What You Need to Know About Clean Bulking

Here’s the disappointing truth: Most guys spend their entire lives in the gym doing endless reps and sets and never gain more than a few pounds of muscle. You spend a lot of effort and money, and for what? Yes, good health is great. But you had a goal to have clean bulking!

At the end of the day, many guys end up wondering, “Is my body just not meant to increase in size?” Whether you want to add some bulk to your body here are some points to consider to help you avoid the common frustrations in future.

Regularity of training

It’s not just about going to the gym. Everyone who wants a clean bulk must draw up his own training plan: which is clearly spelled out on the days of the week, which muscle groups to work out, which exercises to perform and with what weights. If the body has not recovered enough during the time elapsed from the previous workout, you can replace the planned set of exercises with another, but adhering to the general plan is imperative.

A gradual increase in load

For the qualitative progress of muscle mass, the most optimal form of training is considered to be the performance of exercises in 6-9 sets of 12 repetitions each. With fewer repetitions, mainly strength indicators increase, but muscle volume increases slowly. If the exercises are easy, add weight. A gradual and progressive increase in load is essential to clean bulk success.

Exercises with free weights.

Barbell or dumbbell training is essential. Machine work isolates large muscle groups and almost eliminates supporting muscles from engagement. This slows down further progress and leads to the danger of microtrauma. In addition, hypertrophied enlargement of large muscles does not lead to developing a beautiful symmetrical body.

When doing the exercises, you must follow the proper technique, do everything smoothly and slowly. Consequently, the muscles contract more strongly and are better worked out. Correct breathing must be strictly monitored.

Anaerobic exercise

Many athletes make a big mistake to exclude such exercises from the training process for fear of weight loss. With the growth of muscles, the load on the heart and blood vessels increases. You should include running, swimming, or cycling in your training plan. Small cardio loads will only benefit and improve metabolism.

Nutrition

Eat more calories than you burn

It may seem obvious, but not many people follow the rule: when you are trying to add mass, you need to eat more food. Most people just don’t eat enough. Keep in mind that each person’s body is different. Thus, there are no hard and fast rules about how much you should eat. You have to go beyond your usual diet and find ways to get more calories. Remember that you are trying to get a clean bulk. Moreover, you are trying to add muscle mass that can stubbornly resist all your efforts.

The best approach is to find a nutritional strategy and what to do to get more calories. This means that you need to eat more food. Sometimes you may need a few simple tricks to add calories. You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter to your meal, or a few extra tablespoons of nut butter after you have finished eating.

But if you are trying to get a clean bulk and you do not see any changes, then start eating even more. This is a simple rule, but it is difficult to implement because it is not a comfortable process.

Double or Triple Your Protein Intake.

Secondly, you should increase your protein intake. Your muscles are made up of protein (Research shows about 25%). So. if you’re trying to get a clean bulk, then it makes sense to increase the amount of protein you take. 

Most athletes don’t take sufficient proteins. This is because there are various myths, one of which assures you that you can digest 20 to 30 grams of protein per intake. Or that you need to eat many small doses of protein 5 to 6 times a day. 

The upshot is that you think you are getting enough protein, but in reality, you are far from your goals. If you are looking to add muscle mass, then understand that you can metabolize more than 20 to 30 grams of protein per intake. Then focus on getting two to three times more protein from your diet.

Rest

Muscles grow as a result of micro-tears during resistance training, which forces the body to strengthen them, to do more and stronger. It is necessary to give them time to recover and plan their workouts in such a way that after a particularly intense load, two days of rest follow. On different days, you need to train different muscle groups and avoid overwork. Overworking not only diminishes results, but can also lead to serious injury that will permanently incapacitate you.

After training, it is recommended to take a cold shower. This accelerates the removal of lactic acid accumulated in the muscles and reduces pain. A relaxing massage is also useful for this.

Sleep

Adequate sleep after training is especially important. During sleep, metabolism slows down and muscles are restored. An intense workout is always stressful for the body. During the deep sleep phase, the psychophysical state is normalized.

It is advisable to go to bed before 21.50 o’clock in the evening, since it is from this time until 02.10 o’clock that melatonin is produced. This hormone is responsible for the restoration of the human cardiovascular, nervous and immune systems and good sleep. 

Bottom line

You can give all your best in training, spend hours on lifting weights and tens of thousands of dollars on developing exercise programs, but without the proper approach, muscle mass will grow more slowly, the body will cope worse with stress, and health problems will arise. The question, “how to gain muscle mass safely?” has been answered in this article. By following these rules, you not only get the clean bulk you want, but also maintain health at the same time.