[0:00] what is up YouTube today I'm going to be
[0:02] going over the top questions people ask
[0:04] me on how to bulk any questions I get
[0:06] towards bulking I've kind of compiled in
[0:08] like a top 10 and I'm going to be going
[0:10] going over all of them today so you have
[0:11] them in a concise area pretty much based
[0:13] off my experience rather than just
[0:15] purely science-based stuff it's
[0:16] everything I've done and learn from my
[0:18] mistakes throughout the years so you
[0:19] guys can learn from what I've done right
[0:20] and done wrong and hopefully learn
[0:22] faster than I did first question is
[0:24] always how do I know when to bulk and I
[0:26] find this such a funny question people
[0:27] ask me cuz I have no [ __ ] clue when
[0:29] people should bulk it's very like
[0:31] situation dependent person dependent
[0:33] goal dependent but as a whole I would
[0:35] say obviously if your goals put on
[0:37] muscle you should bulk and if you're not
[0:39] fat you can bulk and fat is obviously
[0:42] very different to the average person but
[0:43] if you're unhappy with the level of body
[0:45] fat you're at that's super important i
[0:47] don't think you should bulk yet come
[0:48] down to a body fat that you're happier
[0:50] with maybe a little bit below even and
[0:51] then work your way back up but as a
[0:53] general rule of thumb I like to be like
[0:56] around 12% body fat for men maybe 18 to
[0:58] 20 for women but having visible abs for
[1:00] men specifically it's easier to gauge so
[1:02] if my abs are still poking through a
[1:04] little bit then I'm good to go and I
[1:05] know I haven't bulked too far or I'm
[1:07] good to bulk next question tail off that
[1:09] last one is how do I know when to stop
[1:10] bulking and similar to when you know if
[1:12] you should bulk if you start to lose
[1:13] your abs or if you get too much of a
[1:15] high body fat percentage I always
[1:17] struggled to say that i got it that time
[1:19] then you know it's time to slow down
[1:21] there's a few other things like when
[1:22] your appetite is absolutely like in this
[1:24] [ __ ] like you can't eat at all it'll
[1:26] be tough to eat when you're bulking
[1:27] really hard one is completely gone
[1:29] sometimes you need to just take a step
[1:30] back if your lifts in the gym are
[1:32] plateauing if your weight is stagnating
[1:34] all these different things it's kind of
[1:36] time to give your body a little bit of a
[1:37] break whether it be for a week or a full
[1:39] cut it kind of depends on your goals and
[1:41] situation of course but again big thing
[1:44] is if you have some abs you're still
[1:45] happy with how you look you're not too
[1:46] fat yet then you can keep pushing that
[1:48] weight all right so how to start how to
[1:50] start your base calories macros meal
[1:52] plan whatever it may be the simplest
[1:54] thing and that everybody needs to do in
[1:56] the suggestions quote is he always says
[1:57] what isn't measured isn't managed so the
[2:00] more you measure the more you can manage
[2:01] the more you can adapt and you know what
[2:03] changes you're making are causing the
[2:04] changes in your body so the most
[2:06] important step of starting anyone's
[2:08] fitness journey really is tracking
[2:10] everything you eat consistently and
[2:12] calculate the calories and macros on
[2:13] that maybe do it for a week take the
[2:15] average and see what it is and weigh
[2:17] yourself during all those days as well
[2:19] so if I'm 250 lbs I'm eating 4,000
[2:21] calories every single day then my base
[2:24] to maintain 250 lb is 4,000 calories so
[2:27] if I want to lose weight I'll go under
[2:29] that if I want to gain weight I'll go
[2:30] over that typically you'll increase by
[2:32] like 5 to 10 probably like 5% I would
[2:35] say i usually go on more so like 300 to
[2:37] 500 calorie increase when I start a bulk
[2:39] so if I'm resting at 4,000 I'll go up to
[2:42] 4500 and then from there you count your
[2:45] macros through that obviously most
[2:46] important if you're trying to bulk put
[2:48] on muscle is protein and you don't need
[2:50] quite as much protein when you're
[2:51] bulking because carbs are actually
[2:53] protein sparing when you're really low
[2:55] carb your body is going to use protein
[2:58] for energy whereas when you're really
[3:00] high carb you have all the carbs to use
[3:01] for energy so your body uses the protein
[3:03] to build muscle therefore they're like
[3:06] they help you spare protein so when
[3:07] you're in a low low carb deficit your
[3:10] body's pulling from your protein source
[3:11] in order to make energy not just rebuild
[3:14] you need to add more protein to make
[3:16] sure that you're actually rebuilding
[3:17] properly as well as getting the energy
[3:19] from it so I stick to a minimum of 1 g
[3:22] per pound of body weight everyone knows
[3:23] that number it's so simple just stick to
[3:25] it make sure you're at least hitting
[3:26] that and that's what you prioritize so
[3:28] then you take that i'm 250 lb that's 250
[3:32] g of protein with four calories for
[3:34] every gram of protein so multiply that
[3:36] by four you're already at 1,000 calories
