How to Build Muscle Without Bulking
Summary
TLDRThis video offers insights on building muscle without bulking, sharing the speaker's personal experience of gaining 20 pounds of muscle in two years while maintaining a lean physique. Key points include the importance of consistency in training, progressive overload, and lifting with intent. The speaker emphasizes a balanced diet with high protein intake and plenty of vegetables, intuitive eating, and the significance of sleep for muscle recovery. A long-term mindset is encouraged, with progress photos as a tool for tracking changes, and a reminder to prioritize health over quick results.
Takeaways
- 🏋️ Consistency is crucial for building muscle long-term; focus on getting to the gym regularly rather than overcommitting to fitness goals.
- 💪 Training hard with progressive overload and within proximity to failure is essential for seeing results, but not every set should be to complete failure to avoid injury.
- 🏋️♂️ Lifting with intent, especially focusing on the eccentric part of the lift, helps to maximize muscle growth and avoid rushing through sets.
- 🥗 Building muscle without bulking often involves intuitive eating, which means not strictly tracking calories but listening to your body's hunger cues.
- 🥦 A high-protein diet with plenty of vegetables is recommended for muscle growth, as vegetables are low in calories and high in volume and fiber.
- 🍏 Snacking on low-calorie, high-protein foods can help with appetite control and provide nutrients that support workout performance.
- 😴 Adequate sleep is non-negotiable for muscle recovery and overall health; aim for 7-8 hours per night.
- 📸 Taking regular progress photos can help track changes in physique over time, which is important when not bulking and weight changes are slower.
- 🚶♂️ A long-term outlook is necessary for muscle growth without bulking; fast weight gain is not always beneficial as it can include fat and water weight.
- 🏅 Prioritizing health over achieving a dream physique quickly is key; maintaining a healthy body fat percentage aids in aesthetics and overall well-being.
- 🌱 Avoiding the pressure of social media comparisons and body dysmorphia is important for maintaining a healthy mindset throughout the fitness journey.
Q & A
How much muscle did the speaker gain in their first two years of lifting?
-The speaker gained 20 pounds of muscle in their first two years of lifting.
What is the speaker's primary reason for not bulking?
-The speaker never bulked because they prioritized staying lean and aesthetic, especially during their track and field days, where speed was important.
What is the speaker's approach to building muscle without bulking?
-The speaker focuses on consistency in training, progressive overload, and lifting with intent, as well as maintaining a high-protein diet with plenty of vegetables.
Why is consistency in training important for muscle growth according to the speaker?
-Consistency is crucial because it helps build the habit of working out, which is essential for long-term muscle growth.
What does the speaker recommend for new lifters regarding their workout routine?
-The speaker recommends that new lifters focus on getting to the gym consistently and not overcommit to intense workout schedules or complicated routines.
What is the significance of training within proximity to failure according to the script?
-Training within proximity to failure helps push oneself in the gym for long-term results without the risk of injury or over-fatigue that comes with training to failure every set.
What does the speaker mean by 'lifting with intent'?
-Lifting with intent means being mindful of the tempo of the lift, especially the eccentric portion, and controlling the weight throughout the movement.
What is the speaker's stance on calorie counting for building muscle without bulking?
-The speaker suggests that calorie counting is not necessary and recommends intuitive eating, which involves eating at maintenance level most days, with some surplus and deficit days.
Why is a high-protein diet important for muscle growth without bulking?
-A high-protein diet helps to retain muscle mass and supports muscle growth, especially when not consistently in a calorie surplus.
What role do vegetables play in the speaker's dietary approach to muscle growth?
-Vegetables are low in calories, high in volume and fiber, which helps in maintaining a balance between a surplus and deficit without overeating.
How does the speaker emphasize the importance of sleep for muscle growth?
-The speaker states that poor sleep can negate all efforts put into training, emphasizing the need for 7 to 8 hours of sleep for optimal results.
What mindset does the speaker suggest for those looking to build muscle without bulking?
