3 Muscle-Building Diets Tested — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] How much muscle can you really build in

[00:02] just 90 days? And more importantly, how

[00:04] can you do it without gaining fat? To

[00:06] find out, I'm testing the three most

[00:09] popular muscle building diets on my

[00:11] brother-in-law. So, by the end of this

[00:13] video, you won't just find out how much

[00:14] muscle he gains, but which one builds

[00:16] muscle fastest, which one burns fat

[00:19] while building muscle, and which diet

[00:21] completely backfires.

[00:23] >> This is a bit of a disaster. So, last

[00:25] year I helped my brother-in-law Dayton

[00:27] drop from 33% body fat down to his

[00:30] current body fat of 17%. And now he's

[00:32] hungry for more.

[00:34] >> Now that I've cut, I really want to bulk

[00:36] up, get bigger at all. I'm not getting

[00:38] fat again. Like, I refuse to get fat

[00:40] again.

[00:41] >> So, to help Damon with his goal, I'm

[00:42] starting him off with our first diet,

[00:44] maintaining. The theory here is that by

[00:47] training hard while eating just enough

[00:49] to maintain your weight, your body is

[00:52] forced to burn off your body fat to fuel

[00:54] muscle growth. And to measure if that

[00:56] actually happens, Dayton's getting DEXA

[00:58] scans before and after each diet to see

[01:01] how much his muscle and fat changes. But

[01:03] because short-term DEXA can be less

[01:05] reliable, we also took ultrasounds,

[01:08] skinfold, and circumference measurements

[01:10] to get a more complete picture of which

[01:12] diet actually works best. Now, to set up

[01:14] his main gaining diet, if you take your

[01:16] body weight in pounds and multiply it by

[01:18] 13 to 16, depending on your activity

[01:21] level, that's roughly what your body

[01:23] needs to maintain. But I know from

[01:24] personally working with Dane for so

[01:26] long, that his current maintenance is

[01:28] right at 2300 calories. And this is a

[01:31] sample day of eating I've created for

[01:33] him to hit that target. As for protein,

[01:35] Dne's targeting at least 100 g of

[01:38] protein per day. Now, while that might

[01:39] sound low, some new research suggests

[01:42] that if you're eating enough calories

[01:44] and you're not bodybuilder level

[01:45] shredded, then your protein needs aren't

[01:47] nearly as high as most people think. In

[01:49] fact, if you take your body weight in

[01:51] pounds and you multiply it by 0.7,

[01:54] that's already enough to maximize your

[01:55] gains, which gives Dayton more room for

[01:58] carbs to fuel his workouts.

[02:00] >> I got my veggies, lean protein, and my

[02:03] carbs. We're 7 days in. My weight hasn't

[02:06] moved. We're doing good. But what's

[02:08] going to have no doubt the biggest

[02:09] impact on his gains is his training. So

[02:12] I'm having Dayton train 5 days a week

[02:14] using my personal favorite workout

[02:16] split. And the plan seems to be working.

[02:18] He's sending me PRs every workout. And

[02:20] with his app, we'll be able to see how

[02:22] much his strength gains from each diet

[02:24] match up to actual muscle growth. But

[02:27] just as the going was getting good.

[02:29] >> All right, guys. Quick update.

[02:31] So, I just realized that both of my

[02:34] roommates are moving out, and that

[02:37] leaves me with only two months to find

[02:39] replacements.

[02:40] If I don't find someone, that's going to

[02:43] leave me with a lot of money to pay all

[02:45] on my own. And on top of that, my

[02:48] business is hit a dry spell. It's the

[02:51] slowest it's been for a long time. So,

[02:54] that's a lot of stress right now and

[02:58] it's making it a little hard to stay on

[03:00] track with the workouts and the diets.

[03:01] >> With all the added stress, he began

[03:03] snacking a lot more than usual. And it

[03:05] also didn't help that this was filmed

[03:07] during the holidays where he couldn't

[03:08] resist my mom's Filipino desserts.

[03:10] >> I got my third plate of the night, a

[03:13] dessert. It's called ube and then some

[03:16] sort of rice pudding.

