6 Month Bulking Cycle Routine that Works

For those of you want to gain muscle, the only way to do this is by implementing what is considered a bulking cycle, unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about bulking cycles and the proper way to approach it.

While some guys complain about being hard gainers, regardless of your body type, you can increase muscle mass, it just may take you longer than others.

The key to gaining dense muscle is consistency.

Hard gainers struggle with packing on muscle but it does not have to be that way, a positive mind can turn a bulking cycle into a fun experience.

There are two different kinds bulking cycles, one involves a certain training regimen and proper nutrition, the other consists of using some sort of anabolic steroids.

Anabolic steroids are dangerous and they can cause harmful side effects and the results are short-lived.

If you don’t believe me take a look at some of the famous bodybuilders before and after a Mr. Olympia competition.

What you will notice is that after just a couple of weeks they tend to lose a considerable amount of weight and mass afterwords, this is usually due to the fact that they discontinue the use of anabolic steroids during the offseason.

Before you begin a bulking cycle you should already have a good idea of how your metabolism works,

Some men will require more calories than others.

The key to a good bulking cycle is making sure that your muscles get enough nutrients which means getting plenty of protein and carbohydrates.

In order to build muscle, you have to make it grow, in order for muscles to grow you have to consistently shock the muscle, during most bulking cycles you will want to concentrate on lifting heavy weight while keeping the reps low.

You may also want to consider an HIT training regimen which focuses on lifting heavy weight with slow contractions and movements.

My first bulking cycle was an incredible experience, I managed to pack on 50 pounds of muscle in less than 6 months and below is what I did to accomplish this.

Train major muscle groups

The first 3 months of my bulking cycle I made sure I focused on the major muscle groups with as much weight as I could possibly handle.

Try and keep the sets between 3 and 4 and the reps between 4-6 I focused on one muscle group per day and trained 3 days per week.

• Monday Back
• Tuesday Chest
• Wednesday Rest
• Thursday Legs
• Friday Rest
• Saturday Rest
• Sunday Rest

During the first 3 months, I made sure I was getting plenty of food, I also made sure I was getting at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight and an adequate amount of carbs.

For those first few months, I did not keep a close eye on my diet and pretty much ate what I wanted.

No cardio

While some may disagree with me on this,  in order to bulk up you want to make every calorie count so I did not do any cardio for the first 3 months.

The next 3 months I began to implement cardio at least twice a week, keeping a slow pace on a treadmill or elliptical machine, this helped me prevent excess fat buildup while I maintained muscle.

I also began to clean up my food intake sticking to really clean foods such as oatmeal, brown rice lots of chicken and fish and plenty of leafy green vegetables in plentiful amounts.

The following 3 months I began to train 5 days per week I increased my sets to 5 sets per exercise while increasing the rep ranges between 8-10 reps but still keeping my weight between 70% -85% of my one rep max. I also began training shoulders on one day and arms on another which is where the 5 days came in to play.

• Monday Chest
• Tuesday Back
• Wednesday Triceps and Biceps
• Thursday Legs
• Friday Shoulders
• Saturday Rest
• Sunday Rest

The above is just a guide to training, but one thing that is important is to make sure you constantly switch up your routine so that your muscles don’t get used the same old thing.

Supplements

Many ask if they should take supplements during a bulking cycle, I personally enjoy eating good food, during my bulking cycle, I did take creatine just to get a better pump.

During the last month, I took a Marine Muscle Bulking Stack mainly for the benefit of added nutrients and the prohormones this gave me more strength and better endurance to be able to lift more with less fatigue.

Conclusion

The above is just a personal routine that worked for me, some consider a 6-month bulking cycle too long and prefer a shorter period “3 months” but I do the same for cutting I like to take a gradual approach for each.

I begin my bulking cycle towards the end of summer usually the middle of September and then begin my cutting cycle around the middle of January so that I can look good during the summer.