the going was getting good.
[2:29] >> All right, guys. Quick update.
[2:31] So, I just realized that both of my
[2:34] roommates are moving out, and that
[2:37] leaves me with only two months to find
[2:39] replacements.
[2:40] If I don't find someone, that's going to
[2:43] leave me with a lot of money to pay all
[2:45] on my own. And on top of that, my
[2:48] business is hit a dry spell. It's the
[2:51] slowest it's been for a long time. So,
[2:54] that's a lot of stress right now and
[2:58] it's making it a little hard to stay on
[3:00] track with the workouts and the diets.
[3:01] >> With all the added stress, he began
[3:03] snacking a lot more than usual. And it
[3:05] also didn't help that this was filmed
[3:07] during the holidays where he couldn't
[3:08] resist my mom's Filipino desserts.
[3:10] >> I got my third plate of the night, a
[3:13] dessert. It's called ube and then some
[3:16] sort of rice pudding.
[3:17] >> But then something happened that might
[3:19] just end this experiment altogether. Um
[3:22] my grandpa, he passed away a few weeks
[3:24] ago uh from cancer and he was a big male
[3:28] role model for me as uh my dad passed
[3:32] away when I was seven also from cancer.
[3:34] So he was my father figure. So
[3:40] yeah, it was honestly a tough time for
[3:42] our whole family, but especially for
[3:43] Dayton. And even though he could have
[3:45] easily quit the experiment, he stuck it
[3:48] through, not missing a single workout.
[3:50] And even though he tried his best to
[3:52] stay on track with his nutrition, when
[3:54] he returned for his second check-in on
[3:56] day 30, the results weren't quite what
[3:59] we had planned. You actually gained 2 lb
[4:03] of body weight. Now, the goal was to
[4:05] maintain your weight as best as
[4:07] possible, and the next phase, the goal
[4:09] was actually to gain 2 lb
[4:12] >> in a month. Oops. Luckily, his
[4:14] overeating actually lines up perfectly
[4:16] with the next diet that we had planned,
[4:19] a lean bulk. That's where you take your
[4:21] maintenance calories and you bump them
[4:23] up by about 250, which typically results
[4:26] in around 2 lb of weight gain per month.
[4:29] So, we decided to swap the order of his
[4:31] diets and save the main gain diet for
[4:33] the very end of our experiment. The good
[4:35] news is that it seems like those extra 2
[4:38] lbs went to the right places. Okay.
[4:40] >> Based on Dayton's results, combined with
[4:42] the data from our additional
[4:43] measurements and scans, after 30 days of
[4:45] lean bulking, he's gained an estimated
[4:47] 1.35 lb of actual muscle. As for whether
[4:51] that's good or not, in a 2020minut
[4:53] analysis from a huge number of
[4:54] short-term training studies,
[4:56] participants gained roughly 2.4 lb of
[4:59] actual muscle, but it took them 10 weeks
[5:01] to do. So, Dayton's definitely above
[5:03] average. Plus, the last time I seriously
[5:06] assessed my own rate of muscle gain, it
[5:08] took me 60 days to put on just half a
[5:10] pound of muscle. So, Dayton clearly
[5:12] still has the ability to build muscle
[5:14] quickly. As for fat gain, based on the
[5:16] data from his belly skin folds,
[5:18] ultrasound, and waist measurements, he
[5:20] did gain some fat, but it wasn't
[5:22] excessive. So, overall, DNE's lean bulk
[5:24] was quite the success. But, it does beg
[5:26] the question, can we speed up his gains
[5:28] further if we feed him even more? So,
[5:31] for the next 30 days, we're running a
[5:33] fast bulk, cranking his daily calories
[5:36] up to 2800. That's 500 calories more
[5:39] than his body burns every day.
[5:41] >> You're probably wondering like where
[5:43] what types of calories should I be
[5:44] eating?
[5:45] >> Yeah, right.
[5:46] >> You're getting enough protein. So, my
[5:48] personal recommendation is if you're
[5:50] going to add calories, let's do it from
[5:52] just pure carbs.
[5:53] >> Okay.
[5:53] >> Cuz that's what's going to give you the
[5:55] glycogen and the energy that you need in
[5:57] your workouts. that we can see your
[5:59] workout performance just like really
[6:01] really be taken to the next level. So,
[6:03] it's not like we're taking his diet from
[6:05] this to this. We're just making small
[6:08] daily changes so that he gains roughly 4
[6:10] lb by the end of the next 30 days. I can
[6:13] have a little bit more rice, a bit more
[6:15] carbs, some more sauce, but I have to
[6:18] stay on track. I have to weigh
[6:20] everything. I can't make the same
[6:22] mistake I made last time.