[3:38] and then if I'm trying to hit 4,000
[3:40] calories total then I'm going to take 20
[3:42] to 30% of that total caloric intake and
[3:45] make that into fat and so whatever that
[3:47] is in fat I'm not that quick at math
[3:49] what is that 20% of
[3:53] 4,000 200 800
[3:56] 800 quick math so that would be 800
[3:59] calories for me in fat so then I have
[4:01] 1,000 calories of protein 800 calories
[4:04] of fat and then I just fill the rest
[4:05] with carbs and then there's your macros
[4:07] right there that's literally how simple
[4:08] it is and the most important thing is to
[4:10] continue to track going forward make
[4:12] sure those are hidden with right track
[4:13] your body weight look at yourself in the
[4:15] mirror monitor your lifts if things are
[4:16] moving in the direction you're happy
[4:18] with just keep doing it that's what's
[4:20] important if you start to lose weight or
[4:21] you're not gaining weight fast enough
[4:22] you add a little bit more calories and
[4:24] then you keep those ratios the exact
[4:26] same you can play with that a lot of
[4:28] people do better with higher carb or
[4:29] higher fat and you kind of rotate
[4:31] through typically most people do that 20
[4:33] 30% fat that's what's worked best for me
[4:35] i enjoy eating a lot of carbs not crazy
[4:37] amounts of fat but also as I get to the
[4:39] end of my bulk and I'm eating like 6,000
[4:41] calories I'll start to just cover things
[4:43] in olive oil just because I need
[4:44] anything to get those calories in so
[4:46] obviously there's a place to start but
[4:48] the number one thing in being successful
[4:50] at anything is knowing that you're not
[4:51] stuck between these confines if it works
[4:53] for you it works for you that's all that
[4:55] matters doesn't matter if someone else
[4:56] tells you what to do if I do it or not
[4:58] works for you you're making muscle the
[5:00] other thing to take note when you're
[5:01] counting your protein the 1 g per pound
[5:03] of body weight is there are some extreme
[5:04] cases where when people are really like
[5:07] underweight like if you weigh 100 lb and
[5:09] you're a male and you're tall and you're
[5:10] just really skinny you might want to
[5:12] bump that up from the beginning and if
[5:14] you're heavily overweight so you're 400
[5:16] lb and you don't have that much muscle
[5:18] on you you don't need 400 g of protein
[5:20] if you can eat it I guarantee you you
[5:24] will lose weight more efficiently having
[5:26] more protein rather than fats or carbs
[5:27] in your diet but it's not necessarily
[5:30] for putting on muscle so if it's too
[5:31] hard to eat 400 grams of protein that's
[5:33] a lot of protein then bump that down to
[5:35] something that's a little bit more
[5:36] appropriate what you would guess your
[5:37] lean body mass would be and then use
[5:40] that number it's an estimate again
[5:41] doesn't matter you kind of play with
[5:42] things as they go if you're really
[5:44] overweight losing weight all that really
[5:45] matters is that your calories are below
[5:47] what your basil basil metabolic rate is
[5:49] all right next question is what type of
[5:51] food to eat cheat meals clean bulk or
[5:53] dirty bulk rule of thumb for this in my
[5:55] absolute belief is whole foods are the
[5:58] most important thing something that
[5:59] grows from the earth something that
[6:00] caveman could eat anything like that
[6:02] single ingredient foods are your best
[6:04] bet this is because I mean it's just
[6:06] normal food much easier for your body to
[6:08] digest the more food you can digest and
[6:10] the nutrients you can actually absorb
[6:12] from it the less you actually need to
[6:13] eat to get the same benefit out of it
[6:15] the less you have to digest better your
[6:17] stomach feels the more you can eat it's
[6:18] all just like a feedback loop to making
[6:20] more gains essentially and even eating
[6:22] bad food causes inflammation in the gut
[6:25] which slows everything down slows your
[6:26] bulk down your muscle gain down cause
[6:28] inflammation in your joints can start
[6:29] hurting you when you're in the gym
[6:30] training there's a cascade of effects
[6:32] that can come from that not to mention
[6:34] that it's just not as healthy for you so
[6:36] yes we're trying to put on muscle but
[6:37] the healthiest way to do it is often
[6:39] also the best way to do it so make sure
[6:41] you're actually focusing on eating clean
[6:42] whole foods and not just going after
[6:44] like a nasty dirty goal people always
[6:46] ask about cheat meals why can I have
[6:47] cheat meal i want a cheat meal what's
[6:48] the point of cheat meals all these
[6:49] things and over the last like four or
[6:52] five years of my preps I didn't get any
[6:54] cheat meals and that was because of what
[6:55] I was talking about before i didn't want
[6:57] that like gut digestion mess up i didn't
[6:59] want the inflammation from it i didn't
[7:01] want to ruin my sleep that night cuz I
[7:02] was full of all this [ __ ] and have my
[7:03] joints hurt the next day everything I
[7:05] was doing was so calculated to be the
[7:07] best that I was like m I could have a
