26/08/2025
You’re not ready to bulk. You’re fatter than you think, and your instincts are wrong
If you take your shirt off at the beach, and you’re not the guy that turns heads because of how lean you are, you’re not ready to bulk. You still have too much bodyfat and need to cut more.
Some of you have expressed that you wanted to bulk or focus on gaining muscle. Sometimes before going through a fat loss phase.
Muscle builds A LOT SLOWER than you think. Even if you have better muscle gaining genes than I do, you still want to build it very slowly.
Remember, the average American is fat. If you don’t think you’re fat, you’re statistically wrong and probably are.
No abs? Don’t bulk yet. Cut more.
Learning how to cut properly positions you to bulk well. Because in order to cut, you need to get your nutrition dialed to a T.
This carries over to bulking, because that skill will allow you to prevent yourself from simply getting fat.
Now, I’ve been lean bulking since Oct 2024, so 10 months now. I’m 6’0, started at 158lbs and now am 170lbs. Around 1.2lbs gained per month.
But I had abs at the start of my bulk.
It’s been the most unusual bulking seasons, since I had a daughter in Dec 2024, and we moved to a new place in June.
Naturally during any bulk, there is going to be some bodyfat gained. So, abs getting a bit softer is to be expected.
For years, I had been training 3x a week. Mostly due to practicality and wanting to do the minimum effective dose.
During this period, I have been experimenting with higher training volume. Did 4x a week earlier this year, and am currently doing 5x a week.
Turns out, I respond MUCH better to higher volume. This is actually pretty common for hard gainers like myself.
I’m planning to continue bulking until the end of year with the same focus on lean bulking and minimizing fat gain. Been eating at a 200-300lb calorie surplus.
If you do bulk, roughly ~1-1.5lb gained a month is solid. More than that, you’re just getting fat. Plus, the longer you’ve been training and the more muscle you already have, the even slower it’ll be.
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