The action of becoming or making something larger; in sports, gaining body mass (often muscle) through training and nutrition.
Present participle or gerund form of 'bulk,' from Middle Dutch 'bulc.' The sports meaning emerged in 20th-century bodybuilding culture.
In fitness culture, 'bulking' has a very specific meaning—controlled weight gain to build muscle—while 'cutting' means losing fat. These terms show how communities develop specialized vocabulary to discuss their practices with precision that outsiders might not understand!
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