-The speaker suggests having a long-term outlook, taking progress photos consistently, and prioritizing health over rapid weight gain or comparing oneself to others.
What is the speaker's view on the use of performance-enhancing drugs?
-The speaker advises against the use of performance-enhancing drugs and emphasizes the importance of achieving a dream physique in a healthy way.
Outlines
💪 Building Muscle Without Bulking
The speaker shares their personal experience of gaining 20 pounds of muscle in two years without ever bulking. They emphasize the importance of consistency in training, especially for new lifters, and suggest that overcommitting to fitness goals can lead to inconsistency. The speaker advises against the idea that bulking is necessary for muscle growth and instead promotes a balanced approach to diet and exercise, focusing on health and long-term goals. They also mention their workout programs and coaching services available through a link in their bio.
🥗 Nutritional Approach to Muscle Growth
This paragraph delves into the dietary habits that support muscle growth without bulking. The speaker advocates for intuitive eating, which involves not strictly tracking calories but rather listening to the body's hunger cues. They argue that this method can lead to a natural fluctuation between calorie surplus and deficit, helping maintain body composition. The speaker recommends a high-protein diet and the inclusion of vegetables for their low-calorie, high-volume, and fiber content, which aids in managing appetite and nutrient intake. Additionally, they suggest low-calorie snacks for those with bigger appetites, such as fruits, jerky, Greek yogurt, and protein powders.
🌙 Prioritizing Sleep and Long-Term Mindset
The final paragraph highlights the importance of sleep for muscle recovery and overall health, stating that poor sleep can negate the efforts put into training and diet. The speaker insists on the necessity of seven to eight hours of sleep for optimal results. They also discuss the importance of having a long-term outlook on fitness goals, as rapid weight gain is not always beneficial and can include fat and water retention. The speaker encourages taking regular progress photos to track changes in physique and reminds viewers to prioritize health over quick results, avoiding the pressure of social media and unrealistic comparisons.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Bulking
💡Muscle Gain
💡Consistency
💡Progressive Overload
💡Reps in Reserve (RIR)
💡Training to Failure
💡Lifting with Intent
💡Intuitive Eating
💡Protein Intake
💡Vegetables
💡Sleep
💡Long-Term Outlook
Highlights
Gained 20 pounds of muscle in the first two years of lifting without ever bulking.
Consistency is the most important factor in long-term muscle building.
Training consistently is more important than overcommitting to fitness goals.
Progressive overload and training within proximity to failure are crucial for seeing results.
Occasional training to failure on the last set once per week can be beneficial.
Lifting with intent and focusing on the tempo of the eccentric portion of the lift.
Not bulking does not mean you're not eating enough protein; adjust intake based on maintenance level.
High protein intake helps retain muscle during cutting phases.
Vegetables are low in calories and high in volume and fiber, aiding in maintenance or slight deficit.
Intuitive eating, not tracking calories, can help maintain body composition.
A high-protein diet combined with vegetables is recommended for muscle building without bulking.
Snacking on low-calorie, high-protein options like fruits, jerky, or Greek yogurt.
Poor sleep can negate the efforts put into muscle building and diet.
Having a long-term outlook is essential for gradual and healthy muscle gain.
Taking progress photos consistently helps track aesthetic changes over time.
Maintaining a healthy body fat percentage is key for an aesthetic physique.
Avoiding performance-enhancing drugs and prioritizing health over physique goals.
The importance of not rushing to achieve a dream physique and staying healthy.
