Macros: For Bulking

Have you checked out Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle? Used to be an E-book but was published in paper and Kindle versions. The author is a natural bodybuilder and a really smart guy. They have a website too.

for bulking I just try to get 160 grams of protein a day, eat everything back, get lots of carbs and don't even worry about fat.

The ratio matters less while bulking than it does while cutting. When you cut, you want to maintain muscle mass and eating extra protein helps. When bulking, calories are what matters.

I've learned that 1.1-1.2g/lb of current body weight is going to help. 25% of total calories is a fair fat percentage, and the rest comes from carbs. Remember 1g of protein and carb equals 4kcals and fat 1g equals 9kcals. I would pay attention to all three as you want to make sure that the surplus in your calories is actually going towards new muscle and not new fat. You should also aim to be in the 8%-12% body fat percentage range. As you get into the higher end your body has a harder time portioning calories for new muscle.

I agree with it taking a few cycles to get big and shredded. I'm currently eating 3000cals with 55c/25f/20p. Protein isn't as important during a bulk, neither is fat but carbs are key and help to fuel big lifts. I'm gaining 2lbs a month with 5 weeks left before maintenance then cutting. Eat big, lift big. Doesn't have to more difficult than that. Just remember though that the quicker you gain the more fat you will accumulate and hence a harder/longer cut cycle required after. Slow and steady wins the race, at least that's my outlook. I'm in it for the long haul.

caz_da_man wrote: »

2300 cal bulk.. Wow.. Thats a cut for me, doing 3400 atm.. 50carbs 30 fat 20 proteïn

Yeah, but your stats are not everyone else's....

I'm 5'6" and I can gain on about 2600-2700 (once I hit my stride and when I'm not doing masses of conditioning work). Everyone's different and needs to find what allows them to gain to achieve a favourable p-ratio.

What I'm saying is, the lower your body fat percentage is when you begin bulking, A. The better your body does partitioning that surplus to go towards new muscle and not towards fat. B. If you're going for looks, then bulking at a higher BFP will look bad. For example if a guy with 20% BFP starts bulking vs. a guy starting when he's at 10% BFP, and they both put on 5% of body fat during the bulk. This then means that guy 1 will be at 25%, which isn't great looking vs. guy 2 who will be at 15% body fat which is still fairly good looking. So all in all it really depends on what your goal is. Not matter what, you're going to have to accept some fats gains while bulking as most know. For me personally I'd rather be at the lower end so when I do gain fat, you can still see the muscles. For women thought 15% is shredded so a 17%-21% is the good median and the same rules apply for what would look better starting wise. All in all, it depends on what your goals are.

Sorry to stray away from the OP's original post. Just wanted to better explain what I mentioned before. Back on topic, Lyle McDonald who wrote the book on protein; literally called The Protein Book, who analyzed all the protein research that everyone else did plus more, suggests 1.1-1.4g per pound for men, and 1.1-1.2g per pound for women. No matter what if you're in a deficit, surplus, or maintenance, this is a good range. It's worked for me as well as 1,000's of others. What you have to do is try different ranges. There isn't one magic number that's going to apply to every single person. It's going to vary, so trial and error is going to be the only way to find your number that work best for you.

MrM27 wrote: »

ObiWanJacoby_ wrote: »

I've learned that 1.1-1.2g/lb of current body weight is going to help. 25% of total calories is a fair fat percentage, and the rest comes from carbs. Remember 1g of protein and carb equals 4kcals and fat 1g equals 9kcals. I would pay attention to all three as you want to make sure that the surplus in your calories is actually going towards new muscle and not new fat. You should also aim to be in the 8%-12% body fat percentage range. As you get into the higher end your body has a harder time portioning calories for new muscle.

I would not say 8-12% really. Going below 10 is something many won't want or have the fortitude to achieve. It's also not very beneficial past vanity.

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

ObiWanJacoby_ wrote: »

I've learned that 1.1-1.2g/lb of current body weight is going to help. 25% of total calories is a fair fat percentage, and the rest comes from carbs. Remember 1g of protein and carb equals 4kcals and fat 1g equals 9kcals. I would pay attention to all three as you want to make sure that the surplus in your calories is actually going towards new muscle and not new fat. You should also aim to be in the 8%-12% body fat percentage range. As you get into the higher end your body has a harder time portioning calories for new muscle.

Are you saying if I eat too much fat (but within my small calorie surplus for growing), ill get fat not muscle? Not sure it works like that.

In his last line I'm pretty sure he isn't talking about dietary fat but instead he's saying bulking till you get to a higher bf% or beginning one at mid to high teen. It's about the nutrient partitioning. However I do disagree with his protein recommendation as its a bit high. Carbs are protein sparing and on a bulk protein is less important than on a bulk.

RicoAtx wrote: »

MrM27 wrote: »

You will likely need several cut/bulk cycles to be 160 and ripped.

There is no standard ratio.

.6-.87g per lb of bodyweight in protein
.4-.45g per lb of bodyweight in fat
Fill the rest with carbs
Train properly.

To use this formula should I use my target weight of 165 or the weight I'm currently at of 147?

I'm seeing a lot of people say the Macros are not that important during bulking but surely there must an advantage to setting/tracking them. I know the Carbs are important. Hence the 60/25/15. Though what would the difference be if I did 50/25/25?! Wouldn't increasing the fat affect me negatively in terms of wanting to cut later?

The discipline is not a problem for me.

I've been working out for about a year consistently. I just started tracking what I eat.

Another question I have is should I bypass the default daily caloric goal MFP sets for me? I'm worried that adding another 500 calories on top of what I need daily to maintain my weight would add excessive fat very quickly. Right now MFP only puts me on about a 100-200 caloric surplus from what I need to maintain my weight.

I want to gain weight but if putting it on quickly (by adding +500cals) means adding a lot of fat AND making the CUT cycle tougher I'd rather go slower if it meant I would preserve some level of leanness.

I would consider myself active right now. I play soccer twice a week and go to the gym 2-3 times per week.

Thank you for all your replies.

I would base it off your current weight not your goal weight.

Honestly I would erase the who ratio format from your brain. Ratios don't work out well especially on a bulk. You can have 2 different people with the same stats with a difference in TDEE of several hundreds and ratios would be flawed.
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Solid advice here. Get rid of the ratio format. Move towards a more specific calculation of proteins and fats and fill the rest with carbs. For starters, on a bulk, I would go with .3-.45g's/lb of bodyweight in fats, 1.25-1.5g's/lb of LBM in protein, and fill the rest with carbs. Use what fits your lifestyle the best, and understand that you need to focus more on the calories than the macro splits. . Remember there's 4cals in every gram of protein/carb and 9 in every gram of fat (<-- that should help with caloric calculations).

EDIT: Pay more attention to your BFP than your weight. Use the scale only to track your gains using your weight, to ensure you're not packing on too much too fast (I would recommend a slow bulk .5-1lb/week). But try your best to gain slowly to help with body composition. If you do that, you'll spend less time cutting to a "ripped" physique.