This is my favourite part of this diet because putting on muscle seems to be a challenge with diets that are higher in carbs. I find hard-gainers react 10 times better with a diet high in fat then one high in carbohydrates.
If you already have enough mass, you can stay with the kick-off phase for a little longer and then literally skip this phase and move onto the leaning out phase. However, for most of us, we need this phase of the diet. Many of us are walking around with too much fat and not enough muscle on our bodies. This is the phase in which you will "bulk up" and add muscle. Now, I am not talking about turning yourself into the next heavy weight champion. I am talking about giving your body a trim, muscular look with a lot of definition. Actually, this is really about creating the body you want, no matter what that body might be.
In creating that ideal body, the one you will feel good about and want to show off, we need to consider your ideal body weight and your level of body fat because you will want to take in 18 times your ideal body weight in calories in this phase.
First, let's talk about your ideal body weight. Of course, this is going to depend on your height and build. Most people want to lose weight; they carry a large amount of fat and very low muscle mass. If you are an active person, you might not have too far to go to create the body you want. You can determine your ideal body weight by getting your body fat percentage taken or you can simply estimate what it should be. One great tool to use is the body mass index, which gives the healthy weight range for a person based on their height.
Most people need to lose fat as well as gain muscle. When it comes to your level of fat, the key is to get it down to a maximum of 20% for men and 30% for women. In the Muscle building phase, your goal is to reach either your ideal weight or your ideal level of body fat, whichever comes first. You want to stay lean and trim and by building muscle and losing fat, you will accomplish this.
Here is a heads-up. You might see a large fluctuation in your weight on this diet, at least at first. At the very beginning, especially if you have a higher level of body fat to get rid of, you might see a dramatic fluctuation in your weight when you load on the carbs on the weekend. You can actually gain 5-10 pounds over the weekend from all the sugars and water your body takes in. However, this is easily lost again once you get back to the high-protein part of the diet and you will find that by Wednesday, the water weight will be gone and you can spend the rest of the week manipulating your caloric intake to lose the amount of weight you desire.