2500 calories to build one pound of muscle

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maximusmuscle345
maximusmuscle345 Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
is 2500 calories need to build a one pound of muscle a week or should I go to 2600 calories?

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  • aimee0515
    aimee0515 Posts: 67
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    3500 calories = 1 pound. If you eat that much per day...it won't necessarily be muscle...it will be pounds. I don't recommend anyone (except a professional athlete) eating that much per day. The way to gain muscle is to eat a healthy diet, including enough protein and get on a weight lifting regimen.

    Sorry...I just realized you said per week. That makes more sense. But regardless...3500 calories = 1 pound...not 2500 calories.
  • warmachinejt
    warmachinejt Posts: 2,167 Member
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    You should find your bmr. Add 300-500 calories more an you should build .5 to 1lb of muscle a week. That is of course, if you're eating really clean and you are really pushing it on your workouts.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    One pound of fat is 3500 Calories. One pound of muscle is only 600 Calories. It doesn't take a lot of Calories to build muscle, but if you go too high in adding calories you risk gaining more fat then muscle. That additional amount should be from protein primarily, too. Also, make sure your training is correct for building. Light weights won't cut it. If you're not going heavy with your weights more then likely what you are gaining will be fat.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    From my understanding, diet will determine if you gain or lose weight and exercise will determine what you gain. Most people who bulk gain about 50/50 fat/muscle or close to it from my understanding.
  • anatolian9
    anatolian9 Posts: 23 Member
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    2500 calories to build 1lb of muscle. 3500 calories to lose 1lb muscle.
  • benchenryce
    benchenryce Posts: 9
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    yeah it should be about 300 more than what you need. I need about 2300. 2600 would be my caloric goal.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,629 Member
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    To build muscle depends more on the training regimen then the calories. Lift light with lots of reps= endurance training
    Lift heavy with low reps= strength (maybe a little muscle gain), Lift about 85% 1RM with lots of volume (16-24 sets per body part)=muscle hypertrophy.

    You do need protein to build muscle so that has to account for a good percentage of your calories too.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    It's basically ~3500 calories to build 1 pound of muscle or to gain or lose 1 lb of fat.

    A muscle DOES only contain ~600 calories worth of protein (plus some glycogen calories), but building muscle is very costly, so does actually take roughly the same number of calories as a pound of fat (per Lyle McDonald).

    The upshot of this is that when your body is burning muscle for fuel, you only get ~450-600 calories per pound of muscle. This is why high protein consumption and resistance training are so important when losing weight... it is very easy to lose a lot of lean body mass with excessive cardio and inadequate protein consumption and end up with a poor aesthetic outcome despite losing a lot of weight.
  • Toblave
    Toblave Posts: 244 Member
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    I'm no expert but my understand is that, without steroids, you'll be lucky to get 1/4 to 1/2 a pound per week with an almost perfect diet and training routine.
  • Snikkee
    Snikkee Posts: 295 Member
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    bump
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
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    One pound of fat is 3500 Calories. One pound of muscle is only 600 Calories. It doesn't take a lot of Calories to build muscle, but if you go too high in adding calories you risk gaining more fat then muscle. That additional amount should be from protein primarily, too. Also, make sure your training is correct for building. Light weights won't cut it. If you're not going heavy with your weights more then likely what you are gaining will be fat.

    No, the additional cals after 1 gram per pound are far better utilized as carbs especially the younger one is.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
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    Oh the joy of a bumped thread that is over 2 years old and the OP is no longer active on MFP.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,629 Member
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    I'm no expert but my understand is that, without steroids, you'll be lucky to get 1/4 to 1/2 a pound per week with an almost perfect diet and training routine.
    Almost true. Gaining muscle isn't as easy as some people on here make it seem, but someone young and new to training could do that in the first year without enhancement.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,629 Member
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    Oh the joy of a bumped thread that is over 2 years old and the OP is no longer active on MFP.
    Doesn't mean it can't be a legit discussion for those that want to know.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
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    Oh the joy of a bumped thread that is over 2 years old and the OP is no longer active on MFP.
    Doesn't mean it can't be a legit discussion for those that want to know.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Oh, I know...I should of put /sarcasm on my post.
  • memphisgarcia
    memphisgarcia Posts: 1
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    It depends on the person. If you have an active enough workout routine and you need 2500 calories to maintain your weight, then eating 2500 caloies won't do anything for you.
    I advise against using any online tools to calculate your metabolism. Everybody is different meaning Every Body is different. All you can do is try something for 7 days straight and then see the results on the scale.

    Weigh yourself Sunday morning, empty stomach, pee and poop first. Write your weight down.
    Then train your muscles that week the way you normally do, and eat let's say 2000 calories.
    Next Sunday Weigh yourself on an empty stomach, pee and poop first. Record the weight and compare to the last week.
    If your weight has not changed, increase your calories by only 200 for the following week and repeat.

    Once you hit a Sunday where the scale reads 1 lb more give or take a tenth of a lb, then you know your metabolic rate and what your clean bulking calories are.

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