Transcripts
so contrary to a lot of other people I've never bulked my life yet I was able to gain 20 pounds
of muscle my first two years of lifting as well as continuously improve my physique over the
past eight years now so here is a video on how I was able to build muscle without bulking also
I'm gonna be doing this over some b-roll of my last upper body day so if you're interested in
my workout programs and coaching check the link in BIO I want to preface this by saying that
the reason why I never booked in the first place was I didn't feel the need to right it was always
my goal for me that I wanted to stay lean and aesthetic and at the time I was running track
and field so I definitely wanted to keep my like speed up right for that so I just really never
felt the need to bulk and that's saying that all bulking is like unhealthy or anything but repeated
bulking slash cutting cycles that like you know bodybuilders and stuff too are definitely not the
most healthy way to be going about your diet and for me I always just prioritize my health above
everything else right so if your goals are similar to mine here's how to build muscle without bulking
okay so starting off with the fitness related stuff first consistency consistency at the end
of the day will be the most important factor in building muscle long term and I would say
that the number one thing you should be focusing on doing especially as a new lifter is training
consistently yet if you notice this is the most common problem people have how many people do
you personally even know that you know you used to work out and then fell off the routine and
then come back on and a big reason people can't stick to a routine is because people tend to over
commit to their fitness goals right like how many times do you hear oh if you want to build muscle
you got bulk you gotta buy these supplements you gotta live six days per week like slow down bro I
always tell new lifters the number one thing you should be focusing on in your first year is just
consistently getting yourself into the gym and working out now studies show that takes 59 to
70 days to build a habit forget that dude I've seen way too many people work out consistently
especially high schoolers or college students they work out consistently for a few months and then
once school starts once other obligate Asians kind of come up they just fall off and that's
why I don't recommend new lifters like track calories bulk cut try to figure these other
stuff out because like keep it simple just try to be consistent first right that's hard enough for
a lot of people second thing I want to talk about is training hard applying Progressive
overload training within proximity to failure you need to be pushing yourself in the gym for you to
actually see results long term now I'm not saying you should train to failure every set like you're
just going to fatigue yourself and risk injury and I always recommend train within an rir of three
okay if you're not familiar with rir it means reps in reserve another way to think about is how many
reps did you have left in the tank and then when it comes to training to failure I would recommend
you occasionally train to failure on your last set maybe like once per week and this is a surprise
to a lot of people it was a surprise to me when I heard about it like you would think you know
the harder you train you gotta train to filler every single set the more results you're going
to get but it shows that you know training within proximity to failure a couple reps shy is actually
better than training the failure itself now third thing I want to talk about is lifting with intent
mainly concerning the tempo of your lift so many of y'all lifters are just focused on getting that
set done right just moving the weight how fast can I get through this set lifting with intention
generally means slowing the tempo down especially on The Eccentric portion of the lift now look at
how I'm performing every single exercise in this workout look how mindful I am of The Eccentric
part of the lift I'm not just you know go through the concentric and then just dropping the weight
no I'm controlling everything now you might be thinking okay slowing The Eccentric is a
great idea but should I also be slowing down the concentric part that I would say no right like I
don't think you're going to benefit from putting a Tempo on the concentric basically if you're
thinking about Tempo like four second tempo and that sort of thing just focus on The Eccentric
part and yeah from a workout perspective just focus on these three things and you're gonna be
in pretty good shape all right so now move on to the juicy part diet now the big basic concept is
this first thing most people looking to build muscle without bulking probably don't want to
count calories second thing because you're not tracking you're you know relying on intuitive
eating which I can't believe there's an actual word for this but intuitive eating is basically
yeah like eating without tracking calories like most people and the third thing is it is nearly
impossible for you to be exactly at maintenance okay so notice how I don't really explain this
as main gaining because when you intuitively eat there will be some days you're naturally
at a surplus there'll be other days you're at a deficit like are you really maintaining at that
point maybe it's long term like I guess from a long-term perspective you are but don't think of
it as necessarily you're sticking at maintenance right it's more like you're intuitively eating
some days you're at a surplus some days you're at a deficit and your body composition stays tends
