The ULTIMATE Guide to Bulking

[00:00] what is up YouTube today I'm going to be

[00:02] going over the top questions people ask

[00:04] me on how to bulk any questions I get

[00:06] towards bulking I've kind of compiled in

[00:08] like a top 10 and I'm going to be going

[00:10] going over all of them today so you have

[00:11] them in a concise area pretty much based

[00:13] off my experience rather than just

[00:15] purely science-based stuff it's

[00:16] everything I've done and learn from my

[00:18] mistakes throughout the years so you

[00:19] guys can learn from what I've done right

[00:20] and done wrong and hopefully learn

[00:22] faster than I did first question is

[00:24] always how do I know when to bulk and I

[00:26] find this such a funny question people

[00:27] ask me cuz I have no [ __ ] clue when

[00:29] people should bulk it's very like

[00:31] situation dependent person dependent

[00:33] goal dependent but as a whole I would

[00:35] say obviously if your goals put on

[00:37] muscle you should bulk and if you're not

[00:39] fat you can bulk and fat is obviously

[00:42] very different to the average person but

[00:43] if you're unhappy with the level of body

[00:45] fat you're at that's super important i

[00:47] don't think you should bulk yet come

[00:48] down to a body fat that you're happier

[00:50] with maybe a little bit below even and

[00:51] then work your way back up but as a

[00:53] general rule of thumb I like to be like

[00:56] around 12% body fat for men maybe 18 to

[00:58] 20 for women but having visible abs for

[01:00] men specifically it's easier to gauge so

[01:02] if my abs are still poking through a

[01:04] little bit then I'm good to go and I

[01:05] know I haven't bulked too far or I'm

[01:07] good to bulk next question tail off that

[01:09] last one is how do I know when to stop

[01:10] bulking and similar to when you know if

[01:12] you should bulk if you start to lose

[01:13] your abs or if you get too much of a

[01:15] high body fat percentage I always

[01:17] struggled to say that i got it that time

[01:19] then you know it's time to slow down

[01:21] there's a few other things like when

[01:22] your appetite is absolutely like in this

[01:24] [ __ ] like you can't eat at all it'll

[01:26] be tough to eat when you're bulking

[01:27] really hard one is completely gone

[01:29] sometimes you need to just take a step

[01:30] back if your lifts in the gym are

[01:32] plateauing if your weight is stagnating

[01:34] all these different things it's kind of

[01:36] time to give your body a little bit of a

[01:37] break whether it be for a week or a full

[01:39] cut it kind of depends on your goals and

[01:41] situation of course but again big thing

[01:44] is if you have some abs you're still

[01:45] happy with how you look you're not too

[01:46] fat yet then you can keep pushing that

[01:48] weight all right so how to start how to

[01:50] start your base calories macros meal

[01:52] plan whatever it may be the simplest

[01:54] thing and that everybody needs to do in

[01:56] the suggestions quote is he always says

[01:57] what isn't measured isn't managed so the

[02:00] more you measure the more you can manage

[02:01] the more you can adapt and you know what

[02:03] changes you're making are causing the

[02:04] changes in your body so the most

[02:06] important step of starting anyone's

[02:08] fitness journey really is tracking

[02:10] everything you eat consistently and

[02:12] calculate the calories and macros on

[02:13] that maybe do it for a week take the

[02:15] average and see what it is and weigh

[02:17] yourself during all those days as well

[02:19] so if I'm 250 lbs I'm eating 4,000

[02:21] calories every single day then my base

[02:24] to maintain 250 lb is 4,000 calories so

[02:27] if I want to lose weight I'll go under

[02:29] that if I want to gain weight I'll go

[02:30] over that typically you'll increase by

[02:32] like 5 to 10 probably like 5% I would

[02:35] say i usually go on more so like 300 to

[02:37] 500 calorie increase when I start a bulk

[02:39] so if I'm resting at 4,000 I'll go up to

[02:42] 4500 and then from there you count your

[02:45] macros through that obviously most

[02:46] important if you're trying to bulk put

[02:48] on muscle is protein and you don't need

[02:50] quite as much protein when you're

[02:51] bulking because carbs are actually

[02:53] protein sparing when you're really low

[02:55] carb your body is going to use protein

[02:58] for energy whereas when you're really

[03:00] high carb you have all the carbs to use

[03:01] for energy so your body uses the protein

[03:03] to build muscle therefore they're like

[03:06] they help you spare protein so when

[03:07] you're in a low low carb deficit your

[03:10] body's pulling from your protein source

[03:11] in order to make energy not just rebuild

[03:14] you need to add more protein to make

[03:16] sure that you're actually rebuilding

[03:17] properly as well as getting the energy

[03:19] from it so I stick to a minimum of 1 g

