Macronutrient Percentage when Bulking

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

I read the entire bulking tips for newbies thread and did not see this addressed so I’m hoping someone can shed some light on it for me.

I’m 6ft 190 lbs at 15 percent bodyfat (according to Omrom handheld) . I’d like to bulk up over the next 3-4 months and put on 10-15 of solid muscle. My plan is as follows:

My maintenance calorie level is about 2500-2600. I’m going to bump up to around 3200 which I hope will put me at a 1 lb per week surplus.

250-300g carb (30%)
100g fat (30%)
300g protein (40%)

Does this sound about right? What percentages would you all recommend for a clean bulk. I have a great idea of what foods to eat from the bulking tips thread and coming of a good leaning diet over the last 3 months. Just not sure about the putting these foods together in the right proportions.

2

I think you are going to need a lot more than 3200 hundred calories. I was a buck seventy and wasn’t gaining on about 3000 calories.

Then again, I don’t know your intensity, metabolism, etc.

3

[quote]Droogan Leader wrote:
I think you are going to need a lot more than 3200 hundred calories. I was a buck seventy and wasn’t gaining on about 3000 calories.

Then again, I don’t know your intensity, metabolism, etc.[/quote]

I’m 32 so my metabolism is not as fast as it used to be. I’ve been logging my calories and at about 2500 I’m stable at 190. I workout 5 days a week, 20 sets of about 6-8 reps. Not too intense but I do get a good workout.

Its about 45 minutes of strictly lifting. I’m not worried about getting extra calories in but just wanted to make sure I’m getting them from the right macronutrients in the right proportions.

4

The body doesn’t work in terms of percentages.

You should first determine your protein requirement, then add in carbs and fat based on your energy requirements and carbohydrate sensitivity.

Your diet may end up being 40/30/30, while mine could be 60/20/20.

Also, since your energy requirements are likely to vary, your macronutrient percentages will vary on a daily basis.

5

I would echo the first part of what HK24719 is saying. You are attempting to turn something that is entirely organic into something totally numerical. Your body just doesn’t work that way.

If you don’t care that you’ll be making significantly slower gains in terms of muscle mass, then you’re going to need to avoid sugar and trans fat like the plague, do regular cardio, eat lots of protein, and time your (slow-burning) carbohydrates around your workouts and first thing in the morning.

In general it is NOT the recommended way to do things, especially considering at your height and weight you don’t have very much muscle mass on you yet.

6

you should not wish to gain 1pound/week… if you’re already at 15%, you’d end up… really fat

you found this % of macro in the Berardi’s massive eating right?

7

[quote]mr popular wrote:

If you don’t care that you’ll be making significantly slower gains in terms of muscle mass, then you’re going to need to avoid sugar and trans fat like the plague, do regular cardio, eat lots of protein, and time your (slow-burning) carbohydrates around your workouts and first thing in the morning.

In general it is NOT the recommended way to do things, especially considering at your height and weight you don’t have very much muscle mass on you yet.[/quote]

I’d disagree, at least if I understand what you’re saying correctly, as it has worked wonders for me

As far as his macro breakdown, i’m pretty sure he’s applying, like I said, the “massive eating” by Berardi.

Starting from there and adjusting accordingly cant really do any harm…

8

Thanks for the info guys. I was very specific with where my calories came from over the last 3 months when I losing fat so I figured I might need to do the same when gaining muscle. I guess just reaching the target of 3200 calories and 300g protein will be good enough to start off. Then I’ll calibrate it from there.

[quote]zraw wrote:
you should not wish to gain 1pound/week… if you’re already at 15%, you’d end up… really fat
[/quote]

Is there a more reasonable weight goal you’d recommend? The omron says I’m 15% but I feel a bit leaner. Here are a couple pics for reference:

[quote]
you found this % of macro in the Berardi’s massive eating right?[/quote]

I believe so. At least thats the first place I remember seeing it. I’ve notice that percentage few other times in my readings.

9

The thing I dont really understand is that mr popular is telling you to do the direct opposite of what’s been sucessfull for me… and so many others actually

10

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
Thanks for the info guys. I was very specific with where my calories came from over the last 3 months when I losing fat so I figured I might need to do the same when gaining muscle.

I guess just reaching the target of 3200 calories and 300g protein will be good enough to start off. Then I’ll calibrate it from there.

zraw wrote:
you should not wish to gain 1pound/week… if you’re already at 15%, you’d end up… really fat

Is there a more reasonable weight goal you’d recommend? The omron says I’m 15% but I feel a bit leaner. Here are a couple pics for reference:

you found this % of macro in the Berardi’s massive eating right?

