Is bulking up too expensive?

roro_utd

i'm 21 years of age and 70 kg, looking to add a bit of muscle to my body as I feel that look to skinny. I really don't wanna be making six small protein rich meals per day as is pretty much universally suggested on fitness forums; I don't have the time for this. I'm just wondering, can I add muscle while eating only 3 meals a day and taking protein shakes. My main question is though, are protein shakes a ridiculously expensive way of gaining muscle? The likes of Holland and Barrett have whey protein as 21 euro for 908 g at the minute, but how often would I need buy a container of it?

dave80

roro_utd wrote: »

i'm 21 years of age and 70 kg, looking to add a bit of muscle to my body as I feel that look to skinny. I really don't wanna be making six small protein rich meals per day as is pretty much universally suggested on fitness forums; I don't have the time for this. I'm just wondering, can I add muscle while eating only 3 meals a day and taking protein shakes. My main question is though, are protein shakes a ridiculously expensive way of gaining muscle? The likes of Holland and Barrett have whey protein as 21 euro for 908 g at the minute, but how often would I need buy a container of it?

3 meals is grand, as long as ye get enough cals and protein in youll be on the right track, protein powders are a convenient way to get extra protein in, i go through a 5lb tub protein a month (40 euro)

ray jay

this is good value http://www.myprotein.com/ie/products/impact-whey-protein

marathonic

I agree with Dave. You don't need to have 6 meals - 3 is fine.

Regarding protein, you need to get 1-1.5 grams in your daily diet per 1lb of body mass. For you, this means getting at least 150 grams of protein. The rest of the daily calories can come from carbs and fat - which are generally cheaper sources.

The myProtein product linked above is cheaper and of a better quality than the Holland and Barrett product.

Some people find 150 grams of protein difficult to achieve, expecially if they are particularly picky about what they eat. For your protein sources, think eggs, lean meat, milk, fish, etc. For carbs, porridge is the ultimate source to get you going in the morning and is really cheap. For good fats (when on a bulk), I find peanut butter excellent. I also buy this from myProtein as it's cheap and doesn't contain the added ingredients of some of the supermarket brands.

I buy a 5kg bag of protein at a time. Assumming you take a 25g serving with water every day and a 25g serving with 200ml semi-skimmed milk before bed (the milk makes it absorb slower during the night), you'll get about 48g of your required 150g of protein right there. The rest should be easy to get through your chicken, tuna, eggs, etc. With two daily servings, a 5kg bag would last you over 3 months.

Of course, if you can get ALL your required protein through diet without the protein shakes, then this is the better option. However, the shakes are convenient and pretty cheap considering how long they'll last.

Peanut Butter: http://www.myprotein.com/ie/products/peanut-butter
Protein: http://www.myprotein.com/IE/products/impact-whey-protein


Feel free to use my myProtein discount code if ordering. It's MP289427 and will give you 5% off your first order.

Gummy Panda

How much are people eating for their "bulking"?

If you're already eating at maintence then another meal containing 300-500 cals should be enough.

Marathonic I think you have a bot program that posts your MP code in threads :pac:

MiNdGaM3

For myself, I'd drink a pint of 2% milk if I have long between meals.
3 pints per day will give you almost 60g protein and an extra 800kcal.
Adding that to your maintenance diet alone is almost enough for bulking.

J-Fit

Even if you wanted one meal a day, that would be fine too. As long as you are in caloric surplus, you're all good. I usually recommend that people go 1000 over maintenance level. Muscle mass is hard to come by, reducing body fat is very easy.

The Guvnor

roro_utd wrote: »

i'm 21 years of age and 70 kg, looking to add a bit of muscle to my body as I feel that look to skinny. I really don't wanna be making six small protein rich meals per day as is pretty much universally suggested on fitness forums; I don't have the time for this. I'm just wondering, can I add muscle while eating only 3 meals a day and taking protein shakes. My main question is though, are protein shakes a ridiculously expensive way of gaining muscle? The likes of Holland and Barrett have whey protein as 21 euro for 908 g at the minute, but how often would I need buy a container of it?