[7:09] cheat meal calorically and not get too
[7:11] fat but it's going to have this other
[7:13] you know effects on my recovery my
[7:14] digestion that's just not worth it right
[7:16] now so I didn't have those ever when I
[7:18] was in prep in my off season I like to
[7:20] live live a little bit i still eat
[7:23] really healthy though like if I go to
[7:24] get a burger sometimes I get a lettuce
[7:25] wrap no cheese cuz I know it's going to
[7:27] mess with my stomach and I make sure I
[7:29] stick with that but again it kind of
[7:30] depends on what your goals are the only
[7:32] point of having a cheat meal is pretty
[7:34] much for your mental sake if you need
[7:35] like a little bit of like stress relief
[7:37] or a break from it and if that's going
[7:39] to help you then absolutely it's worth
[7:40] it even if you're a professional
[7:42] bodybuilder and it's going to benefit
[7:43] your mind and calm you down and give you
[7:45] a nice like cortisol brief to eat a
[7:47] cheat meal then go for it it's not the
[7:49] end of the world but as me trying to be
[7:50] as the best in the world I wasn't going
[7:52] to do that [ __ ] i was like "Fuck it i'm
[7:53] going to fill up on good food food I
[7:55] know I can digest just eat more of that
[7:57] still sleep good digest good and be
[7:58] better for it." But that like 01% change
[8:02] it's going to make doesn't matter to
[8:03] most people and even now as a retired
[8:06] bodybuilder I'd be less tricked on doing
[8:08] something like that myself so why would
[8:10] you clean bulk versus dirty bulk i would
[8:12] say people with dirty bulk are just
[8:14] people who don't understand the indepth
[8:16] like minutia of how important every
[8:18] little thing is to your body so I just
[8:20] think it's just kind of the easy way out
[8:22] i need to get some calories in i'm going
[8:24] to throw some shitty food down it's also
[8:25] a very like a band-aid the short-term
[8:27] solution for a long-term goal that you
[8:30] have you just do that for a year 2 years
[8:32] even 5 years from 20 to 25 maybe you'll
[8:35] get away with if you're lucky but it
[8:36] will start to catch up on you so I just
[8:38] don't even recommend dirty bulking throw
[8:40] in your cheat meals if you really want
[8:42] them and need them but clean bulking is
[8:43] the way to go we're not just trying to
[8:45] get jacked you want to take care of your
[8:46] body and when you build that healthy
[8:48] relationship with food that you're
[8:49] nourishing your body you're fueling your
[8:50] body you're putting good food in your
[8:52] body because you care about your body it
[8:53] also makes it easier to diet because
[8:55] then you're not craving shitty foods
[8:56] when you're dieting because food isn't
[8:58] just like a obsessive I can have now or
[9:00] can't have it now it's actually
[9:02] something that you appreciate and you're
[9:03] putting good things in your body and
[9:05] when I switched that mindset of eating
[9:06] for health rather than just like
[9:08] restricting now or eating as much as I
[9:10] can now and I was like no I'm putting
[9:11] good food to take care of my body when I
[9:13] started prepping I didn't even crave
[9:14] shitty food anymore i was like I want a
[9:16] little more rice and chicken but like it
[9:18] is what it is i'm dieting and it made it
[9:19] much easier for me just a little mindset
[9:21] switch as I said it's so case dependent
[9:23] and bulking like when I was a 21year-old
[9:26] trying to put on as much muscle as
[9:27] possible i remember putting on like 20
[9:31] or 30 lbs one offseason probably more
[9:33] than that and I was like 270 plus lbs
[9:35] midday i was like 275ish and I dieted
[9:38] down to 220 and I was like eating shitty
[9:41] food messing up my digestion didn't care
[9:44] cuz I was 21 years old and I was just
[9:46] pushing things and that variance made it
[9:48] really hard for me so I stopped doing
[9:49] that so this is kind of again back to
[9:51] when you should stop bulking if you're a
[9:52] bodybuilder you really only need to go
[9:54] like 10% over your weight so I started
[9:57] being 20 lbs over my competing weight
[9:58] which made it much easier for me to come
[10:00] back and down and make that weight and
[10:02] not stress my body out too much it made
[10:03] my bulking way more efficient but I had
[10:06] also been doing that for a decade so
[10:08] when you're at the beginning of your
[10:09] career things are different and this is
[10:11] why I always say don't just listen to
[10:12] what I say kind of just take knowledge
[10:14] in and try things out for yourself and
[10:16] see what works best for you at this
[10:17] point in your journey cuz what works for
[10:19] me won't necessarily work for you when I
[10:21] was young I could dirty bulk do all the
[10:23] things same with you guys when you're
[10:24] young and get away with these things
[10:25] when I had to eat six almost 7,000
[10:27] calories sometimes I threw in some dirty
[10:29] food cuz at the end of the day I just
[10:31] couldn't eat another bowl of chicken
[10:32] rice i was just over it i'd have a
[10:34] protein shake peanut butter and jelly go
