I’ve bulked up a lot over the years and know a thing or two about gaining weight, adding size and getting strong. Bulking helps you gain weight very fast in a natural way. This post will help you get bigger by bulking up.
Bulking is when you gain weight in order to put on as much muscle mass as possible. After a bulk phase (pictured above), you then ‘cut’ the fat and keep your muscle:
The idea of bulking is to build as much muscle as possible, even if it means you fatten up a bit. Eventually, you will burn off the fat to reveal your new muscles.
During a ‘bulk‘ or ‘bulk phase‘, you eat as many calories as possible each and every day.
There are two types of bulking: Dirty Bulking and Clean Bulking. (There’s also a third type called ‘lean bulking’, but that is beyond the scope of this article.)
Dirty bulking means you eat anything and everything you want. No calorie counting, no macro managing, just EAT EAT EAT to your heart’s content…Then eat some more. The best dirty bulks always ensure your nutrition needs are met (protein, vitamins and minerals, etc.) first and foremost, but there are no holds barred other than that. Once you hit your nutrient requirements, you can chow down all all your favorite foods like donuts, pizza and chocolate peanut butter pie. Every day feels like a cheat day during a dirty bulk. Dirty bulking is great if you are a hardgainer, or just want to get a big as possible and don’t care how you look in a swimsuit.
Clean bulking also allows you to eat as much as you want, but there’s a caveat – The food must be ‘Clean’. Clean food comes from simple, all-natural ingredients. In fact, the cleanest foods only have one ingredient (like beef or eggs). Clean bulking is much healthier than dirty bulking because it avoids processed foods and refined sugar, which are both terrible for you. Clean bulking is for those who want to add muscle without getting too fat or negatively impacting your health.
How you bulk up makes a big difference, so let’s take a closer look at these bulking methods to see which one is right for you.
What is Dirty Bulking?
When I said you could eat anything while dirty bulking, I meant it. Anything created by God or by man you can consume:
Double cheeseburgers? Yep.
Ding Dongs? No doubt.
Ho-Ho’s? The whole box.
Doughnuts? Hell Yeah!
Many, many calories must be consumed to ensure maximum gains are made. So, no consumable is off limits while dirty bulking: Fast food, frozen pizza, ice cream, candy, cake and soda pop are all allowed. There are no restrictions.
The only requirement is that you get enough protein, vitamins and minerals to build muscle and stay healthy.
That means you should eat your fill of the clean foods (I’ll mention these later in the article) in order to cover your nutrition requirements for healthy function. Then eat anything else you want on top of that.
Make sure you eat healthy enough to stay healthy. There’s no use bulking just to get fat and sick.
Dirty Bulking Bottom Line: Eat as much as you can of everything. Just make sure you eat plenty of protein and greens too.
The Dirty Bulking Diet
To say that there’s a ‘dirty bulking diet’ is laughable. Dirty bulking is not a diet, it’s a non-stop feast.
Dirty bulking is simple: just eat a lot of everything. Then eat more.
A serious bulk means you eat 5000-6000+ calories a day. Half of those calories should be from nutritious foods like chicken, fish, rice, green vegetables and steak and eggs.
Aim for 1.5 – 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. 5-10 servings of green vegetables daily is also a good idea.
After you hit your protein requirement, then you can eat all the potato chips, pasta, cake, candy, beer, fried food, fast food, ice cream, brownies and cookies you can stuff down your facehole.
Dirty Bulking Meal Plan
I hope you’re hungry because it’s time to f*cking EAT.
The formula is simple: 6 square meals a day + many tasty snacks = GAINS.
Breakfast: 6 eggs, a pack of bacon, and oatmeal with whole milk, peanut butter and chia seeds.
Meal 2: Two toasted whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and a protein shake.
Lunch: 4 large chicken thighs, 2 sweet potatoes with butter, lots of green vegetables.
Meal 4: Salami, cheese and crackers and a protein shake.
Dinner: 3 Steaks, 6 eggs, roasted potatoes and lots of green vegetables.
Meal 6: Protein shake.
Late night snack: Three doughnuts or a box of cereal.
In addition to these I would eat cookies at the office or brownies made by girlfriend.
Other high-calorie meals Spaghetti and meatballs, all-you-can-eat seafood platters, barbecue ribs, fast food, and giant deli sandwiches. And I’m sure you can think of a few good snacks.
