How To Bulk Like A Pro (Using Science)

[00:00] I've been bulking for this entire year

[00:01] straight an actual proper bulk with

[00:04] optimized training and nutrition and

[00:06] I've made the most gains that I've made

[00:07] in years and in this video I'm going to

[00:09] try to convince you to do the same if

[00:11] you click this video I'm sure you're

[00:12] interested in building some more muscle

[00:14] but maybe you're not sure if bulking is

[00:15] a good idea you've probably heard that

[00:17] the heavy bulking that bodybuilders do

[00:19] is outdated Bro Science but a lot of

[00:21] people still do them three servings of

[00:24] checks let's pour on I don't know 3 cups

[00:27] of milk or so so that puts me about 170

[00:29] G of of carbs 25 g of protein and about

[00:32] 25 G of fat for this whole bowl or you

[00:35] may have even heard that you don't need

[00:36] to bulk at all you can just main gain

[00:38] meaning you maintain your weight while

[00:40] gaining muscle don't bulk don't

[00:44] cut main gain the reality is old school

[00:48] dirty bulks do build muscle but they

[00:50] also have a problem they cause way more

[00:52] fat gain than muscle gate there are

[00:54] thousands of stories from people online

[00:56] who figured this out the hard way and

[00:57] it's caused a lot of people to swing all

[00:59] the way way back to the opposite end of

[01:01] the spectrum never actually committing

[01:03] to a bulk and playing it safe with main

[01:05] gaining forever and sure main gaining is

[01:07] possible but it has a problem too you'll

[01:09] never build as much muscle with main

[01:11] gaining as you will with a proper bulk

[01:14] so in this video I'm going to explain

[01:15] why bulking is most effective for

[01:17] building Nole I'll show you the exact

[01:19] meals that I'm eating in my own bulk and

[01:21] I'll teach you how to set up your own

[01:22] science-based bulking plan for maximum

[01:24] muscle gain and minimum fat gain I've

[01:27] been doing a proper bulk since January

[01:29] 1st so just about a year it's the first

[01:31] serious bulk I've done in a long time

[01:33] and I've built a significant amount of

[01:34] muscle measured by both dexa and

[01:36] ultrasound so that's tiny little Gap

[01:38] that's fat and then from here to here is

[01:41] all muscle and did I mention that is my

[01:43] weaker arm and that I can't reveal

[01:46] exactly how much muscle I've gained yet

[01:48] cuz I'm the subject of a case study at

[01:49] McMaster University but I'll say it's

[01:51] more than I expected and I'll reveal the

[01:53] results of that study in the New Year if

[01:55] your main goal is to build muscle and

[01:56] you've never done a proper bolt before I

[01:58] strongly encourage you to do what I did

[02:00] this year I'm not the only one who's had

[02:01] success with bulking here a few examples

[02:03] from some of my followers who've also

[02:04] done bulking the proper way this is what

[02:06] you can expect when you actually commit

[02:08] to a bulk and do it right a bulk is when

[02:10] you eat more calories than you expend

[02:13] putting your body in a caloric Surplus

[02:15] if you do this you'll gain weight and if

[02:17] you bulk the right way that weight

[02:19] should mostly come from muscle instead

[02:21] of fat a lot of people completely

[02:22] freestyle their bulk gain a ton of fat

[02:25] and end up giving bulking a worse rep

[02:26] than it actually deserves now at this

[02:28] point you're probably wondering why

[02:30] should I do a bulk anyway why not just

[02:32] recomp forever the answer is that you'll

[02:34] never build as much muscle through

[02:35] recomping as you will through proper

[02:37] bulky you'll probably never reach your

[02:40] full muscular potential that's because

[02:41] your body doesn't really care about

[02:43] building muscle your body cares about

[02:44] survival in evolutionarily speaking

[02:47] survival means not starving to death so

[02:49] if your body doesn't have a surplus of

[02:51] calories it'll use the limited energy

[02:53] available to do more important things

[02:55] like making sure that your organs have

[02:56] enough glucose empowering your immune

[02:58] system to fight off pathogens again you

[03:00] can still build some muscle in a caloric

[03:02] deficit or at caloric maintenance as

[03:04] long as you train hard it just won't be

[03:06] as high on the priority list on the

[03:07] other hand if you're in a caloric

[03:09] Surplus your body knows that starvation

[03:11] isn't a threat and it can allocate more

[03:13] energy toward the less evolutionarily

[03:15] imminent process of getting more jacked

[03:18] the research shows this as well this

[03:19] study had one group of subjects main

[03:21] gain on about 25 200 calories per day

[03:24] and another group bulk on about 4,300

[03:27] calories per day both groups followed

[03:29] the same training plan for 8 weeks and

[03:31] after 8 weeks the Bulan group gains

[03:33] significantly more fat free mat I found

[03:36] it super surprising that in this study

[03:37] the bulking group actually didn't gain

[03:39] any fat either it was basically all lean

[03:41] tissue that they gained but that's

[03:43] probably because they were new lifters

[03:45] when you look at studies on more

[03:46] experienced subjects bulking still

[03:48] causes more muscle gain but it also

[03:50] causes more fat gain but again there is

[03:52] a way to avoid that excess fat gain and