I believe so. At least thats the first place I remember seeing it. I’ve notice that percentage few other times in my readings.
[/quote]

If you have an inherent need for precision as part of your personality, then sure… maybe exact macronutrient percentages will be the thing for you. Personally, I cannot stand them and do not find them terribly helpful.

In looking at your photos, I really do not think gaining 1 lb. per week is a stretch at all or will make you really fat. You have a lot of room to grow and should focus on doing just that.

Don’t get me wrong - you don’t want to get all sloppy in the process, but it also doesn’t need to be rocket science. I would start bulking clean as you can in terms of your eating and if you hit points where you are slowing down/not making progress,

Eating slightly less clean is not going to be the end of the world (especially since it’s not like you will be eating 100% pure crap and doing it for the rest of your life).

11

[quote]Kuz wrote:
If you have an inherent need for precision as part of your personality, then sure… maybe exact macronutrient percentages will be the thing for you. Personally, I cannot stand them and do not find them terribly helpful.

In looking at your photos, I really do not think gaining 1 lb. per week is a stretch at all or will make you really fat. You have a lot of room to grow and should focus on doing just that.

Don’t get me wrong - you don’t want to get all sloppy in the process, but it also doesn’t need to be rocket science. I would start bulking clean as you can in terms of your eating and if you hit points where you are slowing down/not making progress,

Eating slightly less clean is not going to be the end of the world (especially since it’s not like you will be eating 100% pure crap and doing it for the rest of your life).[/quote]

Unfortunately, I do have the type of personality you described. I have trouble accomplishing things unless I really focus on my goals and be able to measure them. Side affect of being an engineer. I’ve logged every thing I’ve eaten since July 1.

Do you think 3-4 months will be enough time to put on some noticeable weight? I was hoping to put the weight on until March and then working on cutting the excess fat of my body for the summer during April-June. Basically my goal is to be bigger and more muscular by the this summer. I’ve been doing some research on the topic and noticed that the lengths of different peoples bulking phase varied considerably. So I’m not sure of 3-4 months will be enough for me.

12

[quote]zraw wrote:
I’d disagree, at least if I understand what you’re saying correctly, as it has worked wonders for me

As far as his macro breakdown, i’m pretty sure he’s applying, like I said, the “massive eating” by Berardi.

Starting from there and adjusting accordingly cant really do any harm…
[/quote]

Zraw I’ve seen your progress thread and the mini-bulk you did was great, so nobody is going to knock your experience, but you certainly didn’t do a “clean bulk” - the kind every newbie nowadays seems to think is the best way to go about things.

No one is saying that you can’t adjust your macronutrients if and when you feel your body will respond better, but attempting to find the perfect ratio of macronutrients to eat every day so that you only gain muscle and never gain fat is an idea that most people need to just forget about.

It isn’t practical, and if you were one of the people that were capable of that you probably wouldn’t be on a forum asking about it, and you probably would never be at 15% bodyfat even if you tried.

13

ok agreed, hadnt seen it said like that at first

14

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
Kuz wrote:
If you have an inherent need for precision as part of your personality, then sure… maybe exact macronutrient percentages will be the thing for you. Personally, I cannot stand them and do not find them terribly helpful.

In looking at your photos, I really do not think gaining 1 lb. per week is a stretch at all or will make you really fat. You have a lot of room to grow and should focus on doing just that.

Don’t get me wrong - you don’t want to get all sloppy in the process, but it also doesn’t need to be rocket science. I would start bulking clean as you can in terms of your eating and if you hit points where you are slowing down/not making progress,

Eating slightly less clean is not going to be the end of the world (especially since it’s not like you will be eating 100% pure crap and doing it for the rest of your life).

Unfortunately, I do have the type of personality you described. I have trouble accomplishing things unless I really focus on my goals and be able to measure them. Side affect of being an engineer. I’ve logged every thing I’ve eaten since July 1.

Do you think 3-4 months will be enough time to put on some noticeable weight? I was hoping to put the weight on until March and then working on cutting the excess fat of my body for the summer during April-June.

Basically my goal is to be bigger and more muscular by the this summer. I’ve been doing some research on the topic and noticed that the lengths of different peoples bulking phase varied considerably. So I’m not sure of 3-4 months will be enough for me.[/quote]

You can certainly put on size people will notice in 3 to 4 months, especially if you are somewhat detrained or have not been doing a lot of bulking. Don’t expect miracles, per se, but I am a big believer in fighting against any sort of self-limiting thoughts in terms of your total potential.

If you are very focused on bulking to then cut again in April, it’s certainly your prerogative, but you might want to give some longer term thought to how things are when you hit April or May.

You may very well like your progress and want to continue with it. Bear in mind that if you do a decent job of putting on size without adding too much fat, you may well end up looking better overall at that point.

Give it a focused attack for a few months and then reassess a bit.