If you're like 99% of the bodybuilding population out there, your ultimate goal is simple: an impressively muscular physique with razor-sharp definition to match.
This desire for the perfect body makes many people dive headlong into an exercise regimen. Everyone wants to bulk up, and bulk up fast, but at the same time they're also worried about gaining the extra bulk of body fat.
If you want to add a significant amount of muscle to your frame over as short a period of time as you can, you will always end up gaining some extra body fat along with it.
Unfortunately, that is just the way the body works, and if you want to get bigger, you're going to have to accept the fact that body fat will come along with the muscle gain.
In order to gain muscle size, you must consume a surplus of calories in order to support protein synthesis. However, there is no way to divert 100% of this caloric surplus towards muscle growth. A certain amount of it will always end up as stored body fat.
You first goal is for the most dramatic gain in the shortest time. To that end it's always better to focus first on muscle gain over a set period of time, followed by another period of time concentrating on losing the unwanted body fat.
You never want to lose body fat during the bulking phase. You simply want to gain as little as possible.
There are three primary ways to accomplish this:
1) Make sure that your caloric surplus is limited to a precise amount. Because this surplus is what fuels muscle growth, it's tempting to eat too much in the mistaken belief that this will help you gain muscle tissue, but actually the only thing you'll gain with haphazard eating is body fat.
The general rule of thumb for muscle gain is to take 15-20% more calories than you need to keep your weight. If you are already within this range, there's no need for you to add more.
2) Pay attention to your food choices. The vast majority of your food intake should be coming from lean, high quality proteins, natural/high fiber carbohydrates and healthy/unsaturated fats.
Rather than aimlessly chowing down on every food item in sight, make sure that you're sticking to lean protein sources, keeping blood sugar levels stable through proper carbohydrate choices, and avoiding high amounts of saturated fats.
3) Don't forget the cardio. You don't have to go wild, but a good, solid 2 to 3 sessions of cardio workouts during the week will help keep your body on track, and cut back on the body fat.
Keep these sessions no more than 10-20 minutes long, sticking to high intensity/low duration forms, as these kinds of session have the advantage of not causing the same amount of muscle loss as longer duration forms.
Once you're at a size you're happy with and the muscle gain you want, you can focus your attention on losing that body fat. However, you want to keep working to avoid losing the muscle you've just gained. And remember that while bulking up, you're going to gain body fat. There's simply no way around it.
Simply remember that while bulking up, gaining at least some body fat is unavoidable. With this in mind, the key to keeping body fat down is to minimize the gain rather than trying to avoid it altogether, which is impossible. Focusing first on bulking up and only then on fat loss is the way to gain muscle quickly and effectively.
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