BodyBuilding

Dirty Bulking Vs Clean Bulking: Which is Best?

Updated on November 24, 2021 by Brad Murphy

If you want to gain muscle mass you will need to bulk up. There are two types of bulking diets you can choose – the dirty bulk and the clean bulk. This article will explain the differences, the positives and negatives of each and provide a conclusion – is a clean bulk better than a dirty bulk, or visa versa?

which is best a clean or dirty bulk — Bulking up is important if you want to gain muscle. But is the best method – a clean or dirty bulk?

In the world of bodybuilding, there are two ways to bulk up and gain weight. One way is dirty bulking where you eat anything and everything in sight with no regard for nutrition or calories. The other way is clean bulking where you focus on consuming high-quality food that will provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to build muscle quickly and efficiently.

Which one should you choose? Should I eat carbs after working out?

In this article, I’ll break down both dirty bulking vs clean bulking so that you can decide what’s best for your muscle building goals!

Must Read: Build, repair, and recover faster with Crazy Nutrition’s TRI-PROTEIN formula. Made with 6 natural, non-GMO proteins that break down in 3 phases for more energy and strength than regular whey, hemp, or soy protein formulas

What is Bulking – What Does it Mean in Bodybuilding?

Bulking is a term used in bodybuilding to describe the process of gaining weight and muscle. The idea behind bulking is that you consume enough calories to support your goal, which is usually adding more size so that you can then cut later on when it’s time for showtime!

Dirty Bulking vs Clean Bulking

The two main ways people bulk up are dirty bulks or clean bulks. Dirty bulkers typically eat anything they want including fast food, candy bars, soda drinks – without paying attention to nutrition labels or calorie intake.

While clean bulkers focus on eating cleaner foods like lean proteins (chicken breast), healthy fats (avocado), complex carbohydrates (sweet potatoes) and high-quality snacks such as protein shakes.

What is Dirty Bulking?

Dirty bulking is the act of eating large quantities of junk food and fast food in order to bulk up quickly.

The goal behind dirty bulking is to pack on as much weight as possible, regardless if it’s muscle or fat.

Dirty bulkers will eat anything they can lay their hands on with no regard for calories or nutritional value whatsoever.

Foods to avoid for belly fat reduction — The burger – a staple food for dirty bulkers

Typical Dirty Bulk Foods

Popcorn
Cookies and cake (anything made with sugar)
Chips and other high calorie snacks like chocolate bars, candy etc.
Greasy fast food burgers

The problem is that because they eat so much junk food, dirty bulkers are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders such as binge eating disorder or bulimia. They also have an increased chance of developing heart disease from bad fats and high cholesterol – both traits common in the average American diet. Not to mention their poor sleeping pattern due to late night snacking will lead them crashing into fatigue throughout the day which makes it hard for them exercise or function properly.”

What are the Pros of a Dirty Bulk?

The main pros of dirty bulking would be that you’ll gain a lot more pounds relatively easily without any great effort put into your diet plan since all you’re doing is eating whatever you want whenever you want. Another pro might be not having to worry about counting calories because there won’t be any! In addition, other benefits include being able to fit into a smaller size of clothes as well.

What are the Cons of a Dirty Bulk?

The con’s to dirty bulking would be that you may gain more fat than muscle and so your weight will not be where it needs to be for optimal performance in the gym, which means less gains! Dirty bulkers also run a risk of developing eating disorders because they don’t have any control over what or how much food they’re putting into their bodies. Furthermore, there is an increased risk for heart problems due to all the saturated fats being consumed from greasy foods. Lastly, if you decide on doing clean bulk during this time then these issues arise once again- when trying to reverse back down to a “lean” state post-bulk/cut cycle.

What is Clean Bulking?

A clean bulking diet is when you eat an increased amount of calories and healthy food, rather than unhealthy/”dirty” foods. It’s important to note that the word “clean” does not refer only to top quality products in a given store- it also refers to eating high calorie meals with clean carbs such as oatmeal or brown rice, lean protein from chicken breast without skin (or beans/tofu), vegetables like broccoli, green peas and carrots etc., legumes for example lentils or chickpeas which are rich sources of fiber and then supplementing your diet with multivitamins.”

Clean bulking is often recommended by fitness experts because they don’t have any harmful effects on performance. It is also a healthier muscle gain.

Typical Clean Bulk Foods

Oatmeal
Brown Rice
Beans/Tofu
Chicken Breast without skin or with less fat content
Broccoli, Green Peas and Carrots

Clean” carbs like oatmeal or brown rice have a higher chance of causing runners stomach. It’s important to note that the word “clean” does not refer only to top quality products in a given store – it also refers to eating high calorie meals with clean carbs such as oatmeal or brown rice, lean protein from chicken breast without skin (or beans/tofu), vegetables like broccoli, green peas and carrots etc., legumes for example lentils or chickpeas which are rich sources of fiber and then supplementing youra diet with healthy protein bars or shakes.

If you want to clean bulk, it’s important to eat high calorie meals that are also high in fiber-rich carbohydrates such as oatmeal or brown rice and supplementing your diet with a variety of healthy protein sources including eggs, turkey breast meatloaf made up primarily of lean ground beef, nuts like almonds just few examples.

What are the Clean Bulk Pros?

No harm done – Clean bulkers won’t experience many unwanted side effects like stomach cramping, inability to sleep at night or lack of energy during the day.

What are the Clean Bulk Cons?

Clean bulking will not lead to weight gain as quickly as dirty bulkers (because of all the time spent eating clean foods). Clean bulkers should also be careful about when they decide to stop because it may take a long time for them to return back their original weight.

