Calculate your bulking macros as long as you want to get full of muscle or tone up your muscles. Your calorie intake and macros play a significant role in whatever you want to achieve in the gym. Whether you’re bulking or you’re cutting, macros play an important role in the way you perform and look. While eating in a calorie surplus (or deficiency) will help you gain (or lose) weight, the macros that make up those calories will indicate whether you gain (or lose), in the form of lean muscle or body fat.
So, having the right approach to bulking, you can gain lean muscle. Without the right approach, you can gain more than you want, leading to excess body fat. That’s why, if you want the best results from your bulking cycle, you need to work out your bulking macros.
I understand that it can be hard to go for it, as calculating bulking macros can feel like stabbing in the dark. This is the reason I decided to write this article – the guide that will help save you time and hassle of working out your bulking macros.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is Bulking?
There’s a high chance you already know what bulking is, but let’s explain it to get a clearer picture. When it comes to physique and performance enhancement, you have most likely heard about these two terms before bulking and cutting. They are very common terms used in gyms and among bodybuilders. These are diet phases that bodybuilders (and gym goers) go through aiming to improve their physique and/or performance. During cutting, the aim is to burn body fat while preserving as much lean muscle as possible.
A bulking diet, however, focuses on gaining weight and strength, predominantly lean muscle mass. Depending on how you bulk (bulking macros), you can minimize fat gains as you gain weight and strength. During cutting and weight loss cycles, you aim to eat in a calorie deficit. During bulking, you aim to eat in a calorie surplus. In both phases, you work intensively and regularly, and in both phases, you should eat healthy, varied, and balanced, with a proper macronutrient balance.
Bulking benefits
When most people think about getting fit and looking great, gaining weight is not usually what they are thinking about. However, bulking is about gaining muscle, avoiding junk food, and gaining fat. That’s why bulking could be what a lot of people may need, without them even realizing it. Without enough lean muscle to your frame, you can’t look fit with an aesthetic physique. So, the main benefits of bulking (so, the main reasons why people tend to bulk) are:
- Increase in lean muscle mass, with an increase in overall weight
- Improve in strength and overall performance
- Makes it easier to maintain weight
Now, I guess everyone knows that the better the fuel (food), the better the performance (both in the gym and in everyday life). So, by eating healthy and proper food, your body receives whatever it needs to both grow muscle and perform better. By providing quality (macros) fuel (calories), you’ll be able to have better workouts, leading to more and faster body goal results.
Keep in mind that the more lean tissue you have, the better your body composition. But whether your body will pack on lean tissue or fat tissue, depends on the bulking macros. That’s why it is so important to calculate them. Moreover, the better lean tissue you have, the better your metabolism is. In short, with more lean muscle, you’ll be able to eat more, without adding fat, because your body will need to use that energy (from food) to keep the higher amount of muscles you carry. In short, your body will need more calories to maintain size.
Generally…
Gaining weight (in the form of lean muscle), makes you look toned and bigger, as muscles take up 15% less space than fat, and weigh more. So, you’ll look bigger, toned, and weigh more! Not to mention that lean tissue helps lower the risk of injury, faster recovery time, and lowers the risk of chronic disease too.
How to Bulk?
To bulk up, you need to eat more calories than your body burns, and you need a lot of intense (and regular) strength training. Not to mention other lifestyle changes such as a lot of rest, sleep, managing stress, avoiding bad habits, and so on. But dieting is one of the most important parts, and unfortunately, one of the hardest to master. So, you should eat more calories, and that’s the easy part. You can find out what your maintenance calories are by using online calorie calculators. Then add about 500 calories over that number.
Then, there’s the bulking macros part. While you can get more calories from chowing down junk food, you’ll get heavier in the form of fat. But with the right bulking macros, you’re going to get heavier in the form of lean muscle.
So, to get the most out of your bulking cycle, you will need the combination of:
- Calorie surplus
- The right balance of bulking macronutrients
- Healthy diet and nutrition
- Strength training
- Plenty of rest and sleep
As said, many understand the role that calories have in the amount of weight we gain or lose, based on whether we’re in surplus or deficiency. However, it is important to understand that bulking macros will determine the type of weight, either lean tissues or fat tissues.
Nutrition is going to play a crucial role in keeping your body running, how you feel, how you perform, and how you look. When having enough fuel in your tank, you can work out longer, recover faster, and cut down on fat.
That’s why a clean bulking cycle focuses on quality, nutritious food. It is often called lean or clean bulking. There’s also a dirty bulking plan, that doesn’t focus on bulking macros. You eat whatever you please. But you’re likely to feel sluggish, add a lot of fat, and damage your health with such a bulking plan.
How long does it take to bulk?
There’s a reason why you call it a bulking “cycle” or bulking “diet”. This is a type of diet that is not sustainable long term. Lots of people opt for cycles of 12 weeks long (up to about 16 weeks) when it comes to bulking. A similar cycle length is used for cutting or maintenance. Lots of people choose to bulk in winter when they have fewer opportunities to show off their muscles, because bulking (eating in surplus), may add a bit of fat. They also tend to cut in the summer, as they burn a lot of fat, attempting to maintain those hard-earned muscles.
Calculate Your Bulking Macros
So, macros are usually broken down into protein, fat, and carbohydrates. You need to work your calories first, and then, out of 100% of calories you eat per day, break down the bulking macronutrients.
