With the economy at it’s current state, bulking can be a big problem financially.  Its hard to make cheap dishes each day, but you have to eat big to get the muscle you’re looking for.  Since I’m in the same boat as most of you guys out there, I’ve learned to eat big without breaking the bank. 

One problem with eating on a budget is you won’t get much variety.  There aren’t that many products out there to save money while bulking.  That’s ok though, you can use many different cheap dishes to accomplish our goal.  As long as you get the right amount of nutrients, you should be fine.  Try these foods out to save a couple bucks.   

Brown Rice

You’re going to need your major fuel source of carbs.  Brown rice is perfect for getting this source.  There are lots of cheap dishes for brown rice and a bag will last quite a while.  You can usually find a bag for $1.50 and it will last about 2-3 weeks.

Whole Wheat Pasta 

Here is another great source of carbohydrates.  They make many great dishes for lunch and dinner.  The cheapest I found in the grocery store was $1.32 a box.  This box lasts me 1 week.

Canned Tuna

 Tuna is one of the best protein sources you can find for a bulk diet.  It’s quick, easy, and very cheap.  Canned tuna is pretty dry so some people like to add ingredients to better the taste.  If you’re eating clean, no mayonnaise.  1 can will usually cost $0.60.

Spinach 

Vegetables are very important for a quality bulk diet.  You need all the right vitamins and minerals to decrease the chance of injury, increase muscle recovery time, and be at optimal fitness level.  A bag of spinach will last 1 week and cost about $2.00.

Cottage Cheese 

Cottage cheese is loaded with protein and not just the any protein.  Cottage cheese has casein protein.  This has a much slower absorption than whey or soy protein.  This is a great snack to have later at night before bed so that you have a continually intake of protein while you sleep.  Your typical container will cost $2.50  and last about 1 week.

Eggs 

Eggs are just another great cheap source of protein.  They contain lots of nutrients to enhance the bulking process.  A $2.00 carton of eggs will usually last 1 week.

Oatmeal 

This is a great food for bulking.  Its quick to make and provides the body with fuel for the entire day.  It’s very tasty especially at breakfast.  You can easily add flavor to oatmeal without adding to many calories.  Adding fruit is always a good way to flavor it as well.  A box of oatmeal will cost about $2.50 and will last 1-2 weeks.

Peanut Butter 

This one is my favorite.  When you are used to eating a very clean diet you enjoy your snacks the best.  Peanut butter is my bulk snack of choice.  You can use this with so many things.  I add it to fruit, crackers, bread, and even brocolli.  Its a great source of protein and monounsaturated fats.  Try not to over do it so you don’t pack on too much fat.  A large container of peanut butter costs around $7.00 and will last 3-4 weeks.

Milk 

And finally, I get to a bulking beverage.  Milk is king of protein drinks.  When bulking, stick to whole milk.  You want to get all the minerals and fats you can.  Milk also has casein protein like the cottage cheese. So milk is great for periods you need continued relesae of protein.  Add a little whey protein powder and you have yourself a bulking masterpeice, the protein shake.  Milk costs about $2.50 a gallon and that usually lasts me 3 or 4 days.

So there are a few products you can use when your doing a bulking diet.  Each item can be made into many different cheap dishes. Stick to these things and you can save some money while still gaining the muscle you’re looking for.

Learn more about proper nutrition with Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

Travis

The hard gainer is your typical lifter who has plenty of exercise experience but just can’t seem to figure out how to add on those pounds of muscle.  They have lean muscles with very little fat on their bodies.  Their metabolism is naturally very high compared to the rest of us and they complain a lot about it.  First off, chill out.  There are many people out there who wish they could keep the fat off like you.  Everyone out there, hard gainer or not, can put on 15-20 pounds of lean muscle mass. 

The average hard gainer I’ve talked to has been working out for around a year and a half.  If you haven’t even exercised a year than you can’t say you’re a hard gainer.  There is no way to measure what you can or can’t do in only a years time.  Learning to adapt your body is a much longer process than 1 year. 

