help with bulking macros.

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hi everyone. my name is benjamin jones and i'm 21 years. i'm 110 at 5'3. i am new to fitness and trying to figure out the proper bulking macros for this winter season. i'm looking to lean bulk and gain some mass. i am also looking for help on cutting macros for when i'm done bulking.

Replies

  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
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    Benjamin,

    Good morning! So, just a basic start.....

    I used an on-line TDEE Calculator and have the following numbers for you (based on your gender, your age, your height and your weight):

    Basal Metabolic Rate 1,399 calories per day
    Sedentary 1,679 calories per day
    Light Exercise 1,924 calories per day
    Moderate Exercise 2,169 calories per day
    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day
    Athlete 2,658 calories per day

    So, this would be a starting point. Please note that using a TDEE Calculator is simply a starting point, is very generic, may or may not be close to what works for you and - to repeat myself - should be viewed as a starting point. There....I mentioned "starting point" three times! :smiley:

    A potential break down of macros - based on a bulk program and the 'suspected" TDEE - could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    59g fats
    334g carbs

    or it could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    104g fats
    233g carbs

    The difference there is the Fats | Carbs.


    Does this help you? Does any of this make sense? I mean, you need to take ownership of this as this is YOUR program. I simply provided a rather generic starting-point scenario. There are a lot of unknowns here....

    Also, what training program are you going to follow?
  • benjonesss
    benjonesss Posts: 25 Member
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    i do moderate exercise. i'm in the gym for about an hour- hour and a half a day due to being in college and working 70 hour work weeks. (not letting my busy schedule get in the way of the gym bc that's a stupid excuse) but what would my macros look like for moderate ecersice? thanks a lot! best answer
  • benjonesss
    benjonesss Posts: 25 Member
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    Benjamin,

    Good morning! So, just a basic start.....

    I used an on-line TDEE Calculator and have the following numbers for you (based on your gender, your age, your height and your weight):

    Basal Metabolic Rate 1,399 calories per day
    Sedentary 1,679 calories per day
    Light Exercise 1,924 calories per day
    Moderate Exercise 2,169 calories per day
    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day
    Athlete 2,658 calories per day

    So, this would be a starting point. Please note that using a TDEE Calculator is simply a starting point, is very generic, may or may not be close to what works for you and - to repeat myself - should be viewed as a starting point. There....I mentioned "starting point" three times! :smiley:

    A potential break down of macros - based on a bulk program and the 'suspected" TDEE - could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    59g fats
    334g carbs

    or it could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    104g fats
    233g carbs

    The difference there is the Fats | Carbs.


    Does this help you? Does any of this make sense? I mean, you need to take ownership of this as this is YOUR program. I simply provided a rather generic starting-point scenario. There are a lot of unknowns here....

    Also, what training program are you going to follow?
    Benjamin,

    Good morning! So, just a basic start.....

    I used an on-line TDEE Calculator and have the following numbers for you (based on your gender, your age, your height and your weight):

    Basal Metabolic Rate 1,399 calories per day
    Sedentary 1,679 calories per day
    Light Exercise 1,924 calories per day
    Moderate Exercise 2,169 calories per day
    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day
    Athlete 2,658 calories per day

    So, this would be a starting point. Please note that using a TDEE Calculator is simply a starting point, is very generic, may or may not be close to what works for you and - to repeat myself - should be viewed as a starting point. There....I mentioned "starting point" three times! :smiley:

    A potential break down of macros - based on a bulk program and the 'suspected" TDEE - could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    59g fats
    334g carbs

    or it could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    104g fats
    233g carbs

    The difference there is the Fats | Carbs.


    Does this help you? Does any of this make sense? I mean, you need to take ownership of this as this is YOUR program. I simply provided a rather generic starting-point scenario. There are a lot of unknowns here....

    Also, what training program are you going to follow?
    Benjamin,

    Good morning! So, just a basic start.....

    I used an on-line TDEE Calculator and have the following numbers for you (based on your gender, your age, your height and your weight):

    Basal Metabolic Rate 1,399 calories per day
    Sedentary 1,679 calories per day
    Light Exercise 1,924 calories per day
    Moderate Exercise 2,169 calories per day
    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day
    Athlete 2,658 calories per day

    So, this would be a starting point. Please note that using a TDEE Calculator is simply a starting point, is very generic, may or may not be close to what works for you and - to repeat myself - should be viewed as a starting point. There....I mentioned "starting point" three times! :smiley:

    A potential break down of macros - based on a bulk program and the 'suspected" TDEE - could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    59g fats
    334g carbs

    or it could look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)
    200g protein
    104g fats
    233g carbs

    The difference there is the Fats | Carbs.


    Does this help you? Does any of this make sense? I mean, you need to take ownership of this as this is YOUR program. I simply provided a rather generic starting-point scenario. There are a lot of unknowns here....

    Also, what training program are you going to follow?

  • benjonesss
    benjonesss Posts: 25 Member
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    i do moderate exercise. i'm in the gym for about an hour- hour and a half a day due to being in college and working 70 hour work weeks. (not letting my busy schedule get in the way of the gym bc that's a stupid excuse) but what would my macros look like for moderate ecersice? thanks a lot! best answer
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Options
    So, if this is truly "moderate exercise" then things look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)


    But, if you are in the gym every day for 60 - 90 minutes then that is not likely moderate exercise. That is likely "heavy exercise". That would look like this:

    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day + 500 Calories = 2,913 Calories.