[6:24] >> I'm just hoping he doesn't overdo it.
[6:25] Yeah, my roommate came back from Mexico
[6:28] and he came back with a giant bag of
[6:31] candycoated sugared peanuts. And I love
[6:34] candy covered peanuts. So, I did crush a
[6:36] lot of these. But at least Dayton was
[6:39] putting these extra calories to good
[6:40] use.
[6:41] >> So, I think Jeremy's right about upping
[6:42] the carbs. I've been hitting PR after PR
[6:45] after PR. I have a lot more energy and
[6:48] I'm just feeling way stronger. Ding felt
[6:50] so good that he actually started adding
[6:52] more sets to his workouts. And normally
[6:54] studies would never allow for this.
[6:56] Workouts are kept identical. So the diet
[6:58] is the only variable, but I honestly
[7:00] think that misses a huge indirect
[7:02] benefit of eating more calories, the
[7:04] extra energy to train harder and longer.
[7:07] So instead of holding him back, we let
[7:09] him loose. Whether it leads to more
[7:10] muscle growth, we'll find out soon. In
[7:12] the meantime, as his body transformed,
[7:15] so did his business. His Tik Tok fitness
[7:17] videos drove traffic to his business
[7:19] content, and that attention turned into
[7:21] orders. So, I got some exciting news. My
[7:24] brother is currently looking for a place
[7:26] to live and I so happen to be looking
[7:29] for a roommate. He's really into working
[7:32] out and we have tons of things in common
[7:34] and we uh get along really well. So, I
[7:37] really hope it works out because I need
[7:39] a roommate.
[7:40] >> And while Dean's work and roommate
[7:41] search were improving, he was now
[7:43] dealing with one major downside of his
[7:45] fast bulk. I've definitely been noticing
[7:48] a bit of
[7:51] extra belly fat. Uh I've gained a little
[7:53] bit of weight as well in my face. I can
[7:55] see I've gained just a little bit of
[7:57] weight. Those are the two spots I always
[7:59] notice that my my face gets a little
[8:01] chubbier in my my belly. We'll find out
[8:03] soon whether that's just in his head or
[8:05] not. But there are a couple factors that
[8:07] should be working in Dayton's favor. For
[8:09] starters, a study on untrained lifters
[8:12] found that a fast bulk led to huge
[8:14] muscle gains over the course of 8 weeks
[8:17] with minimal fat gain. But when that
[8:19] same fast bulk was tested on more
[8:21] experienced lifters, most of the extra
[8:24] weight gain now came from fat rather
[8:26] than muscle. In other words, fast
[8:28] bulking seems to work best when your
[8:29] body can actually use those extra
[8:31] calories to build muscle. And I learned
[8:33] this the hard way. When I first started
[8:34] lifting, I did a dirty bulk. sometimes
[8:37] even drinking a gallon of milk a day and
[8:39] it worked. I put on a lot of size
[8:41] without much fat. But when I tried that
[8:43] same approach a few years later, it just
[8:45] made me fluffy and I had to spend months
[8:47] dieting the fat that I gained with very
[8:49] little extra muscle to actually show for
[8:51] it. And while Dayton isn't a total
[8:53] beginner, as he's still in his first
[8:54] year of proper training, there's a
[8:56] possibility that the fast bulk actually
[8:58] works out the best for him. The last 30
[9:00] days, you've gained 4 lbs. Okay. What
[9:03] have you noticed? strength, overall
[9:06] size. I just feel bigger.
[9:08] >> I have more energy. I feel strong.
[9:10] Definitely did. Yeah, I've noticed a
[9:11] little bit of fat gain, but that was to
[9:13] be expected.
[9:14] >> Well, you look fuller, dude. Even just
[9:16] in this shirt, like your arms,
[9:18] >> your chest,
[9:19] >> I feel a lot bigger.
[9:21] >> And his pull-up strength since day one
[9:23] has actually doubled. Let's go. One more
[9:26] up.
[9:29] Look at this new Zach. You can see it
[9:31] through the shirt. V taper. You look
[9:33] like a ninja turtle. As for his muscle
[9:36] and fat results, Dean gained an
[9:38] estimated 1.8 lbs of muscle, 30% more
[9:41] than what he gained during his lean
[9:42] bulk. But it did come with a trade-off.
[9:45] This time, he gained three times more
[9:47] fat than during lean bulk. And I've seen
[9:50] this quite a bit. People fast ball, they
[9:52] put on size and fat, and then they hit a
[9:54] point where the fat gain is so
[9:56] overwhelming, they never actually cut to
[9:58] get rid of it. Luckily, Dane was still
[10:00] looking relatively lean. And with the
[10:02] extra fat that he gained, it actually
[10:03] put him in the perfect position to take
[10:05] another shot at our last diet. Meaning
[10:08] gaining, which means that you have to
[10:12] maintain your weight.