Yes, this is a LOT of food. You’ll be pushing yourself to eat.
Continue eating like this until you get the results you want.
Dirty Bulking Results
For starters, I got bigger and stronger, without a doubt. But dirty bulking definitely has its pros and cons.
I made some great strength gains while dirty bulking. My deadlift, bench press, and squat numbers jumped significantly.
Obviously, I gained a lot of weight. About 30 pounds in a few months. I did gain muscle but I also gained quite a bit of fat. I became chubby and didn’t look that great. I got fatter and less healthy. My clothes got too tight. My cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels all increased to borderline unhealthy levels.
Plus I felt worse all the time. I didn’t necessary feel ill or unwell, just kind of a ‘blah’ feeling that was hard to describe.
I just didn’t feel like I was on top of my game, and I did experience some anxiety. (which I have since killed and buried.) This could have been due to the inflammation caused by all the bad food I ate.
My face became fat, and for the first time in my life I had chipmunk cheeks. I’ve always had good facial structure and a sharp jawline (so I’m told), but my facial features smoothed out when I ballooned up to 230 pounds. I think eating crappy food also contributed to my acne problem (Which I have since solved.)
Bottom line: You get to eat all kinds of delicious food but you pay for it with extra fat, low energy and possible health issues.
Why Would Anyone Dirty Bulk?
Speaking from experience, I can say that dirty bulking will make you fat if you’re not careful. And, if you dirty bulk too long, you’ll start to feel run down and tired. Your blood-work might show elevated cholesterol level and your blood pressure might go up. (Mine did.)
So why would anyone every subject themselves to this? Well, dirty bulking is actually perfect for hardgainers. Hardgainers are people with ultra-fast metabolism and don’t gain any weight ‘no matter what’. Hardgainers typically eat like birds, hence they gain no weight.
People that dirty bulk successfully are always skinny, active, have a fast metabolism and are under 23 years old. If you are those things it doesn’t matter what you eat, because you are essentially ‘immune’ to getting fat from dirty bulking (at least for a while, anyway.)
And besides, dirty bulking isn’t meant to be done long term. Bulking phases typically last 3-4 months maximum. You increase weight quickly, then stop.
Another positive note is that I got to eat everything I wanted. So for me, being a fat kid at heart, that part was great!
But after a while I wanted to get shredded, have more energy, and feel better about myself. So, I cleaned up my diet…
What is Clean Bulking?
Clean bulking is when you gain weight by eating ‘clean’ food. Clean foods are all-natural, whole foods. These foods are fresh, wholesome and non-processed. Examples of clean foods are farm fresh organic vegetables and meat from grass-fed animals. Non-GMO nuts, seeds and fruits also fit this description.
Clean vegetables are non-GMO (genetically modified organism), and not treated with toxic chemicals or pesticides, which are meant to kill things.
Clean meat comes from animals raised in open pastures and that were never treated with hormones or antibiotics. In short, the animals live natural lives, just like nature intended. These animals are happy, natural and taste the best.
Processed foods, frozen meals, and refined sugar are not allowed when clean bulking.
Simply put: Avoid eating anything made in a factory or laboratory.
Why Would You Clean Bulk?
Clean bulking is perfect to gain as much muscle mass as possible without adding too much fat, or negatively impacting your health. Clean bulking is for health conscious people, or those that gain fat easily.
Since the food is pure, clean bulking provided more energy and clear-mindedness, and is the best bulking option for busy people on the go who need to be productive.
Who Should Clean Bulk?
If you’re pudgy, husky, ‘thicc’ or ‘big boned’, then clean bulking is best for you.
Typically, if you’ve ever been overweight or obese in your life, then clean bulking is the way to go. Or if you are over 25 and/or not very active, you should definitely get active and definitely clean bulk.
Skinny-fat men and women should also clean bulk and not dirty bulk.
The Clean Bulking Diet
Obviously, since you’re cutting out processed and sugary foods, you may have a hard time getting enough calories.
Like I said before, a serious bulk requires 5000-6000 calories (or more) each day. 5000 calories can be consumed daily while eating clean, trust me.
However, eating 100% clean all the time is really, really hard. And unless you have compelling reasons to eat 100% clean, I recommend the 80/20 approach to clean eating. Meaning 80% of my calories come from clean foods and 20% come from dirty foods.
