Dirty Bulking in your 30's

[hunnidrounds]

Is it that bad for health when you can just cut it all off in your 30's?

 

[albanianblackguy]

no point in dirty bulking if u arent on steroids, u will just fuck up ur health and become fat

 

[hunnidrounds]

no point in dirty bulking if u arent on steroids, u will just fuck up ur health and become fat

I used to weigh 170 in college. I dirty bulked (not due to any power of my own, I was forced into psych wards and fed jew pills that slowed my metabolism along with hospital food) and ballooned up to 230 lbs. Went on a cut and dropped down to 195 lbs 10 percent bf. That's 25 lbs of muscle gains bro.

 

[milchbubi88]

I used to weigh 170 in college. I dirty bulked (not due to any power of my own, I was forced into psych wards and fed jew pills that slowed my metabolism along with hospital food) and ballooned up to 230 lbs. Went on a cut and dropped down to 195 lbs 10 percent bf. That's 25 lbs of muscle gains bro.

could have made almost the same gains, just without getting fat

 

[hunnidrounds]

could have made almost the same gains, just without getting fat

Way slower though. With clean bulking your putting on a pound a month and probably gaining 1 pounds of muscle a year

 

[milchbubi88]

Stick to a slight surplus, it maybe takes a few months longer to build the same amount of muscles, but you will feel better and also don't have to spend that much time losing that weight again

 

[trenace450]

no point in dirty bulking if u arent on steroids, u will just fuck up ur health and become fat

Not on gear either, the extra calories do nothing and yeah its super unhealthy especially on gear

 

[trenace450]

Way slower though. With clean bulking your putting on a pound a month and probably gaining 1 pounds of muscle a year

Yeah you are gaining the same amount of MUSCLE. You’re just convinced you’re gaining more on dirty bulking, because you’re getting fatter and more water weight. Calories are not a fucking stimulus to muscle growth, you do not need a massive surplus you’ll just put on fat

 

[Jason Voorhees]

no point in dirty bulking if u arent on steroids, u will just fuck up ur health and become fat

I did a sort of dirty bulk. My health didn't deteriorate much had I avoided alcohol. I gained fat yes but also quite some muscle

I miss the time I was the strongest guy in the gym

Weight loss has made me so much weaker. My lifts have all suffered. I once used to one of the strongest in the gym. Lifting inhuman weights with ease when I was fat. My lifts for my weight are still above average but damn I wish I could be that dtrong again...

looksmax.org

 

[albanianblackguy]

I did a sort of dirty bulk. My health didn't deteriorate much had I avoided alcohol. I gained fat yes but also quite some muscle

I miss the time I was the strongest guy in the gym

Weight loss has made me so much weaker. My lifts have all suffered. I once used to one of the strongest in the gym. Lifting inhuman weights with ease when I was fat. My lifts for my weight are still above average but damn I wish I could be that dtrong again...

looksmax.org

if u do a proper cut u wont lose any muscle, ofc u will gain muscle dirty bulking but the fat to muscle ratio is not worth it, slight surplus is always much better as a natty

 

[Jason Voorhees]

Yeah you are gaining the same amount of MUSCLE. You’re just convinced you’re gaining more on dirty bulking, because you’re getting fatter and more water weight. Calories are not a fucking stimulus to muscle growth, you do not need a massive surplus you’ll just put on fat

could have made almost the same gains, just without getting fat

No. Read these two papers titled. "Effects of hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency on body composition".

And "Effect of two different weight-gain protocols on body composition and strength in elite athletes"

The hypercaloric group gained significantly more lean mass than the control group - even though their protein intake was matched.

Large surplus group gained more muscle (+2.1 kg LBM) and more fat.

• Small surplus group gained less muscle (+1.2 kg LBM) but less fat.

 

[Jason Voorhees]

if u do a proper cut u wont lose any muscle, ofc u will gain muscle dirty bulking but the fat to muscle ratio is not worth it, slight surplus is always much better as a natty

My cut was quite aggressive. I used contrave and other stimulants to keep myself for eating. Anything over 1000 calorie deficit generally for sure results in loss of mass.

 

[trenace450]

No. Read these two papers titled. "Effects of hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency on body composition".

And "Effect of two different weight-gain protocols on body composition and strength in elite athletes"

The hypercaloric group gained significantly more lean mass than the control group - even though their protein intake was matched.

Large surplus group gained more muscle (+2.1 kg LBM) and more fat.

