Regardless if you’re attempting a bulking cycle to get jacked with muscle or tone up your muscle in a cutting cycle, the calories you eat and the macros breakdown play a huge role in what you will actually achieve from your gym and kitchen efforts. When you’re attempting to bulk up, you still need the right bulking approach. Otherwise, you may not gain muscle and end up disappointed, or you could be gaining more than you anticipated which can lead to excess body fat. So, if you want to achieve your goals, you must work on your bulking macros.
You shouldn’t go in the dark attempting to calculate macros for bulking as you may not realize where exactly you are going. Instead, we have put together this guide. This way, you will save time and have a better idea of how to work out your bulking macros, achieving your bodybuilding goals in the fastest and best possible ways.
But before we do it, you must first realize what bulking exactly means.
What is Bulking?
There’s a high chance that you have already heard about bulking and cutting before. That’s because there are two very common diet (and workout) phases that bodybuilders go through. During cutting, the goal is to shed body fat while maintaining as much lean muscle as possible in order to bring definition. Bulking is different in that the goal is to gain weight (mostly, lean muscle mass) while minimizing the amount of fat gained.
Basically, a cutting cycle means that you aim to lose weight, which means that you should be on a calorie deficit diet. But bulking is the opposite, meaning that you’re staying in a calorie surplus to add muscle and strength.
Benefits of Bulking
Many people mistakenly think that a bulking cycle involves eating junk or as much as possible, gaining fat alongside muscle mass. Whereas adding some fat during a bulking cycle is normal, a proper bulking cycle involves adding as little amount of fat as possible, while gaining as much muscle and strength as possible. So, when we’re thinking about getting fit and achieving our body goals, gaining weight may not be the first thing that we’re looking into. Yet, as long as you want to gain strength and pack on size, you do need a bulking cycle. The main benefits of bulking involve:
- Increases lean muscle mass
- Improves strength and performance
- Easier to maintain weight
I guess everyone knows that providing your body with healthy foods will lead to better performance in the gym. The foods you eat work as fuel for performance in the gym. That’s why, the more fuel your body receives, the better your workouts. This is what helps you reach your body goals faster and easier.
Usually, the more lean tissue you have, the better the body composition. Additionally, having more lean muscle tissue will increase the daily calorie expenditure at rest (BMR). This means that the daily calorie intake should increase the maintain weight, or especially add more. Simply put, by having more lean muscle tissue, you can eat more. You need to eat more to maintain your size.
Remember, however, that muscle tissues and fat tissue are completely different. Muscles take up less space and weigh more than fat. This means that you can look toned and may weigh more with more muscle than fat. So, a bulking cycle is definitely the way to go as long as you’re searching to get stacked.
How To Bulk
So, as said, in order to bulk, you need to eat in a calorie surplus. However, eating more calories is only just one part of building muscle mass diet. And eating in surplus definitely does not mean that you should be chowing down on processed, junk foods. To bulk up the right way, bulk like a boss, you need to ensure you provide the right bulking macros to your body. This way you’re going to see the best gains.
So, to get the most out of your bulking cycle, you should ensure you have the right combination of the following:
- A controlled calorie surplus (about 10-20% over your maintenance, or around 500 more calories)
- The right balance of bulking macronutrients (breakdown the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates correctly)
- A healthy diet and nutrition will provide the body with everything it needs to continue growing muscle
- Intense and regular strength training
It is easy to understand that the role of calories is very important in the amount of weight that we gain or lose. Eating in surplus will cause weight gain. Eating in deficit will cause weight loss. However, bulking macros are important because they determine the type of weight that you gain. I am talking about lean tissues vs fatty tissues. Without the right bulking macros, you’re likely to gain weight in the form of fat, rather than muscle.
So, your nutrition intake plays a crucial role in keeping your body running. You need enough fuel in the tank (enough calories) but you also need quality fuel (healthy food). This way, you will be able to work out more intensively, longer, and more frequently as you recover faster and cut down on fat gains. A bulking cycle focuses on quality, nutritious foods. 
Dirty Bulk vs Clean Bulk
There’s also the dirty bulking cycle that focuses on the number of calories mostly over the quality of the foods you’re eating. This means that a dirty bulking cycle usually allows more foods (even junk and processed foods) and may even involve significantly more calories. A clean bulking cycle, however, is what we would recommend. It focuses on quality, nutritious foods, and a controlled calorie surplus. This is a clean bulking or lean bulking cycle that aims to gain muscle and minimize fat gains, while also helping you stay unhealthy, unlike a dirty bulking plan that is unhealthy and usually involves significant fat gains.
How Long Does It Take To Bulk?
Bulking is a “diet” and a “cycle”. As you may already know, a diet and/or a cycle is called this way because it is not sustainable long term.
Usually, the shortest bulking cycle (with a bulking diet) is 8 weeks. However, it can be as long as 16 or even 20 weeks. Nonetheless, the most common cycle plans are 12-14 weeks.
Most people add anabolic steroids in their bulking cycles in an attempt to gain as much muscle and strength as possible during that cycle, while also minimizing the amount of fat they gain. The right bulking cycle, with the right diet, right workout plan, and right anabolic steroids, can bring a huge amount of lean muscle mass in just 12 weeks, for example.
Reports suggest that the right diet, with the right workout plan and the right steroids, can help you pack about 20-40 lbs of lean muscle!
BUY THE BEST ANABOLIC STEROIDS FOR BULKING HERE
Calculating Bulking Macros
There are different ways to count your bulking macros. Most seem to go for the most convenient routes such as fitness tracking apps as well as online macro calculators. You could use them too as long as you’re interested in finding out your bulking macros.
However, in order to get the best idea of your bulking macronutrients, you need to understand how your bulking macros are broken down.
Work out your bulking calories
Generally, it is possible to gain muscle during a calorie deficit. However, it is very hard to do so and you won’t see a lot of gains with this method. You can use anabolic steroids during a calorie deficit to see more muscle gains. But you could also use anabolic steroids during a calorie surplus and you’re going to see even more gains. The point is – to perfect your bulking cycle, you should increase the amount of food that you consume.
You should start by working out your current daily energy expenditure (TDEE). The TDEE indicates the number of calories that you need in order to maintain your current weight. During a bulking cycle, you could add a calorie surplus of 10 to 20% which will promote around 1% of body weight gain per week. For most, that would be around 500 calories per day, adding about 1.5 to 2 pounds of muscle gain per week.
Yet, you could add anabolic steroids, add more calories, so the amount of lean muscle gains per week will greatly increase too.
Still, it is important to realize that a bulking cycle is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We’re all different so you should go for whatever works best for you. Tracking your lean bulking macros is the key to gaining the right type of muscle. But there are other factors that come into play too. Some of them include:
- Genetics
- Starting body fat percentage
- Training level
- Including others
In the end…
You should start with 10-20% over your calorie maintenance and then gradually adjust according to how it goes. If you do not see any weight gain, you may need to increase the calories. If you start noticing too much fat, you either need to bring down the calories (if you gain weight too fast), or work the macronutrients better.
We breakdown the entire calories you eat per day into three macros:
- Fat
- Protein
- Carbohydrates
So, bulking goes beyond just stacking up on your calorie intake, you should pay attention to the bulking macros too.
Fat Needs In Your Bulking Macros
When it comes to gaining weight and building muscle, fat is a crucial element to provide bodies with the necessary fuel and support muscle growth and repair. Usually, we calculate fat first as it usually has a set percentage of 30% of your calories.
So, let’s assume that you need 2,500 calories per day in order to bulk. In this case, the amount of fat that you need per day would be 83 grams daily. That’s because one gram of fat equals 9 calories. So, we get 2,500 calories per day x 0.30 (30% of calories) = 750 calories should come from fat. As we said, one gram of fat has 9 calories which means 750 / 9 = 83 grams.
