Most people have heard that to get big and muscular you need to eat BIG and feed those muscles; after all, you are what you eat.
While this is partially true, it’s really only half the story. The biggest problem many people face is that they often gain fat as well as muscle while bulking up. If you’re a skinny guy, it might not be a big deal, but if you already have a body fat percentage that’s pretty high, you can’t afford to take on more without sacrificing your health.
Below I’ve highlighted the top 3 dangers traditional loading diets can present and the best way to avoid them.
1./ High consumption of fat and salt
Since you are consuming a greater number of calories each day on a bulking diet, not enough emphasis is placed on the quality of the calories you are consuming and where those calories are coming from. Most bulking diets involve consuming large amounts of salt, sugars, unhealthy fats, corn syrup, and trans fats. As I’m sure you’ll agree, those things are recipes for long-term poor health and increased risk of heart disease and other cholesterol-related diseases.
2./ Insulin resistance
Regular bulking diets cause your body to develop insulin resistance, which can make it harder to build muscle, since insulin resistance causes your body to send the carbohydrates you eat into your fat stores instead of to your muscle tissue.
Insulin resistance can be difficult to reverse, which means that as time goes on, it will become harder and harder to lose body fat, but easier to GAIN it…not good! This is one of the main reasons why thin people can stay thin despite eating everything they want.
3./ Underactive thyroid
Too much fat gain can wreak havoc on thyroid production. This hormone is responsible for speeding up the entire fat burning process, and the fatter you are, the less effective it becomes, making you gain fat faster; this is a nasty vicious cycle that you should definitely avoid.
How to avoid these bulking traps…
As you can see, not understanding how your body reacts to what you put into it is a major cause of excessive fat gain while bulking, but also increased chances of long-term health risks.
The key to avoiding these dangers is to reduce high-calorie bulking cycles. In other words, many bulking cycles can last several months; this affects your body and your metabolism. Shortening your cycles to a few weeks will reduce the risk of fat gain and you will also get enough variety in your routine.
Focus on timing your meals properly too, don’t just eat when you want throughout the day. Understand that your nutrient needs fluctuate throughout the day. Understanding how and when to eat certain foods and food groups will maximize muscle gains and minimize fat gain. This is the art of nutrient timing.