[03:54] next I'll explain exactly how to do that

[03:56] through your diet training cardio and

[03:59] supplements how much fat you gain on

[04:01] your bulk mainly depends on how fast you

[04:03] gain weight if you gain weight too

[04:05] quickly the majority of that weight will

[04:07] be fat building muscle takes time and

[04:09] you can't force feed muscle growth the

[04:11] general scientific consensus for lean

[04:13] bulking is to gain 1 to 2% of your body

[04:16] weight per month if you're a beginner

[04:18] and 0.5 to 1% of your body weight per

[04:21] month if you're an intermediate to

[04:22] Advanced lifter so let's just say you've

[04:24] been training for 2 years and you weigh

[04:26] 170 lb that means you should gain about

[04:28] 1 to 2 lb per a month on your bulk

[04:31] that's pretty slow it means if you bulk

[04:33] for the entire year like I'm doing you'd

[04:35] gain 12 to 24 lb if you're closer to

[04:37] being a beginner it's definitely

[04:39] possible that 100% of your weight gained

[04:41] could be from lments especially if you

[04:43] have good genetics but if you've been

[04:44] training for a while and you're closer

[04:46] to your so-called natural muscular limit

[04:48] half of it could be lean and the other

[04:49] half could be fat in my opinion that's

[04:51] okay though because you've still made

[04:53] gains rather than just spinning your

[04:54] wheels and you can always do a cut after

[04:56] your bulk is over to trim that fat off

[04:58] as long as you cut Rel ATIV L slowly

[05:00] train smart and eat enough protein you

[05:03] should retain most of that new muscle

[05:04] that you added on your bulk so to gain

[05:06] weight at the appropriate rate how many

[05:08] calories should you eat well you

[05:09] definitely shouldn't do the old school

[05:11] dirty bulking approach where you just

[05:12] eat as much as humanly possible these

[05:14] dirty bulks usually result in a massive

[05:16] caloric Surplus as much as 50 to 100%

[05:19] above maintenance without some serious

[05:21] anabolic assistance that type of bulk

[05:23] will simply cause rapid fat gain instead

[05:25] studies show that even a 5 to 10%

[05:28] caloric Surplus is enough to give your

[05:30] body the resources that it needs to lay

[05:31] down new muscle tissue without ramming

[05:33] those extra calories into your fat

[05:35] stores I maintain my weight at around

[05:37] 2800 calories per day if I eat 2,800

[05:40] calories I don't gain weight and I don't

[05:42] lose weight so when I bulk I simply

[05:44] increase my calories by 5 to 10% up to

[05:47] around 3,000 calories per day then I'll

[05:50] adjust those calories up or down

[05:51] depending on if I'm gaining too fast or

[05:53] too slow if you don't know your

[05:54] maintenance calories you can simply

[05:56] multiply your body weight in pounds by

[05:58] 14 to 18 and that should get you in the

[06:00] right ballpark or you can screenshot the

[06:02] steps on screen to figure it out for

[06:03] yourself or better still you can

[06:05] download the macro Factor app for 2

[06:07] weeks for free track your weight and

[06:09] what you eat for those two weeks and the

[06:11] app will give you an extremely accurate

[06:12] number for your metabolic rate and your

[06:14] maintenance calories the app will also

[06:16] update and adjust your calories

[06:17] throughout your bulk as your metabolism

[06:19] adapts and it's the app that I've been

[06:21] using to run my own nutrition for this

[06:22] entire year I'm a part owner and I help

[06:24] develop the app so if you're interested

[06:26] I'll have a little more info about that

[06:28] at the end okay so that's how you set

[06:29] your calories up but you obviously

[06:31] shouldn't get all those calories from

[06:32] donuts and ice cream you need to eat

[06:34] enough protein to lay down new muscle

[06:36] tissue the best science shows that 0.7

[06:38] to 1 g of protein per pound of body

[06:41] weight is plenty when bulky so I weigh

[06:43] 180 lb and I've been eating about 170 g

[06:46] of protein per day on my bulk you also

[06:49] want to monitor your fat intake on your

[06:50] bulk too little dietary fat can lower

[06:53] testosterone but too much fat can lead

[06:55] to excess fat gate despite what low carb

[06:57] Advocates say dietary fat is much more

[07:00] easily stored as body fat than

[07:01] carbohydrate is that's because fat is

[07:04] already fat while carbs have to be

[07:06] converted to Fat through a fairly uous

[07:08] biochemical process before they can be

[07:10] stored as fat so I'm not a fan of high

[07:12] fat bulks or low fat bulks ideally 20 to

[07:15] 30% of your total calories should come

[07:18] from fat based on these numbers going

[07:19] back to me in my 3,000 calorie bulk I

[07:22] should eat between 65 and 100 G of fat

[07:25] per day I usually land around 80 g per

[07:27] day so this is my protein this is my my

[07:29] fat and then I just fill in any

[07:31] remaining calories with carbs pretty

[07:33] easy all right and this is what a full

[07:34] day of bulking looks like for me I

[07:36] usually wake up at around 7:30 a.m. and

[07:39] I have an energy drink or a coffee

[07:40] coffee is probably the healthier option

[07:42] since it's packed with antioxidants and

[07:43] has a huge body of science showing

[07:45] health benefits I think energy drinks

[07:47] are also okay in moderation I'm not

[07:48] hungry when I first wake up so I end up

[07:50] eating breakfast at around 10:00 a.m.

