Are you struggling to pack on mass? Get on the gains train with our 5,000-calorie bulking meal plan and muscle-building guide.
Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine Reviewed by Dr. Steven Griffin Last Updated on 11 September, 2023 | 1:17 AM EDT
Training is only half of the muscle-building equation; your diet matters, too. The food you eat provides your body with the energy and nutrients it needs to power you through intense workouts and repair and build your muscles. Not paying attention to your diet will severely undermine your progress. However, sometimes, even a good diet is not enough to build muscle and gain weight. This is especially true if you are a naturally slim ectomorph, are a hard gainer, or have an active lifestyle. If you are training hard and eating right but still struggling to pack on mass, maybe it’s time to try bulking. This age-old bodybuilding practice is all but guaranteed to increase muscle size and body weight. In this article, we explain the nuts and bolts of bulking and provide you with an awesome seven-day 5,000-calorie meal plan for rapid muscle building.
Bulking is the practice of purposely overeating to gain weight rapidly, preferably in the form of muscle mass. This overeating creates a significant calorie surplus, which means you consume more calories than you burn. Your body then uses this energy for muscle repair and growth, as well as fueling your workouts.
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During a bulk, exercisers lift weights to challenge their muscles and trigger hypertrophy or muscle growth. While any resistance training workout can achieve this goal, compound or multijoint exercises and heavy weights are the best prescription. Most people gain a lot of strength during a bulk. This type of training is sometimes referred to as powerbuilding, as it combines elements of powerlifting with bodybuilding. While the aim of bulking is to increase muscle size, fat gain is also common and usually unavoidable. Because of this, most bulks are followed by a lower-calorie cutting phase, during which excess fat is lost. The aim of the cutting phase is to lower your body fat percentage and reveal the details of the newly built muscle. Read more about Bulking vs. Cutting here. While bulking is a common practice in bodybuilding, athletes in other sports also use this method to gain weight, including boxers and wrestlers who want to move up a weight class, football players, hockey players, and other sports where a larger body weight is beneficial.
While bulking should produce noticeable muscle growth and weight gain, a successful bulk is not simply a matter of eating as much as you can for a few weeks or months. In fact, such an approach is rarely effective. Avoid the most common pitfalls by following the ten rules of successful bulking!
Most muscle-building diets suggest a calorie surplus of 300-500 per day. While this can be enough to build muscle, it’s going to be a slow process. Bulking is all about packing on mass fast, so you need a bigger surplus than usual. The size of your surplus depends on your metabolic needs, but 1000 to 2000 calories extra per day is not unheard of.
While the number of calories you consume is critical during a bulk, where those calories come from also matters. There are three food groups, and you need an abundance of each for a successful bulk. The ideal macro ratio for bulking is:
This means that 40% of your daily calories should come from protein and carbs, while 20% should come from fat. This will provide a good balance between muscle-building proteins, energy-providing carbs, and hormone-regulating fats. Check out the macro calculator.
There are other bulking protein/carbohydrate/fat ratios you can try, including:
However, the common feature of all of them is the abundance of protein.
As hinted at in the point above, getting enough protein is critical for your bulking success. Your body needs protein for muscle repair and growth. Too little protein will undermine your progress and lead to poor muscle hypertrophy.
Most experts agree you should consume around 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. However, most bulks exceed this recommendation by a wide margin. This ensures you really are providing your muscles with more of what they need to grow.
Good sources of protein during a bulk include:
Eating a lot of calories can be challenging when you eat mostly clean and healthy foods. That’s because many foods we consider healthy, i.e., vegetables and lean proteins, are also low in calories. If you eat clean all the time, you should expect to eat a lot of large meals each day.
Bulking is usually easier if you include a few less healthy foods in your bulking diet. Things like pizza, ice cream, candy bars, fried foods, etc., have a high energy density, so you don’t need to eat huge portions to ingest plenty of calories.
That doesn’t mean you can go on a no-stop junk food binge and call it bulking. However, you can include a few less healthy foods in your diet to supplement the clean foods you’re eating and boost your calorie intake. You can also enjoy the occasional cheat meal while bulking.
While some fat gain is inevitable during a bulk, you’ll gain almost nothing but fat if you don’t combine bulking with a suitable strength training workout. Hard and heavy strength training triggers muscle growth, giving the extra food you are eating somewhere else to go other than your fat stores.
Build your workouts around compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull-ups, overhead presses, and bent-over rows. These exercises stimulate multiple muscle groups, making the best use of your training time and energy. Focus on getting stronger in a handful of key lifts to pack on mass as fast as possible.
Intense strength training takes a lot out of your body. It uses energy, both physical and mental, and causes muscle breakdown. For muscle growth to occur, you need to balance your workouts with adequate rest and recovery.
