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Sales of the hormone supplement androstenedione have risen
dramatically since Major League slugger Mark McGwire came
clean about using it. Andro is a steroid hormone manufactured
by the gonads and the adrenal gland, and it is the biochemical
forerunner of testosterone. It’s great for bulking up
because it speeds recovery so lean muscle mass can build up
faster.
Men on anabolic steroids that derive from testosterone may
feminize as they grow stronger, developing shrill voices,
shrinking testicles and enlarged breast tissue, since the
body converts testosterone into estrogen. Women popping steroids
may see their breasts shrivel, hear their voices get deeper
and observe male pattern baldness on their heads. The supplement
Creatine is a safer bet, one used by many athletes, including
McGwire.
How-to Guide for Bulking
There are two traditional alternatives for a bulk: the all-out
approach, which consists of gorging yourself with all things
that look like food, and the “clean bulk,” during
which one eats at a level only a little above maintenance,
and all calories come from “clean” food.
The bulking diet is an art. Before you use it, it’s
essential that you know the fundamentals of muscle growth
and how calorie surplus helps you gain muscle. On a bulking
diet you can eat high calorie meals, such as breakfasts consisting
of eggs, milk, oatmeal and sometimes a protein shake.
This is because protein is the only macromolecule that is
used to synthesize muscle tissue. Your muscle tissue is actually
broken down when you lift weights. Amino acids, which come
from your dietary protein intake, are then used to synthesize
new muscle tissue. Anecdotal and scientific research suggests
that you need about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight
daily.
The key to a fit body and the foundation for adding muscular
weight is nutrition. It is an easy method: consume the correct
quantities of protein, carbohydrates and fat, do exercises
with weights until the muscle is burned out or catabolized,
give muscles an opportunity to take a break and mend, and
the product is more and bigger muscles. Take any of the components
away from this method and the result is injury and muscle
loss.
To work out your calorie maintenance level, you can use a
lot of fancy equations that involve body weight, fat, age,
etc., but the best way to do it is to keep a diary of what
you eat and its effect on your size. Many bodybuilders try
to gain muscle by eating too far above their calorie maintenance
level. To make things worse, they get these extra calories
from junk food.
There will be a lot of times you want to quit and eat that
cookie or ice cream, but you need to think about how important
those abs are to you during your moments of weakness. You
work out in the gym day in and day out and it would be a pity
to lose your well-deserved gains. A healthy diet must include:
1. 5-6 meals per day
2. 5-6 liters of water per day
3. Lots of fibrous vegetables
4. Lean quality proteins
5. Essential fatty acids
6. Complex carbohydrates
There is a right and wrong way to bulk like everything else.
Gaining muscle, not fat is the purpose of bulking. A lot of
serious bodybuilders appreciate that the body cannot gain
muscle and lose body fat simultaneously, and because of this
several of them go through bulking and cutting stages in their
routines. However, there have been incredible advances recently
in the idea of influencing nutrition partitioning, and this
area of study may be the key to doing what we once considered
unworkable, i.e. lose body fat and gain muscle simultaneously.
Getting Started
Record your “girth” in several places (biceps,
chest, quads, waist, shoulders) with a soft tape measure.
Take a “before picture,” and then try and take
a “progress picture” at least once a week. To
avoid any visual irregularities between your photographs,
use the same lighting and preferably the same camera lens
at the same distance; the only thing you want changing in
your photos is your body.
Weight Gainers
Weight gainers are a popular source of calories for a lot
of thin bodybuilders trying to gain weight. They are high-priced,
costing twice as much as regular whey protein, and the only
real difference between the two types of protein is the sugar.
Weight gainers contain fructose, but the sugar you need post
workout is dextrose, which can be bought cheaply online and
easily added to a quality protein source.
Bulking Up Naturally
The correct type of bodybuilding contest is one of the few
things that can motivate a full-grown man or woman to drink
gallons of distilled water, and honey out of a bottle or eat
masses of boiled chicken. Such diets have to be borne to get
ready for the Natural Utah Cup, a semiannual affair backed
by the National Physique Committee. Competitors are required
to vie naturally – free from steroids or other augmentation
drugs and be tested to make sure they’re qualified.
Milk for Bulking
Old timers used milk all the time for bulking. If you have
a hard time gaining milk is like magic. Just limit the whole
milk because of the fat content. Or, you can add nonfat dry
milk to whole milk to double its protein power.
The Bottom Line
Nourish a muscle with high-quality protein, pressure it with
heavier and heavier weights, and let it rest. The muscle will
restore itself bigger and bigger to meet the stress of more
and more weight. Heredity decides muscle size and growth,
but anybody can add muscular weight.
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Down
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