How to bulk the right way?

Bulking is an approach to weight gain where the main goal is to increase muscle mass, but some fat gain is inevitable with any muscle gain. the extent of fat gain will depend on the number of calories in surplus, but there will be some fat gain for sure. 

So, what can we do to ensure muscle gain while minimizing fat gain? 

Now, the amount of muscle you can gain over a certain period has a limit, which depends on factors like gender, genetics, nutrition, training experience, stress, hydration, hormones, sleep etc. However, there is no such limit for fat gain.

What does this mean? 

Eating in excess does not necessarily lead to more muscle gain, but it does lead to more fat gain. To put it simply, consuming excess calories beyond a certain limit will automatically get stored as fat. This is exactly what dirty bulking is – eating in excess and storing all that energy as fat. 

In a study, one group was on 300 kcal surplus and the other was more than 600 kcal surplus. While, both groups had equal strength & muscle gains over the 12-week period, however, the group in excess of 600 kcal surplus gained much more fat than the 300 kcal group. 

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So, the bottom line is, to bulk the right way, maintain a small surplus of around 300 calories, perform 15 to 20 sets per week for each major muscle group to provide a stimulus for the muscle to grow, and keep protein in this range of 1.5-2g/kg of BW for optimal gains.