• Small surplus group gained less muscle (+1.2 kg LBM) but less fat.

Yeah i don’t care about outcome studies dude, i want you to tell me what the mechanism is. What is the mechanism that makes extra calories stimulate more growth? Also i guarantee you can find studies that show no difference in that

 

[trenace450]

No. Read these two papers titled. "Effects of hypercaloric diets with increased meal frequency on body composition".

And "Effect of two different weight-gain protocols on body composition and strength in elite athletes"

The hypercaloric group gained significantly more lean mass than the control group - even though their protein intake was matched.

Large surplus group gained more muscle (+2.1 kg LBM) and more fat.

• Small surplus group gained less muscle (+1.2 kg LBM) but less fat.

Also i can’t find the study, can you send the pubmed id?

 

[Jason Voorhees]

Yeah i don’t care about outcome studies dude, i want you to tell me what the mechanism is. What is the mechanism that makes extra calories stimulate more growth? Also i guarantee you can find studies that show no difference in that

They mentioned it in the study itself. Some of them findings of both the studies

1. Muscle growth is regulated by mTOR signaling — and energy status affects it

mTOR is the master regulator of muscle protein synthesis.

It’s activated by:

Mechanical tension (training)

Leucine/amino acids

Insulin

Cellular energy status (ATP/AMP ratio)

When you eat in a larger surplus, you have more insulin, higher glycogen stores, and better ATP availability — all of which amplify mTOR activation.

Dirty bulking creates a more anabolic intracellular environment via energy abundance, so more of the muscle-building signal from training and amino acids is actually acted upon.

2. Insulin: Not just for carbs — it's anti-catabolic and permissive to growth

Insulin doesn’t directly grow muscle, but the study found it:

-Inhibits muscle protein breakdown (MPB)

-Enhances nutrient uptake into muscle cells

-Boosts glycogen storage (which increases training capacity)


High-calorie (dirty) bulks = high insulin = lower MPB + better net MPS.

This creates a greater net protein balance, the actual measure of muscle gain (MPS – MPB).


But there was a point of d iminishing returns exist:

Once the muscle protein synthesis machinery is maxed out, extra calories just spill into fat. But that ceiling is higher than most people think, especially in early training stages or with high-volume training.

So the mechanism is:

Calorie surplus → more ATP, insulin, glycogen, cell swelling, and less MPB → enhanced mTOR signaling and anabolic environment.

TLDR-dirty bulking gives you every physiological advantage, and that's why more muscle often results if training stimulus is present to use it.

 

[Jason Voorhees]

Also i can’t find the study, can you send the pubmed id?

I forgot the links for them. I am copy pasting from a post that I made earlier but this is well documented. You can use chatgpt to find the proof of all this.

 

[trenace450]

They mentioned it in the study itself. Some of them findings of both the studies

1. Muscle growth is regulated by mTOR signaling — and energy status affects it

mTOR is the master regulator of muscle protein synthesis.

It’s activated by:

Mechanical tension (training)

Leucine/amino acids

Insulin

Cellular energy status (ATP/AMP ratio)



Dirty bulking creates a more anabolic intracellular environment via energy abundance, so more of the muscle-building signal from training and amino acids is actually acted upon.

2. Insulin: Not just for carbs — it's anti-catabolic and permissive to growth

Insulin doesn’t directly grow muscle, but the study found it:

-Inhibits muscle protein breakdown (MPB)

-Enhances nutrient uptake into muscle cells

-Boosts glycogen storage (which increases training capacity)


High-calorie (dirty) bulks = high insulin = lower MPB + better net MPS.

This creates a greater net protein balance, the actual measure of muscle gain (MPS – MPB).


But there was a point of d iminishing returns exist:




So the mechanism is:

Calorie surplus → more ATP, insulin, glycogen, cell swelling, and less MPB → enhanced mTOR signaling and anabolic environment.

TLDR-dirty bulking gives you every physiological advantage, and that's why more muscle often results if training stimulus is present to use it.

“Once the muscle protein synthesis machinery is maxed out, extra calories just spill into fat. But that ceiling is higher than most people think, especially in early training stages or with high-volume training.”
Wait what? But then you weren’t in a calorie surplus if the calories weren’t spillling into fat? Aren’t you basically agreeing with me there?
Also you’re pretty much just talking about a high carb diet, because it’s all based on increased insulin excretion. Don’t see how that’s exclusive to a massive caloric surplus if both carbs and protein are the same

 

[sub5outsider]

dirty bulking is never a good idea