[03:17] >> But then something happened that might

[03:19] just end this experiment altogether. Um

[03:22] my grandpa, he passed away a few weeks

[03:24] ago uh from cancer and he was a big male

[03:28] role model for me as uh my dad passed

[03:32] away when I was seven also from cancer.

[03:34] So he was my father figure. So

[03:40] yeah, it was honestly a tough time for

[03:42] our whole family, but especially for

[03:43] Dayton. And even though he could have

[03:45] easily quit the experiment, he stuck it

[03:48] through, not missing a single workout.

[03:50] And even though he tried his best to

[03:52] stay on track with his nutrition, when

[03:54] he returned for his second check-in on

[03:56] day 30, the results weren't quite what

[03:59] we had planned. You actually gained 2 lb

[04:03] of body weight. Now, the goal was to

[04:05] maintain your weight as best as

[04:07] possible, and the next phase, the goal

[04:09] was actually to gain 2 lb

[04:12] >> in a month. Oops. Luckily, his

[04:14] overeating actually lines up perfectly

[04:16] with the next diet that we had planned,

[04:19] a lean bulk. That's where you take your

[04:21] maintenance calories and you bump them

[04:23] up by about 250, which typically results

[04:26] in around 2 lb of weight gain per month.

[04:29] So, we decided to swap the order of his

[04:31] diets and save the main gain diet for

[04:33] the very end of our experiment. The good

[04:35] news is that it seems like those extra 2

[04:38] lbs went to the right places. Okay.

[04:40] >> Based on Dayton's results, combined with

[04:42] the data from our additional

[04:43] measurements and scans, after 30 days of

[04:45] lean bulking, he's gained an estimated

[04:47] 1.35 lb of actual muscle. As for whether

[04:51] that's good or not, in a 2020minut

[04:53] analysis from a huge number of

[04:54] short-term training studies,

[04:56] participants gained roughly 2.4 lb of

[04:59] actual muscle, but it took them 10 weeks

[05:01] to do. So, Dayton's definitely above

[05:03] average. Plus, the last time I seriously

[05:06] assessed my own rate of muscle gain, it

[05:08] took me 60 days to put on just half a

[05:10] pound of muscle. So, Dayton clearly

[05:12] still has the ability to build muscle

[05:14] quickly. As for fat gain, based on the

[05:16] data from his belly skin folds,

[05:18] ultrasound, and waist measurements, he

[05:20] did gain some fat, but it wasn't

[05:22] excessive. So, overall, DNE's lean bulk

[05:24] was quite the success. But, it does beg

[05:26] the question, can we speed up his gains

[05:28] further if we feed him even more? So,

[05:31] for the next 30 days, we're running a

[05:33] fast bulk, cranking his daily calories

[05:36] up to 2800. That's 500 calories more

[05:39] than his body burns every day.

[05:41] >> You're probably wondering like where

[05:43] what types of calories should I be

[05:44] eating?

[05:45] >> Yeah, right.

[05:46] >> You're getting enough protein. So, my

[05:48] personal recommendation is if you're

[05:50] going to add calories, let's do it from

[05:52] just pure carbs.

[05:53] >> Okay.

[05:53] >> Cuz that's what's going to give you the

[05:55] glycogen and the energy that you need in

[05:57] your workouts. that we can see your

[05:59] workout performance just like really

[06:01] really be taken to the next level. So,

[06:03] it's not like we're taking his diet from

[06:05] this to this. We're just making small

[06:08] daily changes so that he gains roughly 4

[06:10] lb by the end of the next 30 days. I can

[06:13] have a little bit more rice, a bit more

[06:15] carbs, some more sauce, but I have to

[06:18] stay on track. I have to weigh

[06:20] everything. I can't make the same

[06:22] mistake I made last time.

[06:24] >> I'm just hoping he doesn't overdo it.

[06:25] Yeah, my roommate came back from Mexico

[06:28] and he came back with a giant bag of

[06:31] candycoated sugared peanuts. And I love

[06:34] candy covered peanuts. So, I did crush a

[06:36] lot of these. But at least Dayton was

[06:39] putting these extra calories to good

[06:40] use.

