Mass Spectrometry - A guide for sufficiently "in charge" people who lack a corresponding degree of large.
Goal Setting and Controlled Termination
Before undertaking a weight gain protocol, it would be wise to critically assess your current routine. If you have trouble acknowledging reality (most people do), find an [educated] external source of criticism, preferably a perfectionist type who practices honesty with the utmost disregard for sentiment. “Friends” are generally very apprehensive about using factual statements, and this is doubly true for members of the fairer sex, who are better practiced in the craft of distorting reality. Your reassuring friend is your worst enemy, because they will facilitate your complacency, and support your eventual failure.
If you suffer no deficiencies, have a fair amount of experience, and have specific objectives that would not be achieved on your regular protocol, a bulk may be a good idea. In bodybuilding and powerlifting, cyclic diets are necessary for success. In boxing, wrestling, and other weighted events, one would be at a marked disadvantage without a cyclic diet. For non-weighted sports, it’s less important, and generally used as a means to increase off-season size and/or strength. For casual lifters, it’s entirely optional; no one cares if it took you 2 months or 2 years to gain 30 pounds, and you’re not on anyone’s timeline except your own.
Goals should be clearly defined and progress should be meticulously tracked.
Remember:
A bulk is defined as a temporary increase in energy balance and a corresponding alteration of training designed to elicit size and/or strength gains in a condensed period of time.
Aside from bodybuilding and powerlifting, where it is modus operandi, bulking is a product of time constraints and competition. A boxer or wrestler who remained at contest weight year round would not experience the strength gains of one who is willing to put on and take off massive amounts of weight each year. Boxing announcers often place a great deal of emphasis on how much weight a fighter cut for any given bout. It’s reasonable to wager that the 200 pound man who cuts to 170 can generate more torque than the 170 pound man who remains at that weight year round. There are other variables which may determine ring success, such as genetics, skill, and training, but the odds of greater force production are skewed towards the heavier fighter.
The established goal should reflect progression towards a greater goal. It could be 10 years or 10 months, but it should have non-negotiable parameters.
Examples of Proper Goal Setting:
Gain 20 pounds of mass over 4-6 months. Slowly cut fat over next 4-6 months. Compete in physique event next year.
Increase bench press by 35 pounds. Allow enough time to cut back down to 198 weight class. Compete in PL meet.
Examples of Improper Goal Setting:
(Vague) I wanna get big, but not too big, then I wanna cut all the fat off and be totally ripped.
(Unrealistic) I wanna put 200 pounds on my bench.
Controlled Termination
Because gains are neither linear nor predictable, it is wise to set a trigger for termination of a bulk if it is over or underproductive and unresponsive to minor adjustments. The variables I suggest to monitor are weight limit, total gain, and rate of gain.
Scenario 1 – Weight Limit:
Powerlifter 20 weeks from competition, plans to add 50 pounds to total in 16 weeks, then use final 4 weeks to get back into the proper weight class. To ensure a successful weigh-in, athlete is limited to 15 pounds of weight gain. Athlete exceeds limit at week 13, after adding only 35 pounds to total. Bulk should be adjusted to prevent further weight gain. If adjustments result in diminished returns, bulk should be halted. It would be better to go into the target weight class at +35 than a higher weight class at +50.
Scenario 2 – Total Gain:
Football lineman plans to add 20 pounds of quality mass during the offseason without sacrificing acceleration, speed, or agility. Target weight is achieved six weeks before training camp. Goal can be adjusted to +25 pounds, given that performance surpassed expectations. If a certain methodology proves functional, there is no reason to abandon it upon achievement of the original goal.
Scenario 3 – Rate of Gain:
Bodybuilder plans to add as much mass as possible during the offseason while remaining below 18% bodyfat. Anticipated rate of gain is 1:2.5 (lean:fat), anticipated duration is 12 weeks. Actual rate of gain is 1:2, duration can be extended until 18% is surpassed (Limit), or until rate of gain falls below anticipated 1:2.5. Unless there is a career defining show coming up, the bodybuilder is better off continuing the bulk as long as rate of gain can be maintained. It is much more difficult to add a pound of lean mass than it is to lose two pounds of fat.
Methodology
The construction of a diet should reflect the goals of training. It sounds like common sense, but that very statement is one of the most routinely ignored. People believe that their arbitrary tastes and poor eating habits need somehow be respected. They are wrong. It is not uncommon to hear asinine statements such as “I don’t like _______”, “I can’t eat in the morning”, “I have no appetite”, “my wife won’t want to eat that”. I already know you don’t want to eat correctly. If you did, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. There is little resistance when someone is instructed to do a difficult or painful exercise, but all the resistance in the world when that same person is instructed to eat 300g of protein. Even when people are given options, they take issue just for the sake of noncompliance.
