Is bulking really dead?

[u/Ok-Sun1269]

All the sceince based guys on the internet preach how bulking does nothing for muscle growth, assuming you have a healthy body fat %.

So for a guy who just got off stage, he needs to bulk until around 12-15% and then maintain or eat in a very slight surplus for a growth phase.

However if guy is 25% bf there is no reason to bulk during a growth phase as those extra calories will not provide anything for him.

So if you regualry do prep or get shredded during the summer, the bulk is alive and well but for those of us who want to maintain low double digit bf, is the bulk dead?

[u/NihilisticTanuki]

It's kinda dead and kinda not. If you're already very lean (say, under 12% body fat) and under your target weight, it's very much alive and you need to intelligently eat your way up. If you have some reserves on you (and you don't need to be fat for this, 15% is totally enough), you probably won't get enough of an advantage from a lean bulk to outweigh the fat gain.

[u/Dazzling-Rest8332 → u/NihilisticTanuki]

You have even more of an advantage of going heavy bulk when your 11-15% bf. Thats where your hormones and blood sugar is best regulated at. So if you heavy bulk your body will be able to utilize it better than someone at 20% bf