Can You Combine Bulking And Intermittent Fasting?

Have you ever wondered if intermittent fasting is good for bulking? Let’s have a look at this.

What is bulking

Bulking is the act of purposely increasing the number of calories you consume per day. You do this to significantly increase the rate of muscular growth.

The increased caloric intake is associated with intense physical activity at the gym to provide the body with endogenous signaling pathways that promote muscle growth and the calories it needs to do so.

Many athletes who bulk consume multiple meals during the day, exceeding their daily caloric needs to be able to gain half a pound of weight per week, which is the metabolic limit to muscle growth without using steroids.

However, this begs the question of whether intermitting fasting stands as an obstacle in the way of bulking.

In this article, we will discuss the relationship between intermittent fasting and bulking and see how they affect each other.

How does intermittent fasting affect bulking

While it is generally believed that intermittent fasting is only good for weight loss, some athletes around the world use intermittent fasting to their benefit; however, we need to do some modifications. “How is that possible?” I hear you asking.

Well, the major concept is simple.

Bulking to build muscles is all about increased caloric intake to meet with the demands of the muscle-building process.

This might seem to contradict the goal of every weight loss diet out there; however, the intermittent fasting diet is the exception to this rule.

Intermittent fasting does not restrict the number of calories you’re allowed to eat a day, nor does it eliminate a certain food or macronutrient from your diet.

However, considerable weight is lost because you cannot eat more calories than your body needs in a small time-window (e.g., 8 hours).

During a bulking cycle, athletes can consume up to 4000-5000 calories a day, which is very difficult to achieve if you’re doing intermittent fasting. However, it is not impossible; so, here are tips you could follow to reach that number of calories even when fasting.

More fat

Most people following a weight-reducing diet are afraid to consume foods with a large number of calories. However, this changes when we are on a lean bulk.

For this reason, you should consume more fat since 1 gram of lipids contains 9 calories (1 gram of protein or carbohydrate = 4 calories).

Diversify your meals

It’s important to stop obsessing about eating that healthy chicken breast and brown rice during the bulking phase. This will inadvertently reduce the number of calories you eat, which could affect muscle growth.

It’s your chance to binge on those pancakes, Big Macs, and large pizzas you’ve been craving for years!

Have more snacks

Since intermitting fasting only allows you to eat during a restricted time window, people often stick to eating 2-3 meals because they don’t feel hungry in-between.

However, if we want to achieve our goals of 4000 calories a day, three meals won’t do it and we need to include more snacks during the day.

Are intermittent fasting and bulking compatible

Finally, the answer is yes! You can intermittent fast and bulk for muscle growth but you’ll have to eat a lot of calories in a short eating window.

>> Download our Fasting Schedule Cheat Sheet to find the best timing for you: