Contradicting the point above, higher meal frequencies are postulated to increase the ability of those bulking to get enough calories in a day to meet the needs of gaining size. By allowing more feeding opportunities, higher meal frequencies make it easier to get in enough calories per day to gain weight quickly. In practical terms, it is arguable that eating more frequently makes most sense with high daily calorie needs to prevent gastric distress and bloating from eating very large meals.

If we take the idea that we should eat extremely frequently (every hour or two in an extreme case) the argument is this provides our bodies with a near continuous inflow of nutrients to help maitain an anabolic state. Certainly, it is well established that providing protein to the body increase protein synthesis so doesn't it make sense to provide a steady stream of nutrients to help enhance our results? As ever things are never that simple.

Some research using amino acid infusion suggests that even in the presence of a high delivery of amino acids, the muscle can become insensitive to the effects of continuous feeding. The same research showed that urea production was increased meaning the protein was being broken down and excreted.

Given the fact that the muscle became resistant to further protein synthesis despite the high level of amino acids in the blood it is theorised that the transition from low to high levels of amino acids is the key element in driving protein synthesis rather than trying to force a continuous stream of amino acids into the muscle cell.

Now of course there is a world of difference between continuous infusion versus eating meals and it is hard to say what the number of meals per day would need to be to cause this type of negative feedback but it certainly makes it a less attractive strategy to try to eat every hour or so as some extreme bodybuilders might advise.

On a related note, this type of research suggests it is better to focus one's diet on meals that avoid too rapid a rise in protein synthesis to prevent the body from down regulating protein synthesis back to baseline levels. Given research showing that over an extended period of time casein displayed superior body composition benefits compared to whey, despite whey's greater elevation in protein syntheis and fat oxidation, it suggests that providing a slow rise in amino acids may be more beneficial when bulking arguing in favour of protein blends or slow releasing proteins

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