Macros for a bulk - please help!

How long have you been on this intake? What was your intake before?
What kind of strength / weight gains are you looking for and what are you achieving? "Not enough" is a little ambiguous.

Your target weight would help too - and I believe you should aim for 1G protein per lb of your TARGET weight.

I'm on a similar diet for 3,500 calories lean bulk. I do 300 g protein, 400g carbs, the rest fat. if you don't gain then add 200 calories and try that for a week.
I ended a diet a few months ago at 1700 calories a day, 11% bfat. I'm up now 15 lbs now and strength keeps climbing

186 lbs, 6'2, 15% bf

Currently taking in 3,500 calories / day on a slow bulk, but I am not seeing enough strength gain or any weight gain. Thinking next week or the week after (depending if I still see no results) to bump up my caloric intake to 3,700. How does this look for my macros?

3,700 calories
190g P
123g F
463g C


How would you alter this? Or does this look decent?

Those macros look good to me. I stalled at 186 lbs. eating 3,200-3,300 cals/day on my last bulk (doing zero cardio).

186 lbs, 6'2, 15% bf

Currently taking in 3,500 calories / day on a slow bulk, but I am not seeing enough strength gain or any weight gain. Thinking next week or the week after (depending if I still see no results) to bump up my caloric intake to 3,700. How does this look for my macros?

3,700 calories
190g P
123g F
463g C


How would you alter this? Or does this look decent?

I agree with other posters, numbers look good. I would slowly increase a week at a time and see from there. When I started my bulk, I upped it 3 times. First few times, I was losing weight at what MFP was giving me for a bulk.

Decrease your fat intake, it's much too high and un-needed. I would recommend 100g or less, and increase carbs

ETA: What is your current age OP?

Your calorie intake looks pretty good. Try taking in about 2g of protein per lean muscle mass. Also how clean is your bulk what foods are you consuming? You cannot out train a bad diet. And I'm sure you already know this but just to remind you, the only way to gain strength and mass is to lift heavy. However, squats are the main driving force behind growth. Your lower half of your body accounts for the majority of your muscle mass so when you do leg day/squat day it activates more muscle fibers than all of your other upper body lifts combine. The more muscle fiber you use the more testosterone your body produces,which in turn promotes muscle growth. Now with that being said you can't get under the squat bar or under the leg press and lift 225 for 3000 reps, that puts your body into conditioning mode. We are looking for your body to say holy **** we have to build more muscle to keep up with the amount of weight we are lifting. So what you should do is 3 - 4 sets at a range from 1-8 reps keeping the weight as heavy as you can go and still achieve your reps. Now for your cardio. There is no reason what so ever if you are trying to gain strength and put on size to go and RUN or JOG 3 miles ( not saying that you do). What you should do is set your tredmil at an 8 incline and 3.5mph pace. This will keep your heart rate around 130-150. We want to try and keep it between those numbers to where you are just burning fat. Once your bodies heart rate gets too high you go into conditioning/survival mode, yes you will burn calories but it will also tell your body to burn off muscle because its trying to survive and muscle consumes more energy than fat. So try to work out like this for 4 weeks and then we will switch it up. Again this is my recommendation so you choose what you want to do just thought i would give you my take on it.

Add me on mfp, username: LiamOrmsby

I'm trying to bulk up and target calories is 3000 with burning over 1000 with exercise.

Cw: 11 stone 4 lbs
GW: 12 stone +

Diet is the key however, if you are only taking in 3000cals and burning 1000cals during training you need to take in way more. If your body requires lets say 2800cal (macros)just to operate in a normal day situation and you only up it 200cals and then burn 1000 which is actually less than your body needs just to maintain so your not going to gain much if any weight and strength you will more than likely lose weight. You probably need to be somewhere around the 4000cal mark or a little less if your looking to put on size and strength as well as about 2g of protein per pound of lean body mass. What are you doing for your workouts that burn 1000cals?

Here's some interesting discussion in another thread today around de novo lipogenesis and dietary fat vs. carbs during caloric surplus:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1070261-lean-bulking?page=4

Honestly OP, it's up to you. If you look in the mirror and say I like what I see, then that's what you need to rely on. The scale is a useful tool, but its ultimately how you view yourself, not what number shows up on a dial. If you think you need to bulk, then bulk till you are no longer happy with what you see...then cut till you are happy again. It's your body, not mine.

I know everyone says that. I'm not happy with the way I look right now. But I don't know if it's because I have too much fat, or if because I don't have enough muscle (probably both.) At this point it's hard for me to decide what is better to tackle first, and with my training experience, lift #s, etc, what would make more sense right now. It seems to be bulking?

Hard to say without pics, but you're probably at a point where you can do either. Most people are going to tell you that 6'2" 185 is pretty small. You'll look lean in clothes no doubt. I just finished a 5-month bulk up to 185ish/ 16-18% BF and I was miserable (I'm 6'1"). No way would I go through summer that way. But that's me. It depends on how your body accumulates fat.

lso how clean is your bulk what foods are you consuming? You cannot out train a bad diet

incorrect.

in a bulk- getting protein and carbs is great- but you have to ultimately get the calories up to "surplus" stage- you can have a 'clean' diet all day long- but if you aren't getting your surplus- it's a waste.

Macro's are a good guide- and that's it- getting your surplus is significantly more important than hitting a macro spot on for bulking.

Cutting (at least for me- and several other people I know) requires more diligent care for hitting macros in a way that allow you to function and be satisfied- I prefer low carb when cutting- I can eat significantly more and I have no trouble just saying no to bread- other people survive just fine with a moderate macro split while cutting. Totally personal choice.

But there is no such thing is out training a bad diet when bulking- I ate cookies and ice cream all the way through my lifts and put on a solid inch.

I totally agree with you on this however he said he was trying to keep it lean as well so he is trying to do a clean bulk from what it sounds like, thats why i asked if his diet was clean. Just straight bulking consists of eat and eat and then when your full eat some more. Sorry to not put that into my post.

Increase calories by 250 until you see yourself gaining 0.5 pounds every week.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1254171-slow-bulk-or-cut-15-16-bf-need-advice

here's the link I posted the other day to see where I'm at.

IMO, you can easily bulk from where you're at now. But if you want to feel 'good' over the summer, maybe try a recomp or run a slight deficit until late August.

I agree, JoRocka. We all know that in order to get our bodies to change, we need to force them to adapt. To do that we need to alter what we eat and how we train. To do that you need to try new things! Don't think about it as making a mistake - the only mistake you can make is not to alter anything! When you make changes, you need to track your results, some changes you make will result in outcomes you like, some won't and the degree of effect will also vary.

When I bulked from your size, I was trying to hit 5,000 calories a day. I rarely made it... I usually topped out between 4,500 and 4,800. And I would put on size quickly! BUT I would also only do that for 2 weeks at time. Then I'd strip the fat for 2 weeks and drop most of the weight I put on - I would net a 1 to 2 pound increase for the month.

It seems to me that you CAN achieve your ultimate goal by doing what you're doing - it's just going to take a lot of time, and you'll not necessarily see the progress unless you take before / after photo's on a regular basis. Our eyes adjust to how we look in the mirror very quickly.

If you're looking to SEE results quickly, you're going to have to shake things up more. Bulk it up, or burn it off. Go whole-hog in one direction or the other and within a month you should results. Then you can figure out what you want to do from there. Go further in the same direction, or change it up! This is the fun stuff!!!

Lift hard,eat lots,get sleep-repeat