Read How to Calculate Daily Calorie Needs For Gaining Muscle
Adequate nutrition and calories from good sources are of primary importance to gain lean muscle. You need to eat big to bulk up; there is no way around it. But exactly how much is “big”? Use the formula given here to calculate your own requirements.
Muscle building programs revolve around optimizing daily caloric needs to your specific requirements. Eating more can make you gain fat, not muscle. And eating less can make you never gain the bulky muscles you wish to build. Here is the four part formula:
1) Calculating lean muscle mass: For this measurement you need a skin caliper which will give you percentage of body fat. Consider your percentage of body fat comes to 10% and you weigh–0 lb. That means your fat mass is– lb. Now to calculate lean muscle mass, subtract fat mass from total body mass. In this case it comes to–0-14=126lb.
2) Find RMR (resting metabolic rate): RMR, the number calories a day you require to just keep on breathing, can be calculated by multiplying lean muscle mass by 10 and adding 500. In our example, it works out to 1760 calories (126 x 10 + 500).
3) Calculation of daily maintenance calorie intake: How many calories would you require to stay the same weight as you are now? Multiply your RMR by your Activity Index to find out. Activity index = 1.2 for sedentary lifestyles, 1.4 for moderate lifestyles and 1.6 for active lifestyles.
Consider that you have a moderate level of activity. Therefore you’ll need 1760 x 1.4 i.e. 2464 calories each day to maintain your weight.
4) How much more to gain muscle? Consume 500 more than the number of calories you have just calculated, which should be the optimum intake to gain muscle not fat. Cut 250 if you seem to be putting on fat and add 250 if you are not building muscles at a good rate.
Carry on for 15 days with the plan you have worked out and make an assessment thereafter. If you are also working out wisely in the gym and resting well, you can be a burly man in weeks.
To learn more about muscle building, read Cecil Kelly’s authoritative articles on bodybuilding.
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