Good topic and it really boils down to getting in your desired number of calories in 24 hours regardless of how. Then it re-sets and you do it again and again and again.
Optimally, smaller meals allows you to better time your specific macros around training, cardio, insulin usage and so forth. Here's the thing though, for some the term bulking is different than for others.
To many of us who have a tremendous amount of experience bulking then cutting it down to see the actual gains we've all come to the conclusion that you must be committed to the program regardless. You are miserably full all the time but you still make yourself eat when it's time. You trust the program and know that you're doing what's required and some fat will be added but there is an end goal so the fat will be removed later. A surplus is just that, a surplus.
To some, the term bulking is used loosely to mean they eat a little more on the days they feel like it or gorge themselves once a week on crap food. That's not really a bulking program.
A true well thought out bulking program is just like a cutting program. It has a start date and an end date with a specific goal attached. It also has detailed specifications as to the graduated calorie consumption just as a cut would have a declining calorie schedule. Granted, there is some adjustment required as you go but the basic structure is in place from the beginning.
You can monitor your parameters and try to keep bf accumulation to a minimum, do a 4 week mini cut in the middle of the bulk to reset insulin sensitivity and set up for a mini re-bound effect and still be bulking but in the end you're still pushing to eat the calories you require to push up your weight weekly. That's truly bulking.
