Build Muscle WITHOUT Bulking if You Want "Lean Gains" | Ep 384

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You MUST "bulk" to build muscle... right?

Eat more, gain weight, accept getting fluffy, then cut it all off later with a fat loss phase... right?

Not necessarily.

What if bulking is inefficient for YOUR goals? What if you could build muscle while staying lean year-round?

Learn why you might NOT need a calorie surplus to build muscle and a unique approach called aggressive maintenance where you can skip bulking entirely while getting the strong, lean, aesthetic body you're going for.

Main Takeaways:

• Traditional bulking optimizes for throughput (total muscle gain), while aggressive maintenance optimizes for efficiency (muscle gain per unit of input)
• You CAN build muscle at maintenance calories when 3 things are dialed in
• Certain individuals partition nutrients more efficiently toward muscle vs. fat and are better candidates for skipping the bulk
• There are "hidden" but powerful factors that enable muscle growth without bulking

Episode Resources:

• Review the podcast by October 15 for a chance to win 3 months free in Physique University Mastery Track ($261 value). Leave a review at Apple Podcasts... EVERYONE who leaves a review will get a gift from me :)

Timestamps:

0:00 - Rethinking the bulking dogma
2:06 - Speed vs. efficiency in muscle gain
7:00 - Throughput vs. true efficiency explained
10:15 - MPS limits and surplus reality
12:20 - Age, partitioning, and staying lean
14:10 - How muscle grows at maintenance
16:20 - Energy partitioning and activity
18:10 - The aggressive maintenance protocol
21:00 - Protein, training, and carb strategy
24:30 - Glycogen, neural gains, and energy flux
26:40 - Who should skip the bulk
29:10 - Pitfalls, expectations, and precision 

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