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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Sports Nutrition

Bulk up

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/ˌbʌlk ˈʌp/phrasal verbCommon term

In sports & fitness, bulk up means: To gain body weight and muscle size on purpose, usually by eating more calories than you burn while doing heavy strength training.

In Turkish: kütle kazanmak, bulk yapmak, hacim kazanmak

How it is used

Gym and bodybuilding language. People bulk up for a sport or a role; a bulk or bulking phase is often followed by a cut (cutting phase) to lose fat. Coaches may ask a rugby player to bulk up in the off-season.

Example sentences

  1. He bulked up by eight kilos over the summer.

  2. Many young players want to bulk up too quickly.

Common collocations

  • bulk up for the season
  • bulking phase
  • bulk and cut
  • clean bulk
  • calorie deficitA state in which you take in fewer calories from food and drink than your body uses, which leads to weight loss over time.
  • macrosShort for macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate and fat, the nutrients the body needs in large amounts and that provide energy.
  • proteinA nutrient found in foods such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy and pulses that the body uses to build and repair tissues, including muscle.
  • strength trainingExercise in which muscles work against resistance, such as weights, machines, bands or body weight, in order to become stronger.

More terms: Sports Nutrition

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