Now as I sit and write this the dark nights are closing in, meaning winter is arriving which can only mean one thing in the fitness world, let the bulking commence. So before everyone starts eating whatever they want I thought it would be good to outline a few points with regards to nutrition.
Track your Macros:
By this I mean monitor your macros in order to ensure you're eating enough but also eating enough of the right stuff. Firstly work out your Basic Metabolic Rate then usually add on 500 calories to put on weight. You don't have to eat absolutely loads. Then add in the break down of the calories, I follow around 50% carbs, 35% protein and the remaining 15% fat. This will ensure you have carbs for energy but also a surplus to add on size with enough protein to ensure you're repairing the broken down muscle. Use MyFitness pal to track this, it doesn't need to be exact, like if you were dieting, but you'll be surprised how much food you actually need to eat.
Selection of Carbs:
Now for example say your macros allows you to eat 400 grams of carbs, this doesn't mean it can be just any carbohydrate. Try and have low glycemic based carbohydrates such as rice and oats throughout the day then both pre and most defiantly post workout opt for a high glycemic carbohydrate such as fruit or a dextrose based drink. This will help spike insulin levels and will be quickly absorbed into your system, thus helping with the recovery process. My favourite currently is a banana, kiwi and dates!!!!
How often to eat:
Now there are many different ways of consuming your calories. Some swear by eating all your food in a short period and fasting the rest, e.g. 8:16 diet. This is an option but if your sticking to a clean ish diet I can't see that this is going to be needed. I would tell many people to try and split the meals up throughout the day in three hour periods. This keeping you full and also allowing for you to be able to consume your meals without force feeding yourself. However at the end of the day as long as you're sticking to your macros it really doesn't matter when you consume them as long as you get them in.
Eating on rest days:
This is a thing that I am going to start changing in my diet and that is consuming less on rest days. Some would say this is incorrect however my body doesn't require the energy output it would need on a day which I am training and therefore believing cycling carbs in order to eat less on these days will reduce putting on unwanted body fat. Don't get me wrong you can't put on size without gaining fat but you can slightly slow the process down in order to not gain to much weight, which will be so much more difficult to lose when it comes to the summer cut. Just add this in maybe once every two weeks and see how it effects you.
Four easy puts you can input into your winter bulk. Hope this helps
Jack
Track your Macros:
By this I mean monitor your macros in order to ensure you're eating enough but also eating enough of the right stuff. Firstly work out your Basic Metabolic Rate then usually add on 500 calories to put on weight. You don't have to eat absolutely loads. Then add in the break down of the calories, I follow around 50% carbs, 35% protein and the remaining 15% fat. This will ensure you have carbs for energy but also a surplus to add on size with enough protein to ensure you're repairing the broken down muscle. Use MyFitness pal to track this, it doesn't need to be exact, like if you were dieting, but you'll be surprised how much food you actually need to eat.
Selection of Carbs:
Now for example say your macros allows you to eat 400 grams of carbs, this doesn't mean it can be just any carbohydrate. Try and have low glycemic based carbohydrates such as rice and oats throughout the day then both pre and most defiantly post workout opt for a high glycemic carbohydrate such as fruit or a dextrose based drink. This will help spike insulin levels and will be quickly absorbed into your system, thus helping with the recovery process. My favourite currently is a banana, kiwi and dates!!!!
How often to eat:
Now there are many different ways of consuming your calories. Some swear by eating all your food in a short period and fasting the rest, e.g. 8:16 diet. This is an option but if your sticking to a clean ish diet I can't see that this is going to be needed. I would tell many people to try and split the meals up throughout the day in three hour periods. This keeping you full and also allowing for you to be able to consume your meals without force feeding yourself. However at the end of the day as long as you're sticking to your macros it really doesn't matter when you consume them as long as you get them in.
Eating on rest days:
This is a thing that I am going to start changing in my diet and that is consuming less on rest days. Some would say this is incorrect however my body doesn't require the energy output it would need on a day which I am training and therefore believing cycling carbs in order to eat less on these days will reduce putting on unwanted body fat. Don't get me wrong you can't put on size without gaining fat but you can slightly slow the process down in order to not gain to much weight, which will be so much more difficult to lose when it comes to the summer cut. Just add this in maybe once every two weeks and see how it effects you.
Four easy puts you can input into your winter bulk. Hope this helps
Jack
