If you want to bulk up fast you need three simple things, a diet rich in proteins, a good resistance training workout plan, and some supplements that will give you even more proteins. Many studies prove this including one published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Muscle growth comes from assuring a positive protein breakdown to protein synthesis ratio. Hence why consuming more protein is so important, but the type of exercise you do matters just as much, otherwise, bodybuilders wouldn’t have to focus on weightlifting.
Bulk Up Fast: Diet, Supplements, Exercise
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Eat more protein but not fewer nutrients
Adopting a high-protein diet is vital if you want to enhance your muscle growth fast. However, you also need to be aware that your diet will have to provide more calories. The training program needed to bulk up will require vast amounts of energy, which means you might need to up your calorie intake slightly. This creates a risk of gaining not only muscle but also fat and you need to plan your diet carefully to prevent this.
The good news is that a high-protein diet is good for weight loss. It helps reduce hunger by default, which is not a surprise as protein-rich foods are some of the best appetite suppressants. This includes eggs, legumes, almonds, and Greek yogurt. All these products are must-haves for any diet aimed to help you bulk up fast.
However, you should never forget that your diet must be healthy in order to provide you with the strength to get the muscled body you want. The workouts will be strenuous, so you have to consume healthy fats and carbs alongside proteins to act as fuel.
It’s also important to exclude foods that pack ‘empty’ calories or have a very high level of saturated fats. While they will give you energy, they will also clog your arteries and ‘settle’ as fat under your skin.
While extensive workouts will help burn off excess fat, these foods do not contribute to muscle growth. Also, depending on how many of your meals are ‘not good’, the rate of fat burning might not catch up to the rate of its formation. Never forget that diet is key to body shape. Exercise is secondary in its efficiency. Therefore, if your diet isn’t balanced properly, you won’t be able to bulk up fast (or at all) no matter how much time you spend lifting weights.
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Get the right protein supplements
While you can’t and shouldn’t make your diet consist entirely of proteins, you can get the extra by taking supplements. These usually come in the form of powder, which you can use to make a quick shake to power you up before or after a workout. Note that after might be better as this is when your muscle protein breakdown is at its lowest, due to the hormonal reactions triggered by resistance training. Therefore, drinking liquid protein now will make more of it be transformed into muscles.
However, be sure to read this study from the University of Stirling. It proves that BCAA supplements, the most popular kind today, are not very effective. Instead, you should take supplements that contain a wider range of amino acids.
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Start lifting
Cross-fit and other types of workouts that incorporate resistance training into the program are good for you, but they won’t help you bulk up fast. If maximum muscle-growing is your goal, you should go old-school and start using weights and dumbbells.
Resistance training is best for muscle growth, but you also need to perform exercises at intervals. For example, make one set of reps, wait for 1-3 minutes, then repeat. You also need to work one group of muscles at a time so it can rest for a few days and actually have time to grow.