[10:36] to bed and just it is what it is now
[10:37] that I'm 30 years old and I'm a little
[10:39] older my turn is good digestion is good
[10:41] everything is clean food and you got to
[10:43] be a little bit more strict but luckily
[10:45] because I had more muscle mass on me I
[10:46] didn't have to eat as much food so I was
[10:48] actually eating way more food when I was
[10:50] younger than I am now because I've
[10:51] already built such a good base so
[10:53] there's always something different going
[10:54] on in your journey just grab the basics
[10:57] top of the knowledge that I'm giving you
[10:59] right now start with this track it pay
[11:01] attention to how your body responds and
[11:02] then adapt accordingly because it's
[11:04] that's the only thing that's going to
[11:05] make you successful understanding your
[11:06] body and being able to
[11:07] [Music]
[11:12] adapt all right so next question and
[11:14] we're in my personal supplement shop
[11:17] here best supplements for bulking number
[11:20] one got to be creatine if you're trying
[11:22] to put on muscle creatine is the best
[11:23] muscle ever it's good for your brain
[11:25] it's good for energy it's good for
[11:26] repair it's good for putting on muscle
[11:28] it's the most studied sports nutrition
[11:29] supplement ever if you're not taking it
[11:31] you're falling behind there's so many of
[11:32] the supplements that help build muscle
[11:34] but specific to bulky and trying to work
[11:35] hard number one thing I would say is
[11:37] digestion i have a pretty good array of
[11:39] digestive supplements that you use at
[11:42] different times one specifically is a
[11:44] glucose supplement a GDA glucose
[11:46] disposal agent typically chromium
[11:48] Burberry and a few other things in there
[11:49] that help and this just helps your body
[11:51] actually utilize all the carbs that
[11:53] you're taking i never took insulin as a
[11:55] bodybuilder some people dabble in that
[11:57] and it's such a anabolic hormone because
[11:59] it allows your body to use more food and
[12:01] shuttle it into your muscle so there's
[12:03] more natural supplements to take like I
[12:05] said Hani makes one called Evalog that
[12:07] has digestive enzymes and a bunch of
[12:09] GDAS in it revive has one called glucose
[12:12] that's a stronger version of just the
[12:13] GDAS super helpful you just take them
[12:15] with every single meal super easy to
[12:17] take other than that like I said the
[12:19] digestive enzymes as well as betain HCL
[12:22] this bad boy right here a lot of people
[12:24] don't have the proper stomach acidity
[12:26] for them to digest food especially a lot
[12:28] of protein when you're bulking like a
[12:30] bodybuilder you're eating a lot of
[12:31] protein so taking a supplement that
[12:33] helps like aid your gut essentially so
[12:36] it doesn't have to work so hard itself
[12:38] is super beneficial cuz the average
[12:40] person should not and does not need to
[12:42] be eating 5,000 plus calories a day so
[12:44] you want to give your body as much
[12:46] assistance as possible to make sure like
[12:48] I said you're absorbing those nutrients
[12:49] you're actually using them and you're
[12:50] able to pass that food through you so
[12:52] you don't get bloated you can't eat your
[12:54] next meal and then you just start
[12:55] falling behind so digestion is
[12:57] absolutely key creatine and anything
[12:59] that helps you uptake carbs other than
[13:00] that of course post-workout shake
[13:03] protein powder it's like the most basic
[13:05] supplement in the world but it's so
[13:07] helpful do you need it absolutely not
[13:09] can you get away without it you're damn
[13:11] good if you can cuz I always need it
[13:13] both through prep or an off season and I
[13:15] still really believe that a post
[13:17] post-workout shake is extremely
[13:19] important i like to get my EAS midwork
[13:21] still and then right after my workout or
[13:23] at least soon getting in like 50 75 g of
[13:26] carbs with 50 g of protein and I take
[13:29] that all in powder form it's just super
[13:30] easy to get down i can eat again an hour
[13:32] later i know people are like "The
[13:34] anabolic window doesn't matter or
[13:35] whatnot." Maybe it doesn't it probably
[13:37] doesn't if you're getting all your food
[13:38] in but if it makes me 5% better or.1%
[13:41] better I'm going to do it i'm a
[13:43] professional bodybuilder i want to take
[13:44] everything I can and it's not that hard
[13:46] to drink a protein shake after your
[13:47] workout and to be able to get that
[13:49] protein in starts your your anabolism
[13:52] immediately your body's not breaking
[13:53] down tissue anymore you're rebuilding it
[13:55] your recovery gets in immediately your
[13:57] cortisol drops because your body's
[13:59] starting to get into rest and digest
[14:00] phase which actually also helps your
[14:02] recovery and the quicker you get in the
[14:04] quicker you can eat a meal after that
[14:06] and then go to bed earlier to get good
[14:07] sleep so all super important things to
[14:09] help your gains and some benefits of
[14:19] supplements all right so gym questions
