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    what is the best way to gain muscle - slow or fast?

    Posts: 1,280 Member
    edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
    so this is something i've been wondering for a while. is it better to eat a small amount of calories over TDEE to gain muscle, or a larger amount like 10% over TDEE vs 25% over TDEE... or somewhere in the middle? are you more likely to have a small gain result in a larger amount of it being lean body mass or does it really matter? just wondering as i'm wanting to gain and don't care how long it takes me to do it. i dont' want to gain a bunch of extra fat, want to make the gains as lean as possible. so for those of you who are really into this, can you tell me what has worked best for you? and i know of course to eat a lot of protein. already doing that...

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    Replies

    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      anyone have any advice on this?
    • Posts: 4,519 Member
      The ONLY way to gain muscle is slowly. You can gain weight fast, but it isn't gonna be muscle.

      http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html
    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      The ONLY way to gain muscle is slowly. You can gain weight fast, but it isn't gonna be muscle.

      http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html

      that is kind of what i figured... i just wondered what has worked for people on here. how much were they changing their macros, upping their calories, etc... and what type of gains did they notice?
    • Posts: 664 Member
      Eating a calorie surplus also the use of anabolic steroids can be very useful.
    • Posts: 4,519 Member
      show previous quotes

      that is kind of what i figured... i just wondered what has worked for people on here. how much were they changing their macros, upping their calories, etc... and what type of gains did they notice?

      10-20% over TDEE will minimize fat gains
    • Posts: 1,573 Member
      Hi there. There is no one formula to gaining muscle when it comes to macros since every ones body is different. If you are serious about gaining lean muscle mass then you can start by eating 300-700 cals over your maintenence cals. I had to play with my macros for example I would try a formula and always waited 2 weeks to see if I was losing, maintaining, or gaining. My golden rule is I eat at least 1gram of protein per lb of overall body weight. I got blood work done and my kidneys were slightly elevated but doc said no worries and just to drink more water. So I was good to go with guideline. I found that my split in detail was something like this. Note: This is cals after exercise. Losing weight for me was protein 250g carbs 250g fat 56g or a 40% 40% 20% I started gaining weight with mininal fat at protein 250g carbs 300g and I dont remember what my fat was right off hand. So either way I would try a percentage and wait 2 weeks to see what happened. Then you can determine where to go from there. Obviously now I know how to cut and bulk but this always slightly changes the more mass you put on. I usually get around 2 lbs a month of lean muscle tissue when im super serious. It might not seem like much but over a year thats 24lbs of lean muscle. Lastly yes its slow to create new lean muscle tissue.


      Edit: MFP rocks for keeping track of your macros and cals, thanks MFP!! :)
    • Posts: 1,573 Member
      Eating a calorie surplus also the use of anabolic steroids can be very useful.

      This might be funny if you commented joking some where but come on REALLY?? You are going to tell some one to use steriods?? REALLY???

      Drugs are bad mmmmmmkkkk.
    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      show previous quotes

      This might be funny if you commented joking some where but come on REALLY?? You are going to tell some one to use steriods?? REALLY???

      Drugs are bad mmmmmmkkkk.

      ha ha... yeah cause that is exactly what i want to do!! :) ha ha... ok now let's get serious.
    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      Hi there. There is no one formula to gaining muscle when it comes to macros since every ones body is different. If you are serious about gaining lean muscle mass then you can start by eating 300-700 cals over your maintenence cals. I had to play with my macros for example I would try a formula and always waited 2 weeks to see if I was losing, maintaining, or gaining. My golden rule is I eat at least 1gram of protein per lb of overall body weight. I got blood work done and my kidneys were slightly elevated but doc said no worries and just to drink more water. So I was good to go with guideline. I found that my split in detail was something like this. Note: This is cals after exercise. Losing weight for me was protein 250g carbs 250g fat 56g or a 40% 40% 20% I started gaining weight with mininal fat at protein 250g carbs 300g and I dont remember what my fat was right off hand. So either way I would try a percentage and wait 2 weeks to see what happened. Then you can determine where to go from there. Obviously now I know how to cut and bulk but this always slightly changes the more mass you put on. I usually get around 2 lbs a month of lean muscle tissue when im super serious. It might not seem like much but over a year thats 24lbs of lean muscle. Lastly yes its slow to create new lean muscle tissue.


