Muscle gain

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martinjessi
martinjessi Posts: 1 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Can anyone help me with this calculation?
I’m 5’6 130 lbs and would like to gain muscle. I work out 5-6 days a week (weights, HIIT training) 8um28quds9i9.png

This seems like a lot of calories a day!

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  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    martinjessi wrote: »
    Can anyone help me with this calculation?
    I’m 5’6 130 lbs and would like to gain muscle. I work out 5-6 days a week (weights, HIIT training) 8um28quds9i9.png

    This seems like a lot of calories a day!

    Well considering you workout 5-6 days a week and you're not that short, 2400 calories may be the right number since to build muscles, you would either have to be in recomp or bulking. The only way to test it out is to eat at that number for 3 weeks and see your weight trend. I suggest you download an app like a libra app, weigh yourself everyday and see how your weight does at 2400 calories, if it's going up at a rate of somewhere like 0,3 lbs per week, then you're on the right track. If you're gaining something like 1 lbs per week, well that's way too much.

    But before thinking of doing a recomp or bulking, how much do you estimate your bf% to be
    visual-bodyfat-estimation-chart-men-women.jpg

    I hope @sardelsa can read this and add her 2 cents, since she knows a lot and is better than me when it comes to female fitness

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    you need to be eating in a small surplus to gain weight. why do you think 2432 is a lot? how much are you currently eating?
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    edited July 2018
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    For reference, I'm a 5'5" female who started my last bulk at 126 lbs. I think I started at 2500 and ended up close to 3000 calories a day. To me, your overall calories look too low, but your protein is excessively high.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Are those calories from MFP to gain or another calculator?
    That intake is very reasonable to gain, on the low side in fact. If it is from MFP then you will be eating exercise calories on top of that. I am 5'7, started at 130lbs and bulk around 3000-3500 cals. To clarify, you are trying to gain right? Or are you trying to maintain?

    Also your protein does not need to be that high. 0.8-1g per lb is more than enough. Too much protein over your max has no extra muscle building benefit, but it can fill you up too much and prevent you from reaching your calorie goal.

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