[14:22] people are always asking how to train in
[14:24] a cut versus a bulk and all these things
[14:26] and at the end of the day it doesn't
[14:27] really matter that much if you're
[14:28] training really hard and progressively
[14:30] overloading on proper periodization
[14:32] you're following my app and you're doing
[14:33] all the stuff you already know but at
[14:35] the end of the day it doesn't matter
[14:36] that much but if you take a look at
[14:38] what's going on when you're on a bulk if
[14:40] you have a little bit more fluid in your
[14:41] body therefore in your joints you have
[14:43] more energy you're recovering a little
[14:44] bit faster a little bit easier there's
[14:46] more nutrients to uptake and a lot of
[14:49] people think lift really heavy in this
[14:50] phase and yes you should lift really
[14:52] heavy but the thing you can actually get
[14:54] away with more so is doing more volume
[14:56] more intensify just a higher level of
[14:58] hypertrophy so training in a bulk with a
[15:01] lot of food even on refeed days or
[15:03] whatever you want to up your volume and
[15:06] intensifiers on those days so things
[15:07] like double triple sets drop sets rest
[15:11] pauses all those kind of things are what
[15:13] you want to do in a bulk because your
[15:14] body can actually handle that much
[15:16] stimulus and recover from it and you
[15:18] have enough nutrients in your body to
[15:20] push that much volume for a longer
[15:21] workout it's kind of a different
[15:22] thinking than you might think when
[15:23] you're eating more you want to do more
[15:25] weight but you actually want to just
[15:26] still be heavy as possible but more
[15:29] volume more intensifiers and it'll get
[15:31] more gains to use all that food like I
[15:33] said there's no like optimal perfect way
[15:34] to do it but that's the way I would do
[15:36] it and to give an example of the way
[15:38] that my year used to look like with
[15:39] training is I would take some time off
[15:41] which I would be in right now post
[15:42] Olympia if I were competing again give
[15:44] my body a break to kind of recover get
[15:46] back into it and then I would start
[15:47] rebuilding my strength for a little bit
[15:49] as food still low not too high and as my
[15:51] food ramped up I would try and have my
[15:54] strengths already back by then and then
[15:55] I would start doing a crazy amount of
[15:56] volume with that base of strengths
[15:58] they'll get a little bit stronger at the
[15:59] beginning of your offseason then my food
[16:00] gets really high use that strength
[16:02] keeping the weights the same but then
[16:04] you start adding rest pauses drop sets
[16:06] super sets all the kind of crazy [ __ ] of
[16:08] just like killing the muscle pushing
[16:09] some more sets past failure training
[16:11] with the training partner all those
[16:12] things that would stress your nervous
[16:13] system a little bit more but are easier
[16:15] to recover when you have more food in
[16:17] you so that's the way I would get do it
[16:18] and right at the end of my offseason
[16:19] when I'd be like peak volume peak
[16:21] hypertrophy just like hammering my body
[16:23] and then when my calorie would start to
[16:25] drop I would actually start increasing
[16:27] the weight a little bit because my
[16:28] volume would naturally have to come down
[16:30] because I don't have as much energy
[16:31] glycogen stores in my muscle got to drop
[16:33] the volume a little bit but I keep the
[16:35] weight as high as possible because a
[16:37] stronger muscle is often bigger muscle
[16:39] so if you already have the size to your
[16:40] muscle maintaining strength will
[16:42] maintain the muscle especially with low
[16:44] calories so sometimes it reverses what
[16:46] you think but it's what I did in the
[16:47] last like pretty much of my whole career
[16:48] and it really helped me get strong make
[16:51] gains and hold those gains throughout my
[16:52] prep all right next question should you
[16:55] do cardio on a bulk like I said
[16:56] everything is person specific but if I
[16:58] had to give an overarching answer it
[17:00] would be yes for many reasons especially
[17:02] as a bodybuilder the bigger you get you
[17:04] want to take care of your heart
[17:05] obviously cardio is a way to have the
[17:06] best heart health so keeping up with
[17:08] that is super important but also not
[17:10] caring about your health if your goal is
[17:12] just to eat more cardio helps you eat
[17:14] more the amount of calories you're going
[17:15] to burn from doing 20 to 30 minutes of
[17:17] cardio it's nowhere near what you can
[17:18] eat you can have a bite of a sandwich
[17:20] and overcome the amount of calories you
[17:22] do in 20 minutes of cardio so it's
[17:24] really nothing to be afraid of a lot of
[17:25] people like I'm trying to huge i don't
[17:27] want to do cardio cuz I don't want to
[17:28] sacrifice gains that's complete [ __ ]
[17:30] unless you're running marathons or
[17:31] biking two hours fasted or doing
[17:33] anything you're not going to be losing
[17:34] any muscle there's a few tips that you
[17:36] can do like if you are doing fast cardio
