Bulking up isn't a difficult and tiresome process, as most people perceive. There are simple steps you can undertake and change your overall appearance within the shortest period. It all starts with a balanced diet. Remember, our body needs nutrients for muscle growth as you consistently work out.
As a fitness instructor, I have seen some of my clients buff up within two months. Today, I will provide you with some ninja hacks that will change your overall appearance. Personally, I have benefitted from the diet and the exercise routines I have highlighted below. Patience is the key here because some individuals will see results faster than others.
Quick Summary
- To bulk up fast, you should eat enough protein and increase the intensity of compound liftings.
- Increase the intensity of compound lifting, as it works on numerous muscles at the same time, hence increasing muscle growth faster.
- Take creatine supplements, as they are renowned for increasing muscle growth faster when combined with training.
- Get enough sleep so that your muscles can relax, repair, and regenerate to build more muscles.
- Work on each body muscle at least thrice per week to bulk up faster.
5 Workout Tips To Bulk Up Fast
When trying to gain muscle, the most important thing to do is, you guessed it, work your muscles!
This means spending plenty of time in the gym is the best way to build muscle. There is simply no other way to gain muscle.
And if you want to bulk up fast, that means doing even more exercise with your gym time.
To make the most out of your time at the gym, follow these bulk up workouts:
1. Get Strong On Your Compound Lifts
Compound lifts are exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time.
Doing more compound lifts means working more muscles with less work, instead of slowly targeting one muscle group at a time.
Working more muscles means strengthening more muscles and, in return, that means more muscle growth and the potential to get big fast.
This is the best way to bulk up. One study that followed the progress of muscle strength and growth found that:
Hypertrophy took part in the further increase in strength, with hypertrophy becoming the dominant factor.
- Moritani T, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
Hypertrophy, meaning muscle growth, was directly linked to an increase in strength and compound lifts help you achieve that. (1)
2. Work on Each Muscle Group 2x Per Week
Choosing the proper workout routine is an important step in bulking up. Some people prefer full body workouts while others choose to work different parts of the body on different days.
What works best for one person may not work great for you, so it is important to understand your own needs and preferences if you want to understand how to bulk up.
What is important to keep in mind when figuring out your workout routine is that you should be working each muscle groups at least two times a week.
Since your muscles only grow when you work them, working any muscle group less than two times a week could result in sacrificing your growth and will not allow you to bulk up fast.
3. Minimal Cardio
Eating enough calories is key to bulking up.
So, if you’re doing tons of cardio in your workouts and burning off those calories, muscle growth is going to be a slow process. You won’t be able to get big fast.
Too much cardio could even result in muscle loss.
Most people do cardio 2-3 times a week, but for building muscle fast, it is recommended that you only do cardio once a week.
Cardio is still an important aspect of working out, especially for your heart health, but can work against your muscle gaining goals.
As far as the type of cardio to do when you are trying to get big fast, it is recommended to choose a low intensity cardio like biking or running, or even participating in sport activities.
4. Vary Rep Ranges
Varying rep ranges is important when you are trying to go big fast, but not for muscle confusion.
Muscle confusion isn’t even real. What is real is breaking through plateaus when you reach them and increasing muscle growth.
By switching up your rep ranges, you force your body to utilize different muscle fibers and energy pathways and, in turn, work more of your muscles.
Try doing 5 sets of 5 of an exercise and 3 sets of 10 of the same exercises on alternating days to bulk up fast.
5. Use Slow Negatives
Have you ever heard the saying, “slow and steady wins the race”?
The same principle can be applied here.
When you are lifting weights to get big fast, it’s not a race to go as fast as you can.
You want to go slow and steady.
Not only is this safer than going as fast as you can, but it helps make to sure your form is perfect and also works your muscles harder, increasing growth.
Make sure to focus on slowly lowering the weights (this is the negative part of your rep) and hold the weight for a second or two before continuing into the next rep.
Also Read: Ultimate Bulking Workout Plan
5 Meal Plan Tips To Gain Muscles
Next to working your muscles, changing your diet is one of the best ways to gain weight. Without the proper diet, you can work out as much as you can, but you won’t see results as nearly as fast as with the proper diet and nutrition. (2)
Here’s the kind of bulk up diet you need to gain build muscle fast:
1. Increase Your Calories
When looking to get big fast, you need to keep eating. This means no skipping meals or snacks.
And shoot for eating 3 big meals a day, with snacks in between, instead of one big meal and two smaller ones. The more you eat, the better your gains will be.
To increase the amount of calories you eat, start by tracking the foods you eat normally for a week or two.
Once you have this number, or the number of your maintenance calories, start by adding 200 - 300 calories a day.
2. Pile on the Protein and Calories, and the Macros Will Follow
Protein may just be the most important macro you eat when trying to bulk up fast.
Protein is the building block of muscles, so naturally, you’ll want to eat plenty of protein to ensure your body has enough for your growing muscles.