This means you should avoid unnecessary additional physical activity so you have more of the resources you need for muscle growth. So, no pick-up games of basketball with your buddies, no weekend social soccer, and no extra cardio.
Instead, do whatever you can to promote recovery between workouts, e.g.:
Try to save most of your energy for training and recovering from training. Remember that additional physical activity could impede muscle growth.
Your body does most of its muscle building when you are asleep. With no conscious functions to perform, it has the time and energy it needs to repair and rebuild the muscles you’ve torn down in training. Anabolic (muscle-building) hormone production increases while you sleep, as does protein synthesis.
Failing to get enough sleep could severely undermine your gains, so strive to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep each and every night.
Bulking should provide measurable results. However, you won’t know if your hard work is paying off unless you track your progress. You might think your bulk is working, only to find that after a month, your body has not changed.
So, track your progress to ensure your diet and workouts are producing the anticipated results. Ways to do this include:
Don’t rely on one single progress-tracking method. Instead, use several to get a fuller picture of how you are doing.
Compared to cutting, bulking is a breeze. You get to eat lots of food, you’ll feel strong and full of energy, and your muscles will get noticeably bigger from week to week. Because of this, it can be tempting to continue bulking for too long.
Unfortunately, muscle gained through bulking is also accompanied by fat gain, and too much body fat is bad for your appearance and health.
So, set an endpoint to your bulk. This can be when you hit a specific body weight target or body fat percentage or just a predetermined timeframe, e.g., eight weeks. Avoid so-called perma-bulking, which is unhealthy and can lead to obesity.
While you can bulk successfully without supplements, there are some products that could make things a little easier.
Useful supplements for use during a bulk include:
Please note that while supplements can complement a bulking diet and training routine, they cannot replace whole foods or a balanced diet.
You now have all the information you need to create a bulking diet plan of your own. But, to save you the bother, we’ve written one for you! Make adjustments based on your needs and goals, and feel free to replace any foods or meals you don’t enjoy.
Calories: 960 | Fat: 37g | Carbs: 85g | Protein: 73g
Calories: 830 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 99g | Protein: 62g
Calories: 1190 | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 112g | Protein: 88g
Calories: 860 | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 100g | Protein: 61g
Calories: 1080 | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 130g | Protein: 88g
Calories: 450 | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 30g | Protein: 75g
Total for Day 1: Calories: 5370 | Fat: 151g | Carbs: 556g | Protein: 447g
Calories: 975 | Fat: 39g | Carbs: 83g | Protein: 68g
Calories: 820 | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 95g | Protein: 59g
Calories: 1200 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 112g | Protein: 94g
Calories: 840 | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 105g | Protein: 56g
Calories: 1220 | Fat: 39g | Carbs: 118g | Protein: 92g
Calories: 440 | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 62g | Protein: 40g
Total for Day 2: Calories: 5495 | Fat: 164g | Carbs: 575g | Protein: 409g
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Calories: 945 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 78g | Protein: 74g
Calories: 850 | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 104g | Protein: 54g
Calories: 1250 | Fat: 40g | Carbs: 116g | Protein: 98g
Calories: 840 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 103g | Protein: 51g
Calories: 1210 | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 112g | Protein: 99g
Calories: 430 | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 60g | Protein: 40g
Total for Wednesday: Calories: 5525 | Fat: 163g | Carbs: 573g | Protein: 416g
Calories: 955 | Fat: 37g | Carbs: 80g | Protein: 76g
Calories: 840 | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 105g | Protein: 57g
Calories: 1220 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 128g | Protein: 100g
Calories: 850 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 100g | Protein: 56g
Calories: 1210 | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 123g | Protein: 91g
Calories: 420 | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 54g | Protein: 46g
Total for Thursday: Calories: 5495 | Fat: 160g | Carbs: 590g | Protein: 426g
Calories: 945 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 77g | Protein: 75g
Calories: 845 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 103g | Protein: 54g
Calories: 1225 | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 120g | Protein: 95g
Calories: 840 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 100g | Protein: 52g
Calories: 1225 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 117g | Protein: 96g
Calories: 410 | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 50g | Protein: 47g
Total for Friday: Calories: 5490 | Fat: 160g | Carbs: 567g | Protein: 419g
Calories: 945 | Fat: 37g | Carbs: 76g | Protein: 73g
Calories: 820 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 99g | Protein: 62g
Calories: 1200 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 112g | Protein: 96g
Calories: 850 | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 100g | Protein: 54g
Calories: 1220 | Fat: 39g | Carbs: 123g | Protein: 88g
Calories: 430 | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 50g | Protein: 54g
Total for Saturday: Calories: 5465 | Fat: 164g | Carbs: 560g | Protein: 427g
Calories: 945 | Fat: 37g | Carbs: 77g | Protein: 75g
Calories: 850 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 103g | Protein: 54g
Calories: 1225 | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 120g | Protein: 95g
Calories: 840 | Fat: 23g | Carbs: 100g | Protein: 52g
Calories: 1225 | Fat: 36g | Carbs: 117g | Protein: 96g
Calories: 450 | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 60g | Protein: 40g
Total for Sunday: Calories: 5545 | Fat: 161g | Carbs: 577g | Protein: 412g
Here is a list of all the foods you need for one week of bulking with our 5,000-calories-per-day plan. Take a screenshot and then use it at the grocery store to ensure you get everything you need for the coming week.
