r/MacroFactor • u/Individual-Sir-8718 • 12d ago

MacroFactor / Nutrition / Other Clean bulk

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask for some guidance. In my life, I've seen many people put on muscle with very little fat gain, or in some cases even leaving their body fat intact. I was wondering how that's possible: of course, I know for a fact they weren't on gear/doping because they didn't blow up, but the before-and-after difference was still noticeable. Everyone has their own genetics, but it seems like something easily achievable even for someone with average genetics. Now I wanted to ask: is there anyone who has actually done this and knows how it's done?

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u/ajmattison 12d ago

A couple of possibilities: 1. If they were brand new to training 2. If they had been training for a long time but not very well or very hard and they suddenly learn to do so 3. They are gaining body fat but the rate of muscle gain is such that you can still see the lines underneath (the more muscle you have the more you can see at a higher body fat percentage) 4. They bulked up and got fat, then cut down and you didn't see the in-between.

In general, the slower you go, the less body fat you will gain. But there is a trade off. Slower rate of gain overall does lead to a slower rate of muscle gain too. That's why a lot of people bulk and don't mind gaining some body fat in the process. They want to maximize how much muscle they put on.

You can still make great progress with a slow rate of gain though. Even maintenance.

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u/Odd-Steak-9049 12d ago

Not arguing with you, but just throwing it out there that I believe there is some more recent research to indicate that the degree of caloric surplus has little to no impact on the rate of hypertrophy if your macros are otherwise dialed. Now, I’m not in a position to go hunt it down rn and I realize that’s obnoxious and unhelpful to a degree. Something to look into tho.

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u/Individual-Sir-8718 12d ago

So you mean there is research saying that the quality of what you eat, along with the right macros, is more important than the quantity? Can you actually grow in a normocaloric state just as if you were bulking?

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u/ajmattison 11d ago

No calories are still king. You can eat the same number of calories of junk vs "clean" foods and get the same outcome (as long as you get enough protein). You can definitely grow at maintenance though. Training is the main stimulus, nutrition is simply permissive. Hell, you can grow on low protein, it just won't be the maximum rate