This hybrid approach makes life much easier. And since the vast majority of foods you eat are clean, the negative effects from the dirty foods are much less severe. This way you can sprinkle in a few cheat meals here and there and you’ll coast past 5000 calories with ease.
Clean Bulking Foods
Here is a sample list of foods I eat when on a clean bulking diet. Go ahead and try them out. This is by no means an exhaustive list of clean bulking foods, but it gives you an idea of which foods are considered clean.
- Fresh meat from vegetation fed animals not treated with hormones.
- Wild caught fish from CLEAN waters.
- Whole grains, pasta, cereals, lentils, barely and rice. (Non-processed, or packaged with flavorings is best.)
- Whole eggs and egg whites. (Preferably from open-ranged chickens.)
- Milk, cheese, and yogurt from animals not treated with hormones
- Fresh fruit and vegetables (non-GMO)
- Real butter and PURE extra virgin olive oil
- Nuts and peanut butter.
Eat as fresh, organic and close to the source as possible. The closer to the source means the fresher, and likely cleaner, the food will be.
Do not eat anything made with artificial ingredients or preservatives. These will sap your energy and destroy your health. So, no oatmeal cream pies or pop-tarts for you, champ.
Anything from animals treated with hormones should be avoided as well.
The Clean Bulk Meal Plan
I gained about 25 pounds with this clean bulking diet.
My goal was to consume as many calories as possible everyday, while eating only the clean foods. I ate 4,500-5,500 calories a day on average.
Breakfast: 6 whole eggs, hash browns and an avocado.
Meal 2: Almonds and a protein shake.
Lunch: Roast beef sandwiches, beans, pasta salad and lots of green vegetables.
Meal 4: Mixed nuts, cheese and 2 protein bars
Dinner: 2 giant burgers, and lots of green vegetables.
Meal 6: Protein shake, greek yogurt with honey and chia seeds.
Late night snack: Two doughnuts or a box of organic cereal.
The last six weeks of my clean bulk, I ate meat and nuts for breakfast every weekday. Weekend breakfasts during this time where usually whole eggs or omelets.
Most snacks consisted of Almonds, Quest Bars, Harvest Snaps, hard boiled eggs with olive oil and pepper, and occasional Protein shakes
Cheat Meals
I ate about four cheat meals a week. Cheat meals include but are not exclusive to the following:
- Fried chicken with baked beans and mashed potatoes (I don’t eat the skin but hell yeah I had gravy on my mashed potatoes.)
- Pizza
- Quesadillas, burritos and tacos
- Deli and gourmet sandwiches
Yes, eating this food lead to a little extra fat gained. However, I ate mostly all natural and organic foods so it was still a successful clean bulk in my mind.
The little extra fat gain was negligible because I wasn’t trying to be ripped since it was bulking season. I definitely wanted to be in a calorie surplus, eat mostly wholesome food, and build the most muscle possible while still enjoying foods I loved.
Plus, ya gotta live a little. Having a diet that’s too restrictive will always implode.
Clean Bulking Meal Prep
Meal prep was my best friend and ally for clean bulking. It’s critical to stay on track. Especially when you have baseline nutritional requirements to hit.
Without healthy meals ready to eat, you are at the mercy of your will power. Set yourself up for success with meal prep.
My Clean Bulking Results
I started my clean bulk at a fairly lean 200 pounds and I increased my bodyweight to over 225 pounds in a few months. (I’m 6’3” for reference.)
I was very pleased with my clean bulk results. I got much bigger and stronger in about 12 weeks. The diet was flexible and non-restrictive, so I got decent recents without sacrificing the foods I love. It was winter season in Michigan so I wasn’t at the beach. I wasn’t taking my shirt off in public, so I could live with a little extra fat. When spring approached I shifted gears and started dieting for fat loss and while keeping my hard earned muscle.
My planned worked to perfection, because after my cut phase I had a great summer body to show for it.
Increased Muscle Mass
I gained a significant amount of mass during my clean bulk. The majority of weight gained was healthy new muscle mass. My chest and legs got noticeably larger and more defined. My legs always had trouble growing, so this was a a great surprise for me.
Increased Strength
While clean bulking I trained heavier than ever before. I felt stronger that ever. I hit a new personal record Bench Press of 270 Pounds, plus I squated 350+ pounds for the first time since high school.
