Esoteric Bulkmaxxing Guide Pt.1 (Basics & Diet)
How to put on serious mass without destroying your health (All Chad no Chud)
Gentlemen, welcome to the bulkmaxxington guide. Yes, its finally here. I apologize for the delay, I got a bad case of procrastinitis and ended up writing like 7 threads instead of this bulking guide
But we did it, and I made sure to go above & beyond as a thank you for your patience.
Be sure to subscribe to see the of the bulkmaxxing editions when they drop (Training, meal plan, supplementation, Q&A)
Bulkmaxxing: Not just a diet, but a way of life
I must say guys, this bulk has been going IMMACULATE. I don’t remember the last time I was this strong. I feel great, mind is clear, honestly think I gained a few IQ points, and am more athletic than I was when shredded
For context, here’s what I looked like Less than 2 months ago
And Here’s what I look like now:
Just kidding, thats Twitter’s favorite doctor, Abud Bakri
Here’s what I actually look like:
I’m honestly surprised with how much mass & strength I’ve gained. But even more surprised at how enjoyable its been.
Not fat
Vascular af
Nutty pumps
Throwing weight around like Donkey Kong
No double chin
No skin issues
No gut issues
No cognitive deficits
Moustache has gotten thicker
Change is uncomfortable. and you need to be uncomfortable to grow. But if your baseline is uncomfortable its easier to slip in other uncomfortable habits necessary to reach your goals.
- It is easier to change your personality around new people
- It is easier to change your routine in a new house
- It is easier to change your identity in a new city
So I decided to change everything. My diet, my training, my location, my routine, and my priorities. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but I’m growing at a 3-5x multiple rn.
now onto the meat and potatoes…
Avoid These Common Bulking Mistakes
The ONLY way to consistently gain mass is to eat in a caloric surplus. More energy in than energy out. Nothing is more anabolic than a caloric surplus.
But if you want lasting results, you can't just stop there. There are things that you can do that influence your body's preference for storing that energy as fat or using it to build muscle.
Mainstream fitness has psyopped us into the dirty bulk. Eat as much as you can, get as big as you can, throw general health principles out the window. Either that or you're convinced by fake-nattys that you can be dickskin lean year-round while putting on muscle. Both are mid & nonsensical.
Remember, 99% of fitness influencers are enhanced. They don’t play by the same rules as us natty folk.
I diry bulked once, and I regret it
These photos were less than a year apart. A YEAR. I packed on 30 lbs in my first 6 months of college. I was meathead strong & gained a bunch of muscle, but I don’t think my metabolism ever fully recovered.
Dirty Bulk vs Clean Bulk vs Esoteric Bulk
Generally speaking, bulking is classified under two categories:
Dirty bulk
- Eat whatever you want
- No cardio
- Stay at a higher calorie surplus (800+ calories over maintenance)
- Focus exclusively on the scale
- No discipline
- Gain weight fast
Clean bulk:
- Eat as you would at maintenance, just higher quantity
- Smaller surplus (300-500 calories over maintenance)
- Some cardio
- More discipline
- More sustainable
- Gain weight slower
But I want to offer a third option: Esoteric bulk maxxington
This will get you all the benefits of a regular bulk & more. It goes deeper than just diet/exercise but is rather a lifestyle arc that you should embrace entirely
I see the bulk as a pivotal life "cycle". It’s great walking around shredded, but not a lot of growth happens there. You are reaping the benefits of your hard work, but not making much forward progress. If you want to level up, you have to go through a period of intense growth. Let go of the vanity & ego that comes with being shredded. Commit to something bigger.
This is no different than building character and intellect. It’s great to enjoy what you have, but if you want to grow as a person you have to go through periods of discomfort. More time working on yourself.
I layer the two: physical and psychological bulking. As I'm increasing my calories and changing the composition of my body, i'm doing the same with education & skill development. Hunkering down & committing to growth. Changing the composition of my brain. Leveling up.