[03:22] per pound of body weight everyone knows

[03:23] that number it's so simple just stick to

[03:25] it make sure you're at least hitting

[03:26] that and that's what you prioritize so

[03:28] then you take that i'm 250 lb that's 250

[03:32] g of protein with four calories for

[03:34] every gram of protein so multiply that

[03:36] by four you're already at 1,000 calories

[03:38] and then if I'm trying to hit 4,000

[03:40] calories total then I'm going to take 20

[03:42] to 30% of that total caloric intake and

[03:45] make that into fat and so whatever that

[03:47] is in fat I'm not that quick at math

[03:49] what is that 20% of

[03:53] 4,000 200 800

[03:56] 800 quick math so that would be 800

[03:59] calories for me in fat so then I have

[04:01] 1,000 calories of protein 800 calories

[04:04] of fat and then I just fill the rest

[04:05] with carbs and then there's your macros

[04:07] right there that's literally how simple

[04:08] it is and the most important thing is to

[04:10] continue to track going forward make

[04:12] sure those are hidden with right track

[04:13] your body weight look at yourself in the

[04:15] mirror monitor your lifts if things are

[04:16] moving in the direction you're happy

[04:18] with just keep doing it that's what's

[04:20] important if you start to lose weight or

[04:21] you're not gaining weight fast enough

[04:22] you add a little bit more calories and

[04:24] then you keep those ratios the exact

[04:26] same you can play with that a lot of

[04:28] people do better with higher carb or

[04:29] higher fat and you kind of rotate

[04:31] through typically most people do that 20

[04:33] 30% fat that's what's worked best for me

[04:35] i enjoy eating a lot of carbs not crazy

[04:37] amounts of fat but also as I get to the

[04:39] end of my bulk and I'm eating like 6,000

[04:41] calories I'll start to just cover things

[04:43] in olive oil just because I need

[04:44] anything to get those calories in so

[04:46] obviously there's a place to start but

[04:48] the number one thing in being successful

[04:50] at anything is knowing that you're not

[04:51] stuck between these confines if it works

[04:53] for you it works for you that's all that

[04:55] matters doesn't matter if someone else

[04:56] tells you what to do if I do it or not

[04:58] works for you you're making muscle the

[05:00] other thing to take note when you're

[05:01] counting your protein the 1 g per pound

[05:03] of body weight is there are some extreme

[05:04] cases where when people are really like

[05:07] underweight like if you weigh 100 lb and

[05:09] you're a male and you're tall and you're

[05:10] just really skinny you might want to

[05:12] bump that up from the beginning and if

[05:14] you're heavily overweight so you're 400

[05:16] lb and you don't have that much muscle

[05:18] on you you don't need 400 g of protein

[05:20] if you can eat it I guarantee you you

[05:24] will lose weight more efficiently having

[05:26] more protein rather than fats or carbs

[05:27] in your diet but it's not necessarily

[05:30] for putting on muscle so if it's too

[05:31] hard to eat 400 grams of protein that's

[05:33] a lot of protein then bump that down to

[05:35] something that's a little bit more

[05:36] appropriate what you would guess your

[05:37] lean body mass would be and then use

[05:40] that number it's an estimate again

[05:41] doesn't matter you kind of play with

[05:42] things as they go if you're really

[05:44] overweight losing weight all that really

[05:45] matters is that your calories are below

[05:47] what your basil basil metabolic rate is

[05:49] all right next question is what type of

[05:51] food to eat cheat meals clean bulk or

[05:53] dirty bulk rule of thumb for this in my

[05:55] absolute belief is whole foods are the

[05:58] most important thing something that

[05:59] grows from the earth something that

[06:00] caveman could eat anything like that

[06:02] single ingredient foods are your best

[06:04] bet this is because I mean it's just

[06:06] normal food much easier for your body to

[06:08] digest the more food you can digest and

[06:10] the nutrients you can actually absorb

[06:12] from it the less you actually need to

[06:13] eat to get the same benefit out of it

[06:15] the less you have to digest better your

[06:17] stomach feels the more you can eat it's

[06:18] all just like a feedback loop to making

[06:20] more gains essentially and even eating

[06:22] bad food causes inflammation in the gut

[06:25] which slows everything down slows your

[06:26] bulk down your muscle gain down cause

[06:28] inflammation in your joints can start

[06:29] hurting you when you're in the gym

[06:30] training there's a cascade of effects

[06:32] that can come from that not to mention

[06:34] that it's just not as healthy for you so

[06:36] yes we're trying to put on muscle but

[06:37] the healthiest way to do it is often

[06:39] also the best way to do it so make sure

[06:41] you're actually focusing on eating clean

[06:42] whole foods and not just going after