What are your actual goals - how much gain in what time frame?

3 meals per day with 2-3 shakes on top is fine. This makes up your 6 meals. Now obviously what your meals are is important.

Only other point for you to consider is that protein is only 4 cals per g so ROUGHLY 100g of your whey is 400kcals.

Therefore if weight gain is your aim perhaps protein and carbs would be a better bet - still only 4 cals per g but more affordable and therefore instead of say 100g of whey per day you could have 100g whey and 100g carbs etc.

Much better value out there than H&B.;)

yosser hughes

J-Fit wrote: »

Even if you wanted one meal a day, that would be fine too. As long as you are in caloric surplus, you're all good. I usually recommend that people go 1000 over maintenance level. Muscle mass is hard to come by, reducing body fat is very easy.

Is it easy to reduce body fat at the same time as bulking up though? Genuine question,as I haven't a clue really. I mean for example if you were to drink a lot of milk to bulk up would you not gain a lot of fat?

cgpg5

yosser hughes wrote: »

Is it easy to reduce body fat at the same time as bulking up though? Genuine question,as I haven't a clue really. I mean for example if you were to drink a lot of milk to bulk up would you not gain a lot of fat?

I'm no expert but I'd imagine that to gain muscle you'll need to take in excess calories, however if you do enough cardio aswell you should keep off the body fat. Take rugby players for example they do enough running to keep off fat but they eat an incredible amount to keep up mass also.

alexsmith

stop bulking and start improving.you only need about 250-300 calories extra when you want to gain muscle.it takes ages to put on quality muscle without putting on fat.get bulking out of your mind,its stupid.excess fat to be gained when trying to build is stupid and only leads you into a "cut mode".

if your skinny - eat way more.if your on the fatter side add cardio 3x a week (low intensity) and hit the weights but make sure you eat enough calories (about 150cal over maintenance).

The Guvnor

yosser hughes wrote: »

Is it easy to reduce body fat at the same time as bulking up though? Genuine question,as I haven't a clue really. I mean for example if you were to drink a lot of milk to bulk up would you not gain a lot of fat?

Despite what some will say if you gain weight you WILL gain muscle and fat.

The key is the ratio. If you are currently 11st and 15% BF and over a year you add 1.5st at a 2:1 ratio of muscle to fat you are now 12.5st and you would be happy, correct?

However your bodyfat would now be about 17% so you are now technically fatter than before BUT I can pretty much guarantee you will probably look leaner!

The other option is to gain the weight and then diet back down and hopefully you get to say 11st at 12% bodyfat so you have now gained muscle and you repeat etc. until you are 12st at 15% etc.

The key thing to remember is it takes time and patience is a virtue in this game.

One caveat IME - if you are 17,18,19,20 you may surpass these figures by virtue of your body still growing.

J-Fit

alexsmith wrote: »

stop bulking and start improving.you only need about 250-300 calories extra when you want to gain muscle.it takes ages to put on quality muscle without putting on fat.get bulking out of your mind,its stupid.excess fat to be gained when trying to build is stupid and only leads you into a "cut mode".

if your skinny - eat way more.if your on the fatter side add cardio 3x a week (low intensity) and hit the weights but make sure you eat enough calories (about 150cal over maintenance).

That's not good advice at all and is incorrect in places. The intensity of cardio doesn't make a difference. That's bodybuilding lore.

alexsmith

J-Fit wrote: »

That's not good advice at all and is incorrect in places. The intensity of cardio doesn't make a difference. That's bodybuilding lore.

the intensity of cardio doesnt make a difference? please read a physiology book before you start giving people advice.

ever heard of liss cardio and interval training? probably not.

if your trying to gain quality muscle without gaining fat,you only need an extra 250-300 calories if your a "normal person". and by normal i mean a person with a normal metabolism.people with higher metabolisms can eat pretty much anything and not get fat,which they should literally eat all day to gain weight.

