Skinny Guys: Formula for Muscle
Thanks to altemark for the photo
How many calories do you really need to gain muscle?
Before I let loose, let me say that I get you. I know what it's like to have a metabolism akin to a hummingbird on trailer-park meth. Hell, I still get hungry 20 minutes after eating a meal. I understand your situation.
Now that we have that outta the way...
Hey. How about you pick up the freakin' fork? No, you're not "gonna get fat" if you eat a few extra hundred calories needed to build more muscle. You're not gonna "lose your abs".
"But Nate, I eat a lot already."
Oh yeah? Do you really?
I'm upset you're making me do this because I really loathe math, but let's break out a formula to see how many calories you really need to gain muscle.
Grab your calculator. This is gonna hurt your head.
Step 1: Figure out Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
RMR is the energy it costs to keep your body alive. If you just sat on the couch for the entire day, your RMR is how many calories you'd need to take in. Let's figure out our RMR's and then look to add muscle.
Skinny Dude, 155 pounds at 9% body fat.
First, we're going to divide his bodyweight by 2.2 to get it in kilograms.
155/2.2 = 70.45
Now we're going to take his body fat percentage and multiply it by his body weight (in kg) to figure out his fat mass.
70.45 (weight in kg) x .09 (9%body fat) = 6.34
Now we subtract the second number (6.34) from the first number (70.45) and we arrive at Skinny Dude's fat free mass.
70.45 – 6.34 = 64.11 fat free mass.
Now we can determine his resting metabolic rate (RMR) or the baseline amount of calories he needs.
Here's the formula for RMR:
Resting Metabolic Rate for Athletes (in calories per day) = 500 + 22 x fat free mass (in kilograms).
Again, for Skinny Dude, we'd multiply 22 times his fat free mass and add 500 to that number as shown below:
RMR= 22 x 64.11 + 500 = 1910.42
1910.42 is Skinny Dude's resting metabolic rate. He needs to get at least this amount of calories per day. But that's not gonna cut it.
To see how many calories Skinny Dude should eat to gain some serious muscle, we have a few other calculations to do.
Step 2: The Cost of Your Daily Routine
This represents how many calories are required to do stuff throughout the day—everything from getting up, finding your socks, walking around campus or the office, cooking dinner, and watching The Simpsons.
Cost of Daily Routine is equal to the RMR you calculated above multiplied by an activity factor that matches your day-to-day routine. Which one best describes you?
1.2-1.3 for Very Light (not getting out of bed)
1.5-1.6 for Light (office or school work)
1.6-1.7 for Moderate (some activity during day)
1.9-2.1 for Heavy (heavy labor)
Note: Don't consider your workout when choosing a number. We'll do that later.
So let's say Skinny Dude walks around campus or the office, sits in his chair, and doesn't do much else. He'd be at 1.6.
Here's the formula:
RMR x Activity Factor = 1910.42 x 1.6 = 3056.67 calories. And we're not done yet.
Step 3: The Costs of Trying to Get Jacked
Next, we need to determine how many calories weight training burns so we can figure out our final caloric goal.
We'll use METs (Metabolic Equivalent), which is a way of showing the rate of energy expenditure from a physical activity. The common MET value for intense weight training is 6.
Cost of Trying to Get jacked = Body Mass (in kg) x Duration (in hours) x MET value
Here's Skinny Dude's formula for how many extra calories he needs to gain muscle.
Cost of Trying to Get Jacked = 6 METS x 70.45 kg x 1 hour = 422.7
The Final Formula
The amount of calories Skinny Dude needs to get jacked:
We're going to take his RMR x Activity Factor (3056.67 for Skinny Dude) and add his Cost of Trying to Get Jacked (422.7).
3056.77 = 422.7 = 3478.7 total calories!
And, because it's always better to round up, we'll make it an 3,500 calories every day for Skinny Dude to gain muscle. That's nearly 500 more calories than his "maintenance" level.
Run the calculations for yourself. Are you eating that much?
FAQ: Should I eat that many calories every day even when I'm not training?
Yep, because that's where growth kicks in. Think about it this way: on non-training days you're taking in an extra 500 calories. That's an extra 2,000 calories per week if you're on a three-day training split like the programs in Built for Show. And an extra 2,000 calories per week—provided they come from good sources—will definitely help you pack on some muscle.
Run the calculations. See how many calories you need. Pick up the fork.
Question for you guys: What's the hardest part of trying to get big? Is it eating a lot of calories, training, or something else? Let me know in the comments!
Note: This was inspired and adapted from John Berardi's Massive Eating plan.
Comments for This Entry
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This is where I seriously fail big time. I just don't eat enough. I really don't know how to improve this as I'm not organised enough yet to cook and prepare meals etc for the week, I don't plan meals etc.
Anyone got tips? -
Well, I think you answered you own question.
You said, "I'm not organized enough yet to cook and prepare meals for the week."
Why not?
What kinds of things do you have to do to get organized?
All the tips in the world won't help if you don't write a list, go grocery shopping, pick high-quality foods, prepare them, and eat them.
Start simple.
