Calories required for Stronglifts for a female? help!

sophierrw
sophierrw Posts: 4 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi you lovely bunch!

I have a question regarding calorie intake to increase muscle size. I'm set on 'moderately active',
This gives me 1800 calories a day as I train heavy three times a week and I am also lightly active.
I would like to know if it is possible to gain muscle size on maintenance calories. And also if 1800 calories is the right amount even if I am pretty sedentary for the rest of the week (it being winter and all I hibernate).

So I've been doing strong lifts for the past 6 weeks.
I have a history of weight training but stopped 18 months ago and dedicated my time to losing weight (wrong idea I got far too thin and became very obsessive). Fast forward to now and I am weight training 3 times a week doing strong lifts.

My stats are 24F, 109lbs, 5ft 1/2.
Im currently on
67k 5x5 squat
67k 1x5 deadlift
37k 5x5 bench

I'm noticing a slight difference, but to be honest I feel like I look pretty puffy. My lifts are going up every session but I have no clue whether I am gaining or maintaining. I absolutely love getting stronger but I also want to increase muscle as otherwise it feels like I am spinning my wheels.

I am wondering if you have any advice or experience? Is it different for females? I know that it takes a lot longer for us women to gain muscle.

thanks in advance!

Replies

  • georgeadelaide
    georgeadelaide Posts: 5 Member
    I am by no means an expert, but I do know it is impossible to burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

    If you want to lose fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit. (If you weight lift at the same time and eat the correct amount of protein, you will be able to maintain muscle mass but not build any more on these calories).

    If you want to build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus.

    I imagine the 1,800 calories per day you mentioned is for fat loss i.e. less than maintenance?

    If so, you'll need to eat at maintenance and then add calories on top to build muscle.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    edited January 2018
    I'm 37, 5'3, 138lbs. I'm training for my 4th PL competition. I maintain at around 2200 calories; depends on activity level outside of the gym (range is about 2150-2350). Last time I bulked, I started around 2400 and worked up to 2600 (went from 132-139). I'm quite a bit heavier than you and older.

    1800 calories is probably about right for you to maintain...lifting doesn't burn nearly as many calories as I would like. I generally estimate about 300 calories for a pretty intense 90 minutes. I just log the lifting option in the MFP database...have successfully cut and bulked using this method.

    If your lifts are going up, just keep doing what you are doing for a few weeks and then reevaluate. You can weigh yourself; taking measurements every few weeks might help you determine if you are putting on size.
  • GoldenEye_
    GoldenEye_ Posts: 330 Member
    georgeadelaide wrote: »
    I am by no means an expert, but I do know it is impossible to burn fat and build muscle at the same time.

    If you want to lose fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit. (If you weight lift at the same time and eat the correct amount of protein, you will be able to maintain muscle mass but not build any more on these calories).

    If you want to build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus.

    I imagine the 1,800 calories per day you mentioned is for fat loss i.e. less than maintenance?

    If so, you'll need to eat at maintenance and then add calories on top to build muscle.

    Burning fat and building muscle is actually exactly what happens when people do recomposition. You might want to take a look at this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1
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