The first thing a hard gainer needs to do is look at what they’ve done in the past.  The majority of my hard gainer clients have used a crazy exercise program with way to many exercises, no rest weeks, and eat too little so they don’t add on extra fat pounds. 

Many times with exercising, less is more.  You want to gain muscle?  Then you need to exercise in a way that tells your body to adapt with more muscle.  You only need to do 1-2 exercises per muscle group.  Rep ranges are always in question.  You can learn more about this in Go Healthy Fitness’ recent post about sets and reps.

You may have chosen the wrong exercises for muscle gain.  An excessive amount of bicep exercises isn’t going to make your biceps grow efficiently.  Compound exercises are your best choice.  These exercises cause a release of human growth hormone right after your workout.  HGH is very beneficial when it comes to muscle growth.  Check out this article for my favorite 5 muscle building exercises to gain muscle and weight

A change of pace is another very important step in muscle growth.  Many hard gainers I work with haven’t taken a break in over a year or even changed their routine in any way.  I always recommend taking a 1-2 week break after each routine cycle.  My typical routines will last anywhere from 10-16 weeks.  The longer the routine cycle the longer the break I take.  This recovery period is essential for your muscles to get back on top.  They’ve been beaten down for months.  They need the time to recover.

Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition!  This is 80% if not more of gaining muscle or losing fat.  You have to eat food to refuel the muscles.  You have to eat a lot of food as a hard gainer.  Don’t be scared about gaining a couple body fat percent.  I know you’re wanting to keep your rock hard six pack but look at your current metabolism.  It will come off fast.  The most efficient way to gain muscle is to not worry about the fat you’re going to put on.  You have to eat excess calories to gain muscle.  Some of these calories will be stored as fat, its just part of the game.  The key is to eat the right foods to minimize the fat gain.  Take in lots of protein and keep your fats clean.  Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are great for your body.

You can really pack on those muscle pounds by taking a look at No Non-Sense Muscle Building. It will help you learn how to gain the quality muscle you’ve been trying to put on.

Travis

Each and everyday I’m asked the question, “How many sets and reps do I need to be doing?”  This question can only be answered after you know what your goal is.  Different rep ranges will have different outcomes for your body.  

When I talk about rep ranges, I’m talking about three different categories.  There are low reps of 1-5, medium rep range of 6-12 and higher reps at 12 or greater.  Each of these rep ranges have a different effect on your muscles and neurological system. 

A low rep range of 1-5 with heavy weight will cause your body to adapt by adding strength.  When you are lifting these heavier weights at a low rep range, your body will learn to recruit more muscle fibers to take part in the movement.  These muscle fibers have a higher threshold that don’t come into play with a lighter weight and higher reps.  Your muscles adapt to coordinate together in one movement as well.  A higher rep range will focus on isolating the main muscle used in the exercise.  You can try this by performing a heavy low rep set of bent rows and do a high rep low weight set.  On the higher rep set, your biceps will fatigue.  Lower reps will not have such an effect on your muscle size.

Bodybuilders use the 6-12 rep range for a reason.  This rep range is optimal for muscle development and hyptertrophy but won’t have as great an effect on strength as a lower rep range.  This explains why you’ll see bodybuilders who aren’t as strong as they look and smaller individuals with much greater strength.  It’s all about the sets and reps used. 

The muscles don’t have to call upon the higher threshold fibers to complete the 6-12 reps.  Your body will adapt by increasing the size of the components muscles are made of.  This effect is more cellular than neural.

The high range of 12+ reps are going to have the majority of effect on your cell components and very minimal strength gains.  This rep range is great for building muscular endurance and to increase injury prevention.  A higher rep range is usually recommended for a beginner so that the body can adapt slowly and efficiently so they can transition to heavier weight without injury.

So now that you know what the different sets and reps do, which rep range should you do?  Look at your goals and have the majority of your exercises use the rep range that’s appropriate for either muscle gain, strength gain, or endurance.  It is wise to use all of these rep ranges in a routine so that you can get all the effects. 

Learn more about building quality muscle and developing your body into that ideal shape by taking a look at No Non-Sense Muscle Building.

Travis