Up next in 10
How To Lean-Bulk The Correct Way | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
0 views
Feb 12, 2025
An expert nutritionist will uncover the myth of how we can gain muscle without all that unwanted body fat. In today's episode, Jamie Wright, an expert nutritionist, tells us the secret to lean bulking. Jamie talks about how the development of lean muscle is the product of the demands we place on our bodies. How the fuel which we provide to it allows our body to recover and adapt to the needs of weight-bearing exercise, typical resistance training, gym workouts or some form of bodyweight workout like callisthenics. So, how much more energy do we need to gain lean muscle? Jamie digs into this and we learn why we need protein and creatine in the process. Chapters: 00:00 - Myths 01:53 - What makes muscle 03:34 - How many KCALs to make muscle 04:51 - Protein 06:35 - Creatine 08:02 - Beta-Alanine 10:16 - Fats 10:28 - Hydration 11:24 - Ask Jamie a question Follow Jamie on IG: jamiesdietguide *********************************
View Video Transcript
0:00
bulking you're eating more you're
0:02
feeling jollier you're struggling to fit
0:03
through doorways you're getting tired
0:06
faster walking upstairs it's brilliant
0:09
right
0:11
all right
0:14
hi I'm Jimmy Wright I'm accredited
0:16
nutritionist and I help people all
0:18
across the world improve their body
0:19
composition gain lean muscle and perform
0:21
at their very best with Cutting Edge
0:23
clinically backed nutrition strategies
0:25
what if I told you that getting all that
0:27
unnecessary body fat which isn't exactly
0:29
the best for your health wasn't
0:30
necessary and in fact may actually be of
0:34
little to no benefit when the goal is
0:36
developing more muscle yes that's right
0:39
on today's episode we are going to
0:40
uncover the myth of just how you can go
0:42
about gaining muscle without all that
0:44
unwanted body fat before I unveil the
0:47
secrets of the lean bulk we have to
0:48
first understand High muscle growth is
0:50
actually achieved essentially the
0:52
development of lean muscle is the
0:54
product of the demands we place in our
0:55
body and the fuel which we provide to it
0:58
that allows our body to recover and
0:59
adapt the demands being in this case
1:02
weight-bearing exercise you know your
1:04
typical resistance training gym workouts
1:06
or some form of Body Weight Workout like
1:09
calisthenics the field that I refer to
1:11
is simply the food that we eat while
1:13
training is important of course food is
1:16
arguably the most influential when it
1:18
comes to development muscle repair and
1:20
development is a really energy intensive
1:22
process and we need to ensure that we're
1:25
eating more than what we need to
1:26
maintain our weight to fuel that
1:28
adaptation and growth it's not just
1:30
about anymore though it's also important
1:32
that the profile of our diet is in line
1:34
with optimizing growth the composition
1:36
of our diet is also a key determinant in
1:39
higher body composition will change but
1:41
let's start with the basics how much
1:42
more should you actually be eating to
1:45
gain that lean muscle before considering
1:47
how much you need to gain lean muscle
1:49
it's fairly important that you know just
1:51
how much energy is in muscle to begin
1:52
with a pound of muscle is a mix of
1:55
protein a good bit of water some
1:57
glycogen some stored fat and a whole
2:00
assortment of other bits and pieces when
2:01
you boil it down to its energetic value
2:03
we can assume that a pound of muscle is
2:05
approximately 600 to 700 calories so it
2:08
only takes 600 to 700 calories Surplus
2:10
to gain upon the muscle no not as
2:12
necessarily that's the energy within a
2:14
pound of muscle it doesn't factor in the
2:16
energy required to build a pound of
2:18
muscle it may be that a pound of muscle
2:20
is only worth 600 to 700 calories but it
2:23
takes much more than that to actually
2:24
create new muscle never mind factoring
2:26
and changing hormones your training
2:28
program
2:29
Etc rough estimates based on personal
2:31
experience and from A random assortment
2:33
of various studies is that it would take
2:35
four to five times the number of
2:37
calories to actually create a new pound
2:39
of muscle I'm no mathematician but
2:41
roughly 3000 calories seems like a nice
2:44
and fairly accurate round number dm4 so
2:46
we divvy that out across the month and
2:48
you're looking at a calorie surplus of
2:50
around 100 calories a day now I'm sure
2:53
that's not overly exciting to many of
2:54
you and personally I don't feel like it
2:56
would be all that effective reason being
2:58
we have to factor in performance on top
3:01
of that as well as higher body will
3:02
adapt to the increase in food you see
3:04
when we eat more we expand more either
3:07
through heat the thermic effect of the
3:09
food itself or from more movement so
3:12
that extra 100 calories isn't likely
3:15
going to cut it so let's have a peep at
3:16
what the research says we really have
3:19
just the one useful study to look at
3:20
here which compared varying degrees of
3:22
an energy Surplus in groups of
