{"id":217619,"date":"2021-01-01T06:00:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T06:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/?p=217619"},"modified":"2021-01-04T06:45:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T11:45:40","slug":"whats-stopping-me-bulking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/","title":{"rendered":"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What’s Stopping You From Bulking Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While questions around losing weight<\/a> might dominate column inches in fitness mags, the flip side can be as much of a concern for those looking to progress in the gym. How then do you gain weight, or more specifically and despite all the meticulous over-eating and time chucking around hefty weights, are you still not bulking up the way you wish?<\/p>\n

Having been quite skinny in my youth, as with many people, that situation quickly changed when I reached my 40s. But assuming the answer you\u2019re looking for isn\u2019t to quit complaining, or just to give it a decade, I’ll have a go at breaking this down.<\/p>\n

For you to not be putting on weight despite time in the gym and the perception that you’re eating more, the answer doesn\u2019t simply come down to the fact you\u2019re not eating enough, but how and why you\u2019re not eating enough. One of the main reasons I was skinny is because I was super active, and my eating was erratic. When I ate, I ate lots, but I skipped meals too, eating opportunistically rather than properly planning my nutrition.<\/p>\n

So the first thing you’ll need to do is to think carefully about what your current diet lifestyle is like. If, for instance, you\u2019ve slightly increased food intake but have a very active job and are also hammering it at the gym, then a few extra shakes and some chicken, rice, and broccoli for lunch might not be enough for the work you\u2019re doing, let alone enough for bulking beyond where you\u2019re at now.<\/p>\n

\"meal<\/p>\n

Bulking Up And Building Muscle<\/h2>\n

Next is analysing exactly how you\u2019re trying to build muscle. The two things that drive muscle growth are resistance exercise or strains through a given muscle, and the fuel you\u2019re providing that muscle. Resistance exercise<\/a> is a stimulus of muscle protein synthesis. On its own, it won\u2019t synthesize or build muscle. This means not just delivering protein to that muscle, but adequate energy too, with carbohydrates.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on a subsistent level of energy intake and you\u2019re adding lots of resistance, that\u2019s not going to be conducive to bulking up by building muscle. What you need to do is start looking at the timing of the meals<\/a> you\u2019re having around exercise. You have a framework \u2013 a normal diet allowing energy to go about your daily business \u2013 then you target the nutrition around training being done to optimise growth. One way to do that is with protein shakes<\/a> after workouts, but also through meals before and after exercise.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re working out in the gym first thing in the morning. You might consider having a carb-heavy dinner the night before, then if you\u2019re doing a resistance workout, a carbohydrate\/protein combo in the meal that follows. That being said, you\u2019d probably find it easier to do your resistance exercise at lunchtime, or later in the day, because in the morning you\u2019re likely to be in a fasted state and really, you want to be training in a fed state, with a meal that gives you lots of time to synthesize protein.<\/p>\n

\"lifting<\/p>\n

Fuelling For The Work Required<\/h2>\n

Professional boxers are a great example of how to pair exercise and nutrition. They get up early in the morning for a fasted run before breakfast, you know, Rocky-style. At midday, they’ll do some technique-focussed sparring at moderate to high-intensity before a carby lunch.<\/p>\n

Then, in the evening, resistance is followed by a mix of carbs and protein which serves as post-exercise recovery, building muscle, repair, and some preparation for their run the following morning. They fuel for the work required, which is something a lot of people forget to do when looking specifically at bulking up.<\/p>\n

Once you have a grip on this more informed approach to building on the foundation of your diet, I think that\u2019s when you\u2019ll start to see the changes you\u2019re looking for. It\u2019s not as simple as adding an additional scoop of protein to your shake after a workout \u2013 that\u2019ll just be excess to your actual requirements and half would be oxidized to contribute to energy.<\/p>\n

Instead, build on the foundation of your diet, then add to it the feeding around training, rather than just massive meals and supplements in single sittings. The mass will soon come.<\/p>\n

_<\/p>\n

A qualified nutritionist for 20 years, Dr. Collins holds an MSc in Nutrition & Metabolism and a PhD focusing on energy expenditure and body composition. He is Director of MSc and BSc Nutrition at the University of Surrey<\/a>. His research interests lie in exercise nutrition, body composition and energy metabolism and current research includes exercise intensity, intermittent fasting and timing of food around exercise.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gaining weight and muscle might sound as simple as increasing the amount you eat, but there’s more to it than that. Form’s head of nutrition Dr. Adam Collins investigates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11386,"featured_media":217532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-body","category-nutrition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHere's What Might Be Stopping You From Bulking Up<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What's Stopping You From Bulking Up?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Form - US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Adam Collins PhD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. Adam Collins PhD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dr. Adam Collins PhD\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20f054eb62a583dd478b64ca1885528a\"},\"headline\":\"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What’s Stopping You From Bulking Up?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":819,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Body\",\"Nutrition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/\",\"name\":\"Here's What Might Be Stopping You From Bulking Up\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"guide-to-bulking\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What’s Stopping You From Bulking Up?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/\",\"name\":\"Form - US\",\"description\":\"Plant Based Nutrition for Body and Mind\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Form\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/form_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/form_logo.png\",\"width\":158,\"height\":52,\"caption\":\"Form\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20f054eb62a583dd478b64ca1885528a\",\"name\":\"Dr. Adam Collins PhD\",\"description\":\"Head of Nutrition. A qualified nutritionist for 20 years, Dr. Collins holds an MSc in Nutrition & Metabolism and a PhD focusing on energy expenditure and body composition. He is Director of MSc and BSc Nutrition at the University of Surrey. His research interests lie in exercise nutrition, body composition and energy metabolism and current research includes exercise intensity, intermittent fasting and timing of food around exercise.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/author\\\/adamcollins\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Here's What Might Be Stopping You From Bulking Up","description":"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What's Stopping You From Bulking Up?","og_description":"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.","og_url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/","og_site_name":"Form - US","article_published_time":"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr. Adam Collins PhD","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. Adam Collins PhD","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/"},"author":{"name":"Dr. Adam Collins PhD","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/20f054eb62a583dd478b64ca1885528a"},"headline":"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What’s Stopping You From Bulking Up?","datePublished":"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/"},"wordCount":819,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg","articleSection":["Body","Nutrition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/","name":"Here's What Might Be Stopping You From Bulking Up","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-01T06:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-04T11:45:40+00:00","description":"Bulking might sound as simple as simply eating more, but there's more to it than that. Form's head of nutrition investigates.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/why-cant-i-bulk.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"guide-to-bulking"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/whats-stopping-me-bulking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nutrition and Exercise for Weight Gain: What’s Stopping You From Bulking Up?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/","name":"Form - US","description":"Plant Based Nutrition for Body and Mind","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#organization","name":"Form","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/form_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/form_logo.png","width":158,"height":52,"caption":"Form"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/20f054eb62a583dd478b64ca1885528a","name":"Dr. Adam Collins PhD","description":"Head of Nutrition. A qualified nutritionist for 20 years, Dr. Collins holds an MSc in Nutrition & Metabolism and a PhD focusing on energy expenditure and body composition. He is Director of MSc and BSc Nutrition at the University of Surrey. His research interests lie in exercise nutrition, body composition and energy metabolism and current research includes exercise intensity, intermittent fasting and timing of food around exercise.","url":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/author\/adamcollins\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11386"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}