-Nate -
First, I saw an error in your post. 9% is .09 not .009
Second, diet is by far the hardest part. I dont know my BF%, so I guessed, plug and chug and I need around 3600 calories a day. I doubt I'm near that. For me, it's hard to get that many calories while eating clean. Typically the healthy stuff has less calories so that means more you need to stuff in your mouth. -
@ Ryan
Doh! I just noticed that too.
All fixed.
-Nate -
The hardest part for me is cooking that much food... and cooking it often enough to keep my supply up! I'm a busy guy, and sometimes I don't have time on sunday to cook up a bunch of meals to take with me for the rest of the week.
One thing that this post needs is that we must remember that not all calories are created equal. To me, it seems very obvious that the extra calories I need to eat must not come from bad sources like sugars, etc etc... but it may not be obvious to all!
Good post though Nate. -
My biggest downfall is pretty simple - I hate eating. Seriously. If I never took another bite of food I'd be happy. By normal people's standards what I do manage to eat is great but by your and my standards it's just OK. My stats are pretty on par with what you used in the example so I suppose that's the calorie count I should be shooting for. I added a weight gainer in Nov to my regular eating but I'm still only getting about 2800 calories a day.
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for me the hardest part is eating. it's not that i don't eat a lot is the fact that i train/pratice so much. i have been training for over 1½ year and i've only gain 4kg, and the 4kg i have gain has been in the off season. But i've just started eating alot for about 3 week ago so i'll have to see if it's going to pay of in mucsel.
but thanks for the post Nate helped A LOT!!!
partend my english but i'm not for an english speeking country -
I would say eating clean consistently is the hardest part. I'll get goin on a really nice path and stay super motivated and then after about a week, it's down in a blaze crashing into the nearest pizza hut. Not to mention the day after a few drinks with buddies is typically embarrasing what I'll put in my body.
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Hey,
I am at 163lbs I've been trying to put muscle on for ages now and I not getting anywhere quick.
I currently try to eat 3000-3500Kcal per day from good food like lean meats, vegtables, nuts, protein shakes with oats in to up the calorie content but I find it hard to get over 3500kcal. And just did your calculations and I need 3800kcal.
God dam this metabolism shit!
To be honest I sometimes get sick of eating, as Ryan said the healthy stuff tends to have less calories in so you've gotta eat more. I've started doing a 25ml shot of olive oil morning and night to add more calories.
Post training I have a shake that has at least 800kcal, 55-60g protein, 140g carbs & 5g creatine.
Do you think I should be eating more carbs such as pasta, rice etc, only thing is these tend to fill me up for longer so I don't eat as much especially if I have the wholewheat pasta instead of (wait for it) white pasta! Should I eat more white pasta as with the higher GI I am hungrier quick after eating it.
@ Ian
I make coconut macaroons for a snack, each one has 350kcal so its a high calorie snack, make them don't buy them the one's from the store have loads of additives in them!
Thanks
Chris -
Money. The hardest part right now is money.
15-20 years ago, not so much.
Right now, with the economy tight, getting older, daughter headed for college, wife earning half what she was, etc. Money for good food is tight. So I up the calories with cottage cheese and avocados and eggs and dried oats and milk. Whatever is in season, and on sale.
Crock pots of bone in chicken breasts, then de-bone and put in soup or on a salad or sandwiches.
Large vats of chili.
Baking sheets of egg souffles with cheese and tuna and spinach.
And yep, 20 minutes later, hungry again.
I thought it was only the young bucks who were short on cash. But trying to save for retirement and put a kid through college, same deal as the shoe string budget college kid her self.
Getting it right is tough, innit.
Thanks, Nate. -
Toughest part is being insanely active and carrying a mini lunch cooler (not the plastic one) around in order to meet that...I work in nyc so I have to disguise it in a carry bag so I don't look like a freak...shakes are a huge help!
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Good post, nice and straightforward.
Getting bigger really is just about finding out what these calculations provide, so you can actually plan what you're going to eat throughout the week.
For Ian, you need to take 30 minutes and make a menu for the whole week. Then go buy the food. That way there is NO guesswork, you just look at the menu, cook, and eat. It wasn't until I started doing this that I actually started gaining quality weight without any bs supplements. WIth all that said, the hardest part for me remains keeping food with me at all times, even when it's not socially acceptable. -
Wow, some of you guys need to suck it up and just goddamn get organised and eat lol
Eating big doesn' t have to mean spending big - there are plenty of foods that are calorie dense and pretty cheap - whole eggs, oats, large bowls of cereal with full fat milk, orange juice, peanut butter, large amounts of nuts etc. And they are reasonably clean foods.. If you're skinny and need to gain weight, clean foods isn't so important, staying above your maintenence rate by 500+ is THE most important thing, however the hell you do it.
Heres a story that should hit home with most of you. We're currently testing a trainning and nutrition program over at Wannabebig and we have 25 participants on it. One guy was 6.7' and weighed 165lbs. Skinny as hell, I mean SKINNY as hell.
He thought he was eating enough and was just a hard gainer.. wrong.... Once he started using fitday to track his calories, it turned out to be more like 2,500 calories.
So we put him on 3,500 calories to start with for the first week, then for the ned two weeks he had to eat over 4,000 and then the last two weeks he has eaten consistently over 5,000 calories... And he now weighs 188lbs. That's 23lbs in 5 weeks. He's on course for hitting 200lbs by week 8 I reckon which will be a solid 35lbs in 8 weeks.
