By: Darryl Hansen

Do you want to transform your body shape and tone it up? If so, you may be interested in lean bulking. Lean bulking is a bodybuilding term that promotes muscle growth while keeping body fat levels under control. It’s a more slow and steady process to gaining muscle mass than the traditional bulk method, leading to a higher body fat percentage.

According to HealthEd Academy, bodybuilding isn’t just about lifting weights. It’s a lifestyle that combines regular exercise, healthy or clean eating, supplementation, and more. 

To give you a better insight on how to lean bulk effectively, here are five helpful tips to help you achieve that:

1. Maintain A Healthy Calorie Surplus

To gain muscle mass, you need to be in a calorie surplus. That means you’re consuming more calories than your body is burning. Hence, you don’t want to go too overboard and may end up packing on excess body fat.

A healthy caloric surplus would best be achieved by gradually adding an extra 250-500 calories per day for an average-sized man (79 kg or 174 lbs.) and 200-400kg calories for an average-sized woman (61 kg or 132 lbs.) to their current diet. This approach may respectively result in gaining weight around 0.2-0.4 kg and 0.14-0.28 kg weekly.

Moreover, lean bulking requires precision and consistency, so it’s best to track your food intake with a calorie calculator or tracking app. It’ll help you determine the number of calories you need to consume daily to reach your desired muscle-building goal.

2. Incorporate Compound Exercises

Incorporating compound exercises into your workout routine is one of the keys to muscle growth. Compound exercises are exercises that work multiple muscles at once. Such workouts include: 

  • Squats 
  • Push-ups 
  • Deadlifts 
  • Bench presses 
  • Military press 
  • Bent over row and more 


For a better understanding, let’s take squats as an example. When you do squats, you’re working your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. In addition to that, you’re also working your lower back, calves, and abdominals as stabilizer muscles. 

3. Consume Sufficient Protein 

Protein is an essential macronutrient that helps repair muscle tissue. When you work out, your muscles break down. This is where protein comes into play—a compound needed to restore and rebuild muscle post-workout. That’s why consuming enough protein is vital if you want to see results from your lean bulking journey. 

A systematic review and meta-analysis, consuming 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight is the ideal range for muscle growth while lean bulking.

Furthermore, you could also meet your protein requirements by including protein-rich foods in your diets such as meat, seafood, and certain types of fish (like tuna, cod, tilapia, etc.). These foods are high in protein but low in fat and calories. Supplementing with quality protein powder might also assist in reaching your daily protein goals.

4. Perform Light Cardio

Some people tend to avoid all forms of cardio when lean bulking. Fortunately, cardio doesn’t have to be avoided altogether during this phase. Light cardio can be beneficial for your body composition.

Light cardio exercise refers to activities that don’t put too much strain on your body such as walking, running, cycling, and more. Performing these activities can have a significant effect on your muscle-building journey. It can also help burn fat while preserving your muscle mass.

Additionally, light cardio can help improve your blood circulation. When your muscles are well-oxygenated, they can repair and grow faster. That’s why performing cardio could be a valuable addition to your lean bulking routine.

5. Rest And Recover

Another crucial element of lean bulking is giving your body enough time to rest and recover. Otherwise, overtraining may decrease muscle mass, strength, and overall performance. In addition, it may also lead to burnout, fatigue, and overuse injuries. 

To prevent overtraining, make sure to give your body at least 48 hours of relaxation between resistance training sessions. This approach will allow your muscles to regain and grow. Aside from that, adequate sleep is also an essential factor to consider, ensuring an appropriate recovery.

A good night’s sleep assists muscles to release greater amino acids, which stimulate protein synthesis. In other words, sleep plays a vital role in muscle growth. You must aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep to fully recover from your workout and support your lean bulking transformation.

Final Thoughts

It’s no secret that having a lean, strong physique takes time, hard work, and dedication. However, by following the tips listed in this article, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your desired result: a lean and muscular body. Just remember to be patient and consistent with your transformation, and you’ll eventually reach your body composition goals in no time.

Author Bio

Darryl Hansen is a fitness gym instructor. He’s a very passionate instructor who always gives his best to help those who want to stay fit and healthy. Darryl enjoys jogging in the morning, playing basketball, and swimming in his free time.