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When it comes to packing on muscle mass — aka bulking up — a calorie surplus is absolutely crucial. It happens when you take in more calories in a day than your body burns off, and without it, it would be very difficult to build any muscle at all.
Combine a continuous calorie surplus with a challenging weightlifting routine, and you have the basic ingredients for muscle growth. However, the way in which you go about achieving your calorie surplus also matters — that’s where the divergent approaches of dirty and clean bulking come into the picture.
Dirty vs. Clean Bulk
Dirty Bulk
With a dirty bulk, the idea is that as long you’re pushing yourself in the gym and consuming a calorie surplus, you can pretty much eat as much as you want of whatever you want.
While it’s certainly possible to pack on some serious muscle mass using this approach, there are some downsides. The issue is that most people tend to take in far too many extra calories if they haven’t established a clear calorie target in their daily diet, which can ultimately lead to significant increases in body fat.
That means that even if you’re able to pack on some substantial amounts of muscle mass, you likely won’t see any improvement in…