The “yo-yo” effect is more likely with this type of diet plan than if you were just going on and off diets in cycles. If you are trying cleans too many times, then your body can start adapting by decreasing its metabolism rate which means that your calorie intake wouldn’t feel significantly different despite having been fasting from junk foods.

There is a lot of misconceptions about clean bulking out there as well, and they are not all true either. Clean bulkers can also reach the desired weight by being too tired to exercise or get in their normal workouts because they have been eating more calories than what their body needs everyday (also known as overeating) with mostly healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats and other quality carbs from sugar-free sources.”

Which is Best – Clean or Dirty Bulk?

When you are trying to build muscle, which is the best way? Clean bulking or dirty bulking. What is the conclusion of which one is better for bodybuilders? When you add up all the pros and cons, what type of foods should bulkers eat to gain more muscles faster than others?

Clean Bulkers Vs Dirty Bulkers

There are a lot of misconceptions about clean bulking out there as well, and not all of them are true either. Clean bulkers can also reach desired weight by being too tired to exercise or get in their normal workouts because they have been eating more calories than what their body needs everyday (also known as overeating) with mostly healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats and dairy.

One misconception about dirty bulkers is that they are the ones who eat only junk food like candy, ice cream, soda pop and other sweet treats while adding in weight rapidly with little to no exercise. This may be true of some people (but it’s not everyone) but there are also a lot more misconceptions about them eating unhealthy foods than what we think too.

Dirty Bulking vs Clean Bulking, Which Is Better – Conclusion?

This answer will look different for every person depending on their goals as well as how much time they have been lifting weights or exercising regularly before beginning the bulk process. It would depend on if you want to get big fast by being able to maintain your desired bodyweight without gaining an excessive amount of fat at the same time because clean bulking can be a lot more time and work intensive for some people.

Clean bulking is much healthier than dirty bulking because it allows you to eat foods that will help with muscle growth, strength gain and are easy on the stomach instead of burning through your digestive system by eating unhealthy food choices like fast food all day every day.

The best way to do clean bulk would be if you don’t have an excessive amount of fat or weight already so when starting out it’s easier to add in those extra calories without feeling too heavy from them while staying healthy at the same time. That being said, there are still ways to get big quickly but not as slowly either depending on how disciplined of a person they may be such as what kind of cardio should be done to burn fat.

A dirty bulk is when people will just eat anything they want and as many times a day without any regard for the body’s needs which can lead to weight gain, health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes because of all those processed sugar carbs that are not natural like fruits and vegetables would provide. This type of bulking may make someone feel weak if there isn’t enough protein, calories or minerals in their diet but it could still work depending on how disciplined they were with this kind of eating routine instead.

So what do you think? Is clean better than dirty for gaining muscle mass quickly? Let us know your thoughts! Share this blog post so we can see what others have to say about

NO2 Max Review – Nitric Oxide Booster Supplement

Updated on June 30, 2021 by Brad Murphy

NO2 Max is a nitric oxide boosting supplement that has the potential to drastically change your workout experience. By improving blood and oxygen circulation, NO2 Max can help you build muscle faster after workouts with less recovery time in between.

PROS
Increases endurance and strength
Scientifically proven ingredients
Increase oxygen and blood flow
Protein synthesis is increased
Quicker muscle pumps
Safe and legal

CONS
May not be suitable for Asthma sufferers
Availability limited to official website

VERDICT – RECOMMENDED
NO2 Max is a nitric oxide boosting supplement that has the ability to increase strength, stamina and muscle gain. Faster recovery after workouts or intense training are also possible with NO2 Max supplements because of its core function in improving blood flow.

CrazyBulk have become synonymous with making bodybuilding supplements designed for all user levels.

NO2Max is a great addition to your muscle building regime and arsenal.

You can purchase directly from the official CrazyBulk website. Shipping is free to the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and many countries across the globe.

View NO2 Max Pricing and Offers

NO2 Max is a nitric oxide boosting supplement that can enhance blood and oxygen circulation which plays an important role in building muscle.

What is NO2 Max

NO2 Max is a sports supplement manufactured by Wolfson Berg Ltd and distributed under the CrazyBulk brand name.

Wolfson Berg is an established business that’s been trading for more than three decades. It’s based in Cyprus but operates worldwide and is the company behind many leading supplement brands.

The supplements Wolfson Berg sells under the CrazyBulk label are primarily for bodybuilders but they also work well for anyone else who wants to train hard and improve their physical fitness and physique.

NO2 Max is a pre-workout supplement. When you take it before training, it helps you to train harder and longer and feel less tired.

By helping you to train harder, NO2 Max can help you to burn extra calories and fat and speed up muscle growth.

Although it’s possible to use NO2 Max on its own, it’s been specially formulated to work well alongside all the other CrazyBulk products.

In bodybuilding circles, combining two or more products is commonly known as stacking.

But how good is NO2 Max and can it “stack” the deck in your favor every time you step in the gym?

These are questions we will provide answers to in this NO2 Max review.

NO2 Max Benefits

Provides an extreme energy boost
Enhances performance
Increases strength
Speeds up recovery rates

How Does NO2 Max Work?

NO2 Max boosts the amount of nitric oxide (NO) present in the blood. This relaxes the walls of the blood vessels, causing them to dilate. When the blood vessels dilate and become wider, it improves circulation. This process is known as vasodilation.

Vasodilation can improve your training ability in a couple of ways.

The first thing it does is help the blood carry extra oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. Both are essential to the processes that generate energy within the muscles.

After you have finished training, the extra oxygen and nutrients will also speed up your recovery rate.

