If you’re trying to bulk up and gain muscle, you should make sure that you’re eating the best bulking foods. You need to ensure you’re fueling those intense gym sessions and that you’re providing your muscles with the macro and micronutrients they need to continue growing. So, the best bulking foods are going to make a big difference in the way you perform in the gym, and in the way your muscles grow.
While there are a lot of foods that help you bulk up, I’m going to share here some of the top tips and best bulking foods to help you achieve your goals. There are numerous others you can try, but these are just some examples of the best foods to go for. If you’re missing some of them, add them to your next grocery list to see yourself grow!
Foods For Bulking
When you’re building muscle mass, attempting to get bigger and stronger, packing size, and gaining weight, you need to make sure that you’re working out a lot, but you also need to have a daily surplus of calories. Muscles grow out of something – the foods you eat. You must make sure that you eat more than you burn in order to grow. Therefore, you will need a daily calorie surplus of about 250-500 calories. May add even more as long as you’re using SARMs because they help lower the chance of gaining extra fat and packing muscle even faster.
However, you need to make sure that you get a lot of calories from the right foods, those that are full of the right nutrients that help you bulk up. There are also foods that are known as “nutrient-empty” because there are foods that have little to no nutritional value. This means that while they increase the amount of calories, they do not increase the nutrition your muscles need to grow.
So, assuming that your maintenance calories (you can use online calculators to find out your daily maintenance calories) are 2500, you need to eat around 3,000 calories per day to grow. But those calories should come from quality foods that are full of micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Also, you need to get those calories from a proper balance of macronutrients such as proteins, carbs, and fats. Proteins and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, whereas fats provide 9 calories per gram you consume. You’ll need lots of proteins (30-40% of macro balance) as muscles are mostly made up of proteins, complex and quality carbohydrates (30-50%) as they are the muscle’s main energy source, and healthy fats (20-30%) as they are important for your health.
Explaining Macronutrients
You need fats because they help you grow, fats are storing fat-soluble vitamins, and help increase muscle protein synthesis (the process of building muscle). Do NOT be afraid of fats. Ensure you get 20-30% of fats from your daily calories. But opt for healthy fats such as those from avocados, salmon (or other fatty fish), olive oils, and others.
Proteins, as said, are essential for building muscle mass, considering that they are the building blocks of your muscles. You need to consume 30-40% of proteins from your daily calories. Ideally, try to keep it at around 2 g per day of protein per kilogram of body weight (around 1 g/day/lb/bodyweight).
Carbs are also vital because they fuel your workout sessions and help your muscles recover. However, I recommend complex carbs because they are healthier and they usually provide more fiber, important for your digestive tract. Simple carbs are better if you struggle to eat enough food because they are easily digested and they quickly replenish glycogen stores after working out intensively. Carbohydrates are extremely important so you should ensure that about 30-50% of your daily calories are coming from carbs.
- Moreover, by eating quality foods that provide the right macronutrient balance you’re also getting enough micronutrients, which are vital to stay healthy and grow muscle.
So, let’s get started – check some of the best bulking foods below.
Dairy
Dairy may not be a good idea if you’re cutting. However, it is among the best bulking foods out there because it provides a great amount of calories, being a great protein source to help build muscle. Moreover, dairy provides extra fat and calcium. Whole milk, cottage cheese, or numerous other dairy foods can help you maximize your muscle building potential. You can have them post workout, for breakfast, or even before going to bed.
Nuts and nut butters
Nuts are very dense in energy and full of nutrients, with a lot of healthy monounsaturated fats. If you’re not eating nuts and nut butters, it is pretty clear why you’re struggling to grow muscle. This is the reason why peanut butters have been among the best bulking foods for a long time now. Numerous other nuts and nut butters are full of important nutrients such as magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. They are essential to maintain a healthy nutritional status and build muscle mass. Only a small serving of nuts will provide you with lots of calories, proteins, and healthy fats. Such as 300 calories and 10 g of protein per 50 g of nuts.