[17:38] because you love doing in the morning I
[17:40] would 100% recommend taking an amino
[17:42] before that just so you're not burning
[17:43] through muscle your body at least kicks
[17:44] some proteins into the fish at least get
[17:46] three grams of lucine two scoops of EAS
[17:48] or something and you're good to go also
[17:51] one of the easiest things to do and this
[17:52] is the Stan efforting thing he used to
[17:53] always talk about on his diet is doing a
[17:55] 105 minute walk after every single meal
[17:57] that you eat you're not going to burn
[17:59] through the food that you ate i promise
[18:00] you you're not even going to be close to
[18:01] it but what it is going to do get your
[18:03] digestion going lower your blood sugar
[18:05] help your insulin a little bit allow
[18:06] your body to actually utilize those
[18:08] nutrients that you put in your body and
[18:10] then eat quicker in your next meal like
[18:12] sometimes you eat a lot and you just
[18:13] want to lie there and you feel like crap
[18:14] like after Thanksgiving you just want to
[18:16] pass out but if you actually go for a
[18:18] walk your body will start moving that
[18:19] food through you quicker and then you
[18:21] can eat again quicker it's going to help
[18:22] your insulin levels which will help your
[18:24] body uptake the food better so there's a
[18:26] lot of benefits that come into it so
[18:27] cardio good for your heart it's actually
[18:30] going to help you eat more and it just
[18:32] helps move the food through you so I
[18:34] 100% recommend cardio on a bulk i wasn't
[18:36] always the best at keeping up with this
[18:38] if I'm being completely honest but I did
[18:40] noticed to a te in the years where I
[18:42] didn't do cardio but I ate as much as I
[18:44] could my appetite wasn't as good and I
[18:45] put on fat quicker not muscle but fat
[18:48] when I was doing a good amount of cardio
[18:50] I could eat more i felt better my body
[18:51] was utilizing it for muscle better than
[18:54] it was at adding fat so I just noticed a
[18:56] different body composition when my body
[18:58] was doing when I was choosing to do
[18:59] cardio in my season so in the end when I
[19:01] was doing it all the time I felt way
[19:03] better and I absolutely recommend it to
[19:04] everyone whether you're skinny fat
[19:07] whatever if you're skinny as [ __ ] do
[19:09] less cardio if you're fat do more don't
[19:11] overthink it but focus on your
[19:13] [Music]
[19:15] heart all right so another question I
[19:17] always get asked is around how fast
[19:19] should you gain weight how do you know
[19:21] if you're gaining too fast or too slow
[19:23] and again everything is so person
[19:24] dependent it's so hard for me to even
[19:26] answer these but I'm trying to give you
[19:27] guys something to go off of so take what
[19:29] I say and apply it to yourself in real
[19:31] life and adapt it but I would say in the
[19:35] range of 2 to 2 lb a week is like good
[19:40] it's great for gaining muscle again that
[19:42] could be from a beginner to someone
[19:43] who's advanced so when I was young and I
[19:45] was like 18 years old training I could
[19:47] probably put 2 lbs of muscle on if I
[19:48] really bulked and trained hard and went
[19:50] efficient and it life it was incredible
[19:52] it was amazing and now over the last 4
[19:55] years I've maybe put on 4 lbs of muscle
[19:57] doing what I've been doing and I've been
[19:59] struggling to do that and that's me
[20:00] guessing cuz I'm always a little bit
[20:02] leaner and not as lean so it's like my
[20:03] stage weight is variable but it's really
[20:05] hard so it really comes down to a lot of
[20:06] different things but I think what's
[20:08] super important is having a high
[20:10] standard of which you hold yourself to
[20:12] so your norm of how you look you should
[20:14] be proud of how you look you're working
[20:16] out to feel good to look good to be good
[20:18] so you want to be happy with how you
[20:20] look so if you start from a leaner spot
[20:21] and you bulk and you don't want to
[20:23] change too much from that you're not
[20:24] going to be too fat obviously versus if
[20:26] you start from a fatter spot you get a
[20:28] little more fat you're more fat than
[20:29] that so having that norm that high
[20:31] standard to which you hold yourself to
[20:33] that you're proud of how you look is
[20:34] super important when it comes to these
[20:36] things it's hard to manage tracking body
[20:38] fat with clips or BMIs or all these
[20:40] things so if you're taking constant
[20:42] check-in pictures of yourself put your
[20:43] weight beside it the amount of food
[20:45] you're eating with that and you're
[20:46] following along those things and you're
[20:47] seeing how your body's adapting you're
[20:49] much better off than just like guessing
[20:51] what's going on and obviously gaining
[20:53] weight there's so many variables that
[20:54] could be when you first start bulking
[20:56] you know your glycogen stores are
[20:58] filling up you're holding on to more
[20:59] water carbs make you hold on more water
[21:01] creatine sometimes can but then it
