How Many Calories Per Day for Bodybuilding?
If you are a bodybuilder, then you