Caloric intake

rhonetteamber

Hey guys I'm a little lost on how many calories I should be taking in to put on some muscle while keep a fairly low body fat percentage
6'0 174lbs
Currently at 2600 roughly

Erik8484

I don't have your answer, I've been looking into this recently and from what I can tell:
1. It takes energy (kcal) for the body to synthesize muscle. How much energy is a big question mark;
2. You can't force your body to use that energy to put on muscle instead of fat;
3. Some people manage to put on muscle while in maintenance (so presumably without putting on fat). This is a slow process.

Anyway, I'm going to just increase by 100-200kcal periodically and decide the right level based on how my scale moves and how I feel looking in the mirror.

Look forward to getting some other perspectives though!

katostillions7

To keep it fairly simple.. You need to find your maintenance calories and add anywhere up to 500 calories. Doing this everyday for a week and you should gain a pound. If you dont want to put on to much fat then you can always lower it. If you lowered it to 250 then youd gain about a half pound a week. 3500 calories is equivalent to a pound. 7 days multiplied by 500 is 3500 extra calories in a week

mixa4u

Find your bmr , if you are use Katch formula, then multiply by activity factor then add 200-300 to gain 2-3lb month, I think for you it would be atleast 2800

pbryd

Eat 2600 for 10 days - if you haven't gained weight, up it to 2800 for 10 days.

It's important to take your bodyweight everyday BUT use a weekly average.

psuLemon

Simple, are you gaining on 2600? If not, add 250 to 300 calories. If yes, you are good. Even the best formulas are still estimates and nothing beats tracking daily for 3-4 weeks and making adjustments.