Offer of Choice: “If you don’t like oats, you can use wheat, or barley, or quinoa, or teff, or any other low glycemic whole grain you like.”
Response: “No, I don’t like any of those. Can I use pizza?”
Parameters
There are, of course, degrees of restriction dependent on the sport of the athlete. The structure of the diet should ideally correspond to the demands of the sport, but any arrangement which facilitates progression is technically acceptable. Before you start selectively interpreting my writing, be aware that there is no validity to “as long as it fits my macros”, and I strongly discourage a “dirty bulk”. 5,000 clean calories is more effective, regardless of goal, than 8,000 junk calories. Some powerlifters notoriously eat “whatever they want” and break world records.
The ability to eat “whatever you want” is contingent on how closely that resembles “what you should”. Personally, I don’t particularly like most non-grain foods. If I ate by taste, I would have a 90% carbohydrate diet. For any athletic endeavor, there is obviously not much overlap with “want” and “should”. If, however, you enjoy prime rib and baked potato, that can be worked into a manageable meal plan.
The issue of concern is not excess adiposity, but incapacity to support training. Fat is easily gained and lost, but training and nutrition need to be calibrated to support lean mass gains. If you get fewer functional nutrients from a bulk than you would your normal diet, you are only doing yourself a disservice. Once you get over the idea that bulking is “easy”, you will be in a better state of mind to take it seriously.
Food Planning
The most difficult part of any diet is consistency. Skipping meals is unacceptable; it’s as thoughtless as accidentally adding a meal during a cut. Whereas a cut can be supported with a few simple foods, a proper bulk requires a creative approach, as the will to eat erodes rather quickly when all of your meals consist of skinless chicken and plain rice. The creative approach, however, can make bulking remarkably easy. People who claim that they can’t gain weight “no matter what” actually mean “I did not plan my meals and therefore have no idea what I’ve eaten, which means my testimony is worth exactly dick”. Diet templates and examples are available at the end of the article. If you still fail the test after I’ve given you the answer key, perhaps you should re-evaluate your interest in athletics.
Principles of Training
Training should always be tied to well defined goals. For strength and physique athletes, I suggest the focus be on increasing power (work/time) and total workload. Given adequate sleep and nutrition, more is better. Your goal is to create conditions for adaptation. Ample intake of carbohydrates will allow you to conduct all your training at full glycogen load, and ample intake of protein will easily repair whatever damage you think you can do to your muscles. The body is far more resilient than most people are willing to believe. Push yourself to new limits every week. In the last offseason, my workouts sometimes went past the 3 hour mark. Bring a cooler, or a few protein bars, and drive on.
Sabotage
Success is adherence, and adherence is contingent on the removal of doubt. This is the sole situation in life in which I recommend using faith, that is, belief in something without evidence. Unless you have access to a hydrostatic weighing machine, you must rely on incomplete data, most of which serves only to distort reality.
Scales: Avoid them entirely if possible. If you compete in a weight-dependent sport, use the scale at regular intervals (I suggest 10 days), and never at any other time. Most people use the scale with the intent to reduce anxiety, but the odds that it will do the opposite are overwhelming. Any unexpected fluctuation of weight or irregularity in rate of gain/loss is going to be perceived negatively. The only way to derive psychological satisfaction from the scale is if your progress is perfectly linear. This will never happen. This will
NEVER happen. Don’t sabotage yourself.
Mirrors: The information derived from them is somewhat more useful than the arbitrary values on the scale. It's a bit more difficult to avoid mirrors, but it's important to resist the urge to react to every perceived change. The ever present thoughts of "I'm getting too fat" and, during a cut "I'm losing too much muscle" need to be controlled. Progress is not linear. Progress is
NOT linear.
Friends: Lay people will always ask whether you've gained or lost weight. Which they choose is more a product of their faulty memory than any legitimate observation. People are far less observant than we like to believe. Unless someone is involved in your sport, they will generally be oblivious to your cyclic weight gain/loss. At 270 @ 15%, I'm considered "jacked". At 235 @ 9%, I'm also considered "jacked". Expecting someone to notice the difference is setting yourself up for failure. It's about as likely as unfashionable people identifying different species of cotton by touch. To them you're just "built" or "ripped" or "lean" or whatever vague classification suits you. Do not alter your diet or training for non-professional observations.