[10:14] No more tons of ground beef. I have to
[10:16] go back to chicken and jerky. Okay, I I
[10:19] know what's coming.
[10:20] >> And while Dayton may not be thrilled
[10:21] about scaling his calories back, if he
[10:23] sticks to the plan, he should still be
[10:25] able to build muscle and instead of
[10:27] gaining fat, actually lose some. That's
[10:29] because while muscle growth does require
[10:31] energy, that energy doesn't have to come
[10:34] directly from the food you eat, most
[10:36] people carry well over 100,000 calories
[10:38] stored as body fat. And your body can
[10:41] tap into that energy to fuel muscle
[10:43] growth. In fact, when Dayton first
[10:45] started working with me on a fat loss
[10:46] diet, he was still able to build muscle,
[10:48] not as fast as during his bulk, but at a
[10:51] pretty solid rate of about 0.7 lbs of
[10:53] muscle per month. and instead of gaining
[10:55] fat, he was losing about 5 lbs of pure
[10:58] fat each month. And he's not some rare
[11:01] exception. We see it all the time in
[11:02] studies, and I've seen it countless
[11:04] times with our app members, even people
[11:06] who have trained for years. They start
[11:08] dropping fat while building new muscle
[11:11] because for the first time in their
[11:12] lives, they're actually following a
[11:14] proper plan. And that is exactly what
[11:16] our app does for you. You enter your
[11:18] info, it gives you a personalized diet
[11:20] and training plan so you quickly see
[11:22] results and then it adjusts your plan
[11:24] over time based on how your body
[11:26] responds. And you can try it completely
[11:29] free for 2 weeks over at
[11:30] buildwithcience.com or by scanning this
[11:32] QR code right here. All right, guys. In
[11:34] order to keep the ground beef in the
[11:36] diet, I've been mixing extra lean ground
[11:38] beef with lean ground turkey. That way I
[11:41] can keep the fat down and the flavor up.
[11:44] And if you put enough seasoning in, you
[11:46] really can't tell the difference. Now,
[11:47] while his fast bulk had more room for
[11:49] sweet treats, this time Dean had to get
[11:51] creative.
[11:52] >> So, I came up with a snack that's kind
[11:54] of like a chocolate peanut butter frozen
[11:57] yogurt snack.
[11:59] And here it is.
[12:03] M. Really good. Kind of tastes like a
[12:07] Reese's peanut butter cup but with some
[12:08] banana. And while I was worried Dean's
[12:10] energy might take a hit, he seems to be
[12:13] training just as hard with his new
[12:15] workout buddy.
[12:16] >> So, I got my new roommate and it's
[12:18] actually my brother and it's been really
[12:21] nice having him around. We've been
[12:22] working out together, hitting PRs
[12:24] together, pushing each other in the gym.
[12:27] Today, we're doing dips. I'm going to
[12:28] try and beat my PR. One, two,
[12:36] 24. Get 25 24.
[12:39] >> Not only that, but they started prepping
[12:41] meals together and keeping each other
[12:43] accountable. But to Dton and Cole,
[12:45] sticking to their training is more than
[12:47] just for building muscle.
[12:48] >> I've been working out the last year and
[12:49] a half. Before that, I was an addict for
[12:51] 10 years, living on the streets, getting
[12:54] in trouble. Uh, pretty much weighed
[12:57] nothing. Now look at me. after dealing
[12:59] with the loss of my grandfather. It's
[13:02] really got me thinking about family, how
[13:05] uh me and my brother lost my parents at
[13:08] a young age. I really haven't had my
[13:10] brother in my life for about 10 years
[13:12] due to his own struggles. So, I'm just
[13:14] really happy that he's uh doing better
[13:16] and he's going to be living here.
