Is Pizza Good For Bulking?

When you start bodybuilding, you start focusing a lot on your diet. You obviously want to make sure your hard work in the gym isn’t going to waste, right? So- is pizza good for bulking?

Yes! Pizza is incredibly good for bulking. It’s one of the best bulking foods you can actually get your hands on as a bodybuilder. Each slice has a ton of protein, a ton of carbs, a ton of fat, and a lot of calories. If you’re heavy lifting, having pizza is a surefire way to make sure your body grows some more muscle.

But, let’s cover this a little more in-depth!

Is Pizza Good For Bulking? Yes, yes, and yes! It is an incredible superfood for bulking. Photo by Sydney Troxell from Pexels
Is Pizza Good For Bulking? Yes, yes, and yes! It is an incredible superfood for bulking. Photo by Sydney Troxell from Pexels

Why Is Pizza Good For Bulking?

So, let’s not waste time. I’m sure you google searched this on your phone right away and you’re about to splurge on that Pizza.

If you’ve read my post about why dirty bulking is the key to actually getting MASSIVE, you might know the answer already.

To first understand why pizza is good for bulking, we need to look at the nutrition of Pizza. Now, obviously, every pizza is different. So, you might have to look up the specific nutrition for the type of pizza you order from domino’s or papa john’s whatever.

But, I mean most of the time there’s a cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza available. And just for the record- try to get the pizza with the meat on it, as it will have the most protein.

So, here’s the normal nutrition of a Domino’s Medium Sized Cheese Pizza. That’s fairly standard, right?

Nutrition of Domino’s Medium Sized Cheese Pizza

  • Serving Size: 1/8th of Pizza (1 slice basically)
  • Calories: 240 calories
  • Carbs: 30g
  • Fat: 7g
  • Protein: 11g

So, that nutrition isn’t exactly perfect. But, we’re just using it to get a rough estimate of what’s going on here.

Look at that. Each slice is about 250 calories and gives 11g of protein! Generally, as a bodybuilder, you need to be eating .7g/lb of body weight in protein. So if you weigh 150 lbs, you need to be eating around 100-110g of protein a day.

I’m going to be honest, it’s pretty easy for me to eat a ton of pizza. Namely because, well, IT’S SO DELICIOUS.

You might only have 1-2 slices, but me and Ian are definitely having 4-5 slices of Pizza. That means in a short amount of time, we have eaten nearly 1000 calories and 40-50g of protein.

And that food right there is going to grow a ton of muscle, here’s why:

Your Muscles Need Protein and A Caloric Surplus To Grow

Bodybuilding is confusing. But, there is one fundamental rule that always works.

If you’re in a caloric surplus (meaning you are eating more calories than you are burning), then you will grow muscle.

The hard part of bodybuilding is actually eating enough food to cause your body to grow.

Now, I get it, at first you might think that eating any food you see is easy. Well, it is, for the first few weeks.

Then your body starts rejecting all that food, and you have to sit there crying to yourself at the dinner table because you’re never going to make it.

But, pizza is really easy to eat. It’s a ton of calories and protein in a delicious small slice of food. That means if you’re low on time, money, or you’re having a hard time eating, pizza is your best friend.

Pizza Gives a TON of Protein To Grow Your Muscles

I mean, let’s say you’re taking bodybuilding really seriously, making sure you’re eating big, etcetera right?

You can easily eat 3-4 slices of that pizza without trying. That will set you at nearly half of your protein goal for the day, and nearly 1/3rd of your calorie goal for the day.

I don’t know if I need to explain this- but protein is critical in growing your muscles. Many people don’t actually realize how much protein pizza has.

If you ate a full pizza, you’re looking at 80-100g of protein. The bread, cheese, and if you have meat on the pizza too, your muscles are going to be very happy!

Pizza Tastes Really Good

As I said, eating is one of the hardest parts of bodybuilding. And trust me, I’ve been bodybuilding for years! I’m not going to lie and say I like eating 50 chicken breasts every night, I just don’t.

Pizza tastes good, I mean- who hates pizza? Life advice: If your girlfriend says she doesn’t like pizza, you don’t like her. Find a new girlfriend.

But seriously, it tastes really good, so it’s easy to eat.

If chicken breasts and rice were easy to eat because they ‘tasted so good’ why wouldn’t everybody be eating them?

Why wouldn’t everybody start off their day with 9 egg yolks? Because it’s disgusting.