[07:52] which is 1 cup of egg whites and one

[07:53] whole egg scrambled with one slice of

[07:55] turkey bacon mushrooms onions and

[07:58] spinach and I put 15 G of shredded

[08:00] cheese on top of the eggs and for carbs

[08:02] I have 60 G of oats with almond milk and

[08:04] 100 G of blueberries I also take most of

[08:06] my supplements with this Meal which I'll

[08:07] come back to in a minute if it's a busy

[08:09] morning and I don't have time to cook

[08:10] I'll just have a protein shake with some

[08:11] oats at 1:00 p.m. I have my pre-workout

[08:14] meal which is 100 G of lean ground

[08:16] turkey jasmine rice Greek yogurt

[08:18] shredded cheese Sriracha a kiwi and 100

[08:21] G of blackberries after this meal I have

[08:23] a pre-workout supplement and then I

[08:24] train about an hour later after training

[08:26] I have a protein shake and a banana and

[08:28] then in the evening my diet becomes a

[08:30] lot more flexible some nights I'll order

[08:31] a peita or a burrito sometimes I get

[08:33] sushi or Thai food but it's often

[08:35] chicken potato sour cream and broccoli

[08:38] with a side of roasted sunflower seeds

[08:40] for healthy fats then before bed it's

[08:42] Greek yogurt honey and peanut butter

[08:44] with a side of popcorn if I have any

[08:46] calories left over I usually have

[08:47] something sweet like some candy or

[08:48] chocolate again when you track your

[08:50] Macros you can be a lot more flexible

[08:52] with the foods you eat and you can even

[08:53] eat some junk food as long as it fits in

[08:55] your daily totals and remember when

[08:57] you're bulking you have a higher caloric

[08:59] intake than usual that means you need to

[09:01] make sure that you're putting those

[09:02] calories to use in the gym a lot of

[09:04] people make the awful mistake of

[09:06] slacking off with their training on

[09:07] their bulk and I've done this in the

[09:09] past myself but this is a Surefire way

[09:11] to guarantee that you gain more fat than

[09:13] muscle after all it's your training

[09:15] that's going to trigger new muscle

[09:16] growth as important as your diet is your

[09:19] training is what will determine how much

[09:21] muscle you gain on your bulk so you need

[09:23] to take it seriously if you're still in

[09:25] your first year of training focus on the

[09:26] basics when proper technique for the

[09:28] basic EX ex sizes and learn to push

[09:30] yourself hard with good form splits

[09:33] don't really matter at this point bro

[09:34] split push both legs upper lower full

[09:36] body they all work pick what you like

[09:38] just try to be in the gym at least 3

[09:40] days per week with four to five gym days

[09:42] per week likely being most optimal if

[09:44] you're an intermediate meaning you've

[09:45] been training hard for 1 to 3 years you

[09:48] can start to add some more volume as an

[09:49] intermediate you should be doing more

[09:51] sets than you did as a beginner but

[09:53] intensity is still the most important

[09:55] thing at this stage you should be doing

[09:56] around 8 to 15 sets per muscle per week

[10:00] big complex muscles like the back seem

[10:02] to tolerate more volume so you might

[10:04] want to do more sets for your back than

[10:06] you do for your chest I'll put a table

[10:07] up here on screen from my upcoming book

[10:09] the muscle ladder breaking down weekly

[10:11] set volumes that I recommend for each

[10:12] muscle at this stage it might also be

[10:14] smart to ditch the Bro split for one of

[10:15] the other options since it'll help you

[10:17] avoid junk falling if you're an advanced

[10:19] trainee meaning you've been training

[10:20] hard and smart for more than 3 years you

[10:23] could consider running a specialization

[10:25] program for your bulk this is when you

[10:27] increase your training volume for just

[10:28] one or two muscles at a time for example

[10:31] if you need to bring up your delts you

[10:32] could add 20 to 40% more volume for your

[10:35] shoulders each week so if you currently

[10:37] do 15 sets for your shoulders each week

