Bulking and cutting: two terms that you often hear when it comes to strength training and/or bodybuilding. In this article, we will limit ourselves to the first. It is actually nothing more than creating a calorie surplus. So taking in more calories than your body uses daily. This allows your body to build more muscle mass.
Eating more than your body needs in combination with strength training. Sounds nice, but of course you can't just eat everything that is loose and fixed. During your bulking phase, you mainly want to gain muscle mass and try not to let the fat percentage become too high. That is why it is important to continue eating healthy, nutritious and varied. With a good ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and (unsaturated) fats, for example.
You can get all the ingredients for a successful bulk from your normal diet. However, supplements can be a good addition to accelerate muscle growth or because it can be difficult for some people to eat even more. For example, because they already have a fast metabolism and a high calorie requirement or when they have allergies, intolerances or conscious eating choices, which means they do not get enough. Then it can be useful to use nutritional supplements in addition to your meal preps.
When bulking, it is approximately normal to eat 10-20 percent more than your body uses. In other words, than your daily energy requirement. This amounts to 250-500 calories extra per day. Do you consume even more food? Then you will create too much fat mass.
Which supplements do you use for muscle growth?
A number of supplements that you can use for a successful bulk are:
- Protein and protein shake
- Creatine
- Mass and Ultra gainer
- Testosterone booster
- Glutamine
Proteins for growth and recovery
Proteins form the basis for muscle growth and help the muscles recover. Especially whey proteins with a high biological value. They reduce catabolism (muscle breakdown). Whey consists of 80 percent of the best proteins. During a bulk, you can assume approximately 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day.
Looking for a good, tasty and affordable protein shake with a high biological value? Then take a look at the 100% Whey from Stacker 2. It is available in many different flavors and dissolves perfectly in water.
Also check out our other protein-rich powders to see how you can use them in combination.
Creatine for muscle strength
Creatine is an important supplement because it stimulates muscle growth and strength in combination with strength training. Creatine is a compound of three amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Most people get it from red meat and seafood. This natural substance helps stimulate muscle growth during explosive exercises and is available in capsule and powder form. With a complete creatine you can train harder and maintain sets longer before you acidify during explosive efforts.
View the Complete Creatine and the 6th Gear Creatine Complex (Ephedra Free) from Stacker2 here.
Mass and Ultragainer for more calories
Do you have trouble with your calorie intake and do you want to easily take in extra nutrition? Then take a look at the weight gainers. Mass and ultra gainers can help you to maintain your bulk phase and get through it more easily. These products are useful for creating a calorie surplus during your bulk. Especially for people who have trouble eating more or have certain food preferences, so that they cannot take in enough of certain substances. Stacker products are of high quality and are high in calories and low in fats and sugars.
The Giant Mass Gainer was developed for the advanced athlete and the Ultra Mass Xtreme for the beginning strength athlete.
Testosterone booster for training aggression and stronger physique
Higher testosterone levels help you to train hard with more training aggression. Testosterone is an important hormone for muscle growth and decreases as you get older. It can decrease by a few percent every year after the age of thirty. A testosterone booster can help you get back on track.
View the testosterone boosters from Stacker 2 here.
Glutamine as an important amino acid
Glutamine can also be an important addition in the bulking phase. It is a semi-essential amino acid and one of the most important in the human body. This means that your body can produce it itself, but that you can also get it from food. Heavy strength training and explosive exercises can increase acidity. This can lead to muscle breakdown or damage. This slows down your recovery and you are no longer able to push yourself to the limit, which also means you grow less quickly. In fact, rapid muscle building is almost impossible to achieve with a low glutamine level.
Glutamine can also provide support. That is why many athletes also see it as an essential amino acid. Your body is unable to replenish it in time during intensive training. That is why a supplement is a good idea. Muscle growth is more difficult to achieve with a low glutamine level.
That is why we have Complete Glutamine from Stacker 2.