Food Fatigue
The mistake I've made in years past is to overestimate my willingness to eat. This led me to be somewhat careless with my diet planning, as I figured I would just eat whatever I put in front of myself. For a few weeks, I'll be able to get my protein by eating thirty-some slices of pizza, or several sandwiches consisting of two pounds of roast beef and one loaf of bread. After a few weeks of fun, a sickening perpetual encumberance lingers for as long as one maintains this unnatural diet. No energy, no hunger, just shortness of breath and desire to sleep. I'm sure I've fallen asleep a few times due to hypoxia. If you don't wish to conduct three hour training sessions while feeling like an obese man with sleep apnea, it would be wise to meticulously plan your bulking diet.
Guidelines
Keep your normal mealtimes. If you eat fewer than five meals a day, a schedule adjustment may be in order, otherwise, retaining the same meal timing allows easy transition in and out of a diet.
Don't overeat. Just like skipping a meal on a cut will cause rebound hunger, going to the buffet for breakfast and lunch will probably leave you not so eager to return for dinner.
Increase water intake. It's the building block of life, you know. I have a terrible thirst mechanism which has me drink about 3 gallons a day, regardless of what I'm eating or how I'm training. Most people are not quite as sensitive, which is one reason dehydration, cramps, and heat fatigue are so common. If in doubt, measure your intake.
Monitor sodium intake. Being heavier and working harder than normal, your blood pressure is already significantly higher in the offseason. Again, I get a nosebleed at the slightest prompt, so it's very easy to adjust, but plenty of people go from hypertension to stroke without the slightest indication from their bodies.
Don't needlessly spike insulin! Eating a meal that isn't protein-based is a bad idea at any time of year, but it's especially harmful when you're in caloric surplus. Any fat gained should be the inevitable consequence of training demands, not the easily avoidable consequence of poor planning.
Don't needlessly spike insulin! Eating in between meals is not okay. I don't care if it fits your macros. Insulin control is crucial for any and all changes in body composition.
Avoid fructose. Though it should be avoided at all times, it's especially toxic when you're in caloric surplus. It desensitizes you to insulin, and causes blood triglycerides (plentiful during a bulk) to be stored in the liver.
Dextrose is okay for the naturally lean. 1:1 ratio with whey for post-workout shake or breakfast.
Protein. You're not eating enough of it. 2.5-3.5 grams per pound of bodyweight for males, ~2 grams per pound of bodyweight for females.
Calories. You're not eating enough of them. Multiply your desired end weight by 25, that's your starting point. Adjust as necessary.
Fats. You eat too much of them. They're required for many anabolic processes in the body, but excess consumption is deposited into your own fat stores at +95% efficiency. I understand, I also want to eat the jar of peanut butter, but don't fall into the trap of "healthy fats". Nuts in any appreciable quantity are too energy dense for anyone except the hardest of gainers.
Examples
My current diet (cutting) is a good bulking template for a smaller athlete:
Meal 1: 75g whey, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 16oz almond milk
Meal 2: 1lb chicken breast, 1/2 cup rice
Meal 3: Same as Meal 1
Meal 4: Same as Meal 1
Meal 5: 1lb shrimp, 3oz fat free cheddar, 1/2 cup Chobani 0% yogurt, 2 servings Ezekiel bread
475g of protein, ~3400 calories
Adjusted for medium sized athlete:
Meal 1: 75g whey, 25g casein 1/2 cup steel cut oats, 16oz almond milk
Meal 2: 1lb chicken breast, 3 extra large eggs, 1/2 cup rice
Meal 3: Same as Meal 1
Meal 4: Same as Meal 1
Meal 5: 1lb 95% ground beef, 3oz fat free cheddar, 1/2 cup yogurt, 4 servings Ezekiel bread
600g protein, ~4700 calories
Speculation on my next bulk:
Meal 1: 75g whey, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 16oz almond milk, 2 cups egg whites, 6oz fat free cheddar, 4 servings Ezekiel bread
Meal 2: 1lb shrimp, 8oz peas, 3 servings whole wheat pasta
Meal 3: 75g whey, 1/4 cup steel cut oats, 2 protein pancakes
Meal 4: Same as Meal 3
Meal 5: 1.5lb 95% ground beef, 3 oz fat free cheddar, 1/2 cup yogurt, 4 servings Ezekiel bread
700g protein, ~6000 calories
It's not difficult; just a matter of prioritizing protein. Getting 700g protein with a proper meal plan is easily accomplished by any 200 pound athlete. Trying to get 700g with chicken wings and fast food might sound like fun, but it's actually far more difficult, and far worse for your health.
Disclaimer: I've written this piecemeal over the course of several days, so there may be redundancies or missing information. For the sake of publishing this in reasonable time, I am posting it as-is. Feel free to ask questions if you feel I've missed something. If there are any major issues which I failed to cover, I will address them comprehensively in my next work.
