Just curious as to what other people run as far as their macro split to put on lean muscle , right now staying a little above maintenance and doing 40 ,30 , 30 but wondering if I should lower my fat and up my protein
To clarify: lean muscle is the only kind of muscle. There’s not “fatty muscle” that you need to worry about accidentally gaining. If you gain muscle: it will be lean.
For myself, I don’t have a split, but outside of what is in Metabolic Drive, I eat no carbs/plants, and keep my protein at above 200g at a bodyweight of 185, and from there fill in nutrition with fats as needed. I eat more of them when I’m gaining.
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protein 1g-1.5g x bw
fat .3 x bw
carbs whats left to meet daily cal goal
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Similar boat to @throwawayfitness, I would typically start just about anyone at:
1g per lbs body weight protein
.4g per lbs body weight fat (I find it’s easier to stick to a diet with a little higher fat)
The rest carbs
About 12 calories per lbs body weight seems like maintenance for most people, although we’d like to work that up to closer to 15x with good foods and activity.
I wouldn’t let yourself gain more than 1 lbs a week on the top end (and I’d prefer half that) in most situations, or you’re likely to gain an unfavorable fat ratio.
I’d add about 100 calories a week (25g carbs) until you’re gaining too fast, then back off.
Once you’ve really dialed in your habits, I think you can eat more intuitively; I’ve been doing this for 3 decades and that’s still tough for me.
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I have def found it’s easier to stay within my calories if I include a higher ratio of fat. I’m 6’0 210 and in pretty decent shape and very active so I eat around 3200 calories so I def like to include a good bit of healthy fats , also 46 so I eat a lot of sardines and use a lot of olive oil for heart health .
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I like to use lean body mass for this metric.
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You’re pretty much at your max protein intake
You could go to 210g
I’d drop the fat to 20% and up the carbs to 50%
Or 50% carbs 35% p 15% f
I do 60%c 25%p 15% f and am as lean as possible.
GL
IME as long as you’re getting adequate protein the macro breakdown doesn’t matter. It’s all preference. When you’re hungry do you day dream about bacon and cheese? Or pancakes and pasta? I used to go low carb because I thought it was “right” but have been MUCH happier keeping fat intake down and eating way more carbs. I think I look better too.
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I have found the following works well:
Aim for ~1g protein/lb body weight. For me, at 170ish pounds, I aim for between 150 - 200g protein per day. I don’t count exactly, but eat similarly enough to know my range. I get about 50g from whey protein each day, and the rest from my diet.
I don’t count calories or macros beyond this, but (mostly) avoid any highly processed foods. I eat all the fruit, nuts, honey, veggies I want. I take it easier on rice, pasta, and other carbs.
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I may try that cause carbs are what I crave , def would be easier backing off the protein and fat
What is your daily protein at? And bodyweight?
Protein is at 322 and weight is 210 , getting about the same amount of carbs
Trying to stay around 3200 calories which right now is close to maintenance
Oh damn. Yeah personally I think 250 is more than adequate. It’ll take a little trial and error to see exactly what your threshold is. My point was that I believe worrying about the ratios is overblown. As long as you hit the minimum protein quota to continue progress and overall calories are kept in check. Fill in the rest the most convenient way. I find when i do this, it more or less falls in line that on average I’m maintaining a pretty balanced ratio. Plus it gives me freedom to eat more carbs or more fat depending on what I’m craving a particular day.
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How do you “know” when you’re hitting the right protein target?
Just marking my gym performance week to week.
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