Bulking Dirty or clean

[gibberj2]

I'm bulking and I don't care about putting on fat since i was very very skinny before i lifted weights. My problem is that I don't want to lose muscle when I try to shed the fat. I tried it once and lost a lot of muscle. I'm also natural. Should I let myself get fat? right now i'm 188 around 13.5 percent fat. I wanna get to 200 or 210 and then cut down but i'm afraid of losing muscle if i'm gonna cut down all the way from let's say 210 to 185.

[Loomis]

If you don't get too fat, you won't have to diet as long. So, you'll lose less muscle. Don't worry about a little fat increase, but try not to get too far out of shape.

[muscle19]

for me i tend to put on fat easy (i like fast food) it is just a matter of really monitory ur fat increase and make sure its not too high, the more fat the harder it will be to diet down like mentioned above. keep it in check, stay clean with the foods but eat ALOT. good luck and if u start to put too much fat on, try adding some cardio 3 times a wk.


muscle

[GET_BIGGER]

I usually gain about 20 pounds through the whole course of the winter, then I cut to about 210.  Loomis hit it right on the head, the less you diet, the more muscle you will keep.  Cleaner is always better.  For me 20 pounds comes and goes pretty easily.  Just remember to figure about 2 pounds per week in determining how long you should diet for.

[gibberj2]

should i keep all my muscle if i cut down slowly?

[Loomis]

should i keep all my muscle if i cut down slowly?

if you do it slowly and your diet is perfect and you don't overtrain, then yes, you'll keep virtually all of it.

[Mike]

I'd go Semi-Dirty if you're a hardgainer.  I just bust my ass a little more, switch up the rep/day scheme, cut some cardio and up the cals/carbs.

By the way, muscle with less fat makes you look ALOT bigger, so you'll actually think you're keeping all your muscle or even gaining when you diet down.

[gibberj2]

i'm as hard a gainer as they come. i weighed 115 when i was 15.

[LatsMcGee]

I would say to keep your diet clean,  Guys who bulk eating good foods seem to look much better dieted down than your average drive thru junky bulker.

[gibberj2]

this is what i eat.

Brown Rice
Chicken Breast
Ground Beef/cheese
Kashi Go Lean Cereal
Protein shakes with Protein powder, peanut butter, whole milk, fiber powder, banana
burritos (microwave)
tuna/mayo  2x week
whole eggs
light beer

[Arnold jr]

for me i tend to put on fat easy (i like fast food) it is just a matter of really monitory ur fat increase and make sure its not too high, the more fat the harder it will be to diet down like mentioned above. keep it in check, stay clean with the foods but eat ALOT. good luck and if u start to put too much fat on, try adding some cardio 3 times a wk.


muscle

Muscle, fast food... say it ain't so

Your right on though about more fat makes it harder to diet down, but even so dieting is still a real bitch.

[Hedgehog]

Always eat clean. And always do some kind of cardio.

It will benefit your recovery ability, and also your overall health.

YIP
Zack

[Bear03]

I would stay leaner...if you have 12-22 pounds to gain, it's going to take a while if you want 75% of that to be muscle.  The fatter you get the worse the cutting is going to be.  If you're not rushing to compete, you may as well take it slowly.

[Bobby]

If you are already 13-14% BF i would say diet down before you think of gaining.

If you start bulking at 13% and end up at 16-18% BF. Dieting down from 18% to 4% BF is gonna take like half a year and keeping all the muscle is gonna be impossible. Dieting for that long will suck to say the least.

[Carmello]

Dude, stay on a clean bulking diet, and when food starts getting boring, then throw in a dirty meal. It should work out well if u have pretty good dieting discipline to begin with. Also, try n have snacks with your post workout meal and not during other times. Good luck.

[Bear03]

Dude, stay on a clean bulking diet, and when food starts getting boring, then throw in a dirty meal. It should work out well if u have pretty good discipline dieting to begin with. Also, try n have snacks with your post workout meal and not during other times. Good luck.

agree with carmello, just make sure you don't take eating too seriously!  too many people get obsessed and don't make that much progress anyway, only to backslide significantly. 

[braindx]

Yeah, I agree with whoever said always eat clean. It will be harder to especially getting in all the calories you need to bulk, but your body will thank you for it. If you do decide to eat dirty sometimes or occasionally, it shouldn't matter TOO much unless you exceed your bulking calories for the day by a lot. Then it will just go on as fat.

[Bear03]

I personally can't get in the mood to hit the gym if i'm eating like crap.  My healthy lifestyle is governed by the healthiness of my diet.

[muscle19]

i look at it like this, i eat fast food at most twice a wk and i still carry a 6-pak, but im on some pretty good stuff at the moment which may be the reason why i can.


muscle

[gibberj2]

right now i'm only 182 pounds... bodyfat from how i look is 12-13. my chest/back is at it's biggest but the arms and legs need about  half inch. my high weight is 188 but i had a 36 inch waist. now i'm only 34" so i plan to bulk to 200. I'm an ectomorph. if at 200 i'm 16% bodyfat i just hope when i cut down (for the 2nd time in my life) i dont lose muscle mass. this time i'll try to do it really really slow. just eat about 300 calories less per day and take ECA, i won't change my training exept that the pace will be a little faster. i obviously don't compete or have any deadlines so i'm okay. thanks for your help everyone.

[Bear03]

right now i'm only 182 pounds... bodyfat from how i look is 12-13. my chest/back is at it's biggest but the arms and legs need about  half inch. my high weight is 188 but i had a 36 inch waist. now i'm only 34" so i plan to bulk to 200. I'm an ectomorph. if at 200 i'm 16% bodyfat i just hope when i cut down (for the 2nd time in my life) i dont lose muscle mass. this time i'll try to do it really really slow. just eat about 300 calories less per day and take ECA, i won't change my training exept that the pace will be a little faster. i obviously don't compete or have any deadlines so i'm okay. thanks for your help everyone.

If you want the six-pack, you're going to have to be at 8 or lower, depending on how you store fat.  You don't want to cut HALF your fat, that's going to encourage a pretty significant muscle loss as well.  I would bulk VERY slowly for some time, and then try to lose about 10 lbs of fat in 2 months, which should help you retain muscle.

[muscle19]

again, try not to gain that much fat, im telling ya, expecially if ur natural, u will lose muscle no matter what but u do want to save what u earned, right? keep the bulking process slow and eat clean, or dieting will be very hard and yes u will lose alot of muscle expecially if u gained alot of fat. good luck bro


muscle