More Energy
I felt fully energized while clean bulking. Even though I allowed myself cheat meals, I ate very clean throughout the day, so I was alert and productive during working hours.
Clean eating provides your body with nutrients it craves and makes your body function efficiently.
Clean bulking is definitely the more sustainable way to bulk up because it instills relatively healthy eating habits and allows you to look good after you next ‘cut’ phase.
Never Hungry
Obviously, when bulking you never go hungry. You’re too busy eating to get uncomfortably hungry.
Bulking Tips
Here are some tips to help you make the most of your bulk:
Eat Clean Foods First
Eat your clean calories first. Once you meet you protein and nutrient requirements, you can pig out on whatever you’d like.
While dirty bulking you must get a Nutritional Baseline otherwise you’ll crash and burn
Fat is Your Friend
Good, healthy fats are NECESSARY for any diet, but especially while bulking.
Fat from clean, natural sources is the best thing for your health.
Eat fatty animal meat like sirloin steak, chicken thigh, and wild caught salmon. You need the fat for calories and health.
Read Food Labels Carefully
Be careful with food labels. Something that looks clean may not be.
Marketers are genius when it comes to faking out people. Read every ingredient on the label.
The ingredients are listed in order of prominence. That means the ingredients that makes up most of the food will be the first ingredient listed.
Many foods have their nutrition stripped away and are now loaded will fillers like vegetable oil, palm oil, or soybean oil. Avoid these oils like the plague.
Shop Along the Outside of the Grocery Store
The foods along the perimeter of the grocery store are the freshest. Stay out of the isles or frozen section. That’s where are the fake foods live.
Ask The Waiter
When eating out, ask the waiter about the food to see if it’s clean or not. They will tell you if it’s fresh or frozen, and where it comes from if you ask them.
Liquid Calories
Beer was a common beverage as well. Often it was two or three but sometimes up to five or six crispy bois a night.
Hydrate!
Drink at least a gallon of water each day. One gallon is good, two is better.
Which Bulking Method is Better?
Clean bulking and dirty bulking both have their advantages and disadvantages. The best bulking method for you depends on few things:
- Your starting point
- Your metabolism
- Current muscle mass
- Your fitness and physique goals
An important point to remember is that you MUST workout when bulking or else you will get fat. (Clean bulk, dirty bulk, it doesn’t matter – you need to train to actually build muscle and avoid getting too fat.)
Should You Dirty Bulk or Clean Bulk?
If YOU…
- want to get as BIG as possible
- don’t care about health ramifications
- are a hardgainer
- are skinny
- have a fast metabolism
- have never been overweight or obese
…then dirty bulking is an option for you.
Basically, if you’re young and skinny you should dirty bulk. You need to eat a lot of food to gain weight. Now is not the time to worry about counting calories. Just eat whatever you can get your hands on.
However, if YOU…
- want to get bigger, but not too fat
- are health conscious
- are skinny-fat or regular fat
- do not have an active lifestyle
- are over 25 years old
…then clean bulking is the best option for you.
Dirty bulking is for skinny guys who want to bulk up quickly.
People who get fat easily should clean bulk.
Bulking for Skinny Guys
Skinny guys who want to build muscle and strength quickly should dirty bulk. Just train hard and eat like there’s no tomorrow. The results will come!
Continue your dirty bulk until you begin to get fat then shift to clean bulking or maintenance eating.
Remember to hit your minimum nutrition requirements while dirty bulking. You must learn about minimum nutrition needs. Understand this because it’s critical to your success.
Bulking for Skinny-Fat Guys
If you’re skinny-fat and want to lose fat and build muscle, I recommend clean bulking.
Or you can try the steak and eggs diet, but with a twist: Eat 3-4 meals a day instead of two. Also eat broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts or asparagus with every meal.
Down a low-carb protein shake twice a day for added protein.
Skinny-fat guys need to reduce carbs (sugars, sweets, pasta, bread) and load up on protein and healthy fat.
Eating steak, eggs, green vegetables will increase your testosterone levels, burn fat, and build muscle.
Train 6 times a week using the workout routine prescribed above to build muscle and strength.
Bulking for Guys Who Just Want to Bulk Up
Dirty bulk if you want to get as big as possible as fast as possible.
If you’re a football lineman or strongman, then you can get away with dirty bulking.
