Is It Possible To Get Abs While Bulking? Yes, It Is.

By - Afrida Nabiha

Scientifically, the only way to get abs is while someone is bulking. Abs are like all other muscles of the body. To build them, you will need a surplus amount of energy, and the muscles will need to be fatigued. To gain abs, you will have to take an adequate amount of energy-producing food. So, can you get abs while bulking? It is safe to say yes, you can.

People have a misconception that you have to cut off on your food habit or prevent bulking to gain abs. Abs required to be built. In general, building any muscle requires an efficient amount of energy provided by carbohydrate types of food, and these foods cause bulking. You can gain proper abs only by maintaining bulking and working out simultaneously.

What is Bulking?

Bulking is a term that bodybuilders most commonly use. It refers to a progressive increase in calorie intake that is more than the body’s requirement paired up with the intense workout.

Bulking is a crucial stage of bodybuilding that consists of three main phases – bulking, cutting, and maintenance. In the bulking phase, an individual gains muscles and intakes more calories than the usual requirement.

The period may vary from at least four to six months. This extra calorie provides your body the energy and fuel required to increase its size and strength. You should remember that regular physical exercise is essential in this stage to burn the excess calories, or it will cause nothing but weight gain leading to obesity.

Determination of Calorie intake

It would help if you determined the calorie and nutrient intake to start the process of bulking. And you can do it by a calorie counter. This requires your height, weight, age, sex, and daily physical activity to determine or calculate your daily calorie intake.

It is recommended that you consume about 10-20% more calories than what is required for the body. This is the minimum extra calorie needed to be taken by an individual to gain 0.25-0.5% weight weekly.

Some bodybuilders try to gain more than this percentage of weight weekly, but it is wise to measure the daily calorie intake and act accordingly.

Determination of Macronutrient intake

Once you calculate the number of required calories, it’s time to estimate the macronutrient ratios.  Macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are compulsory for an individual to take daily. The ratio of a calorie per gram carbohydrate: protein: fat is 4:4:9. It has been recommended by experts that:

You should make adjustments according to your dietary needs but keep in mind that calories from protein must remain within 30-35% to help optimum muscle growth. Nowadays, many calorie-taking apps are available to keep a record of your calorie and macronutrient ranges.

Foods to Eat While Bulking

A specific type of diet should be adopted by an individual while bulking. You must keep in mind that just intake of calorie-rich food is not enough to build muscle; it will just cause a calorie surplus. You should take food containing all kinds of nutrients to build muscle and for overall health. The food that you should eat is as follows:

Foods to Avoid While Bulking

While bulking, few foods are to be avoided as they contain significantly higher calories. This includes:

Intake of Supplements

Supplements are taken by bodybuilders while bulking. Supplements are taken for various reasons, such as to increase the ability to perform physical exercise, to develop immunity of the body, and the overall health of an individual.  The supplements that are taken while bulking are:

Intake of supplements is a convenient way of increasing your calories and building body mass efficiently. But you have to remember that these supplements are poorly balanced. It is better to build abs naturally without the intake of any supplements.

Now the question is can you bulk and get abs at the same time? Let’s check it out.

Training abs while Bulking

To get abs, you must perform bulking abs workout to train your abdominal muscles. We have a misconception that you have to cut off on your food habit to get abs, meaning losing weight. This is when the question arises, can you get abs while bulking? Should you train abs while bulking?

The answer is yes. When a person is bulking or gaining weight, every pound gained is a muscle and fat ratio. This muscle is required to get abs. Abdominal muscles are like any other muscle that needs growth to be noticeable. So, this weight gain is needed.

But, you must perform heavy exercise simultaneously, or else this will result in excess weight gain and obesity.

HIIT vs LISS cardio while Bulking

HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training, and LISS stands for low-intensity steady state. HIIT training includes short periods of intense exercise with intervals of resting phase, whereas LISS includes low-intensity exercises such as running, cycling, swimming, etc.

But, you must be wondering should I do cardio while bulking? Yes, absolutely. The benefits of cardio and regular cardio sessions are that the intake of calorie surplus is balanced by it. A person can quickly gain abs, six-packs, and slimmer waist by pairing bulking and cardio.