to stay the same your body fat tends to stay the same now you might be thinking if I'm in a calorie
Surplus then I'm bulking not necessarily here's why the big difference here is an acute calorie
Surplus does not mean you're lean bulking because the lean bulk implies that you're consistently
eating at a surplus every day for a set period of time but here again if you're eating around
your maintenance level some days you're gonna be after a plus some days are going to be at a
deficit now that's essentially my approach to nutrition I intuitively eat some days I'm at a
surplus some days I'm at a deficit long term I'm roughly around my maintenance consistently so with
that in mind I recommend you focus on eating a high protein diet as well as incorporating
a lot of vegetables into your diet here's why on the protein side I want to say that most
people tend to overestimate the amount of protein they actually need to eat this is you know partly
because of the supplement industry but the truth is if you're not cutting like you don't really
need all that much protein okay if you're eating around your maintenance level I recommend roughly
like 0.8 grams per pound of body weight if you are in a calorie deficit then yeah you would bump it
up to around like the one gram per pound of body weight and essentially increasing your protein
intake when you're cutting helps to retain as much muscle as possible now when it comes to vegetables
the reason why I put vegetables on such a pedestal is they are going to be insanely helpful for you
to stay around your maintenance level or be at a slight deficit when you're intuitively eating
because there's so low in calories and high in volume and fiber okay if you're the type
of person that has a big appetite eating a lot of vegetables will help you kind of curb that amount
make you feel like you're eating a lot more than you actually are from a calorie perspective not
to mention that vegetables are just packed full of micronutrients that will help you like improve
your mood help improve your energy maybe even increase the performance of your workouts and
then if you like snacking then I recommend you eat a lot of low calorie but delicious stuff so
this includes fruits or like high protein snacks that are pretty good like jerky or Greek yogurt
you can do a lot of stuff with protein powder if you find one that tastes pretty good the one I
recommend is my protein's way forward it's animal free 20 grams of protein only 100 calories pretty
solid choice and that's pretty much it from a diet perspective so moving on to sleep I'm
gonna tell you this poor sleep will negate your efforts all the effort you're putting in will
be hindered if you can't get seven to eight hours of sleep consistently on a daily basis personally
for me I feel terrible on Nala sleep so this is a non-negotiable for me the last thing I'm gonna
talk about is more of like a mindset thing but you need to have like a long-term outlook on things
now because you're not bulking you're not going to be gaining weight quickly in fact you might be
losing weight if you're doing a body recomp and you're at a higher body fat percentage but keep
in mind gaining weight fast is not necessarily a good thing it's not like all that weight is going
to be muscle remember that allow the weight gain bulker C is not just muscle it's also fat water
food in their digestive system Etc so what I recommend you do is take progress photos
consistently let's say on a weekly basis at the same spot every single week take a progress photo
of your front back and side now this is something I wish I did more when I first started man like
I wish I had more progress photos so I can make like nice body transformation videos like they've
laid and everyone else but you know I just I didn't take a lot of progress photos back in
the day and understand this as we're going through your fitness journey that there's two important
factors that go into an aesthetic physique first is muscle and second is having a lower body fat
percentage okay so always staying in healthy body fat percentage is a good idea and will help with
Aesthetics but yeah that's pretty much how I built muscle without bulking the key thing I
want to also remind you is that like once you get to your goal it's not like you stop training so
ultimately what's the rush to actually get to your dream physique okay do things the
healthy way stay away from performance enhancing drugs and just prioritize your health over other
things and ultimately that's the number one thing I recommend for all y'all to do take care of your
health first a lot of people initially get into things for their health but then you know they
get they get trapped in the social media cycle of seeing all these really like you know enhanced
people and these nice physiques all these genetic anomalies and they start comparing themselves but
it leads to body dysmorphia and this is a whole another rabbit hole that I can talk about like
how I count personally overcame body dysmorphia with that said hope you all enjoyed this video
let me know if you guys like these long form YouTube videos I know a lot of you guys are
coming from Tick Tock and Instagram which is where most of my following is I hope to make
more videos in the future on YouTube maybe I'll do some like gym blogs where I'm actually like
talking while I'm working out or showing y'all what I like to eat around Chicago that sort of
thing but yeah like And subscribe if you enjoyed this video and I'll see y'all next one peace
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