3488: [Part 2] The Dirty Bulk: Five Reasons To Do A Clean Bulk by Eric Bach of BachPerformance on Healthy Weight Gain

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[00:01:30] This is Optimal Health Daily. The Dirty Bulk. Five Reasons to Do a Clean Bulk. Part 2. By Eric Bach of Bachperformance.com. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your very own personal narrator. Now, today's post is part 2 from yesterday. So, if you're new here or skipping around, I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first. But, if you're all caught up, let's keep this intro nice and short and hear part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:02:02] The Dirty Bulk. Five Reasons to Do a Clean Bulk. Part 2. By Eric Bach of Bachperformance.com. 5. Dirty Bulk Downgrade. You'll Develop Awful Habits. Raise your hand if you know a lifter who's always bulking. More often than not, these folks stay in the perma-bulking stage. They look like they lift, but they've got extra flab and look a wee bit out of shape. 5. There's nothing wrong with this as many of these guys are very strong.

[00:02:31] I value strength, but I also value my health and looking good naked. When you use bulking as an excuse to gorge on pizza, ice cream, and eat with the discipline of a small child, you're going to develop awful habits. Eventually, you'll have to pay the piper. The bill will be long-term health issues, an increase in body fat, or both. I'm all for living a life that's improved, not consumed by fitness. I like to have a few drinks, steaks, and pizza myself.

[00:03:01] But moderation is key, even when you're building muscle. Keep your eye on the ball. Play the long game. Death to the Dirty Bulk. And the Birth of the Clean Bulk. There's a limit to how quickly you can build muscle. The work of Alan Aragon and Lyle McDonald suggests the maximum rate of muscle growth appears to cap off around 40 to 50 pounds over the course of a lifetime.

[00:03:25] The amount of muscle you can build decreases dramatically as you age and gain experience in the gym. Though some fat gain in water weight is inevitable, gaining more than a few pounds per month is a solid indication you're consuming too many calories. How many calories you need to build muscle? To maximize your gains without getting fat, you need a slight caloric surplus. To get started, calculate maintenance calories.

[00:03:53] I've tried half a dozen equations and they're all pretty close. Plus, they're all estimations. So, ease of use is important. My go-to equation is this. Take your body weight in pounds and multiply that by 16. That equals the maintenance for someone who's moderately active. Meaning, someone that trains 3 to 4 times per week. So, if I weighed 150 pounds, I'd multiply that by 16.

[00:04:20] That equals 2400 calories for a moderately active person to maintain caloric balance. From here, you'll want to add another 300 to 500 calories to get into a slight caloric surplus to trigger muscle growth. I use the higher end on training days and the lower end on rest days. So, using my example from before, if 2400 calories is to maintain caloric balance,

[00:04:47] on the days you work out, you can eat 2900 calories. 2400 plus 500. On non-lifting days, you can have 2700 calories. 2400 plus 300. In real food terms, if you were using protein shakes, that would come out to 1 to 2 protein shakes and a banana or 2 per day above maintenance calories. Alternatively, this could be an extra sweet potato and a chicken breast each day.

[00:05:14] It's not a 1200 calorie burger meal from the fast food joint. How much protein do you need to build muscle? You need sufficient protein to build muscle, though it's not as much as supplement companies would have you believe. All you need is 0.82 grams to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. This means a 160 pound person needs 131 to 160 grams of protein per day. Can you have more? Yes.

[00:05:43] But, a 2011 study by Phillips and Van Loon found 0.82 grams of protein per pound of body weight is the upper limit of protein synthesis. In other words, eating more protein above this number won't increase how much muscle you'll build. This means our 150 pound person that we used as an example earlier needs 123 to 150 grams of protein per day to build muscle.

[00:06:11] If they're getting their calories, more protein will not lead to more muscle growth. Protein has 4 calories per gram, which means you'll have 492 to 600 calories extra just from protein each day. How many carbs do you need to build muscle? Most people hopped on the low-carb bandwagon at some point. These diets may work well for weight loss in the short term, but not necessarily for building muscle. Here's the problem.

[00:06:41] Carbohydrates are protein-sparing. This means eating carbs will spare your body from breaking down stored muscle tissue to fuel your day. Eating a moderate, high-carb diet helps you keep the lean muscle you've already built, rather than breaking it down for energy. Further, your workouts may suffer when you follow a low-carb diet. You might feel lethargic and have terrible pumps. You'll end up feeling flat and deflated, not pumped and jacked.

[00:07:10] Carbs are your friends. They'll spare the muscle you have, improve your workouts, and help drive nutrients into your cells to maximize lean muscle gains. Eat 1.5 to 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight to maximize lean muscle growth. This would be about 225 to 300 grams of carbs per day. Remember, carbs have 4 calories per gram, which means you'll consume about 900 to 1,200 calories from carbs per day.

[00:07:41] Fat intake for muscle growth. Fat, the most calorically dense macronutrient, has 9 calories per gram. You need ample fat intake to optimize hormone production and brain and really the entire nervous system function. The remaining part of your calories should come from fat. Let's use a 160-pound lifter as an example. On lifting day, they consume 2,900 calories. Of those calories, 640 will come from protein.

[00:08:10] From carbs, about 1,200 calories. 2,900 minus 640 minus 1,200 equals 1,060 calories remaining. That means 1,060 calories divided by 9 calories per gram means the person needs to consume about 118 grams of fat per day. Demystifying the dirty bulking.

[00:08:37] Dirty bulking appears attractive, but the promise is false. The sad reality is that dirty bulking will slow down your progress because it adds more fat you'll need to lose later while significantly slowing down your ability to build muscle. When in doubt, take the long road. It will end up being faster. Eat slightly more than you need to build lean muscle. And most of all, be patient. It takes time to build muscle. Play your cards right by sticking to the basics.

[00:09:06] You'll build a strong, lean, and muscular body this way. You just listened to part 2 of the post titled The Dirty Bulk, 5 Reasons to Do a Clean Bulk by Eric Bach of BachPerformance.com And I'll be right back with my commentary. Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check?

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[00:11:03] That's quince.com slash OHD. Dr. Neal Malik here for my commentary. Today's author Eric said something so important that I have to repeat it here. The amount of muscle you can build decreases dramatically as you age, and as you gain experience in the gym. Hitting a plateau in the gym is very common. In the beginning, it seems like anything we do in the gym helps grow muscle.

[00:11:28] It's like our arms get bigger, just moving our car's steering wheel to drive ourselves to the gym. Every movement seems to help build muscle. But then, three to six months pass, and all of a sudden, it seems like nothing is happening. Don't get me wrong. Things are still happening. Your muscles are still being worked. You're burning calories. Your heart and your mind are still receiving the benefits of that activity.

[00:11:53] But when it comes to lifting heavier weight, or running faster, or running longer, or your appearance, you might find that things slow to a halt. That's because, as Eric said in today's article, as you gain experience in the gym, your body will adapt. And you'll find that your muscle gains will start to slow down. In other words, you'll plateau. Now, this means it's time to mix things up. All right, that'll do it for the Monday episode. I hope you have a great start to your week.

[00:12:22] And I'll be back here tomorrow, as usual, where your optimal life awaits. Let's go.