The second thing vasodilation does is help you maintain aerobic energy production for longer.

There are two ways the body can produce energy in the muscles. The first and most efficient way involves oxygen (aerobic metabolism).

However, when you train your muscles hard, you use oxygen so fast your heart can’t pump it to your muscles fast enough. That’s why you begin breathing harder. All that panting is your body’s way of trying to deliver extra oxygen to the places it needs to be.

When there is insufficient oxygen in the muscles, they can still produce energy for a short time (anaerobic metabolism) but the process causes lactic acid and other chemicals to build up in the muscles. This makes them burn and will eventually make you have to stop and take a rest.

By delaying the onset of anaerobic metabolism, good NO boosters like NO2 Max can significantly increase your ability to train.

What’s the Best Way to Use NO2 Max?

The dose is two pills per day. You take them with water 20 minutes before your workouts.

Ingredient Profile

Two capsules per day provide:

L-Arginine alpha-Ketoglutarate 1,800 mg

DiCalciaum Phosphate 80 mg

How Good Is the Formulation?

Okay, now we know what the ingredients are, it’s time to take a look at what they can do.

L-Arginine alpha-Ketoglutarate

Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AAKG) provides the amino acid L. arginine in a form the body finds easy to absorb.

More specifically, AAKG is an L. arginine salt that combines the amino acid with alpha-ketoglutarate.

L. arginine is a semi-essential amino acid. Your body can make it but it doesn’t make enough of it to support high-intensity training and rapid muscle growth.

Certain foods provide L. arginine too but, when you plan to put in some hard training, you are likely to need a supplement to pick up the slack.

Like other amino acids, L. arginine is one of the building blocks your body requires to make muscle. It serves multiple roles in the body though and one of the things it does is boost NO.

Some supplements use L. citronella to boost NO but a research-based comparison between L. arginine and L. citrulline suggests L. arginine provides superior vasodilation. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683098/)

The value of L. arginine supplements has been the subject of many clinical trials. A lot of them explored its ability to enhance physical stamina and training ability.

One of the clinical trials was conducted on elite male wrestlers. Data from the study shows the L. arginine increased the amount of time it took for the men to become exhausted while training. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4135062/)

DiCalcium Phosphate

DiCalcium Phosphate provides calcium. As you will have learned in your biology classes at high school, you need plenty of calcium for strong bones and teeth.

Some studies suggest calcium may also help you to burn extra fat while your train but that’s not its main purpose here.

Supplements that provide calcium help improve muscle function by acting as a kind of signaling apparatus. The mineral’s ability to enhance the signalling process improves muscle contraction, helping to provide increases in strength. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10893434/)

Are There Any Customer Reviews on NO2 MAX?

NO2 Max customer feedback is difficult to find but we dug deep and visited a lot of bodybuilding and health and fitness forums. It wasn’t easy but we managed to locate 107 reviews. All of them were good.

Here are a few sample comments.

I’m here to review NO2 Max, and I have been noticing that it has really helped my workouts. More specifically, I noticed an increase in muscle size and power. I feel as if my endurance is also increasing, which means that I can workout for a longer time without getting tired. Great stuff!
SS, Miami USA

I know I’m stronger. I can lift heavy weights with ease and my endurance is through the roof. It’s like these workouts are gearing towards something… A few days ago, it finally hit me that this was happening because of NO2 Max! My muscles have been blooming since starting on the product, but now they’re just growing in size too. It seems like my body is becoming more powerful and capable as time goes by! This stuff really works for me.”
Paul A, Texas, USA

I’ve been a long time customer and I’m now on my fifth bottle of Nitric Oxide Max. When I first started taking it, I noticed that my workouts were more intense and that muscle growth was occurring much faster than before. Most guys at the gym had heard about this product from all of their friends who have seen insane results but didn’t believe anything until they tried it for themselves. It’s not like other products where you feel jittery or anxious after working out because with NO2, you are able to complete your workout in a shorter amount of time while feeling awake and energized afterwards!
Gunter, Boston, USA

Is There a Risk of Side Effects?

NO2 Max only has two key ingredients and neither one of them has a reputation for causing side effects so negative reactions are highly unlikely.

However, if you are taking medication(s), have any health issues, or suspect that you might, it makes sense to check with your physician before using any brand of supplement for the first time.

Who Shouldn’t Use NO2 Max

NO2 Max is a muscle building supplement that has been reported to have no side effects, which may make it seem like this product can be used by everyone.

But there are some who should stay away from NO2 Max because of its Sulfur Dioxide content. This warning especially applies if you’re allergic to sulfur dioxide or prone to allergies- people with asthma could experience serious breathing problems when exposed for long periods of time

Additional Information

By boosting NO and causing vasodilation, NO2 Max may also present some unexpected bonuses.

By relaxing the blood vessels, the supplement will lower blood pressure reducing strain on the heart.

The resulting improvement in circulation will benefit all the major organs as well as the muscles. This will help them function at maximum capacity.

Some men who have been struggling with erectile dysfunction (ED) may find it becomes easier to get hard because the penis will have a better supply of blood as well.

Although it’s important to be aware NO2 Max is not intended to be a male potency booster, if you are thinking of buying this supplement it’s good to be aware of all the ways it can affect your body.

The time to step up your performance is now with the No2 Max Nitric Oxide Booster! This safe and legal formula provides an energizing boost for extreme energy, increased strength, and enhanced endurance.

N02 Max Purchasing Options and Considerations

NO2 Max is exclusive to the CrazyBulk website. This is typical for Wolfson Berg. The company prefers to interact on a one-to-one basis with its customers and never deals with middlemen.