Bulking calories
While it is possible to gain muscle in a calorie deficit, especially if you add quality anabolic steroids from Body Gear, a bulking cycle is going to help gain much more and much faster. So, in order to get a quality bulking cycle, you’ll need to increase the amount of foods you consume (eat more calories than you burn).
You should work out your current daily energy expenditure. That is the energy necessary for you to maintain your current weight. As a part of the bulking cycle, you’ll need to add a calorie surplus of about 10-20% over. That would promote the gain of about 1% of body weight a week. May add even higher calorie surplus when you’re on steroids, because it will speed up the muscle-building process and steroids will help reduce the fat gains.
In whichever case, with steroids or not, adjust the calories depending on how fast you add weight, and on the type of weight. So, to find out the calorie intake you need to maintain your current weight, you could use an online calorie calculator. You’ll need to include your gender, age, height, weight, and weekly activity levels. But that’s just a rough estimation, as other factors play a role such as body fat percentage, genetics, training level, and others. That’s why you need to adjust the calories according to your own needs and goals.
Calculate fat needs
Fat is important (as are the other macros) for your body, as it will provide fuel and stable energy levels, supporting muscle growth and repair, boosting muscle-building hormones as well as other benefits.
You usually calculate fat first because it is a set percentage commonly used – about 30 % of your total calories. So, if you have 3,000 calories daily to bulk, your fat would be 30% of that. This means 900 (3,000 x 0.3) calories come from fat. One gram of fat is 9 calories. This means 900 / 9 = 100 grams of fat per day. Eating more than that could result in body fat gains. Eating less you may not gain muscle and/or could notice a drop in energy levels.
Additionally, make sure you get healthy fats, such as those from nuts, avocados, fatty fishes, and other healthy food sources. Aim for unsaturated healthy fats, rather than saturated fats that are more likely to be stored as fat in the body.
- A rough estimation – you aim for about 0.8 grams of fat per kilogram of body weight per day.
Calculate protein needs
Protein is essential for anyone, but it is even more important when you aim to bulk up. 80% of lean muscle tissue is made from protein. You need a lot of this macronutrient in order to support the repair of muscle micro-damage (that you do in the gym lifting weights). It also supports existing muscle mass. That’s why your body will recover faster post-workout and help grow muscle. Protein is also the one that is least likely to be stored as body fat, important for anabolic hormone production, and numerous others.
You will need a high-protein diet. This means about 2-2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. One gram of protein is 4 calories. If you are a 200 pound guy (90 kg) you’ll need around 180 grams of protein or even more protein per day. Assuming you get 200 proteins per day x 4 calories = 800 calories come from protein. Eating less than that will not be enough to support muscle growth and recovery. Eating more than 3 grams a day of protein can lead to digestive issues.
- A rough estimation – you aim for 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
Calculate carbohydrates needs
Carbs are another important element in your bulking macros for your bulking cycle. Carbohydrates will supply your body with a quick energy supply. Your body will first look for carbs when it comes to strength training. They are also important to support muscle gain, and recovery, prevent muscle breakdown, and so on. They will make you feel energized and full. When you are working out your lean bulking macros, an increase in carbs is great for weight gain. Studies suggest that carbs are less likely to encourage fat storage than high fat intakes during a calorie surplus.
Your carbs will make the rest of the calories you have per day. So, following the example above, you are a 200 pound guy requiring 3,000 calories a day to bulk up. You eat 100 grams of fat, 200 grams of protein, and about 325 grams of carbs per day. How did I find it out?
- A rough estimation – you aim for 3 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight per day.
100 grams of fat = 900 calories. 200 grams of protein = 800 calories. Your daily calorie allowance is 3000. 3000 – 900 – 800 = 1300 calories. One gram of carb is 4 calories. 1300/4 = 325.
Calculating your bulking macros
So, you could eat anywhere between 70 to 100 grams of fat a day, anywhere between 270 to 330 grams of carbs a day, and anywhere between 180 to 310 grams of protein per day, assuming you’re a 200 lb (90kg) male who requires 3,000 calories a day to bulk up.
Keep in mind that this is just one step of the process. Moreover, you could adjust (slightly) according to needs, goals, and so on. But in the end, it requires accuracy and discipline. You need to keep track of everything you eat and drink. This is not fun, but as soon as it becomes a habit, you’ll surely get the results that you’ve been dreaming about.
Stay consistent with your diet and exercise, and have patience, you’re surely going to yield the results you’ve been dreaming about.
Get Ready to Bulk Up with Body Gear
We understand that calculating your bulking macros is nothing fun, especially when it comes to actually dealing with such a diet, where you need to calculate everything you eat, to keep track of calories, carbs, fats, and proteins you have per day. However, it is worth it in the long run. You’re going to get used to it, and you’ll get the results you’ve been dreaming of.
However, sometimes, it can be harder and may take longer than you’d hoped it would. So, if you want to make sure you bulk up fast and efficiently, you can also add bulking steroids. Body-Gear.to has all you need. Best quality anabolic steroids for the best prices online on the market. They are sure to help support you through your bulking (or cutting) cycles, helping you reach mind-blowing results much faster.
- You’d still need to calculate your bulking macros for the best results, but by adding steroids to your hard-working schedule in terms of dieting and working out, you would get results that most people can only dream about!
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