bulking calories?

[ashley2212]

If you took a basic maintenance diet with calories = bodyweight x 10, how many more calories per day should a woman add for a bulking phase?

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Usually about BWx13-15.

Can be higher though, depends on your current weight, training history, goals, etc.

 

[FigureSkater]

I've read BW x 10-13 for cutting, 14-16 for maintenance, and 17-18 for bulking...

 

[ashley2212]

I've read BW x 10-13 for cutting, 14-16 for maintenance, and 17-18 for bulking...

Is that for women or for men?
I have a hard time believing that it can be the same for both since our bodies function somewhat differently.
I have a feeling I'd gain more fat than muscle eating my bodyweight x 17-18. Have you tried this? If so, how did your body respond?

 

[brunette]

wow, really. 17-18 for bulking, that's scary!

 

[FigureSkater]

Is that for women or for men?
I have a hard time believing that it can be the same for both since our bodies function somewhat differently.
I have a feeling I'd gain more fat than muscle eating my bodyweight x 17-18. Have you tried this? If so, how did your body respond?

Well, I don't "bulk" in a sense (unless you count the few months this past winter where I ate like crap, but I certainly wasn't putting on muscle), because I naturally have a lot of muscle mass, put it on and maintain it easily, and have no need/desire for more (actually, I wouldn't mind smaller quads/hamstrings/calves). What it all boils down to is YOUR body type and chemistry, because we're all different. But this is straight from Stumptuous.com, a women's weight training site:

3. Overall caloric intake. For fat loss, aim for about 10-13 multiplied by your bodyweight. This gives you your daily caloric intake. For a 150-lb person, this is:

10 x 150 = 1500

13 x 150 = 1950

So, that means your daily intake of calories should be between 1500 and 1950 calories per day. Divide that by 5 or 6, and you have the total number of calories for each meal. Assuming we're eating the upper limit of 1950 calories daily, and we want to eat 6 meals, that means each meal should be around 325 calories. Now you're probably thinking, "No way! No way can I make a 300-calorie meal!" Well, think about this. A small skinless chicken breast, grilled, is around 150-200 calories. Throw that into a nice salad with a spoonful of olive oil vinaigrette and you have a very pleasant 300 calories. You get 6 of those a day! Pretty sweet deal.

By the way, maintenance calories (the calories needed to keep you in a steady state, neither gaining nor losing mass) are around 14-16 x bodyweight per day for an active woman. This will vary depending on the individual.

The caloric intake to gain mass is about 15-18 x bodyweight per day. Again, this varies depending on the individual. Activity is a big component of variation. The more active a woman is, the more she requires just to keep at the same weight. Age is also another significant component, as is fat-free body mass. In other words, a 200 lb. person with 10% body fat will likely not have the same caloric requirements as a 200 lb. person with 40% body fat. The second person can drop calories lower than the first person, without initiating an anti-starvation response. If the second person tries to lose bodyfat, she will also likely lose it faster than the first person.

And from another section of the same site:

People aiming to gain mass need to eat more than their body expends. For most folks, the amount of calories needed to gain mass is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 16 to 20 times their bodyweight in pounds daily. So, for a 100 lb. person trying to gain mass, this would mean that her intake should be between 1600 and 2000 calories daily. The exact amount will depend on the individual and her activity level. Some fat will be gained along with muscle. The trick is to eat enough to gain muscle without gaining too much body fat. Caloric intake should be raised slowly over a period of several weeks, and weight gain monitored to ensure that it's mostly lean body mass without excessive body fat. If appetite is a problem and you're not hungry, ignore it. Simply plan out your intake, schedule meals, and put some food in your eating orifice at regular intervals. Over time this intake pattern will become habitual. If you're really not hungry, and the thought of a big meal makes you want to blow chunks, eat whatever you can stomach. There are some ideas below. Even a glass of milk or a handful of almonds is better than nothing.

Another thing you can do is figure out your BMR (there are a zillion Harris-Benedict formula calculation sites out there if you just google it), which will give you an idea of your metabolic rate, and go from there. (Only gripe is the HB formula doesn't take body comp into consideration).

 

[ashley2212]

Thank you so much for taking the time to look all of that up for me, I really appreciate it!
I know what my BMR is... I know how to maintain and lose, but I have yet to master the "bulking" part. The gains I have made have been small over a long period of time. I'm looking to step it up a bit.
Thank you again!

 

[FigureSkater]

That entire website is actually a great resource for diet/weight/cardio info pertaining to women. Very accurate info, too. (I've seen a lot of junk on the web...)

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights_index_revision.html