J-Fit

alexsmith wrote: »

the intensity of cardio doesnt make a difference? please read a physiology book before you start giving people advice.

ever heard of liss cardio and interval training? probably not.

if your trying to gain quality muscle without gaining fat,you only need an extra 250-300 calories if your a "normal person". and by normal i mean a person with a normal metabolism.people with higher metabolisms can eat pretty much anything and not get fat,which they should literally eat all day to gain weight.

I think you're misunderstanding what I said. In any case, I think you're the one who requires the book.

Gummy Panda

J-Fit wrote: »

alexsmith wrote: »

the intensity of cardio doesnt make a difference? please read a physiology book before you start giving people advice.

ever heard of liss cardio and interval training? probably not.

if your trying to gain quality muscle without gaining fat,you only need an extra 250-300 calories if your a "normal person". and by normal i mean a person with a normal metabolism.people with higher metabolisms can eat pretty much anything and not get fat,which they should literally eat all day to gain weight.

I think you're misunderstanding what I said. In any case, I think you're the one who requires the book.

I think it might be better to back up your arguments rather you telling each other you're wrong

Zamboni

Is 'bulking' becoming the new 'toning'?
Sh1t. I must have missed that memo.

xgtdec

I reckon bulking doesnt need to be much more expensive outside of your regular shopping routine, i think if your getting your eggs and meat wholesale you can get a whole lot of food for cheap enough, and not forgetting your porridge which again is cheap enough if you buy in bulk.

i imagine your better off with a gainer than a regular whey shake for bulking, i cant be dead on but i think ON's mass gainer is around 1300 cals per scoop...throw some ice cream in and your done;)

i just find it more mentally satisfying to eat all my cals when bulking!

Oh yeah i think ive said it here already this week but i just dont get this "i dont have time" business, it reeks of failure before you even start...and if you aint got time to take care of your nutrition, you damn sure aint got time to bulk!!

PauloConn

xgtdec wrote: »

I reckon bulking doesnt need to be much more expensive outside of your regular shopping routine, i think if your getting your eggs and meat wholesale you can get a whole lot of food for cheap enough, and not forgetting your porridge which again is cheap enough if you buy in bulk.

i imagine your better off with a gainer than a regular whey shake for bulking, i cant be dead on but i think ON's mass gainer is around 1300 cals per scoop...throw some ice cream in and your done;)

i just find it more mentally satisfying to eat all my cals when bulking!

Oh yeah i think ive said it here already this week but i just dont get this "i dont have time" business, it reeks of failure before you even start...and if you aint got time to take care of your nutrition, you damn sure aint got time to bulk!!

Really that much? How big is the scoop?
I'm sticking to my whey, eggs, turkey and milk. Its slow but it's rewarding.

diegowhite

If you are bulking on a budget, forget about mass gainers! Buy porridge oats and blend with protein powder to get better bang for your buck.

Here's a shake I eat everyday, comes to about 800 calories and I love the taste:
Low Fat Cottage Cheese 150 g
Protein (Casein/Whey Blend) - Milk Chocolate, 1 Scoop
Banana - Raw
Tesco - Value Porridge Oats, 50 g
Tesco - Wholenut Peanut Butter, 45 g
Linwoods - Flax, Sunflower, Pumpkin, Sesame Seed and Goji Berries, 1 desert spoon
Portion frozen spinach

grimloch

PauloConn wrote: »

Really that much? How big is the scoop?
I'm sticking to my whey, eggs, turkey and milk. Its slow but it's rewarding.

Just shy of 350g.

So you end up getting through a 5.5 kg bag in 16 days if my maths is right.

A sack is about 50 bills and some people find the concept of 1300 calories for 3 euro a pretty attractive concept.

Owen_S

Whey, oats, milk and eggs are all pretty cheap in comparison to other foods of similar nutritional value.

Bulking diet = cutting diet + rice, porridge and pasta... not the most expensive things in the world...