[06:44] like a nasty dirty goal people always

[06:46] ask about cheat meals why can I have

[06:47] cheat meal i want a cheat meal what's

[06:48] the point of cheat meals all these

[06:49] things and over the last like four or

[06:52] five years of my preps I didn't get any

[06:54] cheat meals and that was because of what

[06:55] I was talking about before i didn't want

[06:57] that like gut digestion mess up i didn't

[06:59] want the inflammation from it i didn't

[07:01] want to ruin my sleep that night cuz I

[07:02] was full of all this [ __ ] and have my

[07:03] joints hurt the next day everything I

[07:05] was doing was so calculated to be the

[07:07] best that I was like m I could have a

[07:09] cheat meal calorically and not get too

[07:11] fat but it's going to have this other

[07:13] you know effects on my recovery my

[07:14] digestion that's just not worth it right

[07:16] now so I didn't have those ever when I

[07:18] was in prep in my off season I like to

[07:20] live live a little bit i still eat

[07:23] really healthy though like if I go to

[07:24] get a burger sometimes I get a lettuce

[07:25] wrap no cheese cuz I know it's going to

[07:27] mess with my stomach and I make sure I

[07:29] stick with that but again it kind of

[07:30] depends on what your goals are the only

[07:32] point of having a cheat meal is pretty

[07:34] much for your mental sake if you need

[07:35] like a little bit of like stress relief

[07:37] or a break from it and if that's going

[07:39] to help you then absolutely it's worth

[07:40] it even if you're a professional

[07:42] bodybuilder and it's going to benefit

[07:43] your mind and calm you down and give you

[07:45] a nice like cortisol brief to eat a

[07:47] cheat meal then go for it it's not the

[07:49] end of the world but as me trying to be

[07:50] as the best in the world I wasn't going

[07:52] to do that [ __ ] i was like "Fuck it i'm

[07:53] going to fill up on good food food I

[07:55] know I can digest just eat more of that

[07:57] still sleep good digest good and be

[07:58] better for it." But that like 01% change

[08:02] it's going to make doesn't matter to

[08:03] most people and even now as a retired

[08:06] bodybuilder I'd be less tricked on doing

[08:08] something like that myself so why would

[08:10] you clean bulk versus dirty bulk i would

[08:12] say people with dirty bulk are just

[08:14] people who don't understand the indepth

[08:16] like minutia of how important every

[08:18] little thing is to your body so I just

[08:20] think it's just kind of the easy way out

[08:22] i need to get some calories in i'm going

[08:24] to throw some shitty food down it's also

[08:25] a very like a band-aid the short-term

[08:27] solution for a long-term goal that you

[08:30] have you just do that for a year 2 years

[08:32] even 5 years from 20 to 25 maybe you'll

[08:35] get away with if you're lucky but it

[08:36] will start to catch up on you so I just

[08:38] don't even recommend dirty bulking throw

[08:40] in your cheat meals if you really want

[08:42] them and need them but clean bulking is

[08:43] the way to go we're not just trying to

[08:45] get jacked you want to take care of your

[08:46] body and when you build that healthy

[08:48] relationship with food that you're

[08:49] nourishing your body you're fueling your

[08:50] body you're putting good food in your

[08:52] body because you care about your body it

[08:53] also makes it easier to diet because

[08:55] then you're not craving shitty foods

[08:56] when you're dieting because food isn't

[08:58] just like a obsessive I can have now or

[09:00] can't have it now it's actually

[09:02] something that you appreciate and you're

[09:03] putting good things in your body and

[09:05] when I switched that mindset of eating

[09:06] for health rather than just like

[09:08] restricting now or eating as much as I

[09:10] can now and I was like no I'm putting

[09:11] good food to take care of my body when I

[09:13] started prepping I didn't even crave

[09:14] shitty food anymore i was like I want a

[09:16] little more rice and chicken but like it

[09:18] is what it is i'm dieting and it made it

[09:19] much easier for me just a little mindset

[09:21] switch as I said it's so case dependent

[09:23] and bulking like when I was a 21year-old

[09:26] trying to put on as much muscle as

[09:27] possible i remember putting on like 20

[09:31] or 30 lbs one offseason probably more

[09:33] than that and I was like 270 plus lbs

[09:35] midday i was like 275ish and I dieted

[09:38] down to 220 and I was like eating shitty

[09:41] food messing up my digestion didn't care

[09:44] cuz I was 21 years old and I was just

[09:46] pushing things and that variance made it

[09:48] really hard for me so I stopped doing

[09:49] that so this is kind of again back to

[09:51] when you should stop bulking if you're a

[09:52] bodybuilder you really only need to go

[09:54] like 10% over your weight so I started

[09:57] being 20 lbs over my competing weight

[09:58] 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