Core Tenets of Esoteric Bulk Maxxington
1. Metabolically prime yourself for growth.
Remember, the food you eat won't magically turn into muscle. It will either be burned as fuel, used as foundational building blocks for muscle-protein synthesis, or be stored as fat. This is all dependent on how well your metabolic machine is primed for this increase in calories. If you're dealing with nutrient deficiencies, digestive issues, or insulin resistance (most important), you're going to have a tough time processing this extra energy.
2. Use metrics as a compass, not a scoreboard
Tracking progress is important, but numbers on a scale aren't the whole picture. Sure, count calories, weigh yourself consistently, track workouts. But stay attuned to the less tangible heuristics as well
- How is my energy?
- How is my mood and cognitive function?
- How is my mobility & athleticism?
3. Make athletic gains, not just weight gains
Esoteric Bulking is an ATHLETIC endeavor. You should take advantage of this excess energy to improve athleticism, ligament & tendon health, and even mobility. Make sure that you're actively improving your athletic prowess:
- Explosiveness
- Full-body movement capability
- Balance & Coordination
4. Prioritize health above all else
Too many guys have destroyed their health by crash-cutting & bulking. Sure, it may have gotten them in good shape a few times, but they almost inevitably look like garbage a few years down the road. Remember, unless you're getting up on a bodybuilding stage, your objective should be to look as good as possible and feel as good as possible for as long as possible. Fitness is a game you play your entire life. You're stuck with this body until the day you die.
5. NEVER let yourself get sloppy
You can’t afford to be sloppy in other areas of life right now. Otherwise you run the risk of being classified as a meathead. Embrace the contrast. Become massive & brawny, but speak sharper than ever. Groom yourself, stay clean shaven. Don’t smell like shit (or L-carnitine), wear somewhat nicer clothes. Don’t be a chud
6. Keep the end goal in mind
The habits you build during this bulk will carry over when its time to slim down. If you let yourself go & build bad eating habits, these will carry over into your cut.
There is no point in this bulk that you should feel lethargic, foggy, or fat. You should never feel uncomfortable in your own skin, you shouldn't have a double chin. You should look bigger, maybe a little fluffier, but never fat. Did I mention fat is estrogenic? (A lot of aromatase activity in fat cells)
Starting the bulk:
This is very important. Rule number one of bulk maxxington:
Do not bulk if you’re already FAT
If you’re above 13% bodyfat, do not bulk. Get rid of that extra chub. This will give you a way better runway for putting on lean mass. If you’re skinny fat. Definitely don’t bulk. You’re metabolically compromised and a caloric surplus will only make things worse.
Get your metabolism working for you, not against you. Train harder. Not just lifting but High-intensity interval training too. Cut down even if you lose a bit of muscle. Fix your diet. Join a fight gym, do whatever you can to snap your body out of the sub-par metabolic and androgenic state it found itself in.
Then commence the bulkington
Food: The make or break of your Bulk
The food you eat will make or break this bulk. Just because you can eat more doesn’t mean you should eat like shit. Eating like shit is the reason most people look awful when bulking. Not only are you eating non-nutritious garbage, you’re eating MORE of it because you’re in a surplus. Your body is too preoccupied with all the other food you’re eating to properly metabolize & neutralize the junk it ends up getting improperly stored in your tissues, wreaking biological havoc throughout the entire process.
In a caloric deficit, it’s easier to run into nutrient deficiencies. In a caloric surplus, it’s easier to run into toxin overload.
With that being said, you should be EXTRA scrupulous about what you’re eating, simply because you’re eating more of it.
The heavy metals in fish will add up
The PUFAs in your Chinese takeout will add up
The BHT in your Rice Krispies will add up
Whatever you choose as your dietary staples, do the due diligence to figure out what toxins you run the risk of ingesting.