3:24
experienced trainers their found was
3:26
that a surplus of around 600 to 700
3:28
calories per day was actually too much
3:30
and the participants gained a lot of
3:32
unnecessary body fat The Sweet Spot for
3:35
muscle growth is minimal fat gain was
3:37
around at 300 to 500 calorie Mark per
3:40
day the differences in lean body mass
3:42
development were negligible between the
3:44
groups but the differences in body fact
3:46
Ian were pretty Stark can go a step
3:48
further and mitigate body fat gain even
3:50
more by adapting the composition of our
3:52
diet and here's how the nutrient which
3:55
takes top spot on the podium has to be
3:57
protein protein is critical for muscle
3:59
repair and growth while also helping us
4:01
maintain a more desirable body
4:03
composition it's the most thermogenic of
4:05
the three macronutrients meaning quite
4:07
simply it costs us the most amount of
4:10
energy to actually use in fact it cost
4:13
us roughly one kilocalorie per gram of
4:15
protein to actually be able to use it
4:16
considering that a gram of protein costs
4:18
around four kilocalories of energy
4:19
that's a pretty hefty discount our body
4:22
also hates storing it as body fat so
4:25
instead our body will actually raise its
4:27
temperature or move a bit more to use up
4:30
any excess energy from protein studies
4:32
show that you can actually overfeed on
4:34
protein by up to several hundred
4:35
calories a day and not getting any body
4:37
fat rather people tend to gain more lean
4:41
body mass instead which is pretty cool
4:43
right the goal for your protein intake
4:45
should be to aim for around 1.6 to 2.2
4:48
grams of protein per kilogram of body
4:50
weight per day you want to make sure to
4:52
include plenty of high quality protein
4:54
sources like lean meat fish Dairy and
4:57
even soy based products too if you're
5:00
going down the plant-based route it's
5:01
important you diversify your protein
5:03
sources at each meal plant routines are
5:05
described as incomplete proteins and
5:07
typically lack more than one of the
5:09
essential amino acids some simple
5:11
suggestions for the plant-based protein
5:12
found to be to mix lentils of peas or to
5:15
mix rice with beans get imaginative try
5:17
other variations and that'll help you
5:19
achieve that complete protein Target
5:21
your dietary fat intake is the next
5:23
nutrient you need to focus on while
5:25
there isn't much in the way of concrete
5:27
evidence investigating the effect of
5:29
over feeding different kinds of fat on
5:30
body composition there is one pretty
5:32
cool study that used muffins injected
5:34
with different kinds of fats bear with
5:36
me I know that sounds a bit strange
5:37
going back to the study researchers
5:40
found that the group over feeding on the
5:42
muffins filled with saturated and or
5:44
trans fats gained a significant
5:46
proportion of body fat particularly
5:48
around their midsection when compared to
5:50
another group who get muffins list with
5:52
polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
5:55
these are the healthier fats the ones
5:57
that you can find in dark oily fish and
6:00
plant sources like nuts and seeds
6:01
saturated and trans fats are those that
6:04
we find in animal products as well as
6:06
Ultra processed Goods like crisps
6:07
biscuits cakes and more ideally you'd
6:10
want to limit these without completely
6:11
restricting them and have a diet which
6:13
is predominantly filled with healthy
6:15
fats this is greater advice not only for
6:16
your body composition but also for the
6:18
health of your heart and brain too
6:20
unfortunately there isn't much in the
6:21
way of research that informs us what
6:23
kind of carbohydrates are best to have
6:24
whenever we're in a state of overfeeding
6:26
my advice would be to try your best to
6:28
keep your starches and sugars around
6:30
training while having your more complex
6:32
carbohydrate sources as a base for your
6:34
other moods during the day pretty simple
6:36
stuff in terms of nutrient ratios for
6:38
fat and carbs there aren't any really in
6:40
fact these perfect ratios don't really
6:43
exist for any goal I personally prefer
6:45
recommending a higher carbohydrate lower
6:48
fat diet for performance and Recovery
6:50
reasons but ultimately it really depends
6:52
on the person's personal preference this
6:54
is the real exciting stuff I have two
6:56
secret ingredients for you that aren't
6:57
so secret creatine and beta alanine or
7:00
as I like to call them Batman and uh
7:04
Batman so what does creatine do exactly
7:07
for against well our body uses a
7:10
molecule called ATP to produce energy
7:12
and to perform virtually every function
7:14
our muscles especially during exercise
7:16
have a high demand for ATP ATP provides
7:19
energy through a chemical reaction which
7:21
breaks it down from ATP to ADP adenosine
7:24
triphosphate to the anacine diphosphate
7:26
ADP has to be recycled to ATP to be used
7:29
again to produce energy exercise demands
7:32
a lot of ATP so the body can struggle to
7:35
keep up with this recycling demand what
7:37
creatine does is it actually binds to a
7:39