If you’re chubby or older you should clean bulk. Dirty bulking will only make you fat if you’re older or chunky due to slow metabolism.
Bulking for Fat Guys
Fat guys should not bulk unless the objective is to get as big and strong as possible. Just keep doing what you’re doing but ensure you get enough nutrition to be healthy and strong.
Lift hard and you will get very strong. You need a ton of calories to get as strong as possible. If you’re fat and want to look muscular, then you should clean bulk, then cut once you have some muscle built.
The combination of clean bulking and hard training will totally recomposition your body. Meaning you will lose fat and build muscle while getting stronger and sexier in the process.
Bulking Workout Routine
If you’re bulking up you need to train accordingly.
Clean bulking or dirty bulking, it doesn’t matter – you need to hit the weights 5+ times a week.
Anything less than that and you will get fat.
Trust me, I know. I only trained 3-4 times a week when dirty bulking and I got super fat.
You NEED NEED NEED to put all those calories to use. Also, You Need to train hard in order to work up a big appetite. It’s the only way to willingly consumer 5000 calories a day.
Best Bulking Workouts
The best bulking workouts have you training 5-7 days a week. my personal favorites are moderate to high volume using the heaviest weights possible. here are a few to choose from:
- Old School 70’s Bodybuilding Routines
- 10 x 10 Workout (German Volume Training)
- Frank Zane’s Workout Routine
- The ‘Push, Pull, Legs’ Routine for Building Muscle and Power
You should be feeling the burn, getting a good sweat and be sore the next day after training. Then eat, rest and let your body do it’s thing.
Bulking Supplements
You can supplement with a multi-vitamin or Athletic Greens to cover your nutritional baseline, and have a protein shake or two a day to make sure you’re getting enough quality protein.
Transparent Labs carries some of the best protein powder for clean bulking.
My Final Thoughts on Clean and Dirty Bulking
THIS ARTICLE IS ALMOST FINISHED. I WENT TO THE GYM AND WILL COMPLETE IT WHEN I RETURN!!
All I can say that both methods are effective if done correctly. Your results will be different depending on where you start.
Clean bulking and dirty bulking are two different animals with natures of their own.
I can tell you that for me, at this point in my life, clean bulking is the way to go.
But, if I was young, skinny and wanted to beef up quickly, I would dirty bulk 10/10 times if given the opportunity.
Your health, energy, focus, and stamina are directly related to the quality of food you eat. As time goes on, it becomes even more important to eat well so you can sustain high energy levels and be productive.
You’ll get fat eventually while dirty bulking. So, you’re better off switching to clean bulking for the long run.
Clean bulking is a good balance of building muscle and thoroughly enjoying your food. I was never hungry and satisfied all my cravings.
Dirty bulking on the other hand isn’t the best way to go. Eating shitty food with little nutritional value forces you to eat more to get what you need to build muscle. Those extra empty calories carry inorganic ingredients that make your body work extra hard to process.
If you just eat like shit, it won’t matter how hard you train. You’ll burn out and break down.
Clean Bulking is Better for Health and Body Composition
My clean bulking physique looked much healthier and much better overall in terms of body composition and muscle size/definition.
This is because I was adding quality muscle mass and just a little fat.
So, that being said, there are two steps to get the body you want:
Step #1. Figure out where you are. (are you skinny, skinny-fat, fatter than you want to be, or fat?)
Step #2. Decide where you want to be and follow my instructions above.
Don’t over complicate it. Just get started in the right direction. You will learn and get better as you go. Make a commitment, be consistent, work hard and honestly, be patient. And know you will get there.
Lean Bulking
Most clean bulking you read about is actually ‘lean bulking’.
Lean bulking is where you eat just enough calories to gain weight to build muscle. Maybe 300-500 extra calories a day.
This method is effective but it’s also very slow. It’s slow and it may not allow for maximum muscle gains.
This way it’s used most effectively with greater benefit. And I’m not leaving gains on the table.
To put it another way, a lean bulker might eat fat-free yogurt while a clean bunker might eat full-fat yogurt. The yogurt is clean in both cases but the full-fat version has more calories.
————
Follow Jordan on Instagram @ironandgrit
Get Personal Training from Jordan through the Online Training page.
You look skinnier in the dirty bulk picture.
My arms were skinnier but my belly was fatter!
Also, my hips were twisted a bit in the dirty bulk picture which creates the illusion of looking skinnier.