Welcome to the fourth and final article of The Athlete's Guide to Bulking. This is the last of a four-part series that has focused on athletes and the process of bulking—including whether they should bulk up, the importance of weight gain for athletic performance, and how exactly you should go about your bulking phase if it is right for you.
This fourth and final section is focused on keys to having a successful bulking phase, addressing Proper recovery, Finding what works for you, Consistency, Meal Prep, and Accountability. Let’s get into it.
Proper Recovery
While eating extra calories will already be enough to help your body recover from workouts better, there are a few other key factors that will help you to optimize the results that you get from your bulking phase.
Firstly, Sleep. I know that this is one you have heard before and hear constantly, but honestly, that’s because of how important it is. Allowing your body time to truly rest, recover, and grow will do more for you than any other recovery method. Your body uses this rest to rebuild broken down muscle, and the more you allow your body to rebuild, the stronger and more powerful your muscle will be. For a high-performance athlete, 8-9 hours should be the minimum.
Secondly, Active Recovery. Adequate blood flow is essential to healthy, fully recovered muscles. Just because you have an “off-day” scheduled in your training absolutely does not mean that you should just sit around all day. I prefer to call off-days “Active Recovery Days”. These days should be focused on getting blood flow to tired and sore muscle groups. This can be done through band-work, mobility-work, or forms of low-intensity cardio such as walking or light biking. Keeping your body active and moving is essential to proper recovery. Your body will get plenty of sedentary time while you are sleeping.
Finding what works for you
One of the biggest keys to success, not just in this scenario but all throughout life, is finding what works for you. You are your own specific person… There is no one that is exactly like you. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to success. What works for some people very well might not work for you at all, and what hasn’t worked for others might just be the thing that leads you to success.
For this reason, you MUST go into a bulking phase with an open mind, and be willing to try and to fail. For example, we previously talked about the GOMAD method of bulking, where you drink a gallon of milk a day. All it takes is one day of you trying this before you can determine whether it is sustainable or not, but you would never know unless you try. Other methods you could try are:
Weight Gainer Shakes
Increased Meal Size
Increased Meal Frequency
No matter what you do, as long as you are training hard, eating in a caloric surplus, and eating enough protein, you will put on muscle and grow.
Consistency
The most common reason that people fail when they are attempting to put on size is a lack of commitment and consistency. It’s relatively easy to have a few days where you have a couple extra meals or have a massive protein shake and reach a caloric surplus, but in order to have success, your effort needs to be consistent over an extended period of time.
A few good days followed by a few bad days simply brings you back to square one, causing you to feel discouraged and lose motivation. If you haven’t already, go read the first article of this series (and the other two as well. In the first article, I address how having a system of goals will help you to stay consistent, motivated, and on track.
If you are someone who struggles to put on weight, it is going to take a full, 100% commitment if you want to see any success. Every single bit matters. Every time you make a conscious effort to get another meal down or drink another shake will add up over time and you will get results.
Meal Prep
One major key to success in a bulking phase that I have not yet addressed in this series is Batch Meal Prep.
Batch meal prep is, essentially, cooking up a large portion of food at the beginning of the week for you to split into equal parts to eat throughout the week.
One of the most common struggles that young athletes have when they are trying to put on weight and eat more often is the middle school/high school class schedule. Being in school for 7-8 hours straight with only one designated time to eat can absolutely be a struggle.
However, there are ways to maximize the time that you do have, and to ensure that you are getting enough calories in. One of the most effective ways that I have found is batch meal prepping. All it takes is a combination of a protein source and a carb source, along with any sauce of your choice, and you are set. Here are some potential options to combine:
Protein Source:
Chicken
Beef/Steak
Pork
Seafood
Carb Source:
Rice
Potatoes
Pasta
Bread
Tortillas
Your options are not limited to these, but these are what I would primarily recommend. Any combination that you find that you like and that you can eat on a consistent basis is great, whether that be quesadillas, chicken and rice, or anything in between.
Now, if you want to take it a step further, any day that you have a practice, game, or some extracurricular activity after school that will cause you to stay later, have another meal ready for right after school so that you do not go too long without eating.
That secondary meal does not necessarily need to be as large of a meal as the lunch meal, but it is essential to your success that you at least have some calories in that time, whether it be a meal prepped meal, a sandwich, or even a protein bar.
Another great option is to prepare a bunch of peanut butter or PB&J sandwiches before the week that you have on hand whenever you need them. This could save you from missing a meal if you are in a rush, as you could just grab a sandwich or two on your way out to ensure that you are getting your calories in.
Now, obviously, meal prep is not exclusive to kids in school. Batch meal prepping can be extremely useful for long days where you do not know for certain that you will be able to get enough calories in. Consistently hitting your calorie goal and not missing days will be the most important factor in your success.
Accountability
Now the last topic I will address here is accountability. In a previous article I addressed the importance of accountability, but I want to reiterate it here because it can be an absolute game changer for many people.
Essentially, what you need to do is find people who will support you and keep you on track. This could be family members or coaches, but ideally it is a teammate or someone with similar goals. The reason that you want to find someone with similar goals is that you want to be able to push each other. It is much easier to listen to and follow what someone else is saying if you know they are going through the same thing that you are.
Being able to talk with someone daily to recap the day and what you ate as well as talking about changes you need to make in order to reach your goal is something that gets overlooked by many people. This could just be the difference in whether or not you reach your goals.
Thank you for reading! That concludes the fourth and final article of The Athlete’s Guide to Bulking. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. If you found this article useful or helpful and worthy of sharing, please share this article to anyone you think could find value in it.
The Athlete’s Guide to Rotational Power—Article 1—Coming Next Week