Lean Bulking: How to Bulk Up Without Gaining Fat
Lean bulking: Build lean muscle without gaining any fat. Read my diet and workout plan and start building muscle mass.
When we talk about "gains", I think we need to be mindful of what we mean and how we get there. Lean bulking, AKA clean bulking, maximizes lean muscle growth through diet and exercise while minimizing fat gain. Going down the route of a lean bulk is much more sustainable in the long run than your more traditional bulk up and cut cycles. It ensures that you get everything you want and need without packing in calories for calories' sake and turning yourself into a literal human garbage disposal.
Trust me, as a personal trainer, I know that bulking up isn't always easy, especially if you want to gain muscle and not body fat. The goal here isn't to become a full-blown bodybuilder or focus on weight gain alone, it's to define, tone, and, well, bulk up your body composition and to obtain a lean and more sculpted physique. By focusing on a healthy balance of macronutrients and strength training during your lean bulking phase, you can build substantial lean muscle mass without piling on the extra pounds of needless body fat.
1. Bump Up Your Caloric Intake
No matter what your fitness goals are, even weight loss, calories should not be the end all be all. Compared to a "dirty bulk" which basically grants you free range of whatever foods you like, clean bulks make the case that the source of your calories makes all the difference. With that said, we do need some extra calories during the bulking phase to fuel our bodies and encourage muscle growth. The goal here is to get the bare minimum of calories needed for hypertrophy so you're building muscle without any unnecessary extras being stored as fat.
First, some math. Use an online calculator to determine the daily amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight, AKA your maintenance calories. If you want to go old school, take your weight and multiply this by 27-30 (don’t ask). You can then use this calculator to determine what your daily calorie surplus should be according to your ideal goal weight. If you don't have a weight in mind but want to focus solely on muscle growth, a general rule of thumb is to add a 20-30% surplus. That’s around 500 calories a day. If you find after two weeks or so that you're not seeing any gains, try bumping your caloric surplus up by an additional ~200 or so a day.
2. Count Your Macros
You can monitor your calorie intake and raise it sky high but if your goal is to build lean muscle, not body weight, your time and energy will be better spent counting your macros. It's no surprise that the quality and source of our calories are just as important as the volume, if not more so. When following a clean bulk program, try to achieve a macronutrient split of around 40/30/30 - Carbs to protein to fats. Finding a baseline and counting your macros requires a bit of math, ensuring that you get enough calories and maximize protein intake depending on your weight, and activity levels.
Protein is one of the most important macros when it comes to building lean muscle mass. Aim to eat a high protein diet consisting of 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight every single day. Clean protein powder supplements, lean meats, fish, soy, nuts and legumes are all great sources of protein and can help you hit your daily requirements without tipping the sugar scales.
Carbohydrates are best utilized on training days when your energy expenditure will be high. High-quality slow-release carbs like oats, quinoa, whole grains, sweet potatoes, and brown rice provide a more sustainable release of energy so they're great for fueling your body during workouts.
Lastly, keep an eye on your fat intake. Fats provide 9 calories per gram. That’s more than double that of carbs and protein so make sure not to go overboard. Healthy fats can be found in olive oil, nuts and seeds, unsweetened nut butters, and fatty fish. If you need help keeping your macros in check, I recommend downloading a macro-tracking app and/or following a diet plan.
Lean BULK diet plan - $12,99
If the idea of what to eat and how much still has you confused, fear not! We’ve got you covered with our comprehensive Lean Bulk diet plan. We also have a Skinny guy’s bulk-up diet plan for those struggling to gain weight.
What’s included in the plan:
✔ A fully comprehensive 7-day food plan (To be repeated until you reach your ideal weight and/or results).
✔ 8 Delicious Lean muscle-building recipe suggestions (use is optional).
✔ A carefully calculated daily macronutrient split and precise measurements to maximize lean muscle growth whilst minimizing fat gain for Mesomorphs.
✔ A delicious and highly effective post-workout smoothie recipe for EXTRA gains!
✔ Supplement recommendations.
The file is in PDF format and is compatible with all phones, computers, and tablets.
3. Leave the Junk Food Behind
Even though you're not technically dieting, prioritizing whole foods over processed foods, sugars, and saturated fats will ensure you don’t gain excess fat and can focus on lean muscle growth instead.
4. Bodybuilding Time
Weight training is absolutely crucial to fast-tracking muscle growth and gaining lean body mass and is absolutely imperative during the bulking phase. In fact, without some form of strength training, you won’t gain any muscle. Regardless of what and how much you eat. Aim for around four weight training sessions per week with rest days in between to allow the muscle tissue to rest, fully recover and grow. Dedicating each session to a different set of muscle groups. Example: Legs, Back and biceps, chest, triceps and shoulders, etc is a great way to really hammer the muscles and encourage progressive overloading and growth while allowing sufficient time to recover between workouts.
Related: Muscle Growth: 12 Essential tips to build more muscle
5. Welcome Supplements
Supplements should never replace a healthy and balanced diet but they can be extremely handy when short on time or before and after your workouts. Clean supplements, meaning supplements that are free of added sugars and artificial sweeteners, can boost your results and keep you on track nutritionally while still following your macros. Protein is king so ensuring that you take a lean protein supplement while taking other supplements to boost your body's protein synthesis is important. Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA), leucine, isoleucine, and valine, can activate enzymes and stimulate protein synthesis for both muscle growth and recovery. Whey protein is considered a complete protein, meaning it contains the BCAAs and other essential amino acids so it's a great choice when bulking up. If you're more sensitive to dairy, Transparent Labs Organic Vegan Protein is a great alternative. It's a favorite among plant-based weight lifters, athletes and one of my personal go-to proteins after a workout.
I also recommend Tri-protein, A supplement from Crazy nutrition that used 6 different proteins to offer one of the most comprehensive protein formulas on the market.
6. Go Light on Cardio
Large amounts of cardio might help with fat loss, but it can, if not careful, slow down muscle growth. If you simply can’t live without your early morning runs, try to reduce the intensity to moderate, walk instead of run, or add in another strength training session instead. It’s important that if you are doing a lot of cardio to make sure that you fuel up properly beforehand and recoup any additional calories used during these sessions afterward to prevent your body from breaking down muscle as energy. You may also want to consider taking a BCAA and All-natural fat burner 30-minutes before your cardio workouts to ensure muscle protection and encourage the breakdown of fat for fuel.
A lot of people might be a little scared off by the idea of bulking up. Especially if you’re concerned about gaining fat. However, you needn’t worry. The stereotypical clean and lean bulking program doesn't have to come with all the "dirty" side effects normally associated with traditional old-school bulking phases. Follow these 6 tips and you'll be climbing aboard the gain train without the love handles!