[06:41] >> So, I think Jeremy's right about upping

[06:42] the carbs. I've been hitting PR after PR

[06:45] after PR. I have a lot more energy and

[06:48] I'm just feeling way stronger. Ding felt

[06:50] so good that he actually started adding

[06:52] more sets to his workouts. And normally

[06:54] studies would never allow for this.

[06:56] Workouts are kept identical. So the diet

[06:58] is the only variable, but I honestly

[07:00] think that misses a huge indirect

[07:02] benefit of eating more calories, the

[07:04] extra energy to train harder and longer.

[07:07] So instead of holding him back, we let

[07:09] him loose. Whether it leads to more

[07:10] muscle growth, we'll find out soon. In

[07:12] the meantime, as his body transformed,

[07:15] so did his business. His Tik Tok fitness

[07:17] videos drove traffic to his business

[07:19] content, and that attention turned into

[07:21] orders. So, I got some exciting news. My

[07:24] brother is currently looking for a place

[07:26] to live and I so happen to be looking

[07:29] for a roommate. He's really into working

[07:32] out and we have tons of things in common

[07:34] and we uh get along really well. So, I

[07:37] really hope it works out because I need

[07:39] a roommate.

[07:40] >> And while Dean's work and roommate

[07:41] search were improving, he was now

[07:43] dealing with one major downside of his

[07:45] fast bulk. I've definitely been noticing

[07:48] a bit of

[07:51] extra belly fat. Uh I've gained a little

[07:53] bit of weight as well in my face. I can

[07:55] see I've gained just a little bit of

[07:57] weight. Those are the two spots I always

[07:59] notice that my my face gets a little

[08:01] chubbier in my my belly. We'll find out

[08:03] soon whether that's just in his head or

[08:05] not. But there are a couple factors that

[08:07] should be working in Dayton's favor. For

[08:09] starters, a study on untrained lifters

[08:12] found that a fast bulk led to huge

[08:14] muscle gains over the course of 8 weeks

[08:17] with minimal fat gain. But when that

[08:19] same fast bulk was tested on more

[08:21] experienced lifters, most of the extra

[08:24] weight gain now came from fat rather

[08:26] than muscle. In other words, fast

[08:28] bulking seems to work best when your

[08:29] body can actually use those extra

[08:31] calories to build muscle. And I learned

[08:33] this the hard way. When I first started

[08:34] lifting, I did a dirty bulk. sometimes

[08:37] even drinking a gallon of milk a day and

[08:39] it worked. I put on a lot of size

[08:41] without much fat. But when I tried that

[08:43] same approach a few years later, it just

[08:45] made me fluffy and I had to spend months

[08:47] dieting the fat that I gained with very

[08:49] little extra muscle to actually show for

[08:51] it. And while Dayton isn't a total

[08:53] beginner, as he's still in his first

[08:54] year of proper training, there's a

[08:56] possibility that the fast bulk actually

[08:58] works out the best for him. The last 30

[09:00] days, you've gained 4 lbs. Okay. What

[09:03] have you noticed? strength, overall

[09:06] size. I just feel bigger.

[09:08] >> I have more energy. I feel strong.

[09:10] Definitely did. Yeah, I've noticed a

[09:11] little bit of fat gain, but that was to

[09:13] be expected.

[09:14] >> Well, you look fuller, dude. Even just

[09:16] in this shirt, like your arms,

[09:18] >> your chest,

[09:19] >> I feel a lot bigger.

[09:21] >> And his pull-up strength since day one

[09:23] has actually doubled. Let's go. One more

[09:26] up.

[09:29] Look at this new Zach. You can see it

[09:31] through the shirt. V taper. You look

[09:33] like a ninja turtle. As for his muscle

[09:36] and fat results, Dean gained an

[09:38] estimated 1.8 lbs of muscle, 30% more

[09:41] than what he gained during his lean

[09:42] bulk. But it did come with a trade-off.

[09:45] This time, he gained three times more

[09:47] fat than during lean bulk. And I've seen

[09:50] this quite a bit. People fast ball, they

[09:52] put on size and fat, and then they hit a

[09:54] point where the fat gain is so

[09:56] overwhelming, they never actually cut to

[09:58] 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