And yeah, bodybuilding isn’t an easy sport, but there’s no need to make it any more difficult than you need it to be.

Pizza Has a Good Blend of Carbs/Fats/Protein To Replenish Your Muscles

So let’s just say you got done with a hard workout. Maybe you did the 8 Hour Arm Workout by Rich Piana or maybe you just got done with The Arnold Blueprint to Mass.

Your muscles are now depleted. You’re sore, you’re tired, exhausted, etc. If you aren’t sore or exhausted after the gym, put your phone down right now and go back to the gym until you are sore.

But, after that workout, you need to focus on something. You. You’re a normal human being that just got done working their behind off in the gym.

Carbohydrates give energy, fats are good at slowing your digestion, and protein is good at building muscles and making you feel full.

Pizza is a great food because it has such a great blend of carbs, fats, and proteins. Protein bars lack a lot of carbs/fat. Meats lack a lot of carbs. Many sugary foods lack fats/proteins. But pizza has a good mix of all!

That means your energy will be restored, your cell imbalances will be restored, and your muscles will start growing.

Pizza Has a Ton of Much Needed Calories

As I said above, your body needs way more calories than your friends do.

But, I really need to hammer this point to you.

Your body WILL NOT GROW MUSCLE WITHOUT ENOUGH CALORIES.

It’s literally scientifically impossible. Matter cannot be created or destroyed, just transferred. Muscle doesn’t pop out of thin air.

And each slice is giving you around 300 calories, so don’t stop at one slice. Keep on munching!

Pizza is NOT A Bad Food For You

Everybody and their mothers say that pizzas bad for you.

Maybe? Well, not really.

People are always saying it’s going to make you fat and other things. But that’s because these people don’t go to the gym for 2 hours a day and end up sweating and tearing down every muscle in their body.

They are likely going to a party on a Friday night, having a ton of illegal drinks and Pizza, and then they’re surprised when they put on a ton of weight over the next few months after doing this every weekend.

Now, ordering a pizza every night for these people probably will cause them to gain weight.

But, you’re a bodybuilder. You are burning nearly 500-600 calories in the gym, you’re way more active than the normal person, and you need to eat 500 calories over your caloric limit for the day.

For most people, you end up having to eat nearly 3,000 calories a day. Most of your peers are nowhere close to that.

And in this instance, pizza is actually a very powerful tool for putting on weight as a bodybuilder.

What Is Bad About Pizza?

For the most part, most pizzas are actually pretty good for you. Most of the ingredients are natural and truthfully- pizza is one of the best foods you can eat.

However, some places put questionable sauces or oils on their pizza that ruin that fun. I’d recommend looking at your local pizza place and seeing if there are any ingredients on that list that are sketchy.

If you’re able to order it with light oil or something, I’d recommend you do that. Also, try not to order stupid things like Pretzel crust or whatever. I mean, I’m not going to judge your orders, but let’s try to keep it somewhat healthy around here.

Eating Pizza Everyday Bodybuilding?

Truthfully, there’s no need to be eating a pizza 7x a week or anything. Keep it in moderation, like all things.

And if you’re able to eat pizza every day when bodybuilding somehow, I want to know your secret.

But, as I said, just keep it in moderation. If you get free pizzas from work or something and you’re able to make them yourself, you’ll probably know what ingredients you want to avoid.

And follow my next subheading for the best pizzas to bring home.

Best Pizzas For Bulking

Now that I’ve answered the question- is pizza good for bulking- what are the best types of pizza that are good for bulking?

Well, truthfully, most will do fine. I did mention earlier you should try to get the ones with the most meat. I do order from Domino’s a lot, probably too much, so here are my recommendations.

Domino’s Recommendations

Here are my Domino’s Pizza recommendations for the best pizzas for bulking.

  • Memphis BBQ Chicken (Incredible for bulking, my favorite, tastes amazing)
  • Pepperoni/Sausage/Anything Meat
  • Ultimate Pepperoni
  • MeatZZa
  • Wisconsin 6 Cheese

PizzaHut Recommendations

I also order from PizzaHut all the time…

  • Meat Lover’s Pizza (With stuffed crust)
  • Pepperoni Pizza (With stuffed crust)
  • Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza (no onions, stuffed crust)

Conclusion

To answer the question- is pizza good for bulking- once and for all: YES! It is incredibly good for bulking. So get out there and start eating!

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