Man who 'dirty bulked' for 6 months reveals true impact as he shares before and after photos
A man who took a more indulgent approach to building muscle has shared the pros and cons of his method.
Fitness buff Nick Marlatt previously weighed more than 18.5 stone, but incredibly transformed his physique after overhauling his lifestyle, diet and fitness regimen.
When it became time to bulk up, he opted for the 'dirty' method rather than lean - and now, he's told LADbible how this six-month journey impacted him.
In a bid to boost their strength and muscle, people purposely put on weight by eating tons of calories and there are a few different ways to do this.
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Although eating clean is probably the healthiest approach, some people take advantage of this bulking phase by allowing themselves to eat whatever they want.
According to Healthline, 'no foods are off limits and the goal is to eat as much as tolerable to increase body mass'. That means that takeaways, desserts and high-calorie items are all on the table.
Nick decided to adopt this approach when he began his fitness journey and according to his website Super Marty Fitness, 'taking it easy' is the main secret to his success.
He explained that although a lot of people have a 'go hard or go home, no days off attitude', he realised that this was not 'realistic' for him.
"Some people can do it, most people can't," he wrote. "You need to chill out and just focus on staying consistent and not killing yourself. When it's time to work, work. When it's time to rest, rest."
During his bulking phase, Nick aimed to consume between 3,500 and 4,500 calories each day and made sure to track what he was filling his face with.
The content creator - who shares videos about eating, lifting and what it means to be fit online - explained he opted to dirty bulk because he 'continuously fails' at doing it the lean way.
"To be honest, my intention was to clean bulk," Nick told LADbible.
'A slippery slope'
"It’s all to easy to justify eating junk over clean foods to hit your calories because it’s just easier and obviously tastes better," he said. "That was a slippery slope for me.
"After a couple weeks of telling myself, 'Well, I am bulking', to justify eating junk, there I was, in a full blown dirty bulk. At that point, I didn’t want to cut again, I just wanted to see the bulk through one way or another.
"So I continued to dirty bulk."
Describing his experience of using this method as 'interesting', he told LADbible that although it may sound like a dream on the surface, it isn't all it is cracked up to be.
"Being able to eat whatever you want sounds great, putting on extra weight quickly definitely helps with adding strength which is always fun," Nick said.
"At a certain point, you do start to see negative effects. Low energy from eating junk is pretty obvious after a short time, increased inflammation from eating junk is pretty hard to deal with as well.
"I felt noticeably 'stiffer' especially after just waking up. My mobility definitely suffered because of this. I will say it’s a lot of fun, just eat whatever you want, lift and you do see results."
He said although it 'sounds great', there are some negative effects (Instagram/@supermarty9001)
However, Nick said that the stiffness, decreased mobility and low energy levels were major 'drawbacks'.
"I think it would probably have been more beneficial to eat a little cleaner, in hopes that I didn’t experience as much inflammation and discomfort and put on more muscle and less fat," he said.
Revealing how dirty bulking impacted him physically, Nick said he quickly piled on the pounds 'really fast'.
But he felt like he was just 'getting fatter', rather than actually building more muscle.
Sharing some other side effects he encounter, Nick said: "The hardest and most noticeable was my mobility. When I’m cutting I eat really clean, because I can eat more and still hit my calorie goals.
"Those clean foods definitely just make me feel great all around and healthy. When I’m bulking it feels like the opposite. Now I’m trying to get in as much food as possible, doesn’t matter what it is.
"And eating a lot of junk is easier than eating a lot of clean foods. I definitely notice the contrast in my joint stiffness and mobility when I’m dirty bulking."
Olivia Burke