[10:40] increase that to 18 to 20 sets per week

[10:43] this is also in things like length and

[10:44] partials my reps and advanced exercise

[10:46] techniques can help you e those extra

[10:49] marginal gains should you do cardio on a

[10:51] bulk I think for the most part yes you

[10:53] should the idea that cardio kills your

[10:55] gains is based on outdated lowquality

[10:57] science staying in good cardiovascular

[10:59] shape as you bulk is not only good for

[11:01] your health it also help you tolerate

[11:02] more volume if your cardio sucks you're

[11:04] really going to struggle through your

[11:05] leg days you may not be able to get as

[11:07] many reps as you could have gotten if

[11:08] your conditioning was better that's

[11:10] because your heart and lungs will give

[11:11] out before your legs do that said if you

[11:13] work a very active job such as in

[11:14] construction or as a server you may not

[11:16] need any extra cardio at all but if you

[11:18] work a desk job you probably should do

[11:20] some extra cardio I personally do two or

[11:22] three moderate intensity cardio sessions

[11:24] per week by going for a brisk walk or

[11:26] playing some late basketball for

[11:27] supplements I've talked about all the

[11:28] basic boring stuff in other videos so I

[11:30] won't go into those details again here

[11:32] the basic advice is to Take 5 G of

[11:34] creatine per day use protein powder as

[11:36] you need it and consider taking about

[11:37] 200 Mig of caffeine before your workouts

[11:39] as long as it doesn't mess with your

[11:40] sleep but on this bulk there are a few

[11:42] other things that have been taking I

[11:43] take six fish oil capsules every morning

[11:45] which gives me two grams of combined EPA

[11:48] and DHA eating more Omega-3s is one of

[11:50] the easiest things you can do to improve

[11:52] nearly every facet of your health from

[11:54] your heart to inflammation to brain

[11:55] function and anxiety I've also been

[11:57] taking a magnesium supplement before bed

[11:59] low magnesium is associated with low

[12:01] testosterone and poor sleep two things

[12:03] that are very important for muscle gain

[12:05] I also take a vitamin D supplement

[12:06] because I don't get a lot of sunlight

[12:08] low vitamin D is also linked with low

[12:10] testosterone so if you aren't getting

[12:11] enough naturally supplementation is an

[12:13] easy way to prevent your test levels

[12:15] from dropping other than that I take a

[12:16] basic multivitamin in the morning with

[12:18] 600 Mig of ashwaganda root although I

[12:20] don't really feel like there's quite

[12:21] enough safety data on ashwaganda yet for

[12:23] me to recommend it broadly and if you

[12:24] guys want to optimize your bulk like

[12:26] I've done this year I'd strongly

[12:27] recommend downloading macro fact you can

[12:29] try it out for 2 weeks for free if you

[12:31] use code Jeff when you download the app

[12:33] it's the only app that uses

[12:34] science-based algorithms to figure out

[12:36] your exact metabolism and then it

[12:38] updates your nutrition each week just

[12:40] like a coach would it really is like

[12:42] having me as your own personal nutrition

[12:43] coach but for a tiny fraction of the

[12:45] cost it also comes with all kinds of

[12:47] amazing tracking tools so you can

[12:48] monitor not only your calories and

[12:50] macros but also every vitamin and

[12:52] mineral that way you can figure out what

[12:53] foods you need to eat more of and what

[12:55] foods you need to eat less of to improve

[12:57] your health we just hit 200 100,000

[13:00] active users and we have an amazing

[13:01] engaged community on Facebook and Reddit

[13:04] that you can be a part of if you have

[13:05] any questions about the app you'll

[13:06] always get an answer there so I'll put a

[13:08] link to the free trial in the

[13:09] description box down below or you can

[13:11] scan this QR code over here next to my

[13:13] head and try it out for yourself don't

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[13:19] all here in the next one