Best way to calculate daily needs to gain muscle

[stevelunny]

Hi there

I'm trying to sort out how much I need to eat (calories, carbs, protein, fat) to gain 1 pound of muscle per week while minimizing fat gain.

From what I've seen online, it's not that much! This surprises me because I've always heard to eat eat eat.

I'm 37
175 pounds
13% bodyfat
5'10.5"

After having an MRP mass gain shake with whole milk in the morning, I'm already 800 calories deep into my day. some calculators say I shouldn't have more than 3100 calories a day to gain muscle without fat.

Any guidance helpful. Getting confused!

Thanks very much!

 

[Buildingup24]

You can't gain 1lb of muscle in a week.
For lean mass gains, gain 0.5lbs a week.

Figuring out caloric needs is by trial and error. Keep protein around 1.25g/lb of body weight.
Keep fat intake at a decent level-it's needed for proper hormone function.
Carbs around workout. Don't use mass gainers cuz it's just sugar crap.

 

[RickRock13]

You can gain a pound or two per week, but its not going to be all muscle if you are training natural. About the best you can hope for realistically is about 2 lbs per month of muscle in the natural state. Most people will actually fall a little below that. Gaining physical weight however is easy, but it will be mostly water, fat, and glycogen.

Best thing to do get lean gains is way around 500 cals above maintenance ED. Gains will come slow, but will be very lean especially if you incorporate a little cardio in as well

 

[Buildingup24]

You can gain a pound or two per week, but its not going to be all muscle if you are training natural. About the best you can hope for realistically is about 2 lbs per month of muscle in the natural state. Most people will actually fall a little below that. Gaining physical weight however is easy, but it will be mostly water, fat, and glycogen.

Best thing to do get lean gains is way around 500 cals above maintenance ED. Gains will come slow, but will be very lean especially if you incorporate a little cardio in as well

That's what I meant. He can gain a lb a week but to minimize fat gains, a slow approach is better suited.

 

[RickRock13]

That's what I meant. He can gain a lb a week but to minimize fat gains, a slow approach is better suited.

Exactly

 

[mbag012]

body weight in pounds X 20 = calories needed for maintenance
Add 500calories to that to keep gaining muscle.

so you should eat 4000calories per day to ensure that you gain muscle mass which is going to be difficult. this calculation is really rough actually because its not taking into account bodyfat or anything. for someone with 13% bodyfat its probably more aruond 17-18 region but if you want to ensure with 100% certainty that you add as much muscle mass as possible id go with the 20 multiplier. im not a nutritionist expert so i may be wrong but this is what i read from a couple of sources. try and count calories you take in a day and measure your weight and see if it keeps growing. its largely experimental.

 

[the_alcatraz]

Honestly, despite what most may tell you, you can probably gain a maximum of 10 lbs of muscle a year...naturally.

 

[the_alcatraz]

P.S. That's a lot of size, you will see a difference.

 

[Buildingup24]

Honestly, despite what most may tell you, you can probably gain a maximum of 10 lbs of muscle a year...naturally.

If only people understood that who train naturally...may be less fat "bodybuilders" in the gym lol

 

[RickRock13]

Honestly, despite what most may tell you, you can probably gain a maximum of 10 lbs of muscle a year...naturally.

That's absolutely the truth, and as you get closer to your genetic potential the amount you can gain gets less and less