How to Build Muscle Without Bulking

Summary

This 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

00:00

💪 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.

05:03

🥗 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.

10:05

🌙 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.

Keywords

💡Bulking

Bulking refers to the process of deliberately increasing calorie intake to gain weight, often with the aim of building muscle mass. In the video's context, the speaker emphasizes that they have not bulked but still managed to gain muscle, which is central to the video's theme of muscle building without traditional bulking methods. The speaker mentions that bulking is often associated with bodybuilders and implies it may not be the healthiest approach for everyone.

💡Muscle Gain

Muscle gain is the increase in muscle mass, which is a primary goal for many individuals engaging in strength training. The video's theme revolves around achieving muscle gain without bulking. The script provides insights into how the speaker gained 20 pounds of muscle in their first two years of lifting, showcasing an alternative approach to traditional bulking.

💡Consistency

Consistency in the context of fitness refers to maintaining a regular workout routine over time. The speaker highlights consistency as the most important factor in long-term muscle building, emphasizing that new lifters should focus on getting to the gym regularly rather than overcommitting to intensive training programs.

💡Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is a training principle that involves gradually increasing the stress placed upon the body during exercise to cause muscle adaptation and growth. The speaker mentions applying progressive overload as a key strategy for pushing oneself in the gym to see long-term results, suggesting training within proximity to failure as a method to achieve this.

💡Reps in Reserve (RIR)

Reps in reserve (RIR) is a concept used to measure how many additional repetitions one could perform after completing a set. The speaker recommends training within an RIR of three, meaning finishing a set with the ability to do three more reps, as a way to push hard without overexerting oneself.

💡Training to Failure

Training to failure means performing an exercise set until one cannot complete another repetition with proper form. The script discusses the benefits of occasionally training to failure on the last set of an exercise, suggesting it as a method to stimulate muscle growth without the need to do so on every set.

💡Lifting with Intent

Lifting with intent involves being mindful and controlling the tempo of each rep during a workout, particularly focusing on the eccentric (lowering) phase. The speaker illustrates this concept by describing their own workout, emphasizing the importance of controlling the weight throughout each movement for better muscle engagement.

💡Intuitive Eating

Intuitive eating is an approach to food where individuals eat without tracking calories or macros, listening to their body's hunger and satiety cues. The speaker discusses intuitive eating as their nutritional approach, suggesting it as a way to maintain a balance between surplus and deficit without the stress of strict calorie counting.

💡Protein Intake

Protein intake is the consumption of adequate amounts of protein to support muscle growth and repair. The video explains the importance of a high-protein diet for muscle building, noting that most people overestimate their protein needs and providing recommendations based on body weight and caloric intake levels.

💡Vegetables

Vegetables are highlighted in the script as an essential part of a muscle-building diet due to their low calorie content, high volume, and fiber, which help in maintaining a balance between calorie surplus and deficit. The speaker recommends incorporating vegetables for their nutritional benefits and their role in supporting an intuitive eating approach.

💡Sleep

Sleep is crucial for recovery and muscle growth. The speaker emphasizes the importance of getting seven to eight hours of sleep consistently, stating that poor sleep can negate the efforts put into workouts and diet, thus affecting overall progress towards a fit physique.

💡Long-Term Outlook

A long-term outlook refers to maintaining a perspective that focuses on gradual and sustainable progress rather than quick results. The video encourages viewers to adopt this mindset, especially when not bulking, as it allows for healthier and more sustainable muscle gain over time.

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