      Edit: MFP rocks for keeping track of your macros and cals, thanks MFP!! :)

      thanks for your reply! this is very helpful to me. i like to have real world examples from people who have tried to do this and have done it successfully. i was planning on continuing to up protein and increase calories. so you think decreasing fat too? that makes it a bit hard as i usually rely on peanuts, almonds, pistachios, peanut butter for some of my protein and unfortunately it has a fair amount of fat too... so i guess i'll have to play around with the macros and see what works for me. i am not looking to get really really low BF%, just want about 22% and i'm probably around 26% right now.
    • Posts: 1,573 Member
      thanks for your reply! this is very helpful to me. i like to have real world examples from people who have tried to do this and have done it successfully. i was planning on continuing to up protein and increase calories. so you think decreasing fat too? that makes it a bit hard as i usually rely on peanuts, almonds, pistachios, peanut butter for some of my protein and unfortunately it has a fair amount of fat too... so i guess i'll have to play around with the macros and see what works for me. i am not looking to get really really low BF%, just want about 22% and i'm probably around 26% right now.

      Your welcome, but the topic you posted was "what is the best way to gain muscle - slow or fast?" and you said "i'm wanting to gain and don't care how long it takes me to do it. " understand to gain lean mass you have to eat a surpluss of calories which will add some fat in the mix in doing so thus raising your bf%. But in this post you say you want to lose weight and go from 26% to 22% bf. Well for this to happen you need to eat under your mantenance calories in which you will lose some muscle along with that fat. Just so you know this is conflicting here. :)
    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      i see what you're saying... i think you get what my goal is here. i want to gain muscle mass, i know there will be some fat gained but wanted to figure out a way to gain less fat and more muscle. the time frame doesn't really matter. sounds like slow and steady makes the most sense. i want to preserve the lean mass i have to the best of my ability and possibly gain a little more lean mass. just trying to figure out the best way possible to do that.
    • Posts: 1,573 Member
      i see what you're saying... i think you get what my goal is here. i want to gain muscle mass, i know there will be some fat gained but wanted to figure out a way to gain less fat and more muscle. the time frame doesn't really matter. sounds like slow and steady makes the most sense. i want to preserve the lean mass i have to the best of my ability and possibly gain a little more lean mass. just trying to figure out the best way possible to do that.

      Trial and error my friend LOL! Just remember protein should be your best friend! haha
    • Posts: 124 Member
      The ONLY way to gain muscle is slowly. You can gain weight fast, but it isn't gonna be muscle.

      http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html

      This is not exactly true. How fast you can gain is largely dependent on genetics and varies wildly from one person to another. People who have been around strength and conditioning coaching are familiar with the terms fast-gainer and slow-gainer. As a fast gainer (under coaching and supervision) I put on 45 lbs in a school year in college and saw my body fat drop from 15% to 9% (I was eating 8,000 cal a day). It really depends on the individual.
    • Posts: 1,280 Member
      show previous quotes

      This is not exactly true. How fast you can gain is largely dependent on genetics and varies wildly from one person to another. People who have been around strength and conditioning coaching are familiar with the terms fast-gainer and slow-gainer. As a fast gainer (under coaching and supervision) I put on 45 lbs in a school year in college and saw my body fat drop from 15% to 9% (I was eating 8,000 cal a day). It really depends on the individual.


      the question is, how do you determine which one you are if you've never done it before? i guess it has to be trial and error.
    This discussion has been closed.

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