Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The results of a year of bulking to build muscle. Eating in a calorie surplus instead of "Maingaining" or "Recomp"
💪📱Programs, Custom Workout Builder & Macro Calculator- ganbarumethod.com
A group of experienced bodybuilders were split into 2 different test groups. Both would train 6 days a week and eat in a calorie surplus to support growth. But, one group would eat at a significantly HIGHER surplus than the other.
The results are somewhat unsurprising. The higher calorie group put on more weight and more muscle mass than the lower calorie group. But, they also put on 6x as much body fat. This means the lower calorie group put on a higher ratio of muscle to fat, although it was less weight overall.
This seems like a compelling argument for at the very least, taking a slower approach and maybe even something like Maingaining.
However, if you look at the specifics of the study, we’ll see a lot of inconsistencies.
In the lower calorie group, some of them got leaner, some put on body fat, some saw only very small increases in muscle mass and one poor guy wound up LOSING muscle, despite eating in a calorie surplus and trianing hard.
Whereas the higher calorie group had EVERYONE significantly increasing muscle mass, though it did also bring with it some fat gain.
While this shows us that eating less calories will result in less fat gain, it could also mean significantly less muscle mass gains, and maybe even NO gains, despite putting in a lot of effort.
What this is REALLY telling us, is something that we probably already know - Muscle building is HARD, SLOW and extremely individual.
There will always be outliers and individual circumstances to consider, but if you wanted to GUARANTEE progress, you’re most likely going to be better off following the traditional ‘bulking’ approach of not just eating at maintenance, but eating in a surplus, and get comfortable with the idea of putting on some body fat.
A good rule of thumb may be to aim for around a 1:1 ratio of fat to lean mass gain or better. So if I put on 1 kilo of muscle, and also put on 1 kilo of fat, I’m good, if I put on 2 kilos of muscle and 1 kilo of fat, even better, and if I put on 1 kilo of muscle and 2 kilos of fat it’s probably not good - BUT even then, you may very well be an outlier who needs this approach.
‘Maingaining’ or Recomping might be a more acceptable approach for periods when you’re not looking at making a ton of progress, because you’re already close to your goals, when you’re just starting out or coming off a long layoff, or if you’re an enhanced trainee..
If you’re not in those categories, using Strategic Bulking periods where your body fat may increase over extended periods of time give you a HUGE advantage to making the improvements you want faster. And if you have hybrid goals, where you don’t care just about building muscle, but want to support sports or performance based goals, allowing some body fat gain will help your recovery, sleep and preserve your hard earned muscle.
The results of a year of bulking to build muscle. Eating in a calorie surplus instead of "Maingaining" or "Recomp"
💪📱Programs, Custom Workout Builder & Macro Calculator- ganbarumethod.com
A group of experienced bodybuilders were split into 2 different test groups. Both would train 6 days a week and eat in a calorie surplus to support growth. But, one group would eat at a significantly HIGHER surplus than the other.
The results are somewhat unsurprising. The higher calorie group put on more weight and more muscle mass than the lower calorie group. But, they also put on 6x as much body fat. This means the lower calorie group put on a higher ratio of muscle to fat, although it was less weight overall.
This seems like a compelling argument for at the very least, taking a slower approach and maybe even something like Maingaining.
However, if you look at the specifics of the study, we’ll see a lot of inconsistencies.
In the lower calorie group, some of them got leaner, some put on body fat, some saw only very small increases in muscle mass and one poor guy wound up LOSING muscle, despite eating in a calorie surplus and trianing hard.
Whereas the higher calorie group had EVERYONE significantly increasing muscle mass, though it did also bring with it some fat gain.
While this shows us that eating less calories will result in less fat gain, it could also mean significantly less muscle mass gains, and maybe even NO gains, despite putting in a lot of effort.
What this is REALLY telling us, is something that we probably already know - Muscle building is HARD, SLOW and extremely individual.
There will always be outliers and individual circumstances to consider, but if you wanted to GUARANTEE progress, you’re most likely going to be better off following the traditional ‘bulking’ approach of not just eating at maintenance, but eating in a surplus, and get comfortable with the idea of putting on some body fat.
A good rule of thumb may be to aim for around a 1:1 ratio of fat to lean mass gain or better. So if I put on 1 kilo of muscle, and also put on 1 kilo of fat, I’m good, if I put on 2 kilos of muscle and 1 kilo of fat, even better, and if I put on 1 kilo of muscle and 2 kilos of fat it’s probably not good - BUT even then, you may very well be an outlier who needs this approach.
‘Maingaining’ or Recomping might be a more acceptable approach for periods when you’re not looking at making a ton of progress, because you’re already close to your goals, when you’re just starting out or coming off a long layoff, or if you’re an enhanced trainee..
If you’re not in those categories, using Strategic Bulking periods where your body fat may increase over extended periods of time give you a HUGE advantage to making the improvements you want faster. And if you have hybrid goals, where you don’t care just about building muscle, but want to support sports or performance based goals, allowing some body fat gain will help your recovery, sleep and preserve your hard earned muscle.