CONSISTENCY is the key here. You can;t eat 2,000 one day, then 4,000 the next, then 2,500 the next etc. you need to pick a number (Nate has laid it all out for you) and eat OVER that every day and you WILL gain weight.
And for those who do not have the time, I am willing you have 2 hours to spare on a Sunday if you really wanted to make the time. In that 2 hours you ca cook all your calorie dense foods for the week and freeze them, it ain't that hard....
it could be worse. You could be cutting lol -
For those of you guys who don't want to do the math your self's. Here's a link to John Berardi's Massive Eating plan which this is based off. You can just input your number and it will calculate it all for you.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi41.htm -
Wish I was a skinny guy... would be easy to gain muscle and not get all that fat. Just eat all the time is easy.
Being a fat endo is another story. Gotta lose first and then slowly bulk, eating very controlled and doing cardio to avoid fat gains suck :( -
I hear ya viktor!
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I have an insanely active seasonal job with minimal time to rest. In the past I have eaten absolutely horribly but still lost weight. Recently I have become more dedicated to finding time to workout after a busy day and prepare more healthy meals in advance so I am not relying on fast food during the day. The problem I have had the most is gaining during my season of work. I have a hard time finding the time during the day to get in all my calories so I don't have to regain as much during the slow part of the year.
Thanks for the calculations Nate, I will defintely put them to use. -
Defenitely eating is the hardest part..
I eat about 2400 calories per day and I should eat about 3100.. But still I have some progress all the time :) -
I'm a (really) skinny dude. 5' 10", 21 years old, very active although have an office job, 128 Pounds and if you looked at me you'd say I have 0% body fat, haha (I've never been tested). Last year I made a HUGE effort to gain muscle and did pretty good until I hit a point where I wasn't motivated anymore and kinda tired of it. Before I started lifting, I weighed 115 pounds. When I stopped, I reached 130 pounds only to loose all of it again (started back at 118 pounds this time).
I'm gonna do this calculation to get a better idea of a goal calorie intake. The time when I got to 131 pounds, I would just eat EVERYTHING (mostly healthy). I planned out each day of the week, what I was going to eat and tracked the calories, protein, fat, etc... that I was consuming. I was consuming between 30,000 - 42,000 calories a week (5,000 - 6,000 a day)!
The hardest part about it: I was uncomfortable. My metabolism was working like crazy to digest all that food and it was heating up my body making me sweat all over, all the time. Sometimes I'd be hungry but couldn't eat 'cause my jaw was tired of chewing, haha! Another hard part about it was meal planning. I knew if I ate certain things, I would continue to bring in those calorie numbers.
I started up again in January (at 118 pounds) with a couple co-workers. We go 3 times a week and have very similar goals. Right now, I eat 3 meals a day and in-between meals I eat when I'm even the slightest bit hungry. I also keep a jar of nuts on my desk that I consume throughout the day. It's worked so far! I now weight 128 pounds although I've gained slowly. I plan on moving into the high calorie count days again with a different meal plan.
Thanks for the awesome articles, Nate! You're a true inspiration! -
Like most people, Ive made the calculations and I need to get almost 4500 calories because I lift, work in labor and play different sports. My "problem" is that Im so active, tha I burn so many calories. I understand people who dont work in physical labor can be seriously jacked, but to me, its always been what you're able to do with that muscle instead of how your muscles look. I play rec. lacrosse and indoor ball hockey, snowboard in the winter twice a week, as well as go jogging 1-2 a week.
Ive been following Nate's built for show program, and Im on phase 2 of the winter workout. On paper, I am getting results and seeing the improvement everytime, but on the scale, not as much as I would want to. Im 6 feet, when I started BFS in November, I was around 170, I weighed myself this morning after taking a dump, and even emptied my manjuices, and was at 180. Maybe Im expecting more than I should, or maybe Im just burning too many calories. But when I saw that pic of Nate deadlifting 5 or 6 plates, I knew I still had a lot of work to do and lots more eating. Getting the Adonis figure to me is 50% workout and 50% diet.
I know we all have different genetics that allow each of us to do different things with our bodies, and I believe that mine was built towards endurance instead of raw strengh and power (talking bout that 5 plate deadlift power).
As usual, Nate, great blog, getting the awareness of important topics out there. -
My numbers match Skinny Guy exactly. My activity level is significantly higher than his. I'm doing the BFS program (Winter Phase 1 right now) but with a lot more cardio (swimming and indoor cycling) to train for a triathlon this summer.
I'm extremely organized, I cook my meals ahead of time and bring them to work, and I have them all worked out in a spreadsheet. I just updated it to cover everything I've been eating/drinking (including Surge Recovery and Metabolic Drive) in a day still only amounts to 3000 Calories. So, I'll have to up the quantities on some of the ingredients to hit that magic 3500 number.
Also, I'm following your tip, Nate, about the digestive enzymes...it really seems to help keep things copacetic when I'm eating this much.
Also, looking forward to your post on how to use a foam roller..I just ordered one but I, too, have no idea wtf to do with it when it gets here. -
Mike Smith just reminded me, how important really is stretching using rollers in order to get bigger?
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I am 34 years old and just gained about 18 lbs in one month by drinking about a gallon of whole milk every day (5'10", now 180lbs), and eating large meals about 4-5 times a day. I also quit doing cardio for the month and focused on compound muscle movement lifting (squats, dead lifts, power cleans, etc...) with as heavy weight as I possibly could.
The hardest part about this? I did gain some noticeable fat that I now have to deal with. Given that I haven’t done cardio in month, it’s difficult to get going again, but the weather is nicer outside so I can enjoy some nice long runs. Before I know it, I’ll be cut up again.
Nate, you mentioned (in your book if I recall correctly) that you went through a body transformation at one point in your life, but I never saw the details of that transformation. Did I just miss it, or is it something you are still yet to share? -
I remeber practically falling out of my chair the first time i ran the massive eating calculation and figure dout I needed to eat 5000 cal/d. I figured I was already eating plenty. Then i sat down and calculated my daily food intake and it worked out to 1800 cal/d.
Holy #$%&*
I resisted trying it for a long time (afraid of getting portly). I got to my lifetime best of 175 lb at 10% (I'm 5'-10"). Then a bodybuilder friend fo mine finally humiliated me into taking the plunge and eating like I meant it. Yeah, After a 5 month bulk, followed by a 5 week cut, I was up to 187 lb at 10%.
I'm a believer. If you wanna get big, you gotta eat like it. -
Definitely getting all the calories without going to Taco Bell every night. I just keep some decent snacks around, (cold cuts, BANANAS!, peanuts) and eat it whenever I see it.
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Thanks for the comments guys! A couple of thoughts:
1. Total calories are important but I really think people should focus on quality food and getting the right nutrients at the right time. I'll do a blog post about this very soon.
2. My personal transformation is a story I'll share very soon, too. I've written about it here and there on this blog, but you gotta dig for it. :)
3. And believe me, I understand some of your guys' dislike of eating. It gets easier with time, and after a while, when you've gotten closer to your goals, you can scale back a little and maintain.
4. I'll do the foam rolling video very soon. In fact, I may film it this week.
Thanks again!
-Nate -
Hi Nate, you're talking about getting jacked here. But by eating that much calories, you're bound to gain body fat too, aren't you? Let's say you bulk up; you'll still have to cut out the fat in the end, won't you?
I'm kind of skinny fat now - no visible abs when I don't brace them, but only 14% body fat, which I guess isn't bad. How do I go about eating to gain muscle and lose my fat at the same time?
Should I be eating below maintenance and doing heavy lifting to see muscle gains and fat loss, or should I focus solely on muscle gain?
Also, I'm relieved to see that you don't recommend crazy amounts of protein. I believe in the nutritional opinions of people like brad pilon and jay ferruggia - that protein for muscle is less than what people always assume! -
Here is my problem with this. I eat 3500 calories a day and slightly more if its a workout day. but all I notice in the last month is stomach getting bigger than anything else. So is losing defined set of abs to increase overall mass is a given ?
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Nate, your FAQ was an interesting twist to your blog. I didn't expect that as I haven't come across that perspective before.
I've used the same set of mathematics just two weeks ago or so...and now I'm trying to get in the habit to track how much I consume on a daily basis.
The hardest thing about gaining weight is not following a workout program, planning out my meals, making my meals, or eating. For me, it's being sure that I did give it my very best in my workouts, tracking just how much food I am eat calorie-wise, and eating my breakfast when I'm feeling stuffed after having three Surges (pre-workout, peri-workout, and post-workout b/w 5:15am and 6:45am) and not having the time to slow down my eating because I'm due out of the door for work! -
Hey Nate! Great blog as usual. I have a question though. I do deliveries in down town Chicago by foot and using a pedometer, I found out that I walk on average of 3-7 miles a day JUST at work. Does that qualify for the 1.9-2.1 scale?
thanks!
Paul -
Without hesitation, the eating aspect has to be the most difficult. I figure I need about 3,600 calories a day and I'm pretty positive I don't come close. Plus I eat crap non quality stuff. I just started lifting again and trying to get in the swing of things so my next step is to tackle food.
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I have made some good strides thanks to BFS and Biotest, but I have hit a plateau. Of course, there is a simple solution (eat more). Basically I went from 155-160 to 175-180, so about a twenty pound difference. I am much more athletic, but I still need that extra kick to improve. I'm 6'2 so a muscular 195lbs is what i'm personally aiming for. Any tips you guys have on breaking through plateaus like this one, or basically just eat more?
Thank you!
Juan -
I was 150lbs skinny, am now at 180lbs of lean muscle.
One of my biggest problems was spending too much time in the gym. I had the mentality that more work in the gym would help me gain more muscle. I wasn't allowing my body enough time to recover and replenish. I think a lot of skinny guys share this mentality and run into the same problems.
I thought I was eating a ton, and may have been, but I was burning more calories than I was consuming so the weight never came.
I'm glad I got that problem fixed though. It's a lot better being at 180 than it was being at 150!
Thanks for the math Nate, great stuff! -
okay, i like the topic you picked, i know for sure im not eating enough or at the right times. I train hard but eat like crap! Why? my schedule is for crap! I work full time with different schedules when i work mornings i start @ 9 am get out @ 5:30pm when i work second shift i start 3pm and get out around midnight. I dnt have the my lisence for now so i walk or take the bus, i basically live alone and its hard picking the right foods and having time to cook. My girl can be a pain. So the hardest part is eating right. Any tips?
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One shopping trip a week, a couple hours of cooking once or twice a week, and lots of plastic containers. Force yourself to do it for a couple weeks and then it will get easier. You'll eat better, you'll eat more, and you'll save money too.
Planning is so important. I'm at the gym earlier when I get my clothes and my gym bag packed the night before. My diet's better when I cook ahead of time. it makes all the difference. -
The hardest part is the EATING.
It's hard to keep track and be strict with eating excessive calories. I usually go up to 5-6k cals during my more extreme bulking phases.
....Whole foods, and no dairy.
It was relatively easy to gain the first 25-ish pounds (150-175) -- and it wasn't TOO much harder to get to around 185.
Breaking 200 lbs bodyweight was hard this year, but I did and got to to 215 at 5'10". I found my lifts benefited greatly, Finally breaking over 5 plates on my box squat and dead lift. -
Apparently I need to be taking in 4,500 kCal. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...........
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Nice post.
But I would read some of Brad Pilon and John Barbans stuff, before I start eating 3000+ kcal/day. The risks is you'll end up being just another big(fat) guy in the gym. (If you dont use steriods, of course, then its a whole other ballgame.)
/Kenny -
@ JR Tashijan
I feel you man, I used to way 135, and after a one month stay at the hospital after an accident, I was down to 120! with a gut!!!
I ate and trained my way to 190 within 18-24 months or so, and despite this jump, I still consider myself as a so-called hard-gainer, just goes to show that gaining weight is possible even though it can seem tough.
If you're wondering what my diet was, basically just a shitload of everything....would've made Dave Tate proud
but nowadays I tend to agree with what Nate said, it's more important (for me at least) that the foods be quality
well done on the blog Nate! -
Heya!
First off, good article. And P.s Im from Sweden, Europe… you know with all those..blonde girls.. (:
When I started to workout i startet with Jiu-Jitsu about 6 years ago. My meals then were spaguetti, processed meatballs and Minced meat and toasts for breakfast.. Yeeeaaaah! Alternating.
I were a fat kid so when I started to workout I lost a lot of pounds. But then when I then a few years later, still eating the same “kid” food. I had such a hard time gaining muscle. I couldn’t get why I didn’t get big! I hit the gym, doing benchpresses and biceps curls.. nothing happened, no six pack..
So the last two years I actually started eating food with quality! It makes such a big difference in how to get big, so to say. Last summer I bought your book nate, been on the program since, eating good, a lot ;) Gaining muscle and getting in the best shape my whole life!
So I must say, the hardest part with eating is, that you have to learn what kind of quality food works for you! What makes your body get big. -
Nate,
Honestly...I can't afford to eat that much everyday...That is waaaay difficult for me...I don't have much access to the foods or even cooking for that matter...Am I just going to stay skinny or is there a different approach???
-Christian -
Great post,
For your next post, you should make a most on what and how much to eat to lose fat -
The hardest part for me as a broke student is affording all the damn food.
I have to buy the lowest cost stuff possible, just so I can get enough food in. I've learned to deal with feeling uncomfortable from being full all the time, but man food is so expensive! I wanna eat fucking steak, but can't afford it.
Luckily it seems like I have been eating around the right amount of calories based on those calculations, so cheers, Nate. -
Great post Nate - you should do a mirror image for the formula to build muscle for fat guys (and lose body fat)!
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Eating enough calories is definitely a b*tch. Last year I did a dedicated 8-week "mass building cycle", and I was in dietary hell! I was doing GVT and shoveling down about 4,000cal of CLEAN food. Never in my life have I hated seeing food so much. I guess it all paid off though. I was able to pack on about 10lb. of lean muscle in that time.
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Dave, I can assure you that you didnt put on 10 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks. That is impossible, even with newbie gains. Some has been water, some glycogen, some fat and some muscle.
And I dont see how people complain about eating... I love eating. I can easily eat 5-8000 calories a day and not be satisfied. I ate 25 eggs in one sitting the other day for a bet with a friend, and could still eat abit more afterwards. Cutting with a shitty metabolism and huge appetite is harder IMO. -
Nate, sorry to spam your comments.
@Viktor
Here are my results: http://www.athletecreator.com/2009/06/04/hello-world/
Ok, it was 10lb. of mass, and about 7.6lb. of lean muscle. My bad. -
All you skinny guys trying to get big...thank your lucky stars! When you get big, you'll still have that "hummingbird" metabolism and you'll be lean. I can gain weight (even some muscle) with relative ease but dropping that fat off requires ridiculous attention to calories, type of calories, and exercise and a little muscle typically goes with the fat. And dare I say that it's a lot more difficult to maintain the discipline to eat well with a deficit of 500 calories per day than a surplus? As someone whose done both, I know which is harder for me...and I think most would have the same difficulty.
The point is, take the time and gain clean weight. And thank your god that you were blessed with a body that hates fat, because mine seems to be in love with it.
P.S. I'm a former NCAA athlete, the manager of a sports nutrition store, long time nutrition enthusiast and aspiring certified nutrition specialist. I've literally seen women in my store in tears because they can't lose five pounds and some skinny kid in front of them in line is buying three tubs of gainer and "doesn't care what kind of weight he gains." -
Agreed, it does require some commitment to get down that many calories a day from clean and healthy food. I very rarely use supplements but after reading Nate's stuff on T-Nation and other fitness experts views about Surge Recovery I am tempted. Anyone tried it? Best flavour?
Keep eating guys! -
I think surge recovery is great. I typically just have half the serving before my workout, and the other half afterwards. I ran out yesterday and my new shipment hasn't arrived yet. I lifted fine this morning, but then bonked during my spin class and had to cut out 15 minutes before it was over. I'm a beleiver. The chocolate is good, and I ordered the raspberry as well this time.
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Hey there Nate, what method can you suggest the most accurate way for calculating body fat percentage?
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I do pretty well here now, but that used to not be the case. My "guesstimate" of calories needed comes out to 3,300-3,500, which I come pretty darn close to. I try to eat a variety of foods that have just about the same calories/fat/protein/etc. so I don't have to keep track every day.
When I started working out about a year ago, I was under the delusion that I needed to be in a sizable calorie deficit: I was eating Lean Pockets for breakfast, turkey and mustard sandwiches for lunch, and Lean Cuisine plus a salad for dinner. As you can imagine, I did not have much energy while on this "diet." Now it is more like eggs/bacon/veggies for breakfast, peanut butter/tuna/fruit/veggies for lunch, and salmon (or chicken or a turkey burger)/fruit/veggies for dinner, all with snacks spread throughout the day.
I have discovered that if you eat the right foods (well, 90% of the time), it is pretty difficult to eat "too much." -
Great posting. I went to the link that showcases John Berardi's Massive Eating Plan, and although it contains some very interesting information, it almost takes the fun out of eating when it becomes too specific as to "only eat carbs with protein and little fat" or "only eat protein with fat and no carbs"....
I'd rather just balance my meals with a health balance of each (protein/carbs/fat) and nutrient dense foods. -
I used to weigh 130lbs when I was 18 and gained 30lbs of muscle.
Recently I started a new program to take it to the next level. I started at 157lbs and currently am 170lbs. Twenty pounds to go to break 200!
Here's my current training day meal plan:
Meal #1 Breakfast (7:00-8:00 am)
1 Banana
30 grams of Raw Pumpkin Seeds
8 ounces of Orange Juice
3 Whole Eggs (Organic/Cage Free)
Fresh Spinach
Onions, Green and Red Peppers
Shitake Mushrooms
1/4 Cup Organic Black Beans
Add a little Salsa and Sea Salt
16 ounces of water
Carlson 2,000 IU Vitamin D
Biotest Flameout Fish Oil
2 GNC Super Digestive Enzymes
Meal #2: Brunch (10:00-11:00am)
30 grams Raw Almonds
30 grams of Raw Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 cup of Grapes
1 Apple
2 tablespoons of Flax seed oil in almond milk
16 ounces of water
Meal #3: Lunch (1:00-2:00pm)
6-8 oz of chicken
1/2 Cup of Mixed Vegetables
1/2 Cup of Quinoa
1/2 Cup of Carrots
2 tablespoons of Flax seed oil in almond milk
1 piece of 70% Dark Chocolate
16 ounces of water
2 GNC Super Digestive Enzymes
Meal #4: Afternoon Snack (4:00-5:00pm)
30 grams Raw Almonds
30 grams of Raw Sunflower Seeds
1 Orange
2 tablespoons of Flax seed oil in almond milk
1 Biotest Flameout Fish Oil Softgel
1 Carlson 2000 IU Vitamin D
16 ounces of water.
16 ounces of water.
Meal #5: Post-Workout Drink: Smoothie
8-16 ounces Almond Milk
1 Banana
1/2 cup of Leafy Greens (spinach, chard, or kale)
1/2 cup frozen Strawberries
1/4 cup frozen Blackberries
1/4 cup frozen Blueberries
1 tablespoon Hemp oil
1 tablespoon ground Flax Seeds
1 scoop Nutiva Hemp Protein
6 grams Ultimate Nutrition BCAA
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Creatine
5 grams Optimum Nutrition Glutamine
Meal #6: Dinner Time (10:00-11:00pm)
6 ounces of Organic Chicken
Quinoa
Salad
16 ounces of water -
Ooops... 30 pounds to go! haha... freakin' math....whatever... EAT SON!
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@Mike Smith - cheers for the reply I am just about to order some, a UK distributor has just opened.
A good read for anyone would be The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier :) -
@neal pickering or Nate. Does Biotest now have a UK distributor? This would be great saving $70 on shipping.
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@ Clementi
I'm not really a fan of "bulking up". I think overall calories are important (you can't really expect to gain muscle if you're in a caloric deficit), but I think there's something to be said about the "illusion" of muscle gain too. For instance, if you're 14 percent body fat but drop down to 8 percent, you'll instantly look more muscular even if you haven't gained any new muscle.
@ Rahul
When I was taking in a lot more calories, I did notice a little more fat gain around my midsection, but not much. Yeah, you won't be completely cut, but it won't be hard to strip off at all. Again, I'm not recommending people put on an extra 20 pounds, 10 of which may be fat. Also, you may want to evaluate how your workouts are progressing. If you're taking in 3500 calories and not gaining size overall, something is off.
@ Paul
Yeah, I think it does. That's quite a bit of walking. I'd go 1.9, try it for a few weeks, and bump it up if necessary.
@ Juan
Congrats on gaining the extra 20 pounds! Take a look at your workout, change it up if you need to, and consider bumping up your calories a bit. Maybe an extra 200 per day.
@ Jose
I'll do a blog post about this soon.
@ Jordan
It's hard to calculate BF by pictures. The best way is to go to a local gym and have a trainer do it. It won't cost too much, but you may have to sit there and listen to their sales tactics afterward. :)
@ Mark
Not sure, man.
-Nate -
This is a wake up call - and the message is clear - eat! For a lot of us skinny guys, it's a psych thing - the only thing we could pride ourselves in was maybe our "lean"ness and six pack. I trained myself in eating carefully, dreading the thought of gaining fat. The thought of eating all those calories is very scary. Over the last 4-5 years I've gone from 140 to 160lbs. Hard work in the gym, and more quantity and frequency of eating. But I know I've wasted a lot of effort because I haven't eaten enough. My regret is that I know I could weight more if I was eating better. It's a huge topic. Nate, what about the age factor? I'm in my late 40's, and tryin to make up for lost time.
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As a skinny guy, I have literally never worried about getting fat. Unless I work really hard, I can't put on weight of any kind. So now I'm working really hard!
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@Nate. I found a UK distributor online and just ordered low carb metabolic drive, hot rox extreme and flameout.
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Great Post Nate. I think majority of guys suffer from either trying to stay too lean while also wanting to put on muscle or doing the big "bulking" story and become fat lard asses. Fine line!!
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Nate,
On paper this article makes sense and is true in many cases...but I can just as well make the case that by simply increasing one's caloric intake only slightly will increase muscular bodyweight and lean mass. With all due respect, I have never been a proponent of using formulas and written programs to gain anything from a fitness perspective.
Bill Phillips once wrote an article many years ago in the now defunct MM2000 magazine that he was able to gain muscle mass only consuming 2500 calories per day and he weighed over 200 lbs.
In my own case I can put on 4-5 lbs of lean weight pretty rapidly by slightly increasing my caloric intake (by adding a couple of servings of "Muscle Milk" per day).
You know, if I wanted to (this is an unfair advantage though) I could simply increase my intake of "good carbs" and slightly adjust upward my insulin dosage and gain lots of lean mass (I am diabetic)... but at my age (43) I don't have the goal of being built like Hercules and besides, I am much better off keeping my dependence and dosage of insulin to the minimum required.
All I am saying here in this post is that one could possibly gain a great deal of fat from following formulas. For the severely underweight though, I agree....follow the program that is written in this article; for others experiment with slightly increasing calories from protein sources and see where this leads you.
KT -
The thing to remember is, not all calories are equal. In general to be building the kind of wieght you want you need to be eating a lot, but of the right things. Plenty of protein, lots of vegetables etc., loads of carbs (ideally complex carbs like potatoes, rice - go for basmati rice as it is a superfood.). Also certain foods will increase your testosterone level naturally leading to you getting more ripped. Eat AT LEAST half a cabbage a day - drown it in butter while you are at it. Fats help boost testosterone and therefore muscle gain. Make sure you eat much more carbs and other foods compared to protein though if youn want to see results....
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I would have to say the hardest part for getting big is eating, there comes a point where you feel full yet to continue growing you need to fight through that feeling. I came to college weighing about 145lbs and every year I have been in college I have made it a goal to gain at least roughly 10lbs. Now I am a senior weighing at about 176lbs ,still skinny not jacked at all, but am trying to get up to 180lbs. I look in the mirror and yes I am bigger and stronger then I was my freshman year but I am still skinny. I know that eating is the only way to get bigger but unlike working out, which is fun, eating has to become almost a chore.
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I do not get enough carbs when I'm at college--so therein lies a lack of calories that allows me to lower body fat but not appear any bigger.
Another factor is my lack of sleep. It would be optimal for me to be getting 9 hours of quality rest a night (get up once or less for bathroom). But again, at school, I'm only getting between 6-8 hours a night.
Got any feedback anyone? -
I skimmed some of the other replies and found that I have a similar problem in addition to my recent post.
I also lack the necessary time to cook/prepare the food AND money for it.
So budget and time--but I consider myself to be an extremely organized individual. -
Hey Nate, a question. If one wants to use this template for fatloss, what number would I need to use?
My BMR times the lifestyle factor? (school work for me), which amount in my case to 2500kcal per day. Is this a good starting point for fatloss?
Thanks man! -
I followed a link and this calculating on bodybuilding.com
It came up to being over 5,000 calories!
Isn't that a little extreme? I way 210. 3 hours of weights a week. .5 hour cardio after. -
Ultimately, this just means that I have to eat a lot more, and actually I am about the same as the example in the post. Is it possible to eat the large amount of calories without ballooning out? I have read in a some articles that it is hard to put on muscle and stay toned or mildly cut? I am relatively lean and I am worried that I will put on a bit of fat with eating the large caloric intake. Any advice or tips on this?
Thanks. -
@ Kirk
Excellent point. I really believe increasing the quality of food (switching to organic, grass-fed, etc) and slightly increasing the calories is a great solution for some. In fact, I'd encourage all guys to make better food decisions when it comes to quality. I'll be doing a blog post about this soon.
-Nate -
Hardest part? I think you nailed it. Eating, eating, eating.
Second hardest? Sticking with it - generally, yeah, but also for eating. There comes a time when you it seems like a job... -
For me, the hardest part is gettting the full amount of calories. I don't have a problem with cooking, and cooking healthy. In fact, I love to cook. I'd have to say the reason I don't get all the calories I need (though I do come close) is because I'm a full time nursing student, and 90% of my time is spent studying. The remaining 10% is divided between the gym, sleeping, eating and a drink every now and then.
I do a good job of having healthy foods on hand, just struggle with finding time to chunk them in the pan and cook. -
Nate,
I'm curious to hear your response to the overwhelmingly negative reaction to your new article on TMuscle. It seems like even the most loyal readers felt insulted by the article, and there are some serious questions as to the consistency of Lowery's protein recommendations. In another article, he said that more than 20g doesn't stimulate any extra protein synthesis, but in this article you make him sound like he's recommending gigantic feedings. -
Hey Nate, really cool blog you've got here. You're a great writer and obviously know a lot about fitness. Bookmarking this site and coming back often!
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Hey Ryan,
I haven't addressed this anywhere else and don't plan to, but I did want to let you know I saw this.
The simple truth: I work as a journalist for Biotest/TMUSCLE. Sometimes I come up with article ideas; sometimes they tell me what they want me to write. I had fun writing the article and do think it has some great information in it. Still, I know people weren't satisfied with the options (or lack thereof). That said, the purpose of the article is to show the 3rd Law of Muscle and how to achieve optimal results if cost isn't an option.
Thanks for the comment, man.
-Nate -
Nice article. I added it all up and it came to 3816.528 so I will round it to 3820 which is close to the 4000 calories I was eating when I gained the most weight in my life.
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I need about 3500 calories to gain, but I'm an older dude, so my metabolism has slowed down a bit, so I figure 3000 calories should do it.
Right now I'm gaining about 1 lb of fat for every 1 lb of muscle I put on. Started the year at 165 lbs, now 179 lbs (6.5 lbs fat, 7.5 lbs muscle).
It's interesting that everybody is finding diet/food the hardest part of a training program but you know what my problem by far is? Lifting the big heavy ass weights and training intensely.
In the past my workouts have been far too wussified, so I would end up gaining more fat than muscle. When I would cut, I would lose the same proportions and end up back where I started.
I'm only finally learning what it means to do real WORK in the gym. It's the compound exercises that get your heart rate going, and sweat pouring. All the isolation exercises are just fluff. This has come as a huge revelation in the past 3-4 weeks and I've been weight training for 12 years now! I'm 42, so it kinda sucks to learn this so late, but better late than never.
leg day is hardest. It's too easy to wuss out and I have. But I will NOT gain if I do, that's what I need to tell myself. I need to lift, and STAY ON THE CLOCK. Otherwise I wussify my workout by taking too much rest time between sets.
It's not easy, for me anyway, to push myself that hard. Seems to come natural to most, if picking up a fork is the hardest part of the training program as most tend to imply. -
If you want to gain mass, drink milk. Real simple.
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the secret is caffeine, protein and creatine. Caffeine gets you focused and energized to train, creatine and protein help recover the muscles. Then eat,eat,eat
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That's great!!! Thanks for sharing this one, I also have interest protein too. It's call "Hemp protein" this site have great information about it http://www.hempproteinguide.net/
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Impressive calculation Nate, the problem is that, how to calculate all the foods that will enter to my mouth? "calculate before eat", kinda troublesome....
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Impressive calculation Nate, the problem is that, how to calculate all the foods that will enter to my mouth? "calculate before eat", kinda troublesome....
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I can eat all day long, it is financially ruining.
what is more important, being healthy or having money to pay the bills? -
The hardest part for me is eating plenty because I only have enough money to buy food.
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thank you for the detailed tips:)
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I'm glad I found this article. It seems to formalize what I've been guessing.
I usually consume around 2200 calories a day. When I was working out twice a day x 1.5 hours, 3 days on 1 day off, I was consuming around 3600+ calories a day. I was always eating, and people joked I had a tapeworm until they saw me pack on muscle.
Are there any formulas you can recommend for consumption amounts of certain food groups, and percentages dedicated to certain food groups out of the recommended consumption amount of calories? -
JUNJUN
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Hey,
I found this blog 3 months ago, when I trying to get information on weight loss. I followed these steps exactly as you said. They really worked. I lost 20 pounds. Thank you very much for sharing such useful information.
John -
calories a day and I'm pretty positive I don't come close. Plus I eat crap non quality stuff. I just started lifting again and trying to get in the swing of things so my next step is to tackle food.
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That's a lot of info to take in, i am a little intimidated but nevertheless i ll give it a shot because i have always had a hard time gaining weight. Recently with the addition of protein shakes i have been able to see some weight gain. Thanks for the info...will give it a go!
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Ian 11:05am Mar 30, 2010