Clean vs Dirty - how do you like it?

[Android]

This is about bulking up btw :wink:

Do you believe in the idea of a "clean" bulk or are excess calories just that, excess calories?

Reason I ask is during bulking you aren't normally aiming to lose fat you're just trying to get as big as possible. And the bad fats aside, what is the difference between a dirty diet and a clean one? simple vs complex carbs? is it really as simple as that...

I've always eaten clean while bulking, struggled to get 3,500 calories down me each day, and still I get up to 16-17%bf.

Am considering a dirty bulk after the competitions are done where I go for excess calories from anywhere and see where this takes me, but first keen to hear what others experience and why the "clean" bulk may still be the better option.

[trainlikeafreak]

i put on about 14 kg over about 4 months by eating ridiculously clean i was eating over 4000 cals a day eating the same thing every single day. i put on a shitload of fat got upto about 13% and it didnt look good. eventually i plateued and although i was gaining weight it was just fat (got b.f tests done each week). I was talking to a canadian bodybuilder who is competing in a few weeks, in his off season he eats clean meals with one big fatty dirty take out meal a day. he has a fast metabolism but does baloon up fat. he reckons its hard to hit enough cals by eating only clean foods and he eats well over 4500 cals a day.

i was thinking the same as you android, eating mainly clean with one meal a day being kinda bad as in a home made cheat meal maybe as my PWO meal after my shake etc. i think this would be more beneficial for enhanced bodybuilders as they carry a lot more muscle and can therefor still look good with the extra fat, me ill just look like a fat slug

[Android]

i put on about 14 kg over about 4 months by eating ridiculously clean i was eating over 4000 cals a day eating the same thing every single day. i put on a shitload of fat got upto about 13% and it didnt look good. eventually i plateued and although i was gaining weight it was just fat (got b.f tests done each week). I was talking to a canadian bodybuilder who is competing in a few weeks, in his off season he eats clean meals with one big fatty dirty take out meal a day. he has a fast metabolism but does baloon up fat. he reckons its hard to hit enough cals by eating only clean foods and he eats well over 4500 cals a day.

i was thinking the same as you android, eating mainly clean with one meal a day being kinda bad as in a home made cheat meal maybe as my PWO meal after my shake etc. i think this would be more beneficial for enhanced bodybuilders as they carry a lot more muscle and can therefor still look good with the extra fat, me ill just look like a fat slug

LOL nice.

Dinner and nighttime would be a good time of the day esp. after a workout to pack in the extra calories for sure...good excuse for Burger Fuel followed by icecream :pray:

[nate225]

KFC & Ice Cream FTW! :grin:

I keep my main meals the same as my maintenance diet (pretty basic but 6-7 meals - mainly weetbix, fruit, protein powder, tuna, chicken, steak, creamed rice, mixed & fresh veges etc). On top of this I add some easy calories - cakes with morning tea, hash browns for dinner carbs, 0.5L ice cream / 0.5L Yoghurt before bed etc. I'll also add some takeaways whenever I feel the need (often 1-3 times per week).

Doing this I've gone from 98 to 111 in around 3 months. Sure BF has jumped (3-4% maybe? Havent had remeasured yet) but the aim is bulking after all.

A lot of people give examples of mass gain from early on in their lifting careers, which can be a bit deceptive. My example comes from a 20 year training history after having held my weight below 105 for SM / 100 for PL for the last 10 years. I could give examples from my journey from 68kg through to 100kg but probably only the last 15kg of that came from having any real knowledge of what I was doing with diet.

Personally I doubt I could keep up a true clean bulk, not because I've got overly high calorie requirement but because life/work is just too busy. Eating 7 clean meals per day was tough enough when dieting for a show - eating 10+ huge lean meals just doesn't work for me!!!

[steak]

agree with Nate....personally I find it a bit of a struggle to maintain my BW with clean only food. I do however require a lot of calories each day at 140+kg. I tend to add at least 1 "bad :pfft: " meal in per day. In the summer its even harder and I end up blending the odd meal here and there. If I was after a leaner physique I would drop out some carbs but I'm not finished bulking yet.

the other thing is that I find burgers or other "bad" food easier to scoff back...well certainly easier than 400gs mince with rice or tuna and rice etc...I will always have room for a good steak though 8)

[nate225]

agree with Nate....personally I find it a bit of a struggle to maintain my BW with clean only food. I do however require a lot of calories each day at 140+kg. I tend to add at least 1 "bad :pfft: " meal in per day. In the summer its even harder and I end up blending the odd meal here and there. If I was after a leaner physique I would drop out some carbs but I'm not finished bulking yet.

the other thing is that I find burgers or other "bad" food easier to scoff back...well certainly easier than 400gs mince with rice or tuna and rice etc...I will always have room for a good steak though 8)

We all knew you liked it down n dirty Damo!

[steak]

We all knew you liked it down n dirty Damo!

the difference between you and I though bro is that I'm not ashamed of admitting it :grin: