How many calories should you eat to bulk

November 24, 2022

What is bulking?

The term bulking is a commonly used term by fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders. It means supplying the body with more calories than it needs to grow and to build muscle mass. The opposite to bulking would be ‘cutting’ this is where you keep the body in a caloric deficit in order to shred the unwanted body fat. The purpose of this article is to supply you with all the necessary information so that you know how much to eat when bulking, so you can add muscle whilst minimising fat gain. 

How to build muscle? - The basics

When it comes to building muscle mass it boils down to 2 factors; calories in versus calories out. You need to ensure that the amount of calories going into the body is more than the amount of calories going out (calories being burned by the body). You do this by eating more than you burn! If you think you’re eating enough yet you’re still not putting on mass, you’ll need to eat even more! For a successful bulk, calories going into the body need to be between 200-400 higher than what’s being burned by the body. 2 factors can be changed to achieve this, either eating more or burning less – the majority of people tend to go for the first option as it can be hard to burn less as you still need to perform your intense workouts (plus food is too good!).

How many calories do I need to build muscle?

To begin with, you need to work out your maintenance calories. This is the amount of calories you need to be eating every day to maintain the same weight and body composition. This process can be trial and error, I would suggest downloading a calorie counting app such as MyfitnessPal on your phone so that you can track how many calories you are eating. Investing in a decent pair of scales is also a good idea to enable you to accurately track your weight.

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To begin with, calculate how many calories you currently consume on a normal day of eating. From there, try to eat the same amount of calories for 2 weeks and monitor your weight often (note – try to get 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 40% from protein and 20% from fats). Alternatively, you can use this simple equation to get to your starting point – Bodyweight (in kgs) x 35. For example, the starting point for a 75kg person would be 75x35=2625 calories. Again you will need to eat this amount of calories over a 2 week period and monitor your weight. Please note – there is no magic starting point, everyone is different and everyone burns calories at a different rate, this is down to factors such as height, body composition, age, gender occupation etc, what’s important is that you have a starting point.

If your weight seems to be increasing over the 2 week monitoring period then it’s obvious you’re eating over your maintenance calories, if this is the case, drop your calories by 200 each week until your weight doesn’t change. Similarly, if you lost weight over the 2 week period it’s obvious you’re eating less than your maintenance calories, you’ll then need to up the calories by 200 each week until your weight remains the same.

Once you’ve got to a stage where your weight no longer changes, make note of how many calories you are consuming, this is your maintenance calories!

How many calories to build muscle? 

So let’s carry on for the example we used in the previous section and we’ll assume that when the 75kg person was eating 2625 calories they remained at the same weight, so 2625 is their maintenance calories.

 As previously mentioned, for a successful bulk you’ll need to be eating 200-400 calories above your maintenance. Let’s put this into numbers.

Calories to gain muscle

2625+400=3025

Each day this person will need to be eating 3025 calories.

But how will these calories be broken down into carbohydrates, proteins and fats? Read on to find our the ideal bulking macros. 

Protein for bodybuilding

Let’s start with protein. Studies have shown that during a bulking phase the average person needs between 1.8-2.2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight to stimulate maximum protein synthesis.

75x2g=150 grams of protein

As there are 4kcal per gram of protein, this person will be getting 150x4=600kcal

A total of 600kcal from protein is needed to gain muscle.

Fats for muscle gain

It’s recommended to get 20% of your overall calories from fats.

3025x0.2=605kcal

To work out how many grams are in 605kcal of fat we divide by 9 (as there are 9kcal per gram of fat.

605/9=67.2

So the athlete in question will need to get 67 grams of fat each day to build muscle. 

Carbohydrates for muscle building

So now we’re left with carbohydrates and we need to fill in the gaps to bring us up to our daily calorie goal.

3025kcal (Calorie goal) – 600kcal (Calories from protein) – 605kcal (calories from fat) = 1820kcal.

So the athlete will need to get 1820kcal from carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates have 4kcal per gram so: 1772kcal/4=455grams.

So our overall macronutrient breakdown is:

Calories: 3025

Protein: 150grams

Fat: 67.2grams

Carbohydrates: 455grams

What to eat to build muscle?

“One of the worst misconceptions when it comes to bulking is that you have free reign to eat, and eat, and eat some with wild abandon and disregard for sugar, carbs and salt” (Roussell, n.d). If you want to have a successful muscle building diet and minimise fat gain you will need to be eating healthy nutrient-dense, unprocessed bodybuilding foods – it will be much better to add 5 pounds of lean mass rather than 10 pounds of fat mass. Here is a list of the best muscle building foods:

High protein foods for muscle building

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Fish (Cod, tuna, salmon)
• Red meat (Lean steak)
• Low-fat yogurt
• Eggs
• Cottage cheese
• Low fat pork

Carbohydrates 

• Brown rice
• White rice
• Sweet potato
• White potato
• Pasta
• Brown bread
• Oats
• Fruits
• Beans, chickpeas, legumes

Fats

• Nuts
• Eggs
• Olive oil
• Nut Butters
• Avocado
• Red meat

The most important factor in any muscle gain diet plan is adherence. Choose foods from the above lists that you like to eat. If you begin forcing yourself to eat foods you don't like, you're never going to stick any diet plan. A rule many bodybuilders like to follow is the 80/20 rule - 80% clean unprocessed foods, and then relaxing on the remaining 20%. 

Designing a bulking meal plan that suits you increases the likelihood that you'll stick to it without the need to turn to processed fast foods just to fulfil the calorie goal. 

When to eat for muscle gain

As we’ll be eating a higher number of calories than we’re used to, it makes sense to split these up into more meals. If we stick to the ‘normal’ 3 meals a day, we may struggle to finish them as the portion size is going to be pretty hefty. We’re better off eating 5-6 meals a day or eating every 3 or 4 hours.

As a rule of thumb, each meal should consist of between 20-30 grams of protein, this will have positive effects on muscle protein synthesis and will aid in supporting the muscle building process.

Eating every 3-4 hours will mean we will remain satisfied and full of energy throughout the day. If we tried sticking with 3 meals a day, we may find that get cravings throughout the day and end up topping ourselves with snacks (often high in sugar and fat), which is by no means ideal.

How much muscle should I be gaining?

If your muscle gain diet follows the described macro breakdown you should be gaining around 0.5lbs per week. The average male body can build between 0.25-0.5 lbs of dry muscle tissue per week (Thibaudeau, 2006). If your gaining more than 0.5lbs a week it is likely your gaining more fat than you would want too. If this is the case you should manipulate your calories (maybe reduce carbs by 25grams) to drop them by 100kcal to reduce any unwanted fat gain. In the first few weeks, you may find yourself gaining towards the upper limit, this is normal as your body adjusts to increase glycogen and water stores.

Effects of a bulking diet

In order to increase muscle mass, you need to be eating more calories than you burn, in doing this it’s inevitable that you will gain some body fat, it’s nothing to worry about, once you finish your bulking cycle you can begin a ‘cut’ and burn away the unwanted body fat. During the bulking phase, the bodybuilding diet will see you add mass to your frame. This extra mass will put extra pressure on your tendons and ligaments so it’s important you take time to perform comprehensive warm-ups and stretching routines.

To maximise muscle growth when bulking, we need to make sure we're working out in the right way to promote muscle growth. The second most important muscle building principle (after mastering the bulking diet) is applying progressive overload to your training - this is how you're going to get bigger! And if you don't know what progressive overload is, then you need to read this article right now 'The Foundation to building muscle'  

Hope this article has helped; it’s time to get big!

Bulking Tips

Here are our quick-fire bulking tips:

1. Ensure you’re eating in a calorie surplus
2. Follow the 80/20 rule. 80% whole foods, 20% can be relaxed
3. Eat 20-30 grams of protein per meal
4. Gain between 0.25kg-0.5kg per week
5. Eat between 5-6 meals a day
6. Eat the majority of your carbohydrates around the workout
7. Limit liquid calories, drink water
8. Eat your fruits and vegetable
9. Get a good night's sleep
10. Apply progressive overload to your training
11. Utilise muscle building supplements

References

• (2006, November 26). Is bulking up to gain muscle a good idea [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.t-nation.com/training/truth-about-bulking
• (N.d). 9 foods for effective clean bulking [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/9-foods-for-effective-clean-bulking

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