[21:03] typically levels out so don't stress
[21:04] about that i don't want to say that but
[21:06] there's so many different things that
[21:07] can make you hold on to weight that
[21:09] aren't just fat or muscle water fat or
[21:11] muscle are the main top three that it's
[21:13] going to be so you really need to be
[21:14] careful of what the difference is if you
[21:17] diet if you bulk for a year and you put
[21:19] on 20 lbs and then you diet down and you
[21:21] lose 19 for the average person that's
[21:23] not a very good bulk if you're like an
[21:25] elite bodybuilder then you're doing all
[21:26] right for the average person you
[21:28] probably didn't need to put that 20 lbs
[21:29] on to gain one lb of muscle so try and
[21:32] like just even that ratio up again I
[21:34] hate giving numbers but if you're
[21:36] putting on 10% in a year you're doing
[21:37] pretty good for yourself depending on
[21:39] the level at which you're at just keep
[21:41] watching yourself don't let yourself get
[21:43] too fat be happy with how you look
[21:45] monitor your breathing your heart rate
[21:47] all these different things are super
[21:48] important how you feel how you look end
[21:51] up going to the final result so it's all
[21:53] important all right next thing is how
[21:54] long should I build core minimum time to
[21:57] put on muscle if you put on muscle you
[21:59] put on muscle but there is a the longer
[22:01] period of time you're holding it the
[22:03] less likely you are to lose it when you
[22:05] cut really hard that's something to take
[22:07] into account if you bulk for 2 months
[22:09] and then you cut really hard you're
[22:10] probably going to lose a good amount of
[22:11] that muscle versus if you're someone
[22:12] who's been holding on to that muscle for
[22:14] a year 2 years 3 years or 6 months
[22:16] versus a 2-month bulk you're more likely
[22:18] to hold on to it so just take that into
[22:20] consideration i personally liked a
[22:22] longer bulk because I didn't feel like I
[22:24] had to force it as hard and have to put
[22:26] a bunch of food in really fast i could
[22:27] slowly taper up 250 300 400 calories at
[22:30] a time as my body would plateau i would
[22:32] just add a little bit more food add a
[22:34] little bit more food and my body
[22:35] wouldn't put on fat as quick the slower
[22:37] the change you make the more likely you
[22:39] are to put on good weight rather than
[22:41] just fat so understand that take your
[22:42] time the longer you hold it the longer
[22:44] your body's going to maintain it also
[22:46] again super important to be specific on
[22:48] what your goals are and definitely not
[22:50] goal hop around if you're like "Oh I
[22:51] want to bulk." And you bulk a little bit
[22:53] and your abs are a little less shredded
[22:55] i want to cut and you start cutting a
[22:56] bit and like I want to be bigger and you
[22:57] start flip-flopping back and forth
[22:59] you're going to make zero progress and
[23:00] there's no point doing that so start
[23:02] something and commit to it and
[23:03] understand what your goals are if your
[23:05] goals are to put on muscle but you hate
[23:06] when you lose your abs and do a really
[23:08] slow long bulk very slow increase of
[23:12] calories make sure your abs are staying
[23:13] there stick to training your abs stick
[23:15] to doing your cardio eating good food no
[23:17] inflammation you won't hold on as much
[23:19] water you won't look as chubby won't
[23:21] feel better all these different things
[23:23] if all you want to do is put on as much
[23:24] muscle as fast as possible you don't
[23:25] give a [ __ ] that's the type of person
[23:27] who pushes it a little bit faster or a
[23:29] little bit longer so you kind of got to
[23:31] figure out what your goals are and
[23:32] tailor your work towards your goal all
[23:34] right last question and another big one
[23:36] crucial one i've been here what if I
[23:38] can't eat enough and how to increase my
[23:40] appetite can't is a very strong word
[23:43] whenever I meet someone and they come up
[23:44] to me often at expos they're like 170
[23:46] lbs like I can't put on muscle i can't
[23:48] eat enough i'm like you're lying eat
[23:50] more train harder and just do it there's
[23:53] it's always a possibility if you really
[23:55] can't put food down and you're skinny
[23:57] skinny there's probably a reason why
[23:59] your cortisol is too high your recovery
[24:01] isn't good enough you need to sleep
[24:03] better you need to slow down you need to
[24:05] eat better foods you need to check your
[24:06] gut there's there's a reason why people
[24:08] aren't just that word hardgain gainer
[24:11] people are harder than gaining than
[24:12] others but there's no hard gainer who
[24:14] can't eat and gain weight it's complete
[24:15] [ __ ] you just have to do it and it
[24:17] takes a long period of time so the
[24:20] biggest thing is I think honestly is
[24:22] like I mentioned the cortisol sleep
[24:24] recovery if all that stuff is on point
[24:26] your body can take in food there's
[24:28] people you hear about stress eating and
[24:30] people who there's no term for it but
