HOW TO EAT FOR MAXIMUM MUSCLE GAINS
As you know, if you’re in the 10 to 12 percent body fat range and looking to put on muscle as quickly as possible, you want to bulk.
Yes, you’ll gain some fat along the way, but if you do it right, it won’t be excessive, and it’ll come off easily once you’re ready to cut.
Based on my experience working with thousands of people, the average guy on a proper bulk will gain muscle and body fat at a ratio of about 1:1 (1 pound of fat gained for every pound of muscle.
In terms of weight gain while bulking, you want to see your weight going up at a rate of 0.5 to 1 pound per week. Any more than that, and you’ll be gaining too much fat.
If you’re new to weightlifting, however, then you’ll probably gain 2 to 3 pounds per week for the first few weeks while your muscles fill up with water and glycogen. This doesn’t mean you’re gaining too much fat, and you should see this number settle into the 0.5 to 1-pound range within your first four to six weeks on the program.
When you have your bulk dialed in, you should be increasing reps on your major lifts every week and weight on the bar every three to four weeks.
CALCULATING YOUR BULKING DIET
As you know, a proper bulking diet requires that you eat more calories than you burn every day.
While this sounds like a great idea now, don’t be surprised if you get sick of eating “all of this food” at some point along the way. You won’t be slamming down thousands of extra calories every week like some programs would have you doing, but even slight overfeeding over time can get a little uncomfortable.
You can also expect to hold more water than normal, as you’ll be eating a substantial amount of carbohydrate every day. This makes you look kind of “puffy.” Again, it’s just part of the “price” you have to pay for optimizing muscle growth.
So, let’s get to the actual dietary numbers for bulking. Here’s where you start:
• 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day,
• 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day, and
• 0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day.
That’s where you start. For a 150-pound guy, it would look like this:
• 150 grams of protein per day,
• 300 grams of carbs per day, and
• 60 grams of fat per day.
This would be about 2,340 calories per day (remember that protein and carbs contain about 4 calories per gram and fat contains about 9), which is the right place to start bulking for a 150-pound man.
Chances are these numbers are lower than other recommendations you’ve seen on the Internet. That’s because many bulking programs out there are just overkill. They put you in a huge calorie surplus with the explanation that you have to “eat big to get big.”
Well, while it’s true you have to eat more than you normally would to maximize muscle growth, you don’t have to eat nearly as much as some would have you believe.
GENERAL BULKING RECOMMENDATIONS
When I’m bulking, I try to be within 100 calories of my daily target, and I err on the high side (it’s better to be over your target than under).
Don’t think of a bulk as a license to eat whatever you want whenever you want it, as this will inevitably lead to excessive overeating and thus excessive fat storage, which will slow down your gains in the long run.
You can have a cheat meal every week, but keep it moderate. We’ll talk about why soon, but a high-protein, high-carbohydrate cheat meal is preferable to a high-fat one.
I recommend eating plenty of meat while bulking because it’s particularly effective for building muscle. Generally speaking, I eat two servings of meat per day (lunch and dinner) and alternate between various types such as ground turkey, chicken, lean beef, and fish.
ADJUSTING YOUR NUMBERS
The numbers given in the formula above are starting points, and there’s a chance that you will need to eat more to effectively gain strength and muscle (especially if you have an ectomorphic body that is naturally skinny and lean). Part of the game is finding your body’s “sweet spots” for bulking, cutting, and maintaining.
Fortunately, this is easy to do. Most guys will find their sweet spots to be within 10 to 15 percent of the targets they originally calculated, but some need to eat more to steadily gain weight (it’s rare for a guy to gain fat too quickly on the above recommendations and have to reduce intake).
So, if, after seven to ten days, your weight hasn’t gone up despite pushing yourself hard in your workouts, you’re just not eating enough. Increase your daily intake by 100 calories (by adding more carbs, preferably) and reassess over the next seven to ten days. If this doesn’t result in weight gain, increase again and repeat the process until you’re gaining weight at a rate of about 0.5 to 1 pound per week.
