Eat at a caloric surplus but avoid excess fat To maintain a lean bulk, you'll need to eat at a calorie surplus that consists of extra protein and wholegrains, without containing too much fat. Aim for 20% of your intake coming from good fat as a maximum. Completely cut out saturated fats.
It's easy to put on a tiny gut while gaining. It's not to worry, because you can go for a lean phase and keep your caloric deficit at zero, and just remove fat and maintain muscle. If you feel its surface fat, Ie you can't see your ab muscles then caloric deficit at zero with any exercise should eventually clear it up.
Include Ab-Specific Exercises: While gaining weight, it's essential to target your abdominal muscles directly to develop definition. Include exercises like crunches, leg raises, planks, and Russian twists in your routine. Focus on proper form and controlled movements to effectively engage your core muscles.
Include exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, and rows to target multiple muscle groups. Perform core-strengthening workouts that target the deeper muscles rather than those visible abs. Planks, bridges, and bird-dogs are all efficient ways to support a flat stomach.
Fit bodies come in all shapes and sizes, so a flat stomach is possible even if you have a thick body type. Skip the gimmicks that promise a flat stomach and focus on two things: a healthy diet and exercise.
It really depends on your goals. If you are looking to lose fat, you should focus on cutting. You may still be able to gain muscle in your arms and legs while cutting, but it will depend on your diet and training program. If you want to focus on gaining muscle, then bulking is likely to be the best approach.
Recent weight gain.
This means less room for normal digestive processes, so that even a normal meal may cause you to feel abnormally bloated during digestion. Sometimes weight gain also involves water retention, which can make you feel bloated with fluids in your stomach and elsewhere.
One reason belly fat is so hard to lose is that it's considered an “active fat.” Unlike some fatty tissue that simply sits “dormant,” belly fat releases hormones that can have an impact on your health — and your ability to lose weight, especially in the waist and abdomen areas.
If the concentrations of Firmicutes bacteria increase in the gut, they increase the absorption of more calories into the body, leading to weight gain, especially around the abdomen.
It is important to understand the role of cardio during a Clean Bulk, which is that it should be used as a tool to maintain cardiovascular fitness, not to burn calories. ~60-75 minutes a week at a moderate intensity during this period of your training cycle is probably sufficient to maintain cardiovascular fitness.
Bulking will not lead to you losing your abs, they will still be there. But they may not be visible. But you won't lose them if anything they will probably get stronger. Once you begin to lose weight (known in bodybuilding as a cut) your abs may be even more defined then they were before you started bulking.
Lean protein and fiber are the building blocks of healthy eating that help shed belly fat and gain muscle. Plus, the combination of fiber and lean protein will fill you up without blowing your calorie budget. A balanced diet also includes healthy fats, fresh veggies, and fruit, along with dairy or dairy alternatives.
Aerobic exercise includes any activity that raises your heart rate such as walking, dancing, running or swimming. This can also include doing housework, gardening and playing with your children. Other types of exercise such as strength training, Pilates and yoga can also help you lose belly fat.
Is there a sure way of keeping belly fat at minimum while bulking? Yes, and that is known as lean bulking. Lean bulking is eating at a small caloric surplus (50 kcal - 500 kcal added to your current caloric intake) and slowly increasing your caloric intake overtime.
There are other terms for this, such as build mode, but bulking is a common term for this caloric surplus. Dirty bulking is when an individual is in a caloric surplus to build muscle (build mode). However, the individual is eating foods that are carb dense, unhealthy, and ultra-processed out of convenience.
If you currently have a lot of fat to lose, cutting is better than bulking, because it will improve your physique and improve your health. Also, as fat loss can happen faster than muscle can be gained, cutting is easier to stay motivated for. For some people, it can be tricky to choose between cutting or bulking first.