Patience is a Virtue
Hard work and dedication are key principles to building muscle, however these traits alone often don’t deliver results as expected.
Superior genetic potential can help realize gains quicker than individuals that have more difficulty putting on muscle, but natural bodybuilding works like a marathon when trying to achieve your goals.
To build muscle, the process of getting a surplus of calories above maintenance over the course of many months is a requirement to add considerable size to your frame.
Bodybuilding novices often make the mistake of consuming a surplus of calories much higher than an individual’s metabolism, which results in major weight gain in the form of fat.
These dirty bulking diets of excess calories are useful for putting on mass but become difficult to remove body fat afterwards, especially for older individuals.
Dirty bulking diets seem like an easy solution for ‘faster gains’, but this is merely an illusion that keeps lifters frustrated from years spent in the gym with very little to show for it.
Taking a slower approach to the phase of building muscle is always smarter as it prevents you from going backward on your journey creating your ideal physique.
Why Caloric Surplus Is Best For Muscle Gains
Oftentimes when a person decides to adjust their diet towards building muscle, they feel that this is now a privilege to eat any and all the food they want.
The major difference between lean and dirty bulking is the accountability of the calories consumed.
The lean bulking approach generally calculates 200-500 calories per day above maintenance as an ideal method for adding weight slowly to your frame. When done correctly this would add about .75 to 1lb of weight to the scale each week.
Lean bulking is often confused with strictly consuming ‘clean foods’, or foods with high fiber content that are not calorically dense (ex. Broccoli, lean chicken breast, brown rice). Flexible dieting with foods that are more favorable can be used in a lean bulk as long as they are within the total daily caloric requirements for the program.
Not only is the weight added gradually but strength progress in the training program is measured as well. This is important because if the stress is not high enough the caloric surplus will not be used properly for muscle adaptation.
If progressive overload is not being achieved week after week during the cycle of a bulk, body composition is more likely to be geared towards fat gain. This stress progression can be either from more reps, weight, sets, or less rest times (see What is Progressive Overload).
Before starting a lean bulk, you should set expectations that will give the greatest chances to be successful.
The first expectation should be the accumulation of body fat, which means you won’t be as lean as you want as you continue to slowly add weight to your frame. Many lifters that are already lean sabotage their progress early because they don’t like losing their abs and definition on a bulk.
Social media and fictitious fitness magazine articles gave many the impression that everyone can build muscle and burn fat simultaneously, however this mainly true for beginning lifters with less than 4 years of experience.
Intermediate and advanced weightlifters’ rate of muscle growth is much slower, which is why a surplus of calories is needed in the first place. This is the reason successive bulks over the course of a few years will necessary for the natural bodybuilder to see sizable muscle development.
The most successful natural bodybuilders consistently cycle between lean bulks, maintenance periods, and fat loss diets for years to perfect their physique to the shape of their ideal.
This is why reaching bodybuilding genetic potential is not easy but achievable for those individuals that can stay on the journey to build an outstanding physique.
The Wrap Up
A slight surplus in calories is a smarter approach to building muscle since you can avoid the pitfall of adding unnecessary fat to your frame. Negligence consuming surplus calories daily with a stagnant training program will lead to poor body composition in the long run. Successive lean bulks over the course of a few years can make a remarkable difference to your physique if meticulous tracking and planning is integrated.
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