[13:18] >> And while Dane was enjoying his time
[13:20] training with Cole, his progress on the
[13:21] scale was completely stable, which is
[13:24] exactly what we want. But it was now
[13:26] hard for him to tell if he was making
[13:28] any actual progress. But research shows
[13:30] that if you keep your exercises the same
[13:32] week after week and your strength is
[13:34] going up, especially in the 6 to 12 rep
[13:37] range, that is a very strong sign that
[13:39] you are building muscle regardless of
[13:41] what the scale says. Now, we'll see if
[13:43] that's actually true for Dayton. But
[13:44] I'll be honest, main gaining is just not
[13:46] for everyone. If you're already pretty
[13:48] lean, say under 15% body fat for men or
[13:51] 25% for women, your body may not have
[13:53] enough stored energy to reliably fuel
[13:56] muscle growth, which can leave you
[13:57] spinning your wheels. And if you're
[13:59] underweight, like I was growing up,
[14:01] you're not going to gain 20 lbs by main
[14:03] gaining. But if you have enough body
[14:06] fat, you're newer to training, or you've
[14:08] just never trained or dieted properly,
[14:10] main gaining can be a great alternative
[14:12] to constantly cycling between bulking
[14:14] and cutting. Which is why at the end of
[14:16] the video, I'm going to showcase the
[14:18] results from all three diets and explain
[14:21] which one will work best for you based
[14:23] on your body. And bro, you are a master
[14:25] of maintaining your weight because your
[14:26] weight is the exact same as it was 30
[14:28] days ago. Before I show you the Dex
[14:30] results, let's pop open the hood. Now,
[14:33] keep in mind that Dane did all of this
[14:35] with only dumbbells, a bench, and a
[14:37] pull-up bar. And what he doesn't know is
[14:39] I'm going to be surprising him with a
[14:41] brand new gym setup to help him and his
[14:44] brother continue the journey. But before
[14:46] I surprise him, let's review the results
[14:48] of his final diet. Starting with muscle
[14:51] gains.
[14:55] Dude,
[14:56] look at this chest, man. Every time I
[14:58] see it, it's just like ballooning up.
[15:01] Holy. So, after 30 days of his
[15:03] maintained diet, Dayton gained an
[15:05] impressive 1.1 lbs of muscle. That's
[15:08] only 15% less than his lean bulk and 37%
[15:12] less than his fast bulk, leading to a
[15:14] total of roughly 4.4 lb of muscle over
[15:18] the whole 90 days. But what's
[15:20] interesting is his strength gains during
[15:22] each diet actually match quite well with
[15:25] how much muscle he ended up building.
[15:26] So, if you don't have access to fancy
[15:28] scans, tracking your lifts is an easy
[15:30] and pretty reliable way to assess your
[15:33] gains. Now, as for fat gain, for the
[15:35] first time in our experiment, rather
[15:37] than gaining, he actually lost a bit of
[15:40] fat. His waist tightened up and some of
[15:42] his belly fat actually came off. Which
[15:44] brings me to our final question. Based
[15:47] on the results of all three diets, which
[15:49] one worked best and is the approach I'm
[15:51] going to actually recommend for Damon?
[15:53] Well, while the fast bulk delivered the
[15:55] most gains and he did enjoy the extra
[15:57] food, it came with a disproportionate
[15:59] amount of fat gain, which I know Dayton
[16:02] would end up regretting. As for main
[16:04] gaining, I was honestly surprised with
[16:06] how much muscle he still built. But
[16:08] since I know he felt the best with more
[16:10] calories, and he does want to prioritize
[16:12] building muscle before attempting to cut
[16:15] to 12% body fat for the summer, the lean
[16:17] bulk, it just makes the most sense for
[16:19] now. But that's just my take for Dayton,
[16:21] and it might very well be different for
[16:23] you. So, I wanted to make this chart
[16:25] right here to help guide your decision.
[16:27] But just keep in mind that in all three
[16:29] diets, Dayton still made tremendous
[16:31] progress. So, I don't want you to
[16:32] overthink it. Eating well and training
[16:34] hard is what's going to drive most of
[16:36] your gains. And as for which diet,
[16:38] Dayton's decided to stick with a leaner
[16:40] bulk. I think if we stick to that, I
[16:43] don't get too much belly fat over the
[16:45] next few months, then I can hit that 12%
[16:48] easier. Won't feel like I'm giving up.
[16:49] so much.
[16:50] >> True. And to help Dane get there, it's
[16:52] time to reveal the surprise that I
[16:54] prepared for him and Cole.
[16:59] >> Yo, you went overboard, dude.
[17:02] >> I don't think you know what this thing
[17:04] can do.
[17:05] >> I don't. That's what I mean, dude. I
[17:06] have no idea. I got you a barbell. I got
[17:09] you weight blades. I have more weight
[17:10] plates coming.
[17:11] >> Crazy, bro.
[17:11] >> How's your whole experience been?
[17:13] >> Amazing. I mean, my whole life changed
[17:17] for so many positive ways. just diet, my
[17:22] energy, everything's just been overall
[17:25] better. And it's thanks to you and your
[17:27] app. It's just so nice to not have to
[17:29] overthink. It's just it does all the
[17:31] little things, the monotonous stuff that
[17:34] no one wants to do. It just takes care
[17:36] of all of that.
[17:37] >> If you guys want to give the app a shot,
[17:39] you can get two weeks free at
[17:40] billscience.com or scan this QR code
[17:43] right here. And if you guys want to try
[17:45] out a full body workout plan that's all
[17:47] done for you, then give this video a
[17:49] watch