[24:32] people when they get stressed who just
[24:33] they forget to eat all day a week go by
[24:35] and they eat one meal a day maybe just
[24:37] because they're so stressed out all the
[24:38] time when your body's in a fight
[24:40] orflight state cortisol is running
[24:42] through your body it's not ready to rest
[24:44] and digest it's why people say rest and
[24:45] digest you're in a fight fight or flight
[24:48] cortisol your body's not ready to digest
[24:50] food it's not ready to take in food so
[24:52] it's super important to eat in a calm
[24:54] state to like be in a relaxed state as
[24:56] often as possible to get your sleep in
[24:58] sleep and rest and low cortisol is like
[25:00] the secret to bodybuilding me my ability
[25:03] to like lower my stress at times when I
[25:05] was in prep literally won me Olympias
[25:07] it's so crucial and it comes in so
[25:09] importantly into bulking as well so yeah
[25:11] that would I would say that's the
[25:12] biggest thing especially post-workout
[25:14] when you're training you're at a high
[25:15] level of stress which is important
[25:17] you're putting your body through a
[25:18] stimulus and the quicker you can switch
[25:19] your body from fight and flight into
[25:21] rest and digest the better you're doing
[25:23] so after a workout if you can like
[25:25] meditate chill get your protein in
[25:27] listen some vibing music on the way home
[25:29] don't just get on your phone go back to
[25:30] work stress yourself out with some stuff
[25:32] just like calm your nervous system
[25:34] you'll be recovering better and you'll
[25:35] be able to eat and absorb more nutrients
[25:36] after that workout super important on
[25:39] top of that just a little tip trick that
[25:41] everyone knows to do smoothies you're
[25:44] eating your meals throughout the day
[25:46] understand your meals that you can get
[25:48] nutrient timing is so important pairing
[25:50] that with smoothies it's the secret if
[25:52] you figure out your body's nutrient
[25:53] timing of when it can absorb certain
[25:55] foods certain meals in the best way
[25:57] you're going to crush it me I like
[25:59] having low carbs in the morning cuz then
[26:01] my entire appetite for the rest of the
[26:02] day is bigger a lot of times I used to
[26:04] think oh I need a 1500 calorie breakfast
[26:06] to get these calories in so I don't need
[26:08] as much later in the day but then I
[26:09] can't eat my meals later in the day and
[26:11] I screw myself but if you have a high
[26:13] highfat low carb breakfast your insulin
[26:15] levels are actually more consistent
[26:17] throughout the day rather than spiking
[26:18] and dropping and peaks and valleys
[26:20] throughout the day so it's a lot
[26:21] healthier for your body and easier to
[26:23] eat your meals later on the day so
[26:24] highfat whole food high protein
[26:27] breakfast start getting your carbs in
[26:29] around your workout bulk of your carbs
[26:31] would be pre and post-workout i could
[26:33] handle them pre and didn't make me tired
[26:34] so I was completely fine and some points
[26:37] in the day have a massive smoothie i
[26:39] liked having mine later in the day if it
[26:41] didn't fill my stomach up too much
[26:42] before sleeping you throw in some
[26:43] intraworkout carbs some protein powder
[26:46] some whole eggs for some real nutrients
[26:48] some oats if you want some peanut butter
[26:50] almond butter whatever you want to throw
[26:51] in there whatever your body digests
[26:53] great blend it all up drink it before
[26:55] bed you can get in easily 1,200 calories
[26:57] in a shake and you don't need to get
[26:59] mass and stuff like that cuz it'll just
[27:00] [ __ ] your stomach up unless you can
[27:02] handle it good for you but I never could
[27:04] so digest or smooth jeez blend load your
[27:08] [ __ ] up drink a smoothie digest it good
[27:10] go to sleep and get huge so another big
[27:12] thing on that increase your appetite low
[27:15] cortisol nutrient timing big smoothies
[27:18] take three all right so that's the bulk
[27:21] of these questions i'm sure I rambled on
[27:23] a heavy amount if you guys have any more
[27:25] question drop them in the comment
[27:26] section below i will add them to the
[27:28] next Q&A that we do but yeah these are
[27:30] the biggest tips and tricks I can say
[27:31] that I've done i've gone through many
[27:34] different phases of my career bulking
[27:35] really hard and not bulking really hard
[27:37] and again I listened to so much
[27:39] knowledge over my career i took in so
[27:41] much stuff and I tried so many things
[27:42] the only thing that stuck were what
[27:43] worked for me you have to like flow with
[27:45] things you have to like treat
[27:46] bodybuilding like the art it is and
[27:48] understand that there's so many nuances
[27:50] to it that it's dependent on each
[27:52] specific person and only you can figure
[27:54] out that out for yourself because only
[27:56] you know yourself so trial and error pay
[27:58] attention track things what is it
[28:00] measured isn't managed lock it all in
[28:03] and get [ __ ] huge so that's it thank
[28:05] you guys for watching