Little background info-I’m more worried about strength and athleticism than being super lean. My job requires a high level of performance. That being said i’m a bit of a hardgainer and have found that I need to eat pretty drastically over maintenance in order to get bigger and stronger. That’s great, no problem. Gonna gain some fat. That’s great, no problem. But I think i’m gaining too much fat as it’s beginning to affect my athletic ability a bit. Current breakdown of 4000 cals/day 50/25/25 c/f/p. I recently upped it from 3500 as I wasn’t making any progress. 30 y/o 6" 185lbs. How do you guys suggest I adjust my macro’s to minimize fat gain? thanks!
When I’ve had to eat a lot to maintain/gain, I’d break it up into six or so feeds per day.
I know, no science supports that, etc. It’s just what worked for me to keep energy up and fat gain down.
40/30/30.
You probably don’t need to eat that much over maintenance to become bigger and stronger, it’s just that it takes time. It goes quicker when you pig out, because your leverages change.
How much weight do you gain per week? Do you need to gain weight? Can you remain at maintenance and recomposition at your current weight? Bodyfat won’t go away just by adjusting your macros. If it’s affecting your athletic performance, maybe you should try and lose some.
right now it’s been about a lb/week. As I gain muscle carrying all the gear needed for work becomes much much easier. Like I mentioned I don’t need super nice abs or anything, but the amount of fat i’m putting on is starting to affect my running negatively.
If you are getting fatter in not comfortable pace reduce the caloric surplus and go from there. Always pay attention to the mirror and how you feel etc. Main idea once building muscle is not to get fat IMO, its just not worth it. Play around with calories till you find a good balance on how you growing, your look and your performance. Not rocket science but takes work and discipline.
My 2 cents:)
Minimising fat gain isn’t really a question of different macros within the same calorie surplus.
More protein might help where substituted for carbs but its not going to be a game changer.
If your surplus is causing you to gain ‘weight’ then the problem isn’t how much youre eating.
If you’re gaining ‘weight’ but its fat rather than muscle, and you aren’t making progress, then the problem is training and not eating.
Impatience could also be a problem. Adding quality mass is slow, slower when you have a very physically demanding job. Just upping the calories when you are already gaining weight is just going to get you fatter.
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