Core training with lean mass Bulking goals

Core training has become a common term used by bodybuilders. It is used to mean abdominal training. The core is a collection of masses that stabilizes and helps in the movement of your spine.

Exercises such as squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift are done to make your core stronger. In core exercises, the spine is kept in position to support our body while lifting heavy objects.

You can also do compound exercises in core training. Compound exercises are those exercises that work on multiple muscle groups at the same time. For example, we have seen in core training squats are done. The squat is a compound exercise that includes the gluteus, quadriceps, and calf muscles.

Risks of Bulking

I won’t surprise if you still ask how to get abs while gaining weight?

Well, the main goal of bulking is to cause and maintain calorie surplus. But there are a few precautions that should be maintained by an individual as high-calorie intake can have adverse side effects if not followed or maintained wisely.

Rather than wondering about ‘can you get abs while bulking,’ It is necessary to follow a healthful diet.

Intake of processed food

Intake of processed food is a shortcut and easy way of bulking. For this reason, you need to start taking snacks and processed foods that contain high calories. But, keep in mind that unhealthy food has the same dire consequences during bulking as at any other time.

Increases risk of various diseases

Bulking sometimes includes the intake of a massive amount of unhealthy food. This unhealthy food intake will increase the risks of heart disease, cancer, stroke, type-2 diabetes, etc.

Difficulty in changing phases

Usually, people find it challenging to move from the bulking phase to the cutting phase. Once they get habituated to unhealthy food intake, they fail to cut off their food habits quickly.  Bulking also increases the appetite of a person; as a result, they cannot suddenly shift to a lesser calorie-containing diet.

Dirty Bulking: Everything you need to know

Dirty bulking takes bulking to a whole new level. Dirty bulking includes relentless weight gain, which is followed by a high-intensity resistance workout. In dirty bulking, no types of food are off-limits. The main goal is to eat as much as possible or as much as their body can tolerate it.

Dirty bulking can cause various adverse side effects. This includes:

Benefits 

The main benefit a person may attain from bulking is to gain muscle mass. As a result, they can work to get abs by following an ideal bulking diet. This provides people the strength to train harder and quickly build muscles.

So, can you get abs while bulking? Yes, you can. It also helps develop a few good habits that will help you keep the strength intact for the future.

FAQ

Is bulking safe?

Many people believe that bulking is unhealthy, including a tremendous amount of calorie intake, weight gain, and increased fat mass. While bulking, you need to eat a massive amount of calorie-dense food.

But, it is followed by heavy exercise and weight lifting. So, bulking does not result in obesity or excess fat storage in the body. Thus, we can say that bulking is safe.

Can bulking cause obesity?

By definition, bulking refers to the excess intake of calories required for the body combined with intense weight training. So, even though a person is taking in a vast amount of calories that seems unhealthy, they are compensating for the intake with heavy exercise.

Also, these extra calories are necessary for the building of muscle. If you adopt bulking according to its definition, then it will not cause obesity.

Can bulking get you abs?

Yes, bulking can get you abs. Bulking means gaining muscle mass. This building of abdominal muscle along with daily exercise can help you gain abs.

Should I train abs every day?

When you are facing maximal muscle growth, then you should exercise every day. But, this does not mean you will have to do heavy intense exercise every day.

You can maintain a training routine. Four days a week, you can do heavy exercise, and the rest of the three days, you can do regular physical activity.

Are six-packs healthy?

Yes, six packs are healthy as long as a person takes proper health measures. You should take a sufficient amount of calories and perform direct ab training to gain six-packs healthily.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can get abs while bulking. Bulking is one of the main steps to gain muscle mass and develop abs. Bulking helps in muscle growth in a very healthy and easy manner. You can quickly achieve abs in a concise period if they try bulking.

So to answer the question, can you get abs while bulking? Yes, you can. Bulking plays a vital role in developing abs and muscle mass. You must follow the necessary precautions and a  healthy diet to get effective results.