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Have you found yourself wondering what is dirty bulking? Dirty bulking is one of the most controversial topics in bodybuilding today.
The basic premise of dirty bulking is true; consume more calories every day. But the methods and techniques of dirty bulking for many is considered a reckless way of gaining weight and could actually be detrimental to your overall health in the longer term.
Doing a dirty bulk basically consists of consuming a high amount of calories in order to reach your daily calorie goals. Those calories can come from anything and usually, the idea is to consume cheap junk food to reach the daily calorific goal.
Table of Contents
- What Is Dirty Bulking? Is it a Good or a Bad Idea?
- Now, The Hardcore Evidence
- Why Not Build Muscle Mass In A Better Way?
- Are you still wondering ‘What is Dirty Bulking?’
What Is Dirty Bulking? Is it a Good or a Bad Idea?
If you research the internet you will find several mixed opinions on the topic of dirty bulking.
Let’s face it, the idea of eating whatever you want when you want, and in large amounts sounds pretty awesome. And if done it will indeed make your weight numbers go up on the scale.
However, the methods in which you can achieve weight gain are not all created equal. Dirty bulking is just as the name implies, dirty, meaning, dirty for your body, dirty for your health, and overall, dirty for your energy levels.

Now, The Hardcore Evidence
Junk food is called junk food for a reason.
Pizza, beer, and nachos have lots of calories, but the make-up of those calories are not great. Loaded with sugar, not to mention saturated fats and trans fats.
So, whats the big deal? Carbs in high amounts can take your body on a roller coaster ride. If consumed in large quantities, your body can become resistant to insulin in the long term which is extremely dangerous.
Eating foods low in nutrients and vitamins will also rob you of energy, so much so, that you can feel tired, lethargic, and sluggish throughout the day.
Junk food is also devoid of vitamins and minerals as well essential fatty acids and while you probably are not going to run the risk of becoming malnourished, you are definitely not creating an optimal nutritional environment in order to see positive changes in your body.
Why Not Build Muscle Mass In A Better Way?
If you’ve committed yourself to weight training. You go to the gym regularly and do the right exercises in the correct form, you will know there is no shortcut to changing your body, and in the same way, there should be no shortcuts in building the optimal diet to help you achieve your goals.
Eat clean and eat a lot. This kind of weight gain requires planning ahead and eating good meals at least five times a day.
There are healthier and nutritious ways of getting high calorie foods in between meals.
Apart from protein shakes, you could try things like taking ‘olive oil shots’, spoons of peanut butter, eating avocados which can all be done several times a day to increase your calorie intake.
What’s especially good is that these foods won’t zap your energy levels like sugar-rich junk food would.
Are you still wondering ‘What is Dirty Bulking?’
A saying that sums up dirty bulking vs clean bulking pretty well is ‘you are what you eat and you get out what you put in’.
The key is to get a plan and stay consistent with it. Dirty bulking isn’t going to do your body good in the long term.
Your body is an amazing machine and requires fine-tuning, and maintenance, make sure you take a more considered approach to what you put in your body.