If you’re like most guys, here’s how it’s going to go: you’re going to start with the above formula and gain weight for the first month or two, and then you’re going to stall. You then will increase your daily intake once or twice and start gaining again. At some point, you’ll probably stall again, increase again, and start gaining again. After a bit more progress, your body fat percentage will eventually reach the 15 percent range, and you’ll have a month or so left to bulk before you cut to strip away the fat and repeat the process.
You can reduce your calories to a maintenance level on your rest days if you want, or you can stick to your bulking numbers. The small reduction won’t make a difference in terms of overall fat storage, but some guys like to take a break from all the eating a couple of days per week.
MAINTENANCE 101:
HOW TO EAT FOR SLOW AND STEADY “LEAN GAINS”
Maintenance refers to eating more or less how much energy you burn on a daily or weekly basis and is recommended for when you want to maintain a certain level of body fat while still being able to make slow gains in the gym.
Generally speaking, guys switch to maintenance if they want to stay lean through a certain time period like summer or if they’ve achieved the overall body composition they want and are looking to simply maintain that look (me, for example).
If neither of those circumstances describes your current needs, don’t bother with maintenance. You should be bulking and cutting until you’re happy with your size and overall development and then you use a maintenance diet to stay lean.
Don’t think of “maintaining” as “staying the same,” though. I think you should always have the goal of getting at least a little stronger every month, and most guys always want to get a little bigger in certain areas of their body. For me, I’d like a little more shoulders, calves, and lats, for instance. Always set goals and be looking to improve. Don’t just try to stay the same, because things tend to either get better or get worse.
Generally speaking, I like to see 0.25 to 0.5 pounds gained per month when maintaining, depending on how lean I’m trying to stay.
For example, if I maintain a very lean 6 to 7 percent body fat, I find that I can’t eat enough to gain much muscle and thus may only see my weight go up about 0.25 pounds per month; in some months, it may not change at all. On the other hand, if I maintain 8 to 9 percent body fat, I’m able to eat more food every day and have seen closer to 0.5 pounds per month in gains.
As you can see, when maintaining, your weight is less of an immediate indicator of progress than when cutting or bulking. Your strength progression is, though—you should see a steady increase in reps and weight over time.
You should also notice little positive changes in the mirror and in how your clothes fit; your shirts should be getting tighter as well as the upper leg areas of your pants.
You can still cheat once per week when maintaining so long as you don’t go overboard. If you do go too far in your cheating, I recommend that you reduce your intake to a cutting level for a few days to lose the little bit of fat you’ll have gained.
CALCULATING YOUR MAINTENANCE DIET
Here’s your starting point for maintenance:
• 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day,
• 1.6 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day, and
• 0.35 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day.
For a 180-pound male, it would look like this:
• 180 grams of protein per day,
• 290 grams of carbs per day, and
• 63 grams of fat per day.
That’s about 2,450 calories per day, which should work for making slow, steady muscle and strength gains with little to no body fat added along the way.
ADJUSTING YOUR NUMBERS
Dietary formulas are never one-size-fits-all. Part of proper dieting is learning what ranges work best with your body, and this applies to maintaining as much as cutting and bulking.
The good news is that this is simple. If your weight and body fat are rising too quickly, you’re overeating, either daily or in your weekly cheat meal(s), or you need to add some exercise to your routine.
If overeating is the culprit, reduce your daily intake by 100 calories by reducing your daily carbohydrate intake by 25 grams. See how your body responds over the next seven to ten days. If your weight stabilizes and your training is still good, you stay there. If your weight still increases too quickly, reduce again and reassess. Chances are you won’t need to do this at all, but if you do, one or two adjustments are all it should take.
On the other hand, if your weight is going down and you’re getting leaner, you’re in a calorie deficit and need to eat more to come out of it. Remember that while getting leaner is always gratifying, your body’s ability to build muscle is dramatically reduced when in a calorie deficit.
I should also warn you of a trap many people trying to maintain fall into: they severely overeat two to three days per week and then have to go into a deficit the rest of the week to undo the damage. This is fine for maintaining a certain body composition but does not work well if you also want to progress in the gym. This will stick you in a rut every time.
If you go slightly over your normal intake one day, you can go slightly under the next day and it balances out. Don’t get too sloppy though, dramatically overeating one day and undereating the next. Maintenance is a bit more relaxed than bulking and cutting, but you still want a relatively steady, balanced intake to ensure you continue progressing in your training.
