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Gaining weight can be a problem for naturally lean individuals who want to bulk up; essentially, the problem is not with the activity of eating but more of, what to eat? How to eat? How much? How much is too much? How will this help the bulking up?

All these questions are often answered by a myriad of confusing recommendations. Even bodybuilders tend to disagree with each other, which highlight a basic fact about the body building world: there is not one source of “great truths” on bodybuilding. The best authority, next to you, is a medical practitioner or a registered nutritionist with a background in dietetics and sports.

Other than these people, you will learn little else than the basic frameworks of how individual bodybuilders are able to succeed. And this in itself is not a bad thing at all- you simply have to mold the existing diet plans to make them more appropriate for your age, your build, your time and most importantly, your financial condition.

Bulking up?

Bulking up can make life hard, especially if you are after one particular bodybuilding ideal: more muscle, and almost zero gains from fat. How can you do this when the body has the natural propensity to store any surplus calories in the form of fat?

One of the solutions to this problem is by being extra selective with the food that you eat. Stick to foods that are high in energy but with as little oil as possible. Also, if you are going to consume high amounts of protein and carbohydrates, stick to food sources that have plenty of fiber as well. The extra bonus would help your body feel fuller and heavier- something that we can also use to counterbalance heavy weights if the need arises.

What kind of weight gain are we talking about here? If your weight gain exceeds more than two pounds a week, then there is definitely something faulty with your diet plan. If you spot this problem early on, do something about it. You will never succeed if you have far too much fat gain as opposed to weight contributed by lean muscle mass.

What is the ideal percentage of fat in a body builder’s body? Some professional body builders have less than 2 percent body fat. Ordinary individuals, often have more than 25 percent body fat. For non-body building men, it is almost normal to have more than 50 percent body fat.

For bodybuilders that are just beginning, an ideal target would be between 5 percent body fat to around 8-9 percent body fat. This is already a good figure, and if you can sustain this figure, you would probably be well on your way to going down much further- to less than 5 percent.

Balance should be part of your routine- because cutting down too much on food means you are also liable to lose muscle mass. It’s never pleasant to do a self-evaluation and see that you’re not only lean but you lack muscle mass, simply because you were too afraid of a few more calories

Benedict recommends Supplement Centre for all bodybuilding supplements and sports nutrition from manufacturers such as Prolab and Maximuscle