Is extra protein needed during bodybuilding bulking? Do you need to crack open 4 more cans of tuna, fry up another pound of chicken breasts, or slam protein drinks like a crazy drunk at a kegger?
The answer in no.
Extra protein is not needed during bulking periods. A study performed by Chiang and Huang reveals that additional caloric intake is the key to boosting your body’s nitrogen balance. So it’s extra calories, and not extra protein, that packs on muscle mass during bulking periods.
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In this study, participants were limited to slightly over 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. (1.2 grams per kg of bodyweight, to be exact) Researchers found that when caloric intake was increased by 15% above maintenance levels, nitrogen levels went up by 300%. And when the study group consumed 30% more calories then maintenance, nitrogen levels spiked by 500%.
This is how it shakes out…for an average bodybuilder who requires 3,200 calories to maintain bodyweight, 480 additional daily calories will triple nitrogen levels, and 960 extra daily calories will cause nitrogen levels to jump by a factor of 5.
To determine how many calories you should be eating during a bulk, multiply your maintenance level by 1.3. The following chart provides some examples…
|
Maintenance Calories |
Bulking Calories |
|
2400 |
3120 |
|
2600 |
3380 |
|
2800 |
3640 |
|
3000 |
3900 |
|
3200 |
4160 |
|
3400 |
4420 |
|
3600 |
4680 |
Two questions now arise.
- Is eating more protein during a bulk an acceptable form of bulking? Or should a bodybuilder concentrate on eating more carbohydrates and fats?
- Should a bodybuilding bulk be a clean, or dirt bulk? Should the additional calories during a bulk come from healthy foods only, or is junk, pizza and McDonalds acceptable?
The answer to the first question should be fairly obvious. It doesn’t matter where the additional calories come from. You can eat more protein if you desire, but more protein is not a necessity.
And logically, the answer to the second question is fairly obvious as well. It doesn’t matter if your bodybuilding bulk is clean or dirty. A calorie is a calorie.
The Chiang/Huang study reveals that it is calories, and not macro nutrients or healthy foods, that powers the body into an anabolic state during a bodybuilding bulk.
Looks like a good article, but there were only six people who participated in the study. The journal is peer reviewed and the article (though from 1988) is probably sound, but perhaps there’s some more evidence out there for this conclusion?
It might help to add this study to previous studies cited on bulking:
http://muscleandbrawn.com/bulldozer-bodybuilding-bulking-system/
Those participating in the studies weren’t given a bodybuilding diet. Given the combined evidence of these 4 studies, it becomes apparent that calories are the biggest factor in short term muscle gains while bulking.
Great post.
Adds a bit for information. I need to eat more.
I’ve used the traditional Maintenance plus 500 approach.
Think it also needs to be added that the Protein:Carbohydrate:Fat ratio is a very individual thing. As the guy how does my comp diet has said in the past, “Of all the people I’m diet at the moment, I got you on the less carbs”. Confirming what I always knew, my metabolism suck!
Cheers,
Gnoll110
Thanks Gnoll. And good luck with that stubborn metabolism.