calories to gain muscle weight

maximus363637
maximus363637 Posts: 1
in Food and Nutrition
Some Weight Gain Calculator sites says I need 2670 calories to gain muscle, but myfitnesspal says I need 2590 calories to gain muscle weight, which one I should go by, I am 5'7 146lbs 36 year old male wants to bulk up?

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Some Weight Gain Calculator sites says I need 2670 calories to gain muscle, but myfitnesspal says I need 2590 calories to gain muscle weight, which one I should go by, I am 5'7 146lbs 36 year old male wants to bulk up?

    You're talking about a difference of 80 calories. As such, I would just start eating at 2600 and monitor changes, make adjustments after 2-3 weeks. (If you don't gain after 2-3 weeks, increase).
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I'm not quite sure if you're serious but 80 calories isn't exactly something to fret about. If you're really worried, average it out and eat 2630. It's just a guideline anyway and it sounds like a good starting point. If you're not gaining any weight, then raise it from there. If you're gaining too much, lower it. Very simple but requires a little trial and error.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    Either, there's only 80 calories in it, it won't make that much of a difference tbh.

    I'm bulking at the moment. 22, female, 5'8 and 142lbs, and with an average of 3300 calories a day, I gained 2lbs in 3.5 weeks. I've been bulking for 5.5 weeks in total but haven't weighed since 2 weeks ago. I found it's all trial and error, MFP will never know your exact activity level and subsequent daily burn (TDEE), it's only an estimator. I lose on what MFP told me I would maintain/gain on, so I started testing out different numbers until I found out what worked for me.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    As above; it's a pretty small difference.
    The likelihood is that you'll be more or less over this for other factors; especially if your just basing your calorie burn on what a website thinks.

    If I was quite low fat and just starting to do weights I'd be tempted to go for a highish figure - a lot of anecdotal evidence at least suggests that you can make pretty good gains initially.

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