Do not go over this percentage of fat (30% of your calories), as you could notice that you gain more body fat than you wish, not the lean muscle gains that you’re aspiring for.
Fat is the main source of energy for the body so you need it. But you need to know that there are healthy and not really healthy fats. Obviously, you should go for the healthy ones. The type of fat you eat is important for the results. For example, saturated fats are most likely to be stored by the body, unlike unsaturated healthy fats.
Protein Needs in Your Bulking Macros
Protein has an extremely important role in a bulking cycle. As a part of the bulking macros, eating enough protein is actually essential to build lean muscle tissues. The simple fact that lean muscle tissues are mostly made up of protein makes us realize why.
Protein is helping repair muscle damage and support the existing muscle mass. This means that the protein will not allow muscle loss and will help the body recover better and faster after intense workouts. When it comes to bulking macros, protein is the least likely to be stored as body fat. Additionally, it can even help reduce the already stored body fat. So, it reduces the likelihood of body fat increase and increases the likelihood of body fat decrease!
The exact amount of protein you need depends on your fitness level and existing muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more protein you need in order to maintain or especially add new muscle.
Studies suggest that about 1 to 1.5 grams of protein a day, per pound of body weight, is enough to support muscle growth and decrease body fat gains during bulking. One gram of protein is 4 calories. This means that if you consume 200 grams of protein per day (which is the least amount a 200 pounds gain should be eating per day), 800 calories will come from protein alone.
Carbs Needs in Your Bulking Macros
Carbs are just as important as the other two bulking macros I’ve shared so far. They are an extremely important part of your bulking cycle. Similar to fat, carbohydrates are able to supply your body with the energy it needs during strength training. It is helpful in supporting muscle gains, and recovery, and preventing further muscle breakdown. They are also actually the main body’s energy demands during strength training.
For all these reasons, higher carbs during your bulking macros are ideal for weight gain. They are helpful in healing muscles, and providing energy levels. Also, studies suggest that they are also less likely to encourage fat storage than a high fat intake during the calorie surplus.
Nevertheless, however, the number of carbohydrates that you should consume varies according to your specific needs and how often you’re using carbs for energy. For example, following the example above, and assuming we’re talking about a man who is 200 pounds and is requiring 2,500 calories will require about 238 grams of carbs each day. How did we find it out? This guy requires 83 grams of fat (as said earlier) with 200 grams of protein (as said earlier).
So, 83g of fat x 9 calories per gram of fat = 747 calories. 200g of protein x 4 calories per gram of protein = 800 calories. He needs 2,500 calories per day, but he already has 1547 calories from fat and protein alone. This means he is left with 953 calories that day that should come from carbohydrates. Considering that one gram of carb is 4 calories, we divide the 953 calories left to find out the amount of carbs = 953/4 = 238 grams of carbs a day.
Calculating Macros For Bulking
So, in order to have a successful bulking cycle, you need a proper bulking diet, calculating your bulking calories and bulking macros. While it is pretty obvious that you should hit the gym hard too to hit your goals. You could track your macros via an app to make it easier.
But remember that tracking bulking macros requires accuracy and discipline. You need to keep track of everything you eat and drink. This is not fun and it can be pretty hard. But that’s a habit you should implement to achieve mind-blowing results.
- By tracking your bulking macros, you can easily identify what is wrong in case you do not gain any more or what you should be adjusting. It is also helpful to stay consistent with your diet and exercise.
In the end, whether you’re tracking your bulking macros and calories or not, our 100% real and quality anabolic steroids can greatly help support your gains. We provide the best quality anabolic steroids that can help you achieve your goals through your bulking and cutting cycles. This way, they help you achieve serious gains. Go for Cycle-Gear.to and you get help with an individual cycle plan too, while saving money on the best quality steroids on the market.
