ariz_lifts
Iron
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Hey guys! Today i will explain the basics and some details on how to properly bulk, cut, and build muscle through proper nutrition and training. You will also learn how calories work, how to eat for your goal, and how to train effectively for the best results.
If you’re skinny and want to become more muscular, your goal should be to build muscle while gaining fat slowly. If you have a higher body-fat percentage, your goal should usually be to lose fat while keeping as much muscle as possible/or even gaining muscle.
These goals are known as bulking and cutting.
1. Understanding Calories
Calories are the energy your body gets from food. Your body burns a certain number of calories every day to maintain your weight. This is your maintenance calorie level.
A commonly used estimate is that 7,700 calories ≈ 1 kg of body fat. This is only an approximation because real weight changes also involve water, glycogen, muscle, and other factors.
For example, a 500-calorie daily deficit gives:
500 × 7 = 3,500 calories per week
Using the 7,700-calorie estimate, that would theoretically equal about 0.45 kg of fat.
2. How to Bulk
If you’re skinny and want to gain muscle, start with a small calorie surplus of around 200–300 calories per day.
The goal isn’t to gain weight as quickly as possible. A huge surplus can lead to unnecessary fat gain. Aim to gain approximately 0.25–0.5% of your body weight per week.
Eat enough protein
Aim for around 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight each day.
Good sources include:
Also eat enough carbohydrates and fats. Foods such as rice, potatoes, oats, pasta, fruit, nuts, olive oil, and avocado can make it easier to reach your calorie requirements.
If your weight isn’t increasing after a few weeks, increase your daily calories slightly.
3. How to Cut
If you have a relatively high body-fat percentage, use a moderate calorie deficit, usually around 300–500 calories below maintenance.
Aim to lose roughly 0.5–1% of your body weight per week, depending on your starting body-fat level and individual circumstances.
Keep your protein high and continue lifting weights. This helps your body maintain muscle while losing fat.
Cardio and daily activity can also help. Walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, and increasing your daily steps are all useful.
Remember:
Fat loss is primarily driven by a calorie deficit.
Cardio is simply another tool for increasing calorie expenditure.
4. How to Work Out Correctly
Your workout should focus on high effort, good technique, and progressive overload, rather than doing endless exercises.
1. High intensity, controlled volume
Perform your working sets with serious effort. You don’t need huge amounts of volume if your sets are high quality.
2. Increase the weights over time
Try to progressively improve your performance by:
Don’t increase the weight so quickly that your form becomes poor.
3. 2–3 sets of 6–12 reps
For many exercises, 2–3 hard working sets of 6–12 reps is a good starting point for muscle growth.
You can train close to failure, generally leaving around 0–3 good reps in reserve. Reaching technical failure can be useful, particularly on safer machine or isolation exercises, but you don’t need to take every set to absolute failure.
Good form comes before heavier weight.
5. Choose a Good Training Split
Try to train each major muscle group approximately twice per week.
Here are some great examples:
1. Day 1: push
Day 2: pull
Day 3: legs
Day 4: push
Day 5: pull
Day 6: legs
2. Day 1: push
Day 2: pull
Day 3: legs
Day 4: upper
Day 5: lower
3. Day 1: upper
Day 2: lower
Day 3: upper
Day 4: lower
4. Day 1: upper
Day 2: lower
Day 3: full body
The exact split isn’t what makes the difference. Consistency, hard training, recovery, and progressive overload do.
6. Don’t Forget Recovery
Your muscles need time to recover and grow.
The Simple Formula
Bulking:
Maintenance + 200–300 calories
Cutting:
Maintenance − 300–500 calories
Building a great physique takes time. Focus on small improvements, progressive overload, proper nutrition, and consistency rather than trying to change your body overnight.
If you’re skinny and want to become more muscular, your goal should be to build muscle while gaining fat slowly. If you have a higher body-fat percentage, your goal should usually be to lose fat while keeping as much muscle as possible/or even gaining muscle.
