Layne Norton Bulking Plan.

[Carl1174]

The subject came up in the Shoutbox about Layne's approach to bulking as being the best. I dont know lots about his method to be honest and just wondered what people here thought about it.

I can see the sense in taking it really easy on a bulk when, like Layne, you are close to your potential or really cant afford to add too much fat and then have to aggresively diet it off, but for someone just starting is it really the best approach, rather than just lifting hard, eating lots of meat and drinking lots of milk ??

Carl.

[BendtheBar]

I have much to say, and will chime in as soon as I can.

[Carl1174]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I have much to say, and will chime in as soon as I can.

carl.

[SeventySeven]

I would love the feedback Steve

[Carl1174]

Originally Posted by SeventySeven

I would love the feedback Steve

Are you using his method 77 ? How have you found it so far ?

Carl.

[SeventySeven]

I was planning on using it once i hit 200lbs to push me 210 before a real cut.

[Rich Knapp]

Lane is a true Natural PRO Bodybuilder. So his approach will be different than a non competitive lifter. He has shows and Guest posing to think about. When you take this into account the more fat you put on the more you need to stripe for these. Also a natural PRO bber goal is to add size and symmetry with adding the least amount of fat as possible. Some for back up fuel but not so much to bring cutting to a year long deal.

A person just building and never stepping on stage just want brut strength and size. So comparing Lanes approach to a general lifter is apples and oranges.

[dmaipa]

yea i think layne knows what he's talking about, but rich brings up an important point..he does have alot of things going on such ass videos and guest posing so his way probably works best for him

[BendtheBar]

First off, I think Layne's strategy is great for an intermediate to advanced bodybuilder for several reasons.

The first reason, and most obvious, is that Layne is approaching his natural potential and won't gain much muscle mass each year. So aggressive bulking isn't the best way to go. By using a 4-6 week bulk and 1-2 week cut, Layne can bulk/eat a bit more aggressively if he chooses. Remember that Layne trains hard, and might want the extra food not just for bulking, but also for energy and recovery.

Second, despite common misconceptions, the body does not act like a light switch when it comes to fat loss and muscle gain. People often believe that if you eat one more calorie than normal it instantly turns into fat. This isn't the case. The same for cutting...the second you undereat you don't enter "full raging fat burning mode."

The body goes through transitional periods. when it sees a trend of undereating and overeating over a period of time, it slowly adapts. The body DOESN'T constantly switch back and forth from full blown muscle building mode to full blown fat burning mode. The human body never functions like this. Adaptation is gradual to specific demands.

These transitional periods are generally about two weeks.

Here are 3 studies that indicate the body responds in a very anabolic way to short term bulks:

Changes in macronutrient balance during over- and underfeeding assessed by 12-d continuous whole-body calorimetry.

Hormonal response to overfeeding

Short-term, mixed-diet overfeeding in man: no evid... [Am J Physiol. 1985] - PubMed result

After a period of overeating on a heavy bulk, the body begins to store a lot of fat and becomes less anabolic, so to speak. This excludes beginners, of course, who play by a different set of rules. Obviously they are able to sustain substantial gains for a longer period of time.

Casey Butt states:

Casey Butt:

The key to the preferential deposition of lean body mass, as shown in the above studies during over-eating, lies in the short term nature of the response. Insulin sensitivity and fat storage enzyme activities don't suddenly change dramatically in a few hours or overnight. If the body reacted that quickly to changing environments it would bang back and forth constantly in a never-ending oscillation of metabolically costly adaptations. Evolution isn't that stupid (or perhaps it was but those species never lived that long) and so the adaption to sudden over- or under-eating takes time.

In one of the studies you mentioned (G. Forbes, M. Brown, S. Welle, and L. Underwood, "Hormonal response to overfeeding", Am J Clin Nutr, 1989; 49: 608-11) it was found that elevated testosterone, IGF-1 and insulin levels in response to over-eating all peaked at around 14 days and began to decline thereafter. Perhaps even more importantly, in the presence of high blood sugar and insulin levels fat cells start to increase insulin transporter expression at about two weeks, and that also corresponds with the time it takes for muscle cells to start exhibiting insulin resistance - after a few weeks of over-eating things are starting to go sour.

This all needs to be placed in proper context. Natural gains are like a glass of water. Each of us has only so many drops of water, or ounces of muscle mass we can pull from that glass.

Initially we gain quickly, but the faster we gain, the fewer number of "drops of water" we have to pull from the glass.

--For a beginner to early intermediate lifter an aggressive bulk makes great sense.
--For an intermediate (plus) lifter cyclical bulking makes sense.

This is really just common sense. If your body is willing to gain at a rapid rate, for the love of Pete eat more food. Your body needs it. If you are gaining slowly, eating like a pig will make you fat. Rocket science?

Obviously, there are other factors at play. If you are 18 with a fast metabolism and high testosterone levels, you might as well eat yourself silly and make all the gains you can before you start storing much notable fat.

Several years ago I wrote several articles on this topic but was still trying to understand the all the factors as they worked together, and the articles pretty much stunk.

I don't know if Layne based his bulking strategy on these studies, but if not, it really reveals how much Layne is in tune with his gains.

[SeventySeven]

So Steve its more recomended that i aggresive bulk to 210?