Question about female bulking calories

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BarackMeLikeAHurricane
BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've managed to get pretty lean and I'm very strong for my size, but now I'm looking to increase my muscle mass. I understand that the average female can gain about .5lb/month of muscle which would mean a daily surplus of around 60calories. The problem with such a small surplus is that I would have to be so meticulous about logging every single thing like chewing a piece of gum or walking a mile to the gym. This isn't going to happen so obviously I need a surplus greater than this to account for any minor variances.

I'm fine with gaining some fat along with muscle (I can always cut again later) but I'd like to minimize my fat gains. If no more than half of my gains are from fat I'll be very happy. Does anybody have any advice on how much of a surplus I should aim for to maximize muscle gains while minimizing fat gains?

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  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    bump
  • RainbootsToBikinis
    RainbootsToBikinis Posts: 465 Member
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    Check out siouxcountry.com it's another forum more specific to women figure competitors. You'll probably have better luck getting a reliable answer there :) I lift weights, but I'm still trying to cut down more before I consider a bulk.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Check out siouxcountry.com it's another forum more specific to women figure competitors. You'll probably have better luck getting a reliable answer there :) I lift weights, but I'm still trying to cut down more before I consider a bulk.
    Thanks!
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
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    Check out scooby for TDEE and select the gain muscle option. He gives a reasonable surplus when I've done calculations.
  • neurochamp
    neurochamp Posts: 261 Member
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    This site gives pretty rough estimates, but if you set it to "gain muscle" in the goals, it should give you an idea of your calorie target:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    (I use it to roughly estimate my calorie goals to lose fat, but I checked and if I say I want to gain muscle it changes my macronutrient goals AND bumps my calories up by like 300 per day.)

    ETA: I apparently had the same idea as the poster above me :bigsmile:

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