These goals are known as bulking and cutting.
1. Understanding Calories
Calories are the energy your body gets from food. Your body burns a certain number of calories every day to maintain your weight. This is your maintenance calorie level.
- Eating above maintenance = calorie surplus → weight gain
- Eating below maintenance = calorie deficit → weight loss
- Eating around maintenance = weight stays relatively stable
A commonly used estimate is that 7,700 calories ≈ 1 kg of body fat. This is only an approximation because real weight changes also involve water, glycogen, muscle, and other factors.
For example, a 500-calorie daily deficit gives:
500 × 7 = 3,500 calories per week
Using the 7,700-calorie estimate, that would theoretically equal about 0.45 kg of fat.
2. How to Bulk
If you’re skinny and want to gain muscle, start with a small calorie surplus of around 200–300 calories per day.
The goal isn’t to gain weight as quickly as possible. A huge surplus can lead to unnecessary fat gain. Aim to gain approximately 0.25–0.5% of your body weight per week.
Eat enough protein
Aim for around 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight each day.
Good sources include:
- Chicken, beef, and fish
- Eggs
- Greek yogurt and milk
- Beans and lentils
- Tofu
- Protein powder
Also eat enough carbohydrates and fats. Foods such as rice, potatoes, oats, pasta, fruit, nuts, olive oil, and avocado can make it easier to reach your calorie requirements.
If your weight isn’t increasing after a few weeks, increase your daily calories slightly.
3. How to Cut
If you have a relatively high body-fat percentage, use a moderate calorie deficit, usually around 300–500 calories below maintenance.
Aim to lose roughly 0.5–1% of your body weight per week, depending on your starting body-fat level and individual circumstances.
Keep your protein high and continue lifting weights. This helps your body maintain muscle while losing fat.
Cardio and daily activity can also help. Walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, and increasing your daily steps are all useful.
Remember:
Fat loss is primarily driven by a calorie deficit.
Cardio is simply another tool for increasing calorie expenditure.
4. How to Work Out Correctly
Your workout should focus on high effort, good technique, and progressive overload, rather than doing endless exercises.
1. High intensity, controlled volume
Perform your working sets with serious effort. You don’t need huge amounts of volume if your sets are high quality.
2. Increase the weights over time
Try to progressively improve your performance by:
- Adding weight
- Getting more reps with the same weight
- Improving your technique and range of motion
Don’t increase the weight so quickly that your form becomes poor.
3. 2–3 sets of 6–12 reps
For many exercises, 2–3 hard working sets of 6–12 reps is a good starting point for muscle growth.
You can train close to failure, generally leaving around 0–3 good reps in reserve. Reaching technical failure can be useful, particularly on safer machine or isolation exercises, but you don’t need to take every set to absolute failure.
Good form comes before heavier weight.
5. Choose a Good Training Split
Try to train each major muscle group approximately twice per week.
Here are some great examples:
1. Day 1: push
Day 2: pull
Day 3: legs
Day 4: push
Day 5: pull
Day 6: legs
2. Day 1: push
Day 2: pull
Day 3: legs
Day 4: upper
Day 5: lower
3. Day 1: upper
Day 2: lower
Day 3: upper
Day 4: lower
4. Day 1: upper
Day 2: lower
Day 3: full body
The exact split isn’t what makes the difference. Consistency, hard training, recovery, and progressive overload do.
6. Don’t Forget Recovery
Your muscles need time to recover and grow.
- Get around 7–9 hours of sleep
- Eat enough protein
- Give muscles time to recover
- Stay consistent with your training
- Don’t sacrifice technique to lift heavier
The Simple Formula
Bulking:
Maintenance + 200–300 calories
- high protein + hard training + recovery
Cutting:
Maintenance − 300–500 calories
- high protein + resistance training + activity
Building a great physique takes time. Focus on small improvements, progressive overload, proper nutrition, and consistency rather than trying to change your body overnight.