    Your macros *could* look like this:

    218g protein
    113g fats
    255g carbs

    Or, your macros *could* look like this:

    218g protein
    65g fats
    364g carbs

    Again, you need to play with these numbers and find out what your true maintenance is and then you can go from there. The above numbers are all a "generic" starting point (based on your gender, age, height and weight).

    And, I would leave it to you to determine if you do moderate exercise or heavy exercise.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    So, if this is truly "moderate exercise" then things look like this:

    2,669 Calories (which is the moderate exercise Physical Activity multiplier + 500 Calories)


    But, if you are in the gym every day for 60 - 90 minutes then that is not likely moderate exercise. That is likely "heavy exercise". That would look like this:

    Heavy Exercise 2,413 calories per day + 500 Calories = 2,913 Calories.

    Your macros *could* look like this:

    218g protein
    113g fats
    255g carbs

    Or, your macros *could* look like this:

    218g protein
    65g fats
    364g carbs

    Again, you need to play with these numbers and find out what your true maintenance is and then you can go from there. The above numbers are all a "generic" starting point (based on your gender, age, height and weight).

    And, I would leave it to you to determine if you do moderate exercise or heavy exercise.

    The OP is 110 lbs, why recommend such a high protein amount?
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Dang! Great question. That is WAY WAY WAY too much. I was playing with the on-line TDEE Calculator and it had that suggestion (not trying to shift blame to that....I clearly posted it). I did not notice that (which is unusual as I normally catch the obvious stuff....).

    Working on the correction. Thanks, @pauLemon.

    Yep, the tdee calculator that I used does indeed make that recommendation. I totally missed that (again, not usual) and was not observant when I made the post. Correcting that now.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Options
    Okay....so, first off, thank you to pauLemon for catching my mistake. And, apologizes to benjonesss. The tool that I was using made some % breakdowns and, to be honest, I did not catch the obvious issue there.

    So, assuming the "Moderate" level of exercise and the 2,669 Calories, I would suggest the following breakdown:

    125g protein
    40g fats
    452g carbs

    That is a TON of carbs. I might suggest that he play with fats and carbs. I really hope that this corrects my initial suggestion. Play with the amount of carbs and fats. Come up with something that works for you....

    And, as always, use this as a starting point.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
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    Okay....so, first off, thank you to pauLemon for catching my mistake. And, apologizes to benjonesss. The tool that I was using made some % breakdowns and, to be honest, I did not catch the obvious issue there.

    So, assuming the "Moderate" level of exercise and the 2,669 Calories, I would suggest the following breakdown:

    125g protein
    40g fats
    452g carbs

    That is a TON of carbs. I might suggest that he play with fats and carbs. I really hope that this corrects my initial suggestion. Play with the amount of carbs and fats. Come up with something that works for you....

    And, as always, use this as a starting point.

    Why would you suggest such low fat?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Or just keep it simple and with dietary flexibility by setting minimums for protein and fat and the rest of your calorie allowance from whichever macro suits you?

    Protein @ 1g / lb of bodyweight.
    Fat @ 0.4g / lb of bodyweight.
    Rest = whatever macro you enjoy or need on the day within the calorie limit that results in your chosen rate of gain.

    For cutting I would only change your calorie allowance (but not protein and fat minimums) if the above guidelines results in a diet that you enjoy.


    (Note for info only, personally I would go at protein at 1g / lb of estimated lean body mass for myself but I'm neither very light or in my "golden years" of training when as a young male you can make spectacular progress.)
  • LongevityRob
    LongevityRob Posts: 10 Member
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    What does your exercise program look like?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Okay....so, first off, thank you to pauLemon for catching my mistake. And, apologizes to benjonesss. The tool that I was using made some % breakdowns and, to be honest, I did not catch the obvious issue there.

    So, assuming the "Moderate" level of exercise and the 2,669 Calories, I would suggest the following breakdown:

    125g protein
    40g fats
    452g carbs

    That is a TON of carbs. I might suggest that he play with fats and carbs. I really hope that this corrects my initial suggestion. Play with the amount of carbs and fats. Come up with something that works for you....

    And, as always, use this as a starting point.

    Why would you suggest such low fat?

    It's not really all that low, given OP's weight of 110 lb. 40 g is 0.36 g/lb, which is a fairly standard recommendation as a minimum. Additionally, he suggested that was a bit much on the carb end, so he could eat more fats.
  • benjonesss
    benjonesss Posts: 25 Member
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    i set my macros for the last week for 156 g of protein, 261 g of carb, and 47 g of fat. is that too high of protein and fats?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    benjonesss wrote: »
    i set my macros for the last week for 156 g of protein, 261 g of carb, and 47 g of fat. is that too high of protein and fats?

    Protein is fine if you like that much. As long as you hit 110g or a bit above you are good. But I'd probably add a bit more fat and cut back on carbs a bit.
  • benjonesss
    benjonesss Posts: 25 Member
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    what would you all suggest? i've gained some body fat, but it's not noticeable by others. should i drop carbs?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
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    benjonesss wrote: »
    what would you all suggest? i've gained some body fat, but it's not noticeable by others. should i drop carbs?

    You are bulking, of course there is body fat. Dropping carbs will do nothing to prevent that. How much weight have you gained over what period of time?