building muscles

aldisessa

Hi, 56 year old male. got down to weight I'm comfortable with, 180 pounds.
my question is, I'm trying to build muscle. what % of protein, carbs, and fat should I eat a day?

ldwatene

Maybe have a look into recomp and follow that. It's pretty specific when it comes to macros and you maintain your weight at the same time.

sijomial

You don't need to set percentages. Ensure you get adequate to high protein if training hard. Adequate fat for health and I would advise adequate carbs for energy and a diverse diet.

If I was still logging food and tracking macros I would do the following:
Protein 1g per 1lb of estimated (precision not necessary) LBM as a minimum.
Fat 0.4g per lb of bodyweight works for me (but I naturally hit that without effort) again as a minimum.
Rest of your calorie allowance to come from whichever macros suits you on the day. That's far more flexible.

Remember macros are far less important when maintaining as compared to losing weight, the higher calorie allowance makes hitting required minimums easier and you've lost the need for protein/muscle sparing that you have in a deficit.

Recomp is a normal part of life and doesn't need to be micro-managed.
Especially at our age (I'm 57) muscle growth will be slow whatever you do so make your diet and exercise sustainable and enjoyable for the long term.

What is of primary importance is your training - the stimulus for growth starts there, not with your diet.

AnvilHead

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

sgt1372

A goal of 40P/40C/20F on 1900-2000 cals/day has worked for me in terms of weight loss, maintenance and recomp.

I'm 66, 5'8" and currently at 158# down from 196 in 6 months, in maintenance for past 6 months and was able to maintain & recomp 12# of fat/muscle in the process.

If you want to read the details of my story, search for my "Ready to Recomp" thread in the Maintainence subforum.