As you know, if you’re in the 10 to 12 percent body fat range and looking to put on muscle as quickly as possible, you want to bulk.
Yes, you’ll gain some fat along the way, but if you do it right, it won’t be excessive, and it’ll come off easily once you’re ready to cut.
Based on my experience working with thousands of people, the average guy on a proper bulk will gain muscle and body fat at a ratio of about 1:1 (1 pound of fat gained for every pound of muscle.
In terms of weight gain while bulking, you want to see your weight going up at a rate of 0.5 to 1 pound per week. Any more than that, and you’ll be gaining too much fat.
If you’re new to weightlifting, however, then you’ll probably gain 2 to 3 pounds per week for the first few weeks while your muscles fill up with water and glycogen. This doesn’t mean you’re gaining too much fat, and you should see this number settle into the 0.5 to 1-pound range within your first four to six weeks on the program.
When you have your bulk dialed in, you should be increasing reps on your major lifts every week and weight on the bar every three to four weeks.
CALCULATING YOUR BULKING DIET
As you know, a proper bulking diet requires that you eat more calories than you burn every day.
While this sounds like a great idea now, don’t be surprised if you get sick of eating “all of this food” at some point along the way. You won’t be slamming down thousands of extra calories every week like some programs would have you doing, but even slight overfeeding over time can get a little uncomfortable.
You can also expect to hold more water than normal, as you’ll be eating a substantial amount of carbohydrate every day. This makes you look kind of “puffy.” Again, it’s just part of the “price” you have to pay for optimizing muscle growth.
So, let’s get to the actual dietary numbers for bulking. Here’s where you start:
• 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day,
• 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day, and
• 0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day.
That’s where you start. For a 150-pound guy, it would look like this:
• 150 grams of protein per day,
• 300 grams of carbs per day, and
• 60 grams of fat per day.
This would be about 2,340 calories per day (remember that protein and carbs contain about 4 calories per gram and fat contains about 9), which is the right place to start bulking for a 150-pound man.
Chances are these numbers are lower than other recommendations you’ve seen on the Internet. That’s because many bulking programs out there are just overkill. They put you in a huge calorie surplus with the explanation that you have to “eat big to get big.”
Well, while it’s true you have to eat more than you normally would to maximize muscle growth, you don’t have to eat nearly as much as some would have you believe.
GENERAL BULKING RECOMMENDATIONS
When I’m bulking, I try to be within 100 calories of my daily target, and I err on the high side (it’s better to be over your target than under).
Don’t think of a bulk as a license to eat whatever you want whenever you want it, as this will inevitably lead to excessive overeating and thus excessive fat storage, which will slow down your gains in the long run.
You can have a cheat meal every week, but keep it moderate. We’ll talk about why soon, but a high-protein, high-carbohydrate cheat meal is preferable to a high-fat one.
I recommend eating plenty of meat while bulking because it’s particularly effective for building muscle. Generally speaking, I eat two servings of meat per day (lunch and dinner) and alternate between various types such as ground turkey, chicken, lean beef, and fish.
ADJUSTING YOUR NUMBERS
The numbers given in the formula above are starting points, and there’s a chance that you will need to eat more to effectively gain strength and muscle (especially if you have an ectomorphic body that is naturally skinny and lean). Part of the game is finding your body’s “sweet spots” for bulking, cutting, and maintaining.
Fortunately, this is easy to do. Most guys will find their sweet spots to be within 10 to 15 percent of the targets they originally calculated, but some need to eat more to steadily gain weight (it’s rare for a guy to gain fat too quickly on the above recommendations and have to reduce intake).
So, if, after seven to ten days, your weight hasn’t gone up despite pushing yourself hard in your workouts, you’re just not eating enough. Increase your daily intake by 100 calories (by adding more carbs, preferably) and reassess over the next seven to ten days. If this doesn’t result in weight gain, increase again and repeat the process until you’re gaining weight at a rate of about 0.5 to 1 pound per week.
If you’re like most guys, here’s how it’s going to go: you’re going to start with the above formula and gain weight for the first month or two, and then you’re going to stall. You then will increase your daily intake once or twice and start gaining again. At some point, you’ll probably stall again, increase again, and start gaining again. After a bit more progress, your body fat percentage will eventually reach the 15 percent range, and you’ll have a month or so left to bulk before you cut to strip away the fat and repeat the process.
