Need Macro Advice - 20yo 77kg Male

andyfitpal
andyfitpal Posts: 2
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hiiiii!
Was reading some posts and found a lot of answers to be quite helpful so thought id try get some carb/fat/protein percentages and an overall recommended calorie intake if possible. The internet tends to provide a lot of varying information on this topic ranging from recommendations of 2500 calories to 4000 calories :\ in regards to putting on muscle. Im 20 and have experimented with numbers a little already. I have tried reaching an average of 3000 calories w/ 50% Carbs / 30% Prot / 20% Fat while working out 6 days a week. Seemed to do very little for me, so am interested to know whether this is just simply not enough calories for someone of my weight. I'm tall and skinny :'( w/ a very fast metabolism .. I've currently been weight training for about 7 months, although feel this amount of time should have done a lot more for me than what it has. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Replies

  • lealea006
    lealea006 Posts: 1
    We have just started IIFYM. That stands for if it fits your macros. Go to macrofit.com and iifym.com for awesome info. I feel so much better on same calories but different ratios. Lots of people having awesome results. I'd guess your fat should be higher but do all the calculations and see how you go. Good luck
  • andyfitpal
    andyfitpal Posts: 2
    website looks awesome! ill give it a try now , thank you!
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    If you didn't put on any weight, eat more !! I'd be aiming for over 3000 cals, probably closer to 4k. You may want to decrease carbs a little and increase protein and fat %.... Increasing fat will enable you to get in cals with less volume!

    My husband is a bit heavier than you, but not tall and skinny. I think he was eating about 3500- 4200 cals to gain recently (low, norm, high carb days) and made great gains :) also suggest working out your macros!
  • stt43
    stt43 Posts: 487
    Don't follow percentages, they aren't that useful.
    Find out roughly how many calories your body needs just to maintain itself. Then add about 250 calories on top of that for building muscle. Any days when you exercise, add the estimated calories you burned off from exercise and eat those too.
    Give it a couple of weeks, and see if you make progress. If you are putting on 0.5lb-1lb per week then you're all good. If you're putting on less than this then consume another 100 calories per day, and see if you make any progress after a week. Keep adding calories each week until you are able to gain 0.5lb-1lb per week.
    For your macros, consume around 0.8g of protein per pound of bodyweight, 0.4g of fat per pound of bodyweight, and fill the rest of your calories in with carbs.
    Make sure you get enough micronutrients also.
    If you are not putting on size it may also be down to following a poor program, or not getting adequate rest.
  • isaiahcool
    isaiahcool Posts: 7
    Lots of misleading advice out there on the internet.

    1. First and foremost, if you expect to put on any weight, stop working out 6 days a week. Aim for a 3day/wk, full body workout plan with built in progression geared towards compound lifts (ICF 5x5, SS, All Pro...google these). Drop the cardio to maybe 1 or 2 30 minutes sessions a week (if not entirely), only after your lifts, and never before. You're burning too much. Don't worry about split routines, and accessory exercises. These are things designed to target specific areas you need work on, which you will worry about once you've put on some size.

    2. IIFYM just doesn't make any sense. If it fits your macros? Well duh, what you're eating should be fitting your macros. We don't need an acronym for that. Ratios are useless as well. Macros are touchy and need to be adjusted frequently based off of results, training load, BF%, calorie intake, workout progression...the list goes on. A ratio is not a good way to determine this. Macros help substantially with recovery, promote cell growth, provide energy, satiety, and sanity...but they won't add mass. Calories will, period. You should be aiming to eat your required cals for a bulk while hitting your macros simultaneously. Calculate your macros based off of body type, goals, and workout frequency. DO NOT LISTEN TO MFP FOR MACROS AND CALORIE GOALS.

    3. To calculate required cal intake for a bulk, you need to find your BMR using one of the many formulas, multiply that by an activity factor to find your TEE (basically incidental exercise, cals burned from lifestyle), then add 10-20% ON TOP OF THAT to provide surplus. Most likely you will wind up in the 3000+ range.

    This is a great guide to figuring out cals and macros over on BB.com:
    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

    Read through it and you should have no problem finding the right numbers.

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