Bulking/Cutting vs. standard diet for building maximal lean mass WITHOUT gear

[Brett44444444]

I don't use any hormonal products, but Im trying to gain as much lean mass as I can. Right now Im bulking, and I have gained a considerable amount of fat along with my muscle, which I expected. However, I can't say Im a fan of getting a little pudgy while bulking, especially when its not like Im gaining 30 lbs of muscle or something like I would from a test/dbol cycle. My question is - how benificial do you think it is to constantly maintain a hypocaloric state for a "bulking" cycle, then go into calorie deficiency for a "cutting" cycle compared to just eating a baseline caloric intake that may be a little too much some days and not quite enough others, thus gaining less muscle mass at a time than when bulking, but constantly dropping small amounts of fat at the same time (keep in mind no juice).

If anybody has any suggestions for a natural, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Behemoth]

??

I don't use any hormonal products

None of us do.......

 

[flexed1]

I competed natural and bulked but compared to juiced the bulk was no where as major. I was laways within 15 pounds of my stage weight. Skip Lacour has an interesting philosiphy of heasvy sodium loading to fill the muscle with water thus allowing you to retain water and coat the joints kind of like being on d bol. Tried it and gaine dnot only size but strength on this though I am sure its hell on the blood pressure. The great thing was the water weight put about 15 pounds on me and I ended up getting fairly large off of this and when I reduce the sodium kept most of the new muscle mass.

 

[gimp]

I'm not a fan of getting fat to gain muscle either, but, in my case it really worked well. I started out at around 185 lbs. 6'2". I ate like a pig, mostly clean food and also lots of junk food, mostly McDonald's hamburgers. I kept my cals around 5000 to 6000/day and was obsessed with getting in 300-400 grams of protein as well, as long as I got the protein in, anything edible was fair game. I didn't do anything except train, eat, sleep and work. I wouldn't even walk around the block. I did this for 1 year non-stop eating every 2 hours. I got upto 255lbs. Now, that I've leaned down (yes, I did a cycle to cut), I'm at 212 lbs and can almost see all my abs. When I was 185lbs. even if I sucked my gut in, I couldn't even see my ribs. Be careful though, I know my body leans down very quickly. I just look at a treadmill and I lose weight. You gotta know what your body is capable of. The quality of the muscle I got from keeping my cals high all the time was amazing, just be careful, for some it's hard to lose 30+ pounds. I probably won't do it that way for awhile, but it really worked. If I were you, I would zig-zag your carbs. Try eating 250 grams of carbs on one day, then go upto 400 then 600 grams. Then back down to 200 and so on. Throw in some cardio and eat only oats, brown rice and potatoes for carbs, some fruit too, keep protein sources very lean and you'll see results. good luck.

 

[v shape]

I competed natural and bulked but compared to juiced the bulk was no where as major. I was laways within 15 pounds of my stage weight. Skip Lacour has an interesting philosiphy of heasvy sodium loading to fill the muscle with water thus allowing you to retain water and coat the joints kind of like being on d bol. Tried it and gaine dnot only size but strength on this though I am sure its hell on the blood pressure. The great thing was the water weight put about 15 pounds on me and I ended up getting fairly large off of this and when I reduce the sodium kept most of the new muscle mass.

Happy birthday bro! That Skip -Lacour heavy sodium theory sounnds very interesting. Can you please send me a link or let me know where to find as much info about it?- thank you

 

[MikeyG]

Gimp- that is a very impressive feat from moving 185 to 255!! damn.

 

[Brett44444444]

hmm, that sodium thing sounds interesting. Might be even worse for your body than gear though, ha. Do you have a link?

and gimp - Thats damn impressive. I can't imagine putting on 70lbs in one year. I dont think I could live with the fat....even if it built muscle that well. (I couldnt come into rugby season 40 lbs overweight, I'd probably die)

thanks for the replies

 

[serge]

gourging yourself on clean foods (low glycemic carbs especially important) will ensure that the fat gain is very slight

 

[gimp]

hmm, that sodium thing sounds interesting. Might be even worse for your body than gear though, ha. Do you have a link?

and gimp - Thats damn impressive. I can't imagine putting on 70lbs in one year. I dont think I could live with the fat....even if it built muscle that well. (I couldnt come into rugby season 40 lbs overweight, I'd probably die)

thanks for the replies

Thanx.it was tough, but, it worked. I'll be posting pics in a month or two. It's really funny. Again, try and keep the food clean. I was stupid to eat that much junk. My legs got to 32 inches each!. When I tried walking on the treadmill my legs would rub together so much that I got crotch rot! lol.....

 

[hulkinator2000]

i too i curious about that Skip article. would love to check it out if you are able to post the link or let us know where to find it

oh, bro i hear you about not wanting to gain alot of fat. I also know what you mean about bein natural. I have not always been but have been natural for almost a year and a half. I think you may really benefit by looking into "animalobolics". this is a diet designed to shed fat while at the same time increasing lean mass. It's centered around timing of carb consumption as well as other factors. Just do a search on hear on "animalbolics" and you can learn the details of the diet.

well heres the link

http://www.ironmag.com/im_bolics1.html
check it out