Bulking Guide, Part 2

So if you’re trying to bulk fairly cleanly the simplest strategy is to have two days: One in which you have macros set to account for a workout, and one to account for not working out or doing some conditioning work.   Look at the picture over here on the right; these are my macros while at maintenance (~197 lbs, ~10% bf).   I have four workouts per week where I do weight training, and then two conditioning days, with Saturday as my off day. These macro levels are for a cut, but pay attention to the way carbohydrates are spread out.  In a clean bulk, they’ll be spread out the same.  On training days 90+% of carbohydrates come at breakfast, pre-workout, and post-workout, with 70+% of them coming pre and post workout.  That means that a greater proportion of those carbohydrates are going towards ‘useful’ purposes of aiding in the maintenance or construction of lean body mass, or restoring glycogen.  Of course 100% won’t be used for this,  but with this strategy you can keep things relatively ‘clean’ and employ those carbohydrate calories for something useful as opposed to having them contribute mostly to adipose tissue that you need to dispose of later with a cut.

For a bulk we’re just going to increase the carbs around workout time, add a tad bit of healthy fats /carbs in to the morning and up the protein a bit.   Start by setting protein somewhere between 1.5g and 1.75g per pound of lean body mass.  Next, set your fat intake to between .5g and .75g per pound of lean body mass.  Finally, set the peri- and post-workout carbohydrates to around 1g per pound of lean body mass (These numbers come from Shelby Starnes , read his articles on T-Nation for a ton more info).   Here’s a picture of how it might shake out,below this paragraph. 

The percentage of carbohydrates that are consumed around breakfast, pre-workout, or post-workout is even greater now, at 95%.  The percentage just in the pre and post-workout time is up as well, to over 75%.  You’ll also notice that on conditioning days the fat and protein are up, as are the carbohydrates a bit.  Most of these extra carbs come in the morning.  The reason you want these extra calories/protein on your conditioning or off days is that you are still healing from previous workouts.  If you wanted to you could split it out even more; say a day you train legs take in the most carbohydrates, the day you train upper body or smaller muscles slightly less carbohydrates, and on off days or conditioning days even less than that.  It’s really up to you how you split things out.  It’s also important to realize that your body will change as you pack on mass, and you may need to adjust things.  If you’re gaining fat too fast adjust fat/carb intake, if you’re not gaining mass fast enough try adding some more in.  Just make sure whatever carbs you add in are focused around breakfast and more importantly peri- and post-workout times.   That’s really all there is to a clean bulk, from a nutrition standpoint.  It's not overly difficult  Best of luck, and here's a mediafire link to a PDF version of this guide. 

Alright, that wraps things up, I hope that this was simple and easy to follow; I’ll probably update this after I get some feedback.  If you want to send comments, critiques, death threats, etc. I can be reached at Accipitergym@gmail.com.  Happy Lifting! - Matt