Nutrition for Bodybuilders: Bulking and Cutting Guide
Bodybuilding is different from other sports, as it primarily focuses on how the body looks. They are judged on their muscle size, proportion, and lack of body fat. Bodybuilders achieve this through a rigorous training regime and a proper diet. Those who partake in bodybuilding must watch their diet all year round. They usually have two nutritional stages - the bulking phase, which is the off-season phase, and the cutting phase, which is the competition phase.
This means that nutrition for bodybuilding varies according to what stage in the season you are in.
The bulking phase is a time of lean muscle growth, which means that bodybuilders will increase their calorie intake. However, it is key to walk the balance between sustainable muscle growth and preventing fat accumulation.
The cutting phase is a time of restriction, when most bodybuilders will restrict their calorie intake and increase how much aerobic exercise they do. The goal of this stage is to decrease fat mass and to increase muscle definition.
Becoming bigger - off-season
At this stage, you're looking to put on muscle mass, mainly through resistance training. Pair that routine with plenty of food to ensure musclebuilding - the average intake of bodybuilders on their bulking phase can be around 3800 calories a day.
Muscle grows when you have a positive energy balance, meaning that you consume more calories than you spend in a day. How much you need to increase your intake by depends on training status - those that are starting out can benefit from larger energy surplus than those that have been training for a while. For seasoned bodybuilders, a 10-20% increase from maintenance calories will be sufficient to grow muscle without putting on additional fat.
Get into the habit of setting a weekly weight gain goal and monitoring progress through a weekly weigh in and body composition check. This will prevent unnecessary fat gain.
Most calories will come from carbohydrates and fats. You should aim to get around 0.5-1.5g of fats per kilo per day. Pay attention to the type of fats you consume, prioritizing unsaturated fats and fats like omega-3 and omega-6.
Carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen, help fuel muscle contractions, so it's necessary to get enough. For bodybuilders, getting around 3-5 grams of carbohydrates per kilo every day seems to be a good range.