You can reduce your calories to a maintenance level on your rest days if you want, or you can stick to your bulking numbers. The small reduction won’t make a difference in terms of overall fat storage, but some guys like to take a break from all the eating a couple of days per week.
MAINTENANCE 101:
HOW TO EAT FOR SLOW AND STEADY “LEAN GAINS”
Maintenance refers to eating more or less how much energy you burn on a daily or weekly basis and is recommended for when you want to maintain a certain level of body fat while still being able to make slow gains in the gym.
Generally speaking, guys switch to maintenance if they want to stay lean through a certain time period like summer or if they’ve achieved the overall body composition they want and are looking to simply maintain that look (me, for example).
If neither of those circumstances describes your current needs, don’t bother with maintenance. You should be bulking and cutting until you’re happy with your size and overall development and then you use a maintenance diet to stay lean.
Don’t think of “maintaining” as “staying the same,” though. I think you should always have the goal of getting at least a little stronger every month, and most guys always want to get a little bigger in certain areas of their body. For me, I’d like a little more shoulders, calves, and lats, for instance. Always set goals and be looking to improve. Don’t just try to stay the same, because things tend to either get better or get worse.
Generally speaking, I like to see 0.25 to 0.5 pounds gained per month when maintaining, depending on how lean I’m trying to stay.
For example, if I maintain a very lean 6 to 7 percent body fat, I find that I can’t eat enough to gain much muscle and thus may only see my weight go up about 0.25 pounds per month; in some months, it may not change at all. On the other hand, if I maintain 8 to 9 percent body fat, I’m able to eat more food every day and have seen closer to 0.5 pounds per month in gains.
As you can see, when maintaining, your weight is less of an immediate indicator of progress than when cutting or bulking. Your strength progression is, though—you should see a steady increase in reps and weight over time.
You should also notice little positive changes in the mirror and in how your clothes fit; your shirts should be getting tighter as well as the upper leg areas of your pants.
You can still cheat once per week when maintaining so long as you don’t go overboard. If you do go too far in your cheating, I recommend that you reduce your intake to a cutting level for a few days to lose the little bit of fat you’ll have gained.
CALCULATING YOUR MAINTENANCE DIET
Here’s your starting point for maintenance:
• 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day,
• 1.6 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day, and
• 0.35 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day.
For a 180-pound male, it would look like this:
• 180 grams of protein per day,
• 290 grams of carbs per day, and
• 63 grams of fat per day.
That’s about 2,450 calories per day, which should work for making slow, steady muscle and strength gains with little to no body fat added along the way.
ADJUSTING YOUR NUMBERS
Dietary formulas are never one-size-fits-all. Part of proper dieting is learning what ranges work best with your body, and this applies to maintaining as much as cutting and bulking.
The good news is that this is simple. If your weight and body fat are rising too quickly, you’re overeating, either daily or in your weekly cheat meal(s), or you need to add some exercise to your routine.
If overeating is the culprit, reduce your daily intake by 100 calories by reducing your daily carbohydrate intake by 25 grams. See how your body responds over the next seven to ten days. If your weight stabilizes and your training is still good, you stay there. If your weight still increases too quickly, reduce again and reassess. Chances are you won’t need to do this at all, but if you do, one or two adjustments are all it should take.
On the other hand, if your weight is going down and you’re getting leaner, you’re in a calorie deficit and need to eat more to come out of it. Remember that while getting leaner is always gratifying, your body’s ability to build muscle is dramatically reduced when in a calorie deficit.
I should also warn you of a trap many people trying to maintain fall into: they severely overeat two to three days per week and then have to go into a deficit the rest of the week to undo the damage. This is fine for maintaining a certain body composition but does not work well if you also want to progress in the gym. This will stick you in a rut every time.
If you go slightly over your normal intake one day, you can go slightly under the next day and it balances out. Don’t get too sloppy though, dramatically overeating one day and undereating the next. Maintenance is a bit more relaxed than bulking and cutting, but you still want a relatively steady, balanced intake to ensure you continue progressing in your training.
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