Wolfson Berg’s decision to do this is no bad thing because it makes it impossible for third-party operators to push up the price.

As far as the price goes, NO2 Max is not overly expensive. At the time of this review, a single bottle of NO2 Max cost $59.95. That’s not bad at all for such a good quality pre-workout supplement and there are 30 doses per bottle.

The CrazyBulk website also offers some pretty good special deals that make it easy to stretch your buck a bit further.

The first way you can save is by taking advantage of the opportunity to get three bottles of NO2 Max for the price of two. This brings the cost per bottle down to just under $40.

Regardless of how many bottles you buy, with CrazyBulk products, shipping is always free.

Latest NO2 Max Price

You can make further savings by taking advantage of Wolfson Berg’s flash sales. These are a regular feature on the CrazyBulk website. You’ll know if a flash sale is running because there will be a banner announcing it at the bottom of every page of the site.

Flash sales generally allow you to get a 20 percent discount but they only run for 24 hours so you may need to act fast if the offer is there.

NO2 Max Review Conclusion

A good pre-workout supplement can give you the energy and stamina to train harder and improve your gains in muscle mass and physical strength. CrazyBulk NO2 Max can do these things and thanks to a clever pairing of two powerful ingredients it’s not just a good pre-workout, it’s one of the best.

Customer reviews confirm the formulation can do the things it’s designed to do and, once you understand the capabilities of the two key ingredients, it’s easy to understand why it NO2 Max works as well as it does.

However, it’s important to understand the need to use the product alongside a well-structured training regimen and a suitably nutritious diet.

Exercise is a trigger mechanism. It breaks down your existing muscle tissue causing the need for repair. Your body requires a sufficient supply of protein and other nutrients to carry out the repair.

NO2 Max does not change this process. It gives you the extra leverage you need to train harder than normal. Working your muscles harder creates a greater need for repair and growth.

The improvements in circulation the NO2 Max provides also support faster healing and muscle growth. It does this by helping your muscles get a better supply of nutrients but it cannot do this if your diet fails to provide them. It doesn’t change the system it enhances it.

If you are prepared to put make the right efforts, NO2 Max can help you maximize the results.

Bodybuilding Basics – Nice Bod, to Magazine Model, to Mr. Olympia

Updated on July 24, 2021 by Brad Murphy

Have you ever wanted to start bodybuilding but didn’t know where to begin? Well, this blog post is for you! We will cover the basics in a way that is easy for beginners. You’ll learn about how the human body builds muscles and what can be done to maximize your muscle-building potential. And don’t worry if you’re not sure whether or not this type of workout routine is appropriate for you–we’ll explain everything!

Bodybuilding is an art, a science, a philosophy and a discipline all in one.

Training for brute strength is some of those things for sure, as is training for maximum size.

However, training for physical perfection is something else. It’s about counting calories, looking jacked and shredding fat. It’s about bulking and cutting, balancing and measuring.

Most of this website deals with building, whether it’s building strength and/or size. Bodybuilding is kind of unique enough to merit its own introduction.

I’ve written a strength training primer, and a size training primer, so it makes sense to me to have a separate word or two about bodybuilding.

It’s not that bodybuilding isn’t a case of increasing strength and muscle mass, because it is of course, but it’s also about systematically training every muscle group to look as well proportioned, balanced and sharply defined as possible.

Diet for Bodybuilding

Food is the biggest factor physique transformation. It is the most anabolic, or growth stimulating, thing you can do.

Diet, and the control of it, is the main difference between “bodybuilding” training and strength/hypertrophy training.

If the magazine fitness model look, or even the Mr. Olympia look is your endgame, you will have to learn to master your dietary intake like a pro.

Someone looking to increase strength or size can follow a fairly linear diet. A calorie surplus combined with training and adequate sleep promotes a growth environment.

So long as the goal is growth, this process can remain more or less the same. Refined along the way perhaps, but not by much.

It’s when you want to have the defined, sculpted appearance of a bodybuilder that things get interesting.

Training styles and seasonal periodization (known as cycles) have to be adapted to fit the target, and so does nutritional intake.

A cut cycle, for example, undertaken before summer or before a competition is basically a tricky balancing act between reducing body fat and retaining muscle mass.

Many people on a cut cycle are following their bulk cycle – where they have added as much muscle mass to their frame as possible.

In turn, a bulk cycle might follow a strength cycle where they have trained specifically to provide themselves with a solid platform to build mass on and prevent injury.

Some parts of the year will be in calorie surplus, some in calories restriction and some in calories maintenance, where the body weight stays fixed but the physique might still change according to training.

BodyBuilding Basics – Best Foods to Eat to Gain Muscle

Here are some of the best foods to eat to bulk up and pack on the muscle.

This is not a complete list, but it’s a good place to start.

Oats:

Oatmeal has long been an essential part of the bodybuilder’s diet because it provides energy and carbs for quick muscle recovery

Tuna or other fish:

High in protein, Tuna and other fishes are great sources of high quality protein that will help you build lean muscle mass quickly.

Chicken breast:

Chicken breasts provide slow burning fuel instead of sugar rushes like white bread which can be helpful if your goal is to bulk up rather than cut fat.

Milk:

Milk contains both whey proteins (a natural supplement) as well as casein proteins which makes milk one of the best ways to get extra muscle mass building protein.

Cottage cheese:

A piece of cottage cheese is a great way to go on the fly because you can just grab it and eat it without having to worry about mixing in anything else.

Eggs:

Eggs are an easy, convenient food that will help you get your essential vitamins and nutrients each day with plenty of high quality proteins for muscle growth.