Good sources of protein include meat, eggs, and protein powder.
Shoot for consuming 1-1.5 grams of protein a day.
As long as you increase the amount of food you are eating and focus on making sure there’s a good source of protein with every meal included in your bulking meal plan, fat and carbs will fall into place.
But, if you still want to track your food intake and compare it to your daily macro recommendation, try out our free macro calculator, and you will get personalized and reliable data that will help you track your bulking progress.
3. Take Creatine
Many people see protein powder as a solution for bulking up fast, but don’t forget about creatine!
Several studies have shown that creatine can greatly increase strength and muscle growth when taken as a supplement and combined with plenty of strength training. (3)
Instead of gaining weight overnight like with steroids, you will start to see progress in your gains within a few days when you take creatine.
The best part is that creatine is pretty cheap and all you need to take is 5 grams a day to get the job done. See this page of our recommended creatine supplements. Make sure you take creatine the right way.
4. Carb Up
While protein is the most important macros you need to consume when building muscle, carbs may be the second most important. Carbs increase the amount of glycogen in your body which means you’ll have more energy in the gym and feel like lifting more and doing more reps.
When getting strong is the most important factor in building muscle, this can be a big plus.
Add more carbs to your meals by adding a large amount of rice, potatoes, oats, bread, or pasta to every meal.
5. Take Mass Gainer Shakes
If you’re busy and find that you are having trouble sitting down to eat 3 big meals a day or keeping up with your calories and macros, you may want to try taking mass gainer shakes.
Mass gainer shakes are shakes that contain all of the essential macros you need to build muscle. Before taking mass gainer shakes, take time to read this post on How to use mass gainers.
You can buy premade gainer shakes if you are pinched for time. Or, you can make them at home. A good gainer shake includes plenty of carbs and proteins, as well as any supplements you wish. Ingredients like milk, oats, peanut butter, protein powder, and creatine are perfect for your at-home gainer shakes.
Additional Tips In Bulking Up
1. Make Eating Your Job
If you’re serious about learning how to bulk up fast, you need to be serious about eating.
This means no skipping meals or snacks, not even if you are too busy or forget. You need to make the time to eat, just like it is your job.
If you need to, take the time out to plan out your day
every day so you know you have the time to sit down and eat 3 big meals a day.
Even if you are busy, there’s no excuse for not eating. Especially if you take advantage of the gainer shakes listed above.
If you are dedicated to building muscle, you will be dedicated to eating a lot.
2. Track Your Calories and Lifts
You may find it beneficial to track your calories and lifts, especially if you see little to no progress after working hard.
Tracking your calories will help you know exactly how much you are eating a day instead of guessing.
You can track everything you eat with helpful apps like Noom or MyFitnessPal.
Some of these apps even have calculators that tell you a roundabout number of how much you need to eat in a day to gain weight.
And you don’t have to count your calories forever—just long enough to know what you’re doing right or wrong.
Sometimes, you can pinpoint mistakes in only a few weeks. Other times, it may take a few months of tracking.
3. Switch Between the Same Meals
The easiest way to know that the meals you are eating have the right about of calories, protein, and carbs is switching between the same ones. Once you find a recipe that you love with everything you need, keep making it!
Try to have 3-5 go-to meals that have all of your essential macros in it so you always have a meal that fits your needs.
Even if you’re in a pinch or running out of time, already knowing what to make can make building muscle that much easier.
4. Sleep
Sleep is essential for your body to perform at its best.
If you are not getting enough sleep, your body may be underperforming and all of the hard work you are putting into building muscle may not stick.
Sleep is also the time when your muscles are recovering, another important step in the muscle building process. (4)
If you are not getting enough sleep, your muscles aren’t repairing properly.
Make sure to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night for the best muscle growth results.
How To Bulk Up Fast: The Bottom Line
Bulking up fast is completely possible, as long as you are dedicated, eat plenty of food, and work hard in the gym. With a little hard work and focus, you will see huge gains before you know it.
Check out our list of the 10 most effective protein powders for men to find the ideal one for you.
Why wait? Begin bulking up today for even faster results!
References
- Chris Beardsley, Explaining how hypertrophy works using only basic principles of muscle physiology, retrieved from https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/explaining-how-hypertrophy-works-using-only-basic-principles-of-muscle-physiology-48beda5fbf1b
- Emily DiNuzzo, Kelsey Abkin, This is how you should eat if you want to build lean muscle, retrieved from https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-eat-for-muscle-growth-2017-11
- Rudy Mawer, MSc, CISSN, How Creatine Helps You Gain Muscle and Strength, retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/creatine-for-muscle-and-strength
- Research Gate, Sleep and muscle recovery: Endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis, retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51106123_Sleep_and_muscle_recovery_Endocrinological_and_molecular_basis_for_a_new_and_promising_hypothesis
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