Bulk better, look better, feel better
If you eat clean during this bulk, you will look & feel SIGNIFICANTLY better. Less water retention, better gym performance, better cognitive function.
Another important thing to remember is too much of any one nutrient is not good either. It’s all about balance. Minerals compete with one another for absorption, fat-soluble vitamins (AEDK) require balance between each other to maintain homeostasis. Have your staple foods, but always be cycling. You simply don’t know the implication of the toxin/nutrient load of all your food
You may think you’re eating healthily by having tuna & rice for every meal, but in reality, you’re slowly accumulating more & more methyl mercury & arsenic, clean eating your way into heavy metal poisoning.
You may think you’re eating healthy by having red meat cooked on a cast iron with pink Himalayan salt, but in reality, you’re eating your way into iron overload.
As a general guideline, your food should be:
Easily digestible (extremely important, I’ll come back to this)
Nutritiously balanced & cycled
Seasonally appropriate
Bulking Basics:
Diet:
Aim for a surplus of 300-500 calories a day. Any more & you’ll be chudmaxxing
High Protein, High Carb, Low(ish) Fat
1g/lb Protein
Easily digestible carbohydrates, especially pre-workout
Just enough fat for androgen production & fat-soluble vitamins
Easily digestible food (low fiber)
Keep insulin sensitivity high
Metrics:
Always be stronger than the week before (will discuss training in next edition)
Aim for 1-1.5lb weight gain a week (measured in the morning)
Digestion:
Find out what foods digest best. The better your food digests, the more readily you can use it as fuel. Less metabolic energy & blood flow will get caught up in digestive processes. Less likelihood you’ll deal with bloating and lethargy
Keep a food diary, just for the beginning. Assess how you feel 10 minutes after, 30 minutes after, An hour after.
Everybody’s different, but here are a few foods that I find easily digestible:
White rice (soaked)
Lean meats, red meat in particular
Egg whites, whole pasture-raised eggs
Potatoes & Yams
Fruits
Rice noodles
Stewed meats & vegetables
Fish & shrimp
Find what works for you, prioritize it, make it tasty. Switch things up for nutrient cycling & novelty.
A few other things you can do to improve digestion:
Make sure you’re in a parasympathetic state when eating (rest & digest): No phone or stimuli. Presence.
Go on 5 minute post-meal walk
Get sun, get grounded
NO cold beverages around meal time
Digestive enzymes beforehand if you need to digest quickly
TUDCA for better bile flow (& fat digestion)
Counting calories?
If you’ve never tracked calories, now would be a good time to start. Use chronometer so you can get a general assessment of the macro & micronutrient profiles of your food. Do it for a few weeks or even months & your ability to eyeball food quantities will be hardwired.
Most people are willfully ignorant of their actual calorie/macronutrient intake. They think they’re eating 200g of protein & 50g of carbs when in reality they’re getting sub 100g protein & 150g of fat. I’ve seen it time & time again. Don’t think food is “high protein” just because it says it is. Look at nutrition facts. Ask ChatGPT, build your nutritional database until you can run solely off of intuition.
Protein, Carbs & Fats
Weight gain is ultimately a result of energy balance. But it’s non-selective. The type of weight you gain is influenced, among other things, by your diet.
Every macronutrient is essential for optimal health. Cut out any one macro for long enough & you’ll have problems
BUT, Most people get the best body composition results with high carb, high protein, low fat
Fats:
Everybody responds to macros differently. Certain genetic factors will make you preferentially more effective at metabolizing carbs or fat. For me (and many others), fats make you fat:
Fat is more energy dense than carbs & protein (9 calories/gram vs 4)
The metabolic pathways for converting dietary fat into body fat are more straightforward than carbs & protein
If anything, you’re better off eating more fats in a caloric deficiency. They’re more satiating (when you’re not spiking insulin) and less likely to be stored as fat (because there’s no excess)
BUT fat is essential nonetheless.