Olive oil or peanut butter (or both):

Two common household staples, olive oil and peanut butter provide healthy fats which can help increase energy levels as well as burning fat more quickly throughout the body.

There is an article devoted to bulking foods here

BodyBuilding Basics – Training for Muscle Hypertrophy

Hand in hand with diet comes target-specific training that every bodybuilder must switch up cycle after cycle to maintain consistency and long-term rhythm.

Periodization and cycles are tried and tested methods of keeping the training adaptations flowing and prevent stagnation.

A professional bodybuilder simply cannot stay in competition form all year long. If nothing else, when they are on stage they are probably in their unhealthiest state of the entire year.

The same might be said, although to a lesser degree, for a fitness model come photograph day.

What is usually not documented is their off season bulk cycle and pre-photo prep before holding a pose.

Some folks of course seem to look similar all year round. In reality they are probably always working on something, some area of their body or muscle group, no matter how minor the change appears to be.

If you want your muscles to grow, you need to train them with resistance.

There are three different types of muscular contractions: fast twitch, slow twitch and mixed. The type of contraction determines the type of training that will cause your muscles to grow best.

Fast-twitch muscle fibers respond better to heavy weight lifting (80%+), while slower-twitch fibers require lighter weights and higher repetitions for growth – both types can be trained by following a program designed for each one specifically.

Mixed-type muscles have an advantage in this regard because they can use either method depending on what’s needed at any given time, so it makes sense if you’re not sure which kind you’ve got yet then start doing everything!

The human body is capable of producing more muscle mass than it requires. In order to avoid an over-sized, bulky appearance, the body builds up this mass without adding any extra muscle fibers.

This is also why you’re not as strong when you wake up in the morning – your muscles are fully rested after a night’s sleep and so they can’t produce their maximum strength during that time period.

BodyBuilding Basics – Mindset of a Bodybuilder

It’s the last little section I’m going to write in this bodybuilding intro, but it’s the most difficult aspect to define, obtain, and maintain.

Mindset is everything. From going to bed early, refusing that beer, eating clean every single day, to pushing the limits in the gym, making sacrifices and accepting the temporary nature of the thing you are working so hard for.

Perfection is something that cannot be achieved. It’s like the speed of light – it doesn’t matter how much you try, you can never reach it.

Professional bodybuilders know this.

It’s once you realize that they will try to achieve it every single year, regardless, that you start to understand their mindset.

If you want to be a bodybuilder you have to think like one.. This means that you need to develop a certain mindset and have the right attitude. These are things that will help when it comes time for lifting weights, eating healthy, etc.

You should always think positively about your bodybuilding goals. No matter how hard or long it takes—you must never give up hope on yourself!

Some bodybuilder take natural nootropic supplements to help them concentrate and focus on their training.

It can be easy at times not to believe in yourself if no one else does but this is wrong because all of us ‍have some kind of talent even if its something small like being able to dance good. We just have to keep believing until we reach our goal which may take years (or maybe only minutes).

Remember: You’re stronger than you realize so don’t let anything stop you from achieving what you want to do!

Click here to learn about Hypertrophy and its Myofibrillar and Sarcoplasmic ways

Training Specifically for Muscle Size, Mass and Bulk

Updated on January 18, 2021 by Brad Murphy

Training specifically for muscle size. When you look at the world’s greatest bodybuilders, you would be forgiven for thinking they are also the world’s strongest men.

They do after all have the largest muscles of anybody. The idea that someone who weighs a hundred pounds less than Mr. Olympia can out-lift him, and out-lift him by a good margin, is surely counter-intuitive.

Of course, powerlifters, strongmen and pure weightlifters are the strongest people on the planet, despite their muscle measurements not stacking up to those of a professional bodybuilder.

So, what gives?

The theory that you can train differently, and specifically, for sheer size or likewise for raw strength, is long established.

There are a lot of intricacies to this, and it’s not even a subject the scientific, nor athletic, community has a complete understanding of yet.

However, it’s obviously possible. And to that end, I will discuss both strength specific training and size specific training throughout this website.

Read the strength primer, and the hypertrophy article to gain some insight into the basics.

For now, let’s talk about getting massive.

Training Specifically for Muscle Size – Training Volume

You will hear this again and again: to build bulk muscle mass, you need to train high volume.

“Training Volume” in basic terms refers to the number of reps and sets you are putting in to a muscle/muscle group per week, assuming the weight/load remains relative to effort.

In even simpler terms. 5 sets a week is better than 3 sets, and 10 sets is better than 5, when it comes to increasing muscle hypertrophy (Krieger study and Schoenfeld study)

Of course, there’s a point when overtraining within the session would become a problem but it is also it’s own limiting factor. Sometimes you just don’t have another set in you.

Success here is best measured by results, and finding the “sweet spot” volume wise for you as an individual is part of the fun.

Training Specifically for Muscle Size – Training Frequency

Frequency and volume are tied to one another, but can have independent effects depending on how you design your program.

Training a muscle or muscle group twice or more a week would be considered high-frequency, which by the way is associated with greater muscle growth over time (Schoenfeld and Krieger)

If you do the same routine as you would on a single session per week then you are also doubling your volume.

However, if you halve your intra-session set count because you’re now training twice per week then you are keeping your volume relatively equal.

There isn’t enough evidence to compare different frequencies and equivocal volume with different volumes and equivocal frequency.

If I was pushed I’d say higher frequency wins out because due to triggering anabolic pathways more often.

Training Specifically for Muscle Size – Going Anaerobic

If you’ve read the strength training article then note the discussion about the order of cardio and resistance training.

