I am a newly reformed 'bulker'. Its an easy trap to get into. You eat huge amounts of calories, you get insulin spikes and have plenty of energy in the gym. You get stronger and look massive in t-shirts. People start commenting on how big you're getting. It becomes a run away freight train thats not easy to stop, or even slow down. Feeling full all the time becomes an absolute must. The result? Have you ever seen ghost busters? You become the powder puff marshmellow man (without the stylish hat of course).

I remember reading an article on insulin, promoting it as one of the body's most anabolic hormones (which it is). The article advised that when you are full and have plenty of carbs you body has an insulin spike and you shift to a completely anabolic state. In the last paragraph of the article it stated 'if insulin makes you anabolic, never let yourself get hungry and have carbs at every meal'. This led to a paranoid war against hunger. The more stuffed I felt the more muscle I believed I was building. Not true. I was getting in at least 50g carbs at every meal (besides my shake before bed) and they were all heavily sharchy carbs. Lots and lots of bread. I am naturally very ectomorphic. Tall and thin. It has taken years of big weights and big eating to get as far as I have (and I have a long way to go). So the weight took a couple of years to build up, and without reslising it I was all of a sudden ashamed to walk around with my shirt off. I thought 'I train so hard and eat even when I'm not hungry in the name of muscle and I feel like crap naked? Whats wrong with this picture?'

Like I stated earlier periodisation is so important, but to be successful in this game you have to watch your bodyfat even in the off season. I have seen several competitors who are desperate to make it in this game but get way too heavy in the off season and as a result come in softer and smaller than the other competitors who stayed in reasonable shape. For those barbell junkies who just like to look massive in t-shirts, then old style bulking is the way to go, and they do it well! However for anyone with the intention of competing, staying within reasonable shape in the off season is the only way to stay competitive. Loosing massive amounts of fat right before a show is a sure way to loose muscle and get loose skin (especially round the lower back and stomach, thighs aswell for girls). I've learnt that you can put on more muscle between comps by getting in quality food (and plenty of it) and doing more nutritional planning than just 'lets go to the food court'.