Gaining muscle: weekly vs daily surplus?

CoachJen71
CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
edited January 2018 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
So after losing 150lbs, I landed myself in Skinnyfat Town and need to add some muscle back. For weight loss, banking and tracking weekly cals was fine, but does it work when building muscle? I like to bank cals during the week so I can eat out with hubby on weekends, but do I need to switch to a daily surplus for muscle repair? (I eat about 100g of protein daily. I also struggle with compulsive eating, so actually landing on a flat calorie target is tricky for me.)

I'm 118ish, 5'2", 46 and post-menopausal, walk at least 20k steps a day because as a petite woman I am pretty grumpy about having a sedentary TDEE of 1300 and change, and because of osteoarthritis and major imbalances I do not lift heavy. I do body weight and small weight exercises, and have seen strength improvements and am now starting to add small increments of weight. Hubby got TRX straps for the workout area, so I will be trying those out as well. My main purpose for weight exercises (and stretching) are to correct forward head and hyperlordotic imbalances, strengthen my core so I stop falling over just standing around, and gain muscle, strength, and endurance.

My main goals are: I want to be stronger in my daily life (picking up 40lb bags of pellets without feeling like I might hurt myself) and I want to be able to haul a 35lb frame pack up and down hills this year. (My upper and inner thighs are weak, so this would be an exhausting prospect. My fitness routines are designed to support and improve my hiking.)

Thanks so much for your insight!

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited January 2018
    Calorie cycling where you eat more on your lifting/training days and less the other days is certainly fine as long as you reach your weekly goal to gain .5 lbs / week (assuming you are gaining slow to avoid excess fat gain).

    On your non lifting days I would not dip to far under maintenance as it can hinder recovery and make building muscle quite slow.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    You should be fine still working with weekly cals. Just keep an eye on your recovery as you progress. You may have to move around your cals and have less for the weekend to get a better recovery during the week. (I tend to need to eat more the day after a heavy work out.)

    If 1300 is your daily base I personally wouldn't drop below that on any day.

    It is a mix of personal preference and listening to your body for optimal performance/recovery.

    Cheers, h.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Unlike fat loss where you can make up for bad days, you cant so much while bulking as you have a finite ability to gain so much mass in a day. Back loading your calories will cause larger fat gains.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    Thanks, everyone. I'll try to keep my cals more balanced, and maybe cycle based on activity.

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