Thread: BMR and bulking question

When building muscle does it matter how many calories you are over your BMR? Is there an advantage of having 1000 calorie surplus vs 500 for example? Would 2000 calorie surplus be better?

You want to maximize your muscle growth without gaining too much fat but I am not sure what the optimal surplus would be?

Originally Posted by flick0069

When building muscle does it matter how many calories you are over your BMR? Is there an advantage of having 1000 calorie surplus vs 500 for example? Would 2000 calorie surplus be better?

You want to maximize your muscle growth without gaining too much fat but I am not sure what the optimal surplus would be?

Everyone's different. One person's ideal surplus is not another's. You need to dial this in yourself. Some people need 5k+ calories to gain while others need only a few hundred over maintenance.

I personally think having anything less than 500 calories is silly since it's hard to really measure as it is. You try to get too cute and you're probably eating at maintenance anyway. On the other hand, you go to far and consistently go overboard and you're going to gain too much fat.

I'm also a fan of loading that surplus in the post workout window while playing it more conservative on non-workout days.

KY