Of course! Here’s the updated shopping list without the extra wording:
Feel free to use non-dairy milk if preferred.
Remember, this shopping list is based on the quantities and foods mentioned in the meal plan and may vary depending on your individual preferences and serving sizes. Make sure to adjust the quantities as needed to suit your nutritional requirements.
Additionally, don’t forget to include any seasonings, spices, and condiments that you may need to enhance the flavor of your meals.
Do you have a question about our 5,000-calorie meal plan or general bulking? That’s okay because we’ve got the answers!
5,000 calories per day IS a lot of food for the average person to eat. Most people won’t need the full 5,000 calories to gain muscle and weight. This is the sort of quantity of food professional bodybuilders eat to gain mass.
Using our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) calculator, work out how many calories you need to consume per day to maintain your current weight, and then add 1000 to that number. This should be a good place to start your bulking diet. Adjust your surplus according to your progress.
Eating a lot of food can be healthy, provided you make good choices. Nutritionally, there is a lot of difference between eating things like Greek yogurt, fruit, vegetables, and lean meat and pounding down vast amounts of ice cream, French fries, and takeout burgers.
That said, such large amounts of food can cause gastric distress as your body struggles to digest and absorb everything you eat. Expect to feel full and even bloated a lot of the time.
If you are new to bulking, start with a smaller surplus and increase as you get used to eating more food.
However, some people believe chronic overeating can shorten your life, even if that food is healthy. That’s why life extensionists – people who want to live as long as possible – purposely under-eat.
Yes, you can bulk on a vegan diet. However, it may be challenging to consume enough protein as plant-based foods do not contain as much protein per serving as meat, fish, eggs, etc. You’ll need to consume lots of the following to consume adequate protein on a vegan bulking diet:
Both men and women can practice bulking. However, it’s usually men who want to gain a lot of muscle and weight in a short time. That said, both genders may benefit from bulking, and its suitability depends on your training goals. However, most women won’t need to consume as many calories as their male counterparts.
Fat gain while bulking is all but inevitable. You can’t expect to eat so much food and not gain at least some body fat. That’s why most people follow a bulking diet with a cutting phase.
If you don’t want to gain fat, bulking may not be the best nutritional approach for you. Instead, consider a “lean bulk,” where you gain muscle more slowly but won’t accumulate so much body fat.
The duration of your bulking phase depends on your goals and progress. Generally, a bulking phase can last anywhere from a few months to a year. Once you’ve reached your desired body weight, you can then transition to a cutting phase to reduce body fat while maintaining your muscle mass.
However, take care not to fall into the perma-bulking trap, as that can be unhealthy and lead to excessive fat gain. Short bulking cycles are usually safer, more effective, and require a less intensive cutting phase as you won’t have so much body fat to lose.
Incorporating cardiovascular exercise into your workouts offers several benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, endurance, and better recovery. However, take care not to wipe out too much of your calorie surplus, which would undermine your muscle-building goals. If you are using cardio to minimize fat gain, you’ll probably get better results with less effort by reducing your food intake.
Eating 5,000 calories a day is a significant undertaking. As well as the financial cost, you’ll also need to spend time shopping, preparing, and cooking your food. All that eating will be time-consuming, too. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that the workouts are the easiest part of most bulking programs!
However, if you want to build muscle and gain weight, bulking is arguably the fastest way to do it. You can gain in months what might take years on a lean bulk.
Bulking is not for everyone and may not even be necessary if you are making good progress on a more conservative diet. But, if you are stuck in a rut and can’t build muscle or gain weight, a few months on a gaining plan could be just what you need.
Do you need to consume 5,000 calories a day to build muscle? Probably not, but this guide explains the principles and strategies you need to gain weight fast. Adjust our plan to match your personal needs and goals.
If you have any questions or require further clarification on this article, please leave a comment below. Patrick is dedicated to addressing your queries promptly.
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