Most people have heard that to get big and muscular you need to eat BIG and feed those muscles; after all, you are what you eat.
While this is partially true, it is actually only half the story. The biggest problem many people face is that they will often gain fat and muscle while bulking up. If you’re a skinny guy, it might not be a big deal, but if you already have a fairly high body fat percentage, you can’t afford to take on more without sacrificing your health.
Below, I’ve highlighted the top 3 dangers traditional bulking diets can pose and the best way to avoid them.
1. / High fat and salt intake
Since you are consuming more calories each day on a bulk diet, not enough emphasis is placed on the quality of the calories you are consuming and where those calories are coming from. Most bulking diets involve consuming large amounts of salt, sugars, unhealthy fats, corn syrup, and trans fats. As I’m sure you will agree, those things are recipes for long-term poor health and an increased risk of heart disease and other cholesterol-related illnesses.
2. / Insulin resistance
Regular bulking diets cause your body to develop insulin resistance, which can hinder muscle development, as insulin resistance causes your body to send the carbohydrates you eat to your fat stores rather than your tissue muscular.
Insulin resistance can be difficult to reverse, which means that as time goes on it will get harder and harder to lose body fat, but it will get easier to GAIN IT … not good! This is one of the main reasons that thin people can stay thin despite eating almost everything they want.
3. / Underactive thyroid
Too much fat gain can wreak havoc on thyroid production. This hormone is responsible for accelerating the entire fat burning process, and the fatter you are, the less effective it becomes, which makes you gain fat faster; This is a nasty vicious cycle that you should definitely avoid.
How to avoid these volume-boosting obstacles …
As you can see, a lack of understanding of how your body reacts to what you put in is one of the main causes of excessive fat gain while bulking up, but also the increased chances of long-term health risks.
The key to avoiding these dangers is cutting back on high-calorie bulking cycles. In other words, many bulking cycles can last for several months, affecting your body and metabolism. Shortening your cycles to a few weeks will reduce the risk of fat gain and will also give your routine enough variety.
Also focus on scheduling your meals appropriately, don’t just eat when you want during the day. Understand that your nutrient needs fluctuate throughout the day. Understanding how and when to eat certain foods and food groups will maximize muscle gains and minimize fat gain. This is the art of synchronizing nutrients.