Calories for lean bulk

[drejb]

Hey guys.


I have spent hours trying to figure out how many calories I need to lean bulk. I have used multiple calorie calculators and I am seeing different results on each

Age 27
Weight 195
Height 5'11

Gym 4 days a week. Fairly active throughout the day. Lots of walking

I am getting numbers between 2800 and 3700 lol.

I'm trying to do a slow lean bulk (300 - 400 above maintenance)

But I can't for the life of me figure out my maintenance calories properly. And I want to do this right


Forgive my lack of knowledge. Any help would be awesome

 

[mickc1965]

At a guess I would say your maintenance would be ~3k cals per day based on body weight x 15, I would suggest intake at 3250 and if your weight increases steadily (0.5 to 1lb per week) then you are at about the correct figure if you are not increasing up the cals a bit and if you are adding too much weight then decrease your intake to suit.

 

[drejb]

At a guess I would say your maintenance would be ~3k cals per day based on body weight x 15, I would suggest intake at 3250 and if your weight increases steadily (0.5 to 1lb per week) then you are at about the correct figure if you are not increasing up the cals a bit and if you are adding too much weight then decease your intake to suit.

Thanks man! I figured I'd be around there. I am just coming off a cut of about 2000 cals a day. Should I do one week 2500 next week 2800 next week 3100 etc? Or would I be able to just bump right to 3250?

 

[mickc1965]

I tend to ramp up slower than that but then when cutting I tend to be only two or three hundred calories below maintenance, I would also stay at maintenance calories for at least two weeks as your body is now primed for fat gain particularly if your cut has been a long one.

How much weight on average were you losing at 2000 kcals as this would be the most accurate method of calculating maintenance

 

[drejb]

I tend to ramp up slower than that but then when cutting I tend to be only two or three hundred calories below maintenance, I would also stay at maintenance calories for at least two weeks as your body is now primed for fat gain particularly if your cut has been a long one.

How much weight on average were you losing at 2000 kcals as this would be the most accurate method of calculating maintenance

To be honest not much. I struggled quite a bit with fat loss this summer. I may have lost maybe 5 lbs in about a 2 months

 

[mickc1965]

Was your diet consistent?

 

[drejb]

Was your diet consistent?

Not really. I fiddled around with it quite often.

 

[drejb]

Was your diet consistent?

If I didn't see results in a few weeks time I'd change my calories and macro percentages. Lots of playing around as this was my first attempt at a committed cut

 

[mickc1965]

Then I would increase calories by 250 per week until weight is stable then stick with that for two weeks then add 250 again for 2 weeks and see what happens then.

 

[drejb]

Then I would increase calories by 250 per week until weight is stable then stick with that for two weeks then add 250 again for 2 weeks and see what happens then.

Awesome! Appreciate you taking the time to help me out. Hope you enjoy what's left of the weekend

 

[mickc1965]

No probs