If you've followed the series so far, you know how to get huge and how to stay lean. But you might still be struggling with doing both at the same time. In all honesty, it's probably impossible to get huge while staying super lean – but you CAN add quality muscle, without a lot of fat, and without f*$%ing your body in the process.
- Don’t eat like an asshole.
This is easily my most important rule. If you’re adding fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins to your diet, you’re going to gain muscle mass with little (if any) fat. There’s no way around that. On the other hand, if “bulking” is just an excuse to load up on Big Macs and ice cream, you’re going to have mediocre results.
- Increase your calories realistically.
Reverse dieting is trendy, but it’s not sustainable. Forget how anal you’d have to be to count an extra 50 calories a day – think about how terrible it’s going to feel when you’re eating just 50 calories more than whatever constitutes a hard diet for you. Spoiler alert: it’s going to feel like a hard diet.
On the flip side, stuffing your face day in and day out isn’t comfortable, healthy, or productive, either. For most people, I think a weekly caloric increase of about 10% is right, until you’re gaining weight at the rate you want.
- Find the macro balance that works for you.
Lifters rave about keto diets, carb cycling, and backloading, even though each takes a very different approach to nutrition. That’s because every individual needs a different approach to nutrition, based on how their body responds to food. If a high-fat diet makes you feel sluggish or bloated, then keto probably isn’t right for you. On the same note, if you get sleepy after a high-carb meal, then carb cycling might not be the best choice.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Your mental balance is just as important as finding a balanced approach to dieting. Extreme approaches sound exciting, but they’re not going to get you to where you want to go.