We cannot synthesize essential fatty acids like EPA & DHA, which are essential for brain health, inflammation regulation, & cell membrane integrity
We need fats for absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E & K) which are critical to hormones & anabolism
Fats are integral building blocks to steroid hormones.
Fats are a core component of cell membranes. The fats we eat make up the structure & function of our cells
The key here is to be Selective with your fat consumption. Every gram of fat should be of the utmost quality:
Almost exclusively saturated fats
Heavy in fat-soluble vitamins
Small amounts of PUFAs for EPA & DHA from fresh seafood
Do NOT eat fat from monogastric animals (pork & chicken). They’re fed notoriously poor diets, & unlike ruminant animals (cattle, bison, lamb), they aren’t able to effectively process & saturate fatty acids & fat-soluble toxins from their diet (they are what they eat)
If you’re going to eat chicken, pork, or even non-grass fed beef, opt for lean cuts (most toxins are stored in fat, not muscle tissue).
NO seed oils. sunflower, soy, cottonseed, safflower, corn, ricebran, peanut, grapeseed, canola. All they do is cause mitochondrial dysfunction, systemic inflammation & insulin resistance.
Invest in high-quality cooking fats:
Grass-fed tallow
Grass-fed butter or ghee
Extra virgin, unrefined coconut oil
Small amounts of real olive oil (real olive oil is so hard to find I usually omit it entirely)
In my opinion, avocados, nuts, and other non-animal derived fat sources are superfluous, but coconut oil is an exception. Its loaded with medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) that gets directly absorbed into the bloodstream & transported to the liver for energy.
Aim to get high-quality seafood a few times a week. Sardines, mackerel, oysters, mussels, regenerative fish.
Protein:
Protein is king. More importantly, animal protein is king. Aim to get 1g per pound of bodyweight
I eat mainly red meat & seafood.
Why red meat? Because its a nutritional powerhouse. As you’ll see in the next installment, micros are just as important as macros, and all the foundational anabolic micronutrients can be found in beef
Creatine
Zinc
B12, B6, B3
Selenium
Magnesium
CoQ10
Carnosine
Choline
Taurine
Phosphorous
I also eat a lot of beef heart. Unique growth factors, CoQ10 & Taurine. Like supports like and the metaphorical significance of having a good heart goes a long way. The heart is a muscle so it actually tastes good. I make tacos with it
What about Pork and Chicken?
Pork & Chicken are monogastric animals. They are unable to saturate the fatty acid composition of their diet like their ruminant livestock counterparts (bison, cows, sheep). They also don’t filter out toxins as effectively. These toxins are mainly fat soluble. Pork & chicken fat is the devil.
If you are going to eat pork or chicken, get the leanest cuts possible.
What about eggs?
Pasture raised eggs are great, but not a great protein source.
1 egg has 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of Fat
They are, however, a good source of B12, choline & selenium. I still prefer ground beef for breakfast over eggs
BUT egg whites are pure protein. Just make sure they’re cooked. My go-to sweet tooth meal is Egg white pancakes:
1 whole egg
1 cup egg whites
2 bananas
Scoop of collagen/gelatin
A few dates
Top with coconut flakes, bee pollen & honey
Put it all in a blender & cook like regular pancakes
What about Seafood?
In a perfect food, my diet would be 90% seafood. We evolved to eat seafood. The reason we like crunchy things like potato chips is because it reminds us of the days when our diet was mainly crustaceans.
Now the oceans are fucked. Methylmercury in the fish, BPAs in the shellfish, microplastics in everythin. I still get my seafood in though.
I opt for short lifespan fish, those that have less time to bioaccumulate toxins. Namely mahi, halibut, sardines, flounder, tilapia
I eat oysters a lot. They make me feel superhuman. I’m willing to expose myself to some microplastics there. I make up for it by avoiding microplastics elsewhere
Is grassfed necessary?