phosphate group and then can donate this
7:41
to an ADP to ultimately recycle it to
7:43
ATP we naturally have a certain amount
7:46
of creatine in our body but
7:47
supplementing with extra can have an
7:49
added recycling effect among some other
7:51
funky cell signaling stuff as well
7:53
essentially creatine allows us to
7:55
perform better in maximal lifts and
7:57
there's also some interesting research
7:58
showing it can help increase lean muscle
8:00
mass through changes in cellular
8:01
signaling dosing wise you can either
8:03
load it or or you can just take it more
8:05
steadily either way works the loading
8:08
strategy which involves taking around 20
8:09
to 25 grams a day for a week to 10 days
8:12
before tippering back to around 5 grams
8:15
a day can help saturate the muscle
8:17
faster but it may be an issue for those
8:19
with a more sensitive gut it may be
8:21
better for those with sensitive tummies
8:22
to ultimately stick to a dose of five
8:25
grams a day and just aim to maintain
8:27
that consistently beta alanine is just
8:29
as much a Batman as creatine they're
8:31
both completely different in their
8:32
effect but somehow wonderfully
8:33
complementary in the benefits they exert
8:35
beer alanine raises the level of
8:37
carnosine in our muscle it sounds scary
8:40
but it's not you see carnosine is a
8:42
buffer for the byproducts of lactic acid
8:44
metabolism lactic acid is produced when
8:46
we exercise and often gets a bad
8:48
reputation that burning sensation on our
8:51
muscle that makes us feel the funny
8:52
faces when we train well it isn't
8:55
actually lactic acid that causes the
8:56
burning feeling in our muscle but it's
8:58
the byproduct of its breakdown we
9:01
actually metabolize lactic acid to
9:02
produce energy too but when we do it it
9:05
produces this nasty byproduct which
9:07
increases the acidity of the muscular
9:09
environment as the acidity level
9:10
increases within the muscle it
9:12
detrimentally affects the function of
9:14
the muscle and gives us that sense of
9:16
burning having a higher level of
9:17
carnosine helps to buffer this and keeps
9:19
a more neutral muscle pH and enables us
9:22
to perform more reps simple equation
9:24
more reps equals Morgans with
9:27
beta-alanine you'll want to aim to take
9:29
around five to six grams a day ideally
9:31
you'll want to split this pre and post
9:33
workout but on your essays you can just
9:35
take it whenever that's the thing with
9:36
creatine and beta alanine it's not so
9:38
important when you take it rather it's
9:40
just important that you take it one word
9:43
of warning though with vietnaminine if
9:44
you're not used to it it can make your
9:46
skin itch I advise easing into the
9:48
dosing by taking two servings of 1.5
9:51
grams a day and building that up at your
9:53
own pace when to eat will really be down
9:55
to the individual but there are some
9:57
suggestions that can be made based on
9:59
the research we currently have for
10:01
instance if you want to optimize the
10:03
creation of new muscle proteins it may
10:05
be better to space out your meters every
10:07
three to four hours you may also want to
10:09
have a meal containing protein or even
10:11
have a protein shake just before bed we
10:13
alluded to carbohydrates earlier but
10:15
never mentioned fat I always recommend
10:17
to my clients to have minimal amounts of
10:19
fat around training as this can slow the
10:21
digestion and absorption of other
10:23
nutrients which play an important role
10:24
in fueling and or recovering from an
10:27
exercise session oh and don't forget to
10:30
drink plenty of water it's actually the
10:32
real secret ingredient to lean gains but
10:34
seriously your hydration matters you
10:36
can't undermine its role in performance
10:38
simple tip for optimal hydration just
10:40
the aim to keep your pea clear to straw
10:42
yellow and adjust your fluid intake
10:43
accordingly bulking doesn't have to end
10:45
in a belly in fact if you're growing
10:47
yourself a pretty serious midsection all
10:49
of a sudden you're likely not bulking
10:50
all that well muscle takes time to
10:52
develop and having all that extra food
10:55
there's a little else but grow a spare
10:57
tire under midriff aim for a 300 to 500
11:00
calorie Surplus each day and ensure
11:01
you're getting in that protein and doing
11:03
your best to space it evenly across
11:05
meals every few hours time your starches
11:08
and sugars for around training and focus
11:10
on predominantly healthy fats to keep
11:12
the body composition in check at
11:14
performance and strength is a priority
11:16
for you then be sure to add some
11:17
creatine Ambit alanine to your
11:20
supplement regime hey voila the secret
11:22
to lean bulking is not yours you're very
11:25
welcome as always if you have any more
11:27
questions or even advice for other
11:28
viewers just like you let me know in the
11:30
comments below and remember to like And
11:32
subscribe to the myprotein YouTube
11:33
channel for more great evidence-based
11:35
nutrition information
11:37
foreign
11:40
[Music]
#Bodybuilding
#Fitness Instruction & Personal Training
#Nutrition