Question about bulking

Is going through a bulking phase really neccessary? I hate having that extra bf that comes along with a bulk and I don't want to be too huge. I am currently 160 at 10% bf and I would be content with 155 at 7%, I am a martial artist so being flexible and able to move quickly is of value.

If I just clean up my diet, do some cardio 4-5 times a week and lift 4 times a week will I make decent gains without going on a bulk?

Well if you want to make gains then you'll pretty much need to bulk. If you want to be 155 at 7, then you'll probably be able to do that once you hit 170 at 10 and drop a little fat. If you eat cleanly though and do enough cardio you can bulk leanly.

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

Well, my food for the day goes something like this...

Breakfast:

Whey Shake
Oatmeal
Fruit

Snack:
4 egg whites

Lunch:
Chicken Breast
Veggie
Brown rice

Snack:
Tuna or some almonds

PWO Whey shake

Dinner(PWO):
Fish or chicken
Veggie
Potato/Yams

Before bed:
Casien shake

Well you're definetly eating cleanly enough, but it depends if that adds up to the amount of calories you need to gain. I'd say doing a martial art aswell as eating cleanly you can easily gain 10lbs nearly all lean.

V,
    You're the Clipart Photoshop GOD!

 

I think you can stay fairly lean while building mass. Just make sure your diet is clean, and you training is good.

5'8.1"
Age = 20 
started in February 16th 2007: 58kg (127.6lbs)
current : around 79-80kg (173.8lb-176lb)

To meet that goal you would not need to bulk.  At 160 and 10% you have 144 lbs of lean muscle mass.  At 155 and 7% you have 144.15 lbs of lean muscle mass.

To compute:
160 lbs X 10% BF = 16 pounds of fat
160 lbs - 16 pounds of fat = 144 pounds lean muscle

155 X 7% = 10.85 lbs
155 - 10.85 = 144.15 lbs lean muscle

The bulk and cut system is not what you need.  A slow and steady muscle increase is what you are after.  Eat clean and lift.  Do not worry about getting the excess calories for putting on fat.  It is not a requirement of muscle building to gain fat too.  Just stick with it and the results will come.

Thanks for the help everyone, I will continue to lift 4 days a week, with cardio 5-6 days a week and a healthy diet. My cardio every day is a 2 mile run to the park down the road where I play 3on3 basketball games for an hour or more with my friends then run back home. Occasionally I do some sprints up and down the court just to improve my speed.

Hopefully if I stick to this diet, lifting and cardio plan I can be looking at some results in the near future. I'll update everyone on my progress in the Critique My Physique forum in a couple months.

For the most part.. you only need to be in a small calorie surplus to make efficient lean body mass gains.  And while it's true you can gain some muscle on lower carbs, or low calories, it truly sucks.

However, the "bulk" isn't some free for all, eat all you can and get fat and oh yeah.. muscle too.

You want to eat clean, lift and MINIMIZE fat gains by properly calculating what you need in terms of nutrition and to track that using body composition.

If you bulk and put on 10% body fat.. you are doing it WRONG.  You're just getting fat.  And when you try and cut, you've just doubled your work.

Everybody and their grandma has some "diet" or solution but it all ends up being the same thing.  Eat clean, get enough calories so it's just a small excess maybe mixed with maintenance days and go for it.  It's not a eat all the crap you can.  Not only is that just downright unhealthy but it won't help you when it comes to understanding good nutrition from the top level.

Please, no links to powerlifters or bodybuilders with horrible diets.  We know there are exceptions let's not make the exception the best practice.

Marc C. David - NGA CPT
Author of NoBull Bodybuilding
www.nobullbodybuilding.com

Blackwmw

To compute:
160 lbs X 10% BF = 16 pounds of fat
160 lbs - 16 pounds of fat = 144 pounds lean muscle

155 X 7% = 10.85 lbs
155 - 10.85 = 144.15 lbs lean muscle

...assuming you don't have any skin, bones, organs, blood, excess water/food/waste, etc etc etc.