How to build muscle mass using compound exercises and a muscle building diet for muscular hypertrophy and a clean bulk
Eating a healthy clean bulking diet or an unhealthy dirty junk food diet to bulk up
When looking to build muscle mass should you eat a load of crap to bulk up (a dirty bulk) or eat really healthy food and achieve a clean bulk? Do you carry out muscular hypertrophy workouts that include big heavy compound lifts followed by a post workout meal of KFC and pizza to get all your calories in? Or do you eat a highly nutrient meal after your workout to build quality muscle without increasing in body fat?
In this article we will explain why a CLEAN BULK is the better option to bulk up and build size.
Eating fast food and the importance of iron and zinc for bulking up
To increase muscle mass you need a ‘calorie surplus’, essentially where you take in more calories than you burn from exercise. But to achieve this, some bodybuilders will eat loads of pizzas, burgers, soft drinks and ice cream because they think if they're getting all; these calories in then they will increase in size.
The problem with this dirty bulking problem is that whist you meet the calorie surplus to get bigger and increase in size, you will be lacking in vitamins and minerals needed for muscle growth. Thinking about ice cream and soft drinks you can't get minerals from these and the biggest problem is that this junk food contains phosphates that reduce iron stores in your body. Iron depletion is obviously a bad thing because it is essential to have iron to transport oxygen around the body. Less iron means less oxygen can seep into the working muscles that require it to build and grow.Junk food lacks nutrients needed to build muscle mass
Junk food lacks micronutrients such as zinc which are needed to build muscle mass and increase in size from bulking up. Zinc acts as a cofactor in hundreds of processes within the body involving the enzymes. It helps build DNA, protein, insulin and helps with testosterone production.
Insulin is needed to carry key nutrients to the muscles and testosterone is a vital anabolic hormone. Without sufficient levels of zinc, both insulin levels and testosterone production are affected.
So when we think about micronutrients, zinc, iron and building mass from bulking up, a clean bulk will mean you create the calorie surplus and your body will receive all the nutrients required for muscle growth whilst preventing fat stores from building up. A clean diet when bulking will help with muscle hypertrophy and ensure you feel good as well as look good!
Insulin sensitivity when bulking up and building lean muscle
When we think about a dirty bulk or a clean bulk for building muscle, we also need to think about insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a hormone that carries nutrients to the muscles and your sensitivity with insulin relates to how much insulin you need to carry these nutrients to your muscles.
So good insulin sensitivity means you only need a low amount of insulin to carry nutrients to your muscles whereas bad insulin sensitivity means your body is less effective at carrying nutrients and requires lots of insulin which could potentially lead to diabetes.
The dangers of trans fats on body weight
Research studies have shown that a dirty bulk won't help with your insulin sensitivity. Junk food is full of trans fats (artificially made fat used in cookies, chips, doughnuts etc). They create a melt in your mouth sensation because of all the sugar and e-numbers pumped into them but researchers Mark. A Pereira et al (2005) showed that it affects insulin sensitivity in a bad way.
Junk food is energy dense and nutrient poor but more and more people are consuming it, creating what has been called an 'obesity crisis'. It is full of sugars, salts, trans fats and saturated fats which are harmful when eaten in excess. A clean bulk eating fruit and vegetables alongside other healthy food choices will make you look better and also help fight disease. So eating healthy will provide you with potassium, antioxidants, fibre, polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats, whole grains, nuts and fish.
We need to address our fears within a social environment to get a clean bulk underway. Researchers at Deakin University Australia used a sample of 932 women from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds surrounded by lots of junk food restaurants to understand why they were making bad nutritional choices.
The main barriers to avoiding junk food were:
- Lack of confidence in cooking healthy food
- A lack of family support to eat healthier as well as knowing other women who ate junk food frequently
- Reduced supermarket access meant they felt there was limited access to other food sources
- Perceived quality of fruit and vegetables
So to achieve a clean bulk, we need to remove any psychological damage and do what we feel is best for us. Heading to your local butcher once a week can help as well as using online meat order websites such as Musclefood, Donald Russell and Western Gourmet.
Other than a cheat meal once a week or less, try and stay away from junk food!
How junk food and fructose affects insulin levels
Foods high in fructose such as cereals, desserts, chips and soft drinks also affect your insulin levels in the same way described above. Heather Basciano et al (2005) found diets high in fructose negatively affected insulin sensitivity so although a fizzy drink may help get your calories in, your muscles won't thank you for it! It is much better to go for a quality mass gainer such as The Protein Works Total Mass Matrix to get quality nutrients, minerals and calories in without the trans fats and sugars (see below).
The Protein Works Total Mass Matrix for bulking
For all of the reasons mentioned above, The Protein Works have created TOTAL MASS MATRIX, a nutrient and calorie dense weight gain formula scientifically designed to not only create a calorie surplus which in turns allows you to build muscle but also that contains nutrients proven to enhance muscular hypertrophy. Total Mass Matrix only costs £25.99 for 2kg and is available in 4 different flavours; Cherry Bakewell, Chocolate Silk, Strawberries 'n' Cream and Vanilla Creme.
Can you cut and bulk up at the same time using a clean bulk?
Can you cut and bulk at the same time? This all comes down again to a close association with insulin sensitivity. Whilst insulin helps carry nutrients to the muscles, it is also a fat storing hormone, taking fatty acids and glucose to fat cells which are then stored as fat. So no bodybuilder wants bad sensitivity when cutting because it will mean more insulin is released, reducing fat burning capabilities and increasing lipogensis (the storing of body fat).
So whilst dirty bulking may give you some short term gains, it won''t look great in the long term and will actually be counterproductive when looking to get lean muscle and a defined muscular body for the summer months.