For the record, I hate the term “clean bulk”. Generally speaking, a clean bulk is referring to eating a whole lot of healthy foods in order to gain pure muscle mass. On the flip side, a so-called “dirty bulk” is eating a butt ton of junk food to gain as much weight as possible, not worrying about fat.
Why do I hate this term? Because it’s not the type of food you shove down your gullet, it’s the AMOUNT of food that determines fat gain.
Is it better to eat healthy? Of course. But if you eat 5000 calories of only chicken and vegetables, you’re still going to put fat on your body (and have some insane gas, too). If you truly want to build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus. And when you eat in a surplus, some fat gain is inevitable, but you CAN limit it.
By increasing your calories slowly, you’ll be able to limit your fat gain. As an example, if you increase your intake by 100 calories every few weeks, it will give your body an opportunity to adapt to these new caloric levels. If you take an aggressive approach and drastically increase your calories suddenly, that is when you’ll see the most fat gain. Yes, even if it is all “clean” food.
If you want to build muscle, you need to accept that there will be some fat that comes along with it. But if you understand the right way to go about it, it will be a very tiny price to pay!