Salmon (and other fatty fishes)
Salmon has been one of the best bulking foods around for decades. Any seasoned bodybuilder will confirm it. It is a remarkable food for bulking. Salmon and other oily (fatty) fish must be in your bulking diet! Aim to consume at least 2-3 servings of oily fish per week. It offers a lot of healthy fats, all those important omega-3s with lots of micronutrients such as selenium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and so on. Not to mention it is full of protein and adds a lot of calories too!
Avocado
Why does almost any diet have avocado in it? Because it provides healthy fats that are important for you. Avocados are full of monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid including lots of essential vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. They will add healthy calories and fat to your bulking diet!
Eggs
Have you seen a bodybuilder who doesn’t eat eggs? Yeah, neither did I. Eggs are an excellent source of fat and protein for bulking, with a single egg providing 75-90 calories and 5-6 proteins. Eat whole eggs. While egg yolks have a bad reputation, they are actually extremely important for your bulking goals.
Lean beef
While you should have a limited intake of red meat per week, lean beef can be a perfect protein source, with a huge amount of calories. It is not the best source of fat, but it offers heme iron that is essential to build muscle when you’re working out hard. Plus, it is delicious!
Chicken breast
If you’re cutting, you may opt for skinless chicken breast. But since you’re bulking, you could go for the skin too (as long as you love it). Chicken breast is the food with the highest amount of protein per 100g (besides whey protein, which is technically not a food, but a supplement). Should I mention more about why it is on the list of best bulking foods?
Coconut and olive oil
Coconut and olive oils provide extra calories that you may need in your bulking diet without leaving you too full. Moreover, they offer healthy fats.
Sweet (and simple) potatoes
You need to get around 40-50% of carbs from 100% of calories that you eat per day. Sweet (and simple) potatoes are full of carbs and they provide a lot of vitamins and minerals. The sweet potatoes are also a great way to satisfy the sweet cravings too. That’s important considering that high sugary foods are a no-go even in bulking cycles.
Oats
Bodybuilders eat oats because it is a great source of complex carbs that offer a significant boost in the bulking season. They are a perfect source of fiber and complex carbs aiding digestion, and offering a stable release of energy.
Pasta
As you can guess, pasta is full of carbohydrates. This means that it could be a great post-workout meal where you can quickly recover. It offers around 300 calories and 70 g of carbohydrates from only 100g of dried weight pasta.
Rice
Yep, bodybuilders eat a lot of rice because it helps them boost the calories and carbs content without feeling too full. It fuels your training sessions and helps you recover.
Dark chocolate
As said, even if you’re bulking, high sugary foods are still a no-go. They are not suitable for bulking because they have little to no nutritional benefits. However, your cravings for sugar may increase. Therefore, dark chocolate could be a great way to help you deal with them. Make sure you get chocolate with over 75% cocoa content (better – over 85%). Such a chocolate is full of antioxidants and monounsaturated fats!
Bulk Up Fast With The Right Foods
You may have noticed that I have not included any fruits and vegetables in this list. That’s because any of them will do well. You can eat them without really increasing your satiety, which is important for a bulking plan. They may not provide lots of calories or proteins, but they are packed with micronutrients, important for your muscles! So, make sure you include them in your diet, on a daily basis.
Also, it is important to remember to hit your macro balance and get enough micronutrients. This is the way to help muscle recover after workouts, and fuel those intense sessions in the gym, which ultimately lead to muscle growth!
So, these are the best foods for bulking. If you’re not eating them, then you could miss out a lot in terms of serious muscle growth! It is important to understand that dieting is just as important as working out when you want to make some serious gains and enhance performance in the gym.
However, we know that sometimes it can get harder and you may require a bit of a boost. We’ve got you covered. We have 100% quality SARMS that are going to boost your bulking cycle. These bulking SARMs are completely legal and are safe as long as you use them right. Without a prescription, you can buy the best quality SARMs online from SARMS.to, ensuring you will save money and get bigger and stronger in no time!
