Learn How to Determine Daily Calorie Intake 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.
Calculating the exact daily calorie needs is the first step in muscle building programs. Consuming more calories than necessary leads to accumulation of fat while consuming lesser calories than necessary leads to lesser development of muscles. Let us look at the 4-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) Calculating calorie intake to maintain current weight: To find out how many calories you need per day to maintain your current weight, multiply your RMR by Activity Index. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, your activity index is 1.2. If you lead a moderate lifestyle, your activity index is 1.4. And if you lead an active lifestyle, your activity index is 1.6.
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) Positive calorie intake to gain muscle mass: To gain muscle not fat, you need to eat about 500 more calories per day than the number you have calculated in the previous step. If you are indeed gaining fat you should cut down your intake by 250 calories and see how it goes. While if you are not building muscle it is essential to consume 250 additional calories.
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 find out more about muscle building, read Cecil Kelly’s authoritative articles on bodybuilding.
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