Cardio saps energy and energy is required to push/pull the heaviest loads possible to elicit the greatest strength gains.

The same doesn’t appear to be true for gains in muscle size. This could have something to do with the theory that sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is often the type of muscle fiber growth associated with size, is triggered by anaerobic processes.

What I mean is that working your muscles under load and going deep into anaerobic respiration appears to stimulate post-training muscle hypertrophy, regardless of the load.

Something bodybuilders often do is to focus on the bigger muscles after they have virtually exhausted themselves working on smaller groups. As such they use smaller loads.

They might say something like “the muscles don’t know what weight they are lifting”.

So if size gains are more associated with higher rep sets that go deeply anaerobic, rather than the actual weight, it shouldn’t matter what order cardio and resistance training are done in (Eddens study)

However, when comparing resistance training only sessions with cardio plus resistance training sessions, the RT only wins with respect to size gains (Wilson study)

The last point there suggests cardio exercise has some attenuating effect on anabolic processes, as is also the case for strength specific training.

Slow, Fast or Both?

I really enjoy playing with the speed of my reps, but does it pay to lift fast or slow?

Scientists call this “movement velocity” and they have measurements. A slow movement is between 2 to 3 seconds for the eccentric contraction and the same for the concentric.

A fast movement would be about a second for each of the eccentric and concentric portions.

What’s nice and weird is that quads tend to grow more from slow movement velocities while biceps grow bigger from fast movements (Hackett study)

The studies aren’t plentiful so you can’t go making sweeping statements like that really. However, let’s just do a quick thought experiment based on the above cited meta.

Let’s say quads do grow bigger from slow reps and biceps grow larger from fast reps.

Could it be that the more muscles there are in the main group – quads having four and biceps having two – account for the difference?

Or, perhaps it’s just mass – quads are much bigger than biceps. Perhaps it’s a bit of both.

Whatever it is, it’s worth exploring. Do a few weeks of going slow and compare with a few weeks of going fast.

Personally, I like mixing explosive reps with slow reps, especially for the bigger compound lifts like squats, for the potential that they activate different kinds of muscle fibers – slow-twitch (type I) and fast-twitch (type IIa and IIb).

Strength Training for Bodybuilders – Starting Out

Updated on November 12, 2020 by Brad Murphy

This article is for bodybuilders who want to gain strength. The muscle may look good but it may lack strength and power. Here is a guide for strength training for bodybuilders

If you’re starting out on the path of resistance training then this will be a valuable read.

With articles like this, I endeavour to be brief, while “priming” you with enough information to (a) help you understand the subject a little more; and (b) highlight some areas of interest you might want to pursue.

Resistance training with the specific goal of increasing strength is, I believe, the most important discipline within the overall bodybuilding and physique enhancement ethos.

I consider it the default training mode because it is an entirely functional platform from which additional performance, sport, physique and strength goals can be successfully realized.

High Load Resistance Training

Lifting heavy loads leads to significantly greater gains in dynamic strength than low load training. This is fairly unsurprising but it has still taken several studies and some meta analysis to prove scientifically.

High loads are defined here as weight equal or greater than 60% of your 1RM (one rep max).

The term “dynamic” here refers to the movement of the muscle, and thus the load, by either concentric contractions (where the muscle shortens) or eccentric contractions (where the muscle lengthens but muscle fibers still contracting under load).

An example of a concentric contraction is the shortening (and bulging) of the biceps during a bicep curl as the weight is moved upwards towards the shoulder.

Here, the contraction forces applied by the biceps are greater than the downward force of the weight.

As the weight is lowered to a straight arm position, still under load, an eccentric contraction is performed and the biceps lengthen. Here the contraction forces of the biceps are outweighed by the forces acting on the load.

Isometric strength, where the muscle does not move and the weight is held statically, is not significantly different with low-load versus high-load training.

Strength gains however tend to only be made in the specific position of the isometric hold.

1RM – One Rep Max

This is the maximum load you can lift for one repetition, i.e. a single concentric-eccentric contraction.

A 1RM should always be completed under the supervision of a spotter or multiple spotters for large compound movements where a failure could be dangerous.

Examples include squats, bench press and military press.

The 1RM is a benchmark for people looking to increase their dynamic strength but is also used by people who are more interested in maximum size gains.

Compound Movements

Compound movements are typically lifts where multiple muscle groups and joints are employed to execute them.

The Big Four compound lifts – which I will repeatedly refer to on this website – are the classic Deadlift, Squat, Shoulder Press, and Bench Press.

These, or variations of them, are the pillars of dynamic strength training, and cannot be ignored if brute strength is your goal.

Executed correctly, they activate many major muscle groups dynamically, and many secondary support muscles isometrically, including the entire core.

Lift First – Cardio Second

This is another aspect of strength training which seems obvious in hindsight but is obviously not from the beginning.

I see a lot of people doing a cardio session prior to their resistance training sequence, and much more than a light 5 minute warmup.

Performing any type of cardio, aerobic or anaerobic, before lifting weights is a bad idea, and the science is there to back me up.

Without going into depth about muscle glycogen and carbohydrate vs fat oxidation, just think of it in terms of energy.

Your strength training needs maximum energy for maximum gains, so that you can repeatedly push or pull heavy weight (> 60 % of 1RM).

Using a lot of your stored fuel reservoir during a cardio session, before even hitting the weights, will reduce much of the potential progress to be made in strength.

By contrast, your aerobic fitness is not dependent on the same sequencing, so in “getting the cardio out of the way” there is no benefit to speak of.

In this context, maximum strength gains would actually be made if cardio is not completed on the same days as strength training.

However, time constraints, in addition to the important health aspects of regular cardio cannot be ignored.

Variable Resistance, Negative Reps and Periodization

There is more to discuss about strength training…much, much more. This being a mere primer, I don’t want to write a thesis about it here.

It’s worth briefly mentioning some other interesting areas that have been studied in a clinical setting, and to the point that meta-analyses (studies of studies, if you will) have been conducted.

Variable resistance is an interesting training adaptation that leads to improved strength gains, even for experienced lifters [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25968227].

This involves the attachment of bands – which increase resistance as elastic potential loads – or chains – which increase in weight as more is lifted from the floor.

Periodization has been tested in a scientific setting, comparing linear periodization with undulating.

Undulating periodization, where set length and load is altered week by week, appears to be most effective for leg press strength, where squat and bench press weren’t really affected.

None of the results were statistically significant, but many people believe that “keeping the body guessing” in this way does lead to greater adaptations.

Negative Reps are a specific way of training that requires a spotter or spotters to help with the “positive” concentric rep while the lifter performs the “negative” eccentric rep.

This is generally done to allow large loads to be used, i.e. those greater than the lifter could actually push or pull through the concentric contraction.

It is said that this training method can elicit greater strength gains due to the neural and muscular adaptation required to perform controlled eccentric contractions under heavier and heavier loads.

Which is Better Creatine or Beta Alanine? Is it Fair to Compare?

Updated on June 30, 2021 by Brad Murphy

Creatine and Beta Alanine are often compared. Is it fair to analyze their differences though? Although similar they are responsible for different workout benefits.

Creatine or Beta Alanine?

Although similar, it is wise to note that creatine helps with short, intense bursts of power, while beta alanine can prevent lactic acid from getting into your muscles and making you fatigue more during your workouts.

Firstly I am going to give an overview of Creatine and what it does.

Creatine Monohydrate is the Granddaddy of strength supplements. If you ever meet anyone who tells you to avoid creatine, find a computer, google ‘moron’…and then smack them over the head with the keyboard.

I jest (but not really).

Creatine best supplement — Creatine – arguably the go to supplement for strength

Once upon a time, I was asked to review a product – for the sake of anonymity, let’s call it SuperCreatine.

SuperCreatine was a “nitric oxide booster” in capsule form, and one of the “benefits” they listed in the marketing hype was “Creatine Free!!”

Not only would SuperCreatine fail to raise the nitric oxide levels of a growth-stunted dung beetle, but the manufacturers thought its distinct lack of creatine was a selling point.

My review was honest. They didn’t send me any more free crap.

Creatine and Phosphocreatine for ATP Cycle

Creatine occurs naturally in your body. It’s synthesized in your liver and kidneys at a rough rate of 1 gram per day.

It’s also partially replenished via your dietary intake, which can provide another single gram per day.

Those 2 grams play a pivotal role in the recycling of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) from ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

It does this by being converted to phosphocreatine once it reaches the muscles or brain, and donating phosphate groups when ADP needs to be phosphorylated back to ATP.

It’s a phosphate donor.

Most of your creatine stores are in your skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine. Some is in your brain, floating around in your blood, or in other organs and tissues.

ATP is the principal energy molecule in your body, and for all life as we know it. It’s more like a broker though, acting as an intermediary between stored energy and processes that require it.

Creatine Monohydrate and Saturating Your Cells

Here’s the fun part about: you have room to store much more than you synthesize or obtain from your diet.

The two gram turnover that I talked about in the section above is satisfactory for people who don’t engage in anaerobic resistance training regularly.

However, if you lift, and your sets often go into the red, your creatine stores can be quickly depleted as phosphate groups are donated faster than they can be replenished.

So, if you take an appropriate dose on a daily basis, not only will it mitigate your energy deficit problem, it will eventually saturate your cells.

Saturation provides your muscles with a reservoir of phosphocreatine to recycle enough ATP for your daily gym shenanigans.

What Can Creatine Do For You?

Let’s put some numbers on this, shall we?

A meta-analysis of creatine studies found that creatine supplementation adds:
8% to the user’s Squat strength
3% to the user’s Leg Press strength
Another meta-analysis showed improvements in Bench strength and lean body mass.

The type of training it helps with is short bursts of force output that go into anaerobic respiration.

Anything less than 30 seconds is where creatine is at home, i.e. most mass/strength building sets.

Some efforts lasting between 30 seconds and 2.5 minutes can also benefit from creatine supplementation, like a volume set of squats for example.

Effects become unreliable for efforts lasting longer than two and a half minutes.

Creatine Monohydrate best supplement in the world

What About Different Forms of Creatine?

Creatine monohydrate (CM) is the cheapest form of creatine. Companies can no longer make oodles of profit from CM, so they had to shake up the business and make some fancy sounding creatines.

The thing is, CM provides the closest to 100% absorption out of any type of creatine.

Also, those creatine powders mixed with something for “ultra fast absorption” are missing the point. Creatine doesn’t need to be absorbed super fast.

All you have to do with CM is build it up to the point of cell saturation. When you work out, you use some of it, and the next time you take a dose, you just top up your creatine pool.

Absorption speed is irrelevant. And spending more money to get it is silly.

The only concession I have made is to buy “micronized” CM, because it mixes better with my protein shake.

Should I Cycle Creatine?

There’s no real point in cycling creatine. If you come off it, you’ll only have to re-saturate your cells again when you go back on it.

There’s no safety concern with using creatine long term at the doses recommended below.

How Much Should I Take and What About Loading Doses?

Between 3 and 6 grams per day appears work out for most people. Taking this amount will slowly saturate your cells but you should still have a surplus to requirements during the saturation phase.

Loading creatine by taking 20 to 25 grams per day (split into four or five separate doses to be easier on the stomach) for about five days will help you reach saturation quicker.

Loading can increase the water retention effect (creatine initially pulls water into the muscles), and high doses can cause mild stomach cramps…plus, there’s no real need to load.

Personally I throw 5 grams into my post-workout shake.

Job done.

Is Creatine Safe?

Remarkable so. Some old studies were super cautious about creatine so you might read that the long term effects are unknown or that it might tax the kidneys.

Long term use of high doses of creatine are still unknown because nobody is dumb enough to take large doses for years, because it’s not necessary. Five grams a day is fine.

Some people should avoid loading creatine just in case. They include (and might not be limited to) people with high blood pressure, people with reduced kidney function.

That’s Creatine covered in a very concise manner – let’s talk about Beta Alanine.

What is Beta Alanine?

Do you know what beta-alanine is doing inside your body when you take it? Is it necessary to take it before a workout? And what’s that weird tingly feeling all about? Is it safe?

beta alanine supplement — Beta Alanine is often compared to Creatine.

All the questions are valid, and a few might yield surprising answers for some of you.

Beta-Alanine is one of the most common ingredients in today’s pre-workout supplements.

It’s become so accepted in the sports supplement industry that if you don’t see around 3.2 grams of the patented standard beta-alanine extract CarnoSyn in your pre-workout, you’d have to wonder why.

Hopefully, most people using it are aware of its effects, and understand its capabilities and shortcomings. If not, this is the article for you because you should know what you’re putting in to your body.

Beta Alanine – A Lowly Non-Essential Amino Acid?

We tend to put more stock in the essential amino acids as supplements because we can’t synthesize them within our bodies.

Essential AAs are therefore obtained from out diet, and we can top them up or add to them with supplements.

There are 9 essential AAs but the ones you are most aware of are probably the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine. That’s because of their importance in muscle tissue, energy and recovery.

Beta-Alanine is a non-essential amino acid. The non-essential AAs are often thought of as less important but that’s a mistake.

In fact, non-essential AAs like beta-alanine are often the limiting factors in the bio-chemical processes that also involve essential amino acids.

This will make more sense if we talk about Carnosine.

Carnosine, Beta-Alanine and Histidine

Beta-Alanine is made in your liver and from there travels to, and enters, your muscle tissue. Once there it hooks up with the essential amino-acid, Histidine.

The two together form a dipeptide (two amino acids linked together) called Carnosine.

Carnosine cannot enter muscle tissue so it has to be made inside it. There it is stored for use as a buffer to lactic acid and protection against oxidative stress in general.

It can however be broken down to its constituent substrates (beta-alanine and histidine) in the liver, which can then travel to muscle tissue and reverse the process.

That said, it is accepted that beta-alanine supplementation is the most efficient and preferred route for increasing muscle carnosine levels.

Moreover, beta-alanine is the limiting step in carnosine production, unless there is a histidine deficiency, and so it only makes sense for athletes and bodybuilders to supplement with BA.

What Does Carnosine Do For My Workouts?

Most people associate beta-alanine with giving them the extra gas for one or two more reps in a set.

This effect comes from the additional muscle carnosine that supplementing BA provides. Carnosine acts as a buffer to acid – lactic acid included – and slowing the fatiguing effects of a drop in pH level.

Several studies have found that beta-alanine can improve physical performance, reduce fatigue and even increase the hypertrophic effect of training because of the lactic acid buffering effect.

It’s quite specific in doing this though. The exercise range where beta-alanine can help you squeeze some more energy out is between 60 seconds to 4 minute of high output training.

Imagine an 800 or 1500 meter race, or high volume sets of squats, and you’re in the right zone.

Are There Any Other Benefits of Beta-Alanine Supplementation?

Some interesting research shows that BA can attenuate the aging process of cells. This is once again due to carnosine’s protective actions, defending cells of oxidative damage.

There are two ways in which BA might help slow the aging process: by preserving DNA from the shortening effect of multiple replications, or by slowing the build-up of toxic altered protein by-products in cells.

Supplement Timing

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that beta-alanine had become almost ubiquitous in the context of pre-workout powder supplements.

The thing is, it’s something that you accumulate, in a similar way to creatine monohydrate.

Over several days of taking 2 to 5 grams of BA per day you will basically create a storage reservoir of carnosine within your muscle tissue.

This is all to say that you can actually supplement BA separately, and its efficacy is not dependant on timing.

Therefore, if you have a favourite pre-workout blend that doesn’t include BA, or you don’t enjoy the tingles (parasthesia – see below) during a workout, or after a large dose, then you can split the BA servings up and take them anytime you want.

Parasethesia – A Harmless Side Effect

Supplementing with beta-alanine can cause a harmless side effect known as parasthesia – a tingly skin sensation that is mostly felt in the face, neck and shoulders but that can spread the the extremities.

It tends to happen when larger doses (2 to 5 grams) are taken at once, which of course is the case where pre-workout supplements are concerned.

Again, though, it’s not a harmful effect. It’s simply a case of whether you mind it or not. Some people enjoy it, me included.

Creatine or Beta Alanine Which is Best – Conclusion

If you ask a hundreds personal trainers, bodybuilders or supplement to choose either creatine or Beta Alanine you will most likely get an equal split between Creatine and Beta Alanine advocates.

So that kind of answers the question. Why choose – use them both as they are complimentary.