Grassfed is not necessary, but its better. As I said, ruminant animals are somewhat effective at filtering out toxins from their food AND simply cannot survive on an all-grain diet. Don’t make yourself broke over grass-fed. But meat in bulk, buy cheaper cuts, opt for lean meat & reincorporate more economical healthy fats like coconut oil & grass-fed ghee/tallow
What about plant protein?
Plant protein is objectively mid. Plants in general are mid. The anti-nutrient content makes actual mineral/vitamin absorption abysmal & the fiber will slow down digestion. More importantly, most plant proteins aren’t complete proteins. They’re lacking the amino acid profile to properly contribute to muscle-protein synthesis (1g plant protein ≠ 1g animal protein)
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are fuel for your workouts and spare protein so more of it can be used to repair/grow muscles. Find your preferred sources that digest well & cycle them:
Soaked white rice
Potatoes
Rice noodles
Yams
Fruit
Aim to get a majority of your carbohydrates in before your workout. Carbohydrates before bed will help you sleep (and aid in nighttime recovery). Don’t fear carbs. They’re anabolic
Bonus: Collagen
30% of the protein in your body is COLLAGEN Ligaments, Tendons, Skin, Extracellular matrix. All comprised of collagen. Your diet should reflect this You need to diversify your amino acid profile. Nose to tail. Not just muscle meats.
Quality collagen powder
Gelatin
Seafood
Bone broth
Connective tissue-rich meat
Too much muscle meat = excess tryptophan, methionine & cystine Not enough glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline
You need to balance out the amino acid composition of your diet. Keep ratios in check. Amino acids are the building blocks of all the proteins in your body. Neurotransmitters too.
Having the right dietary profile will improve your:
- Skin
- Hair
- Joints/Tendons
- Mood
- Cognition
& keep you operating better, longer You can also put gelatin in literally everythings
Nutrient Timing: Major Key
Nutrient timing is especially important in a deficit, but has its role in bulking too. Make sure you are carb’d up before your training sessions. Ideally get both fructose AND glucose in as they will more effectively fill up your muscle glycogen (different pathways)
My pre-workout meal is a lean protein with an easily digestible carb. Usually shrimp or beef with rice or rice noodles. Low/no fat, as it slows down digestion. The closer to your workout, the smaller your meal should be.
Don’t do intermittent fasting while on a bulk, it’s counterintuitive. I include a prolonged fast once a month as a digestive/metabolic reset (24-48 hours).
What if I can’t eat enough?
Why can’t you eat enough? Seriously, ask yourself why.
Poor planning?
Poor appetite?
Bad at making food?
First & foremost. Take meal timing more seriously. Your brain will recognize when its feeding time & ramp up your hunger hormones. Like Pavlov’s dog. Keep that consistent. Have meals ready
Make double sure your digestion is on point. Do you still feel your food from the last meal? Do some problem solving & eliminate certain ingredients that may cause trouble
Drink calories if you need to
Smoothies work. Lots of fruit, maybe some dates, some quality protein powder. Egg yolks if you need the extra cals
Build your calorie-maxxed snack kit
Here’s mine:
Greek yogurt with honey
Fruit juice
Biltong (shoutout Farmer Bill’s)
Dates
Carnivore bars/Whey better bars
Beef Protein Isolate
Mango sorbet (frozen mango, gelatin powder, honey) → Carb Spammington
Always keep ready-to-eat protein on hand
Boiled eggs
Dairy if you can tolerate it
Shrimp
non-denatured whey
Cook in bulk: Always make an extra serving or two. If you’re going to create dishes you might as well get a few extra meals out of it
Spam the rice cooker: I keep that bad boy running at all times
Become an air-fry wizard: Did you know you can air fry frozen meat? I did it 3 times today
Don’t be afraid to spam protein
I ate a kilogram of halibut today. a KILOGRAM. That’s 200 grams of protein. I was slacking on my macros the last few days so I decided to eat an entire school of fish to make up for it today. Optimal? Probably not. Effective? Yes.
Cookmaxxing: Easy meals on autopilot
But what if I don’t like cooking?
Start liking it. You don’t even have to like the process, just get efficient with it. Make the same meal every day for a week. By the end of it you’ll be able to make it in a fraction of the time off of muscle memory. Slowly build a repertoire of different recipes to pull from.
But what if I don’t want to eat the same food every day?
You don’t have to. Scroll through my Instagram. All my food looks & tastes drastically different. BUT they’re all using the same fundamental ingredients (some form of rice/potatoes & red meat).
Up you accoutrement game. Learn to master salt fat acid & heat to create unlimited flavor profiles. Become a sauce master, whip up concoctions for weeks at a time. Cooking is an effective & high utility creative outlet
I highly recommend an air fryer & pressure cooker. Will make delicious meals easy & infinitely adaptive.
A few bulkalicious meal preps:
Pot roasts
Hot pots
Curries
Chili
Burrito bowls
Noodle bowls
I cycle these weekly. It never gets old
Insulin Sensitivity: The Key to an Effective Bulk
Now that you’ve got your nutrition dialed down. Lets talk INSULIN SENSITIVITY
This is incredibly important & goes over most people’s heads. Insulin is the key that opens the door to your cells. Desensitize yourself to insulin & its impossible to be healthy, let alone jacked:
Insulin stimulates muscle protein synthesis. Insulin inhibits protein breakdown. When insulin sensitivity is high, muscle cells are better able to take in glucose & amino acids for fuel & building blocks.
Insulin sensitivity reduces the likelihood of glucose being stored as fat. Insulin enables your body to use energy from food more effectively
Insulin interacts positively with growth hormone & testosterone. Insulin resistance disrupts hormonal balance
So how do I improve insulin sensitivity in the first place?
In short, be healthier:
Prioritize sleep
Build more muscle (More muscle = more insulin sensitivity)
Avoid seed oils (really)
Utilize the carbohydrates you’re consuming properly
Disrupted circadian rhythm is a driving factor of insulin resistance. They use sleep deprivation to induce insulin resistance in mice.
Take the initiative to refine your light environment. Get blue light blockers. Download F.lux. Invest in dim lamps & red light
Train HIIT 1-2x/ week for enhanced insulin sensitivity. Sprints are incredible. Train martial arts. Don’t just lift
Better insulin sensitivity means you can bulk better, longer. It’ll make cutting exponentially easier. You’ll lose fat and build more muscle. Life will simply be better
Mixing carbs & fats
Remember, Insulin signals for nutrient shuttling into both muscle AND fat cells. There’s some differing opinions on this but I prefer not to mix carbs & fats. I’ll typically have one meal a day that is higher fat and lower carb. One day a week that is higher fat & lower carb. The rest of the days/meals are high carb & high protein
Anyway guys, I’m at the email length limit so I’m gonna go ahead and post Part 1. But don’t worry, this is just the beginning. Next we will discuss:
The most important micronutrients for bulking
Bulk Maxxington Meal Plan
The best supplements for bulking
Training during your bulk
Expert opinions on bulking (from guys way more jacked than me)
Bulking Q&A
Thanks for reading. Make sure to share if you found this helpful I will be posting more deep dives on my substack as well as frequent training, diet & supplementation overview so make sure to upgrade to premium if that interests you. Next topics include:
DHT Maxxing protocol
Hair loss prevention
Peptide deep dives
How to be nomad
Non-toxic cookware guide
If you want more guidance on your health or fitness goals, DM me on Twitter for custom protocols & coaching. Godspeed.
Wen shredding maxxing guide if above 13% bf?
What are your thoughts on cycling calories? High calories on lifting days (3x) a week and maintenance/ slight deficit (100-200 calories) on non lifting days? More fats and less carbs on non lifting days and higher carbs lower fat on lifting days?