If you are wondering if you should bulk, then you should definitely be bulking. A lot of people make fun of the perma-bulkers but if you put your body through a period of intense muscle development, your gains will become stunningly better than they are currently.
This is a technique that has been in use for a long, long time and you can see it everywhere around you. Just look at the movies — Ryan Reynolds in Blade Trinity, Jason Momoa in Conan and Chris Hemsworth in Thor all bulked before they shot the movies. There is a lot of information on the internet about how to bulk, but in the end you can summarize it in these five steps. Here’s how to bulk like a pro.
Step 1: Find Out How Many Calories You Need to Maintain Your Body Weight
This is your caloric maintenance number — the number of calories your body needs to keep itself exactly where it is right now. If you want to put on more muscle, you have to tell your body to grow by sending it the right signals.
You bulk using two main signals: eating and working out. Before you plan anything else, get your calories in check. If you don’t do this, don’t even bother starting. If you want to put on weight, your body needs more calories than it burns. It’s that simple.
How to find your maintenance calories:
- Use a calorie calculator — these are based on years of research and will give you a solid starting estimate of your daily calorie needs
- Eat exactly that amount for one week without changing anything else, and check your weight before and after
- If your weight hasn’t changed, run it for another week to confirm. If your weight went up, reduce by 250 calories and repeat. If it went down, add 250 calories and repeat. Keep adjusting until you find two consecutive weeks with no weight change
This process might take a month or two, but when you’re done you’ll know your maintenance number with confidence — and that precision makes everything else in the bulk work better.
Why this matters more than people think: Most people skip this step and just guess. Then they spend months either not gaining (eating at maintenance without knowing it) or gaining too fast (eating well above maintenance and accumulating fat they’ll spend months cutting off). Getting this right upfront saves you that time.
Step 2: Map Out Your Calorie Surplus
Now that you know your maintenance calories, you can move to the next phase — creating your actual bulking diet. You need a surplus, but finding the right amount is everything. Too much and you gain fat. Too little and you stall.
The sweet spot is a 5–10% surplus above maintenance.
- 5% surplus: minimum effective amount for muscle growth, very lean gains
- 10% surplus: optimal balance between muscle gain and fat control — this is where most people should sit
- 20% surplus: you will gain fat faster than muscle — the extra calories don’t go to muscle beyond a certain point
For a practical example: if your maintenance is 3,000 calories, a 10% surplus puts you at 3,300 calories per day. That’s not a dramatic change — but applied consistently over months, it drives steady, lean muscle growth.
Track your weight weekly. Aim for 0.5–1 pound of gain per week. Any faster than that and the extra weight is almost certainly fat. If strength is climbing alongside bodyweight, you’re gaining muscle. If bodyweight is climbing but strength isn’t, something is off with your calories or training.
Step 3: Know What to Eat
You’ve got your calorie target. Now you need to know how to fill those calories with the right macronutrients.
Protein
Protein is the building block of muscle tissue. Without sufficient protein, the calorie surplus won’t translate into muscle — it’ll just become fat.
Target 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight as a starting point. If you’re a hardgainer or have a fast metabolism, push that to 1.2–1.5 grams per pound. For a 180-pound person, that’s 180–270 grams of protein per day, spread across meals.
For more detail on hitting high protein targets through whole food, see our guide on how much protein a day to build muscle.
Best protein sources for bulking:
- Chicken breast and turkey (lean, high protein)
- Lean beef and pork
- Fish — salmon, tuna, tilapia, cod
- Eggs — whole eggs and whites
- Greek yogurt and cottage cheese
- Whey protein for post-workout or when whole food isn’t convenient
Carbohydrates
Carbs fuel your training and support muscle recovery. They’re not the enemy during a bulk — they’re essential. Here’s what you need to know about carbohydrates for muscle gain: best sources, timing, and how much to eat.
Target 2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight per day, which should account for roughly 45–55% of your daily caloric needs. If you train for 2–3 hours daily, push this to 3 grams per pound, which brings carbs to 55–65% of total calories.
Concentrate the majority of your carb intake around training — before and after your session is when your muscles are most primed to use carbohydrates. Outside the training window, lean toward protein and fats.
Best carb sources for bulking:
- Oats
- Brown rice
- Sweet potatoes
- Whole wheat bread and pasta
- Quinoa
- Fruits and vegetables for fiber and micronutrients
Avoid high-glycemic junk carbs — sugar, white bread, processed foods. They spike insulin without providing sustained energy or meaningful nutrients.
Fats
Fats are not just an energy source — they’re essential for hormonal function, joint health, and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Don’t cut them during a bulk.
To calculate your fat intake: take your total daily calories, subtract the calories from your protein and carb targets, and the remainder should come from fat. Dietary fat has 9 calories per gram, protein and carbs have 4 each.
Best fat sources for bulking:
- Avocados
- Olive oil
- Nuts and nut butters
- Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel)
- Eggs (the yolk)
- Full-fat dairy
Step 4: Know What Supplements to Use
A bulking diet is built on real food — supplements fill the gaps, they don’t replace meals. That said, a few are genuinely worth using during a bulk.
Whey Protein — When you’re tired of eating chicken breasts and fish, whey gets you protein quickly and conveniently. It’s also the most practical way to hit your protein target in the post-workout window when a full meal isn’t possible. There is no serious bulk without whey protein.
Creatine — Creatine is the most researched supplement in sports nutrition and one of the few that consistently delivers. It increases training capacity and allows you to push more volume — and more training volume means more muscle growth over time. If you’re not taking creatine during a bulk, you’re leaving gains behind.
Caffeine — Simple and effective. A cup of coffee or a caffeine supplement before training increases performance, focus, and training intensity. You don’t need a pre-workout full of proprietary blends — caffeine is the active ingredient that actually works.
What you don’t need:
- Fat burners (counterproductive during a bulk)
- Testosterone boosters (redundant if training and diet are right)
- Expensive amino acid blends (whey protein covers your amino acid needs)
Step 5: Set Your Sleep Schedule
Sleep is where the bulk actually happens. Training provides the stimulus for muscle growth. Food provides the building blocks. But the actual construction takes place during sleep — specifically during deep sleep when growth hormone is released in its largest daily pulse.
Your body will not grow if you don’t sleep. The signals from training tell your muscles to grow. Sleep is when they actually do it.
7 hours is the minimum. 8–9 hours is better, and for serious athletes in a heavy training phase, the upper end of that range is worth prioritising. Every hour of sleep you cut is recovery you’re not getting and growth that isn’t happening.
Practical tips for better sleep during a bulk:
- Keep a consistent sleep schedule — same time to bed and same time to wake, including weekends
- Avoid screens for 30 minutes before bed — blue light suppresses melatonin production
- Keep your room cool and dark
- Don’t eat a massive meal immediately before sleep — digestion disrupts sleep quality even if you feel tired
Putting It All Together
A bulk isn’t complicated, but it requires consistency across all five elements simultaneously. Miss one and the others don’t compensate for it.
Get your maintenance calories right. Add a 5–10% surplus. Hit your protein target every day. Train hard. Sleep enough.
Do that for 3–6 months and the results will speak for themselves.
For the food quality side of bulking — what specifically to eat to keep fat gain minimal while maximising muscle — read our clean bulk diet plan with three full day meal plans.
