The Effects of Bulking On My Health
At the turn of 2023, I entered an extended gaining phase, even though my body-fat percentage was nowhere near as low as I would have liked. My caloric intake averaged 4,200 calories per day for 20 weeks. I achieved my goal of gaining 7KG by mid-May, with an expected jump in body-fat percentage, taking me up to somewhere between 16-20%. However, I was not prepared for the results of blood tests to measure key health indicators.
The Results
Excellent! Sorry for the clickbait, but I was genuinely surprised. My hormones were fine, with my total testosterone slightly higher than normal. My blood sugar levels were well within range, and various cholesterol indicators were as close to perfect as possible. And quite frankly, I’m not surprised. I feel fantastic. Full of energy and consistently setting PRs in the gym.
The results of my blood work are below.
Hormone Results, taken 16 weeks in.
Cholesterol and blood sugars taken 19 weeks in.
Interpretation of These Results
Caloric Restriction
These results confirm what I, and many others, have long hypothesised. That caloric restriction is the most crucial determinant of health outcomes derived from nutrition. I say this because I allowed myself copious amounts of so-called ‘dirty’ foods such as pizza, ice cream and burgers. Most days, I was not even consciously attempting to watch what I ate, but I had a good handle on how much I consumed. As previously stated, on average, 4,200 calories per day.
Bodyweight Management
My body weight increased gradually, gaining, on average, 0.35 kg per week. Though my food choice was ‘dirty’, the increase in body weight was well managed in that I gained weight gradually. This is not to say that I gained exactly a third of a kilo every week. Some weeks, I was up 1KG seemingly overnight, while there were weeks when my weight barely shifted or decreased momentarily. But in the grand scheme of things, a 10% caloric surplus, regardless of food choice, resulted in a predictable increase in body mass, which did not negatively affect my health.
Higher Body fat Percentages and Testosterone
My body-fat percentage is much higher than I have previously allowed whilst consciously aiming at a particular goal. But I must say that once I overcame the psychological hurdle of not seeing abdominal muscles (at all), I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at a relatively high body fat level, leading to improved performance in the gym.
Over the years of trying different things, I have noticed that extended bulking phases where my body fat goes higher than what is considered ‘aesthetic’ results in higher total testosterone levels. In my early to mid-twenties, when my testosterone was should have been at its highest, I was much leaner, but my testosterone was always on the lower side of the normal range.
What we consider to be the ideal male physique has been completely twisted by image-based social media and dating apps. Being lean in photos creates the illusion of being large, though this is a much different story in the real world. Thus, our perception of what is optimal and what is actually optimal is skewed.
Next Steps
Despite the benefits I have enjoyed from this bulk, I am a firm believer in the law of diminishing returns. If I were to continue this bulk indefinitely, I do not doubt that I would run into the following issues:
The accumulation of more body fat.
An inverse effect on the aforementioned health markers.
A plateau in training performance.
To reset the curve of diminishing returns, I will enter a 6-week mini cut to strip away some body fat whilst maintaining or modestly increasing my lifts in the gym.
In this way, I can continue to enjoy the benefits of extended bulking periods without negatively affecting my overall goal of a well-built, natural, aesthetic physique.
This approach to bulking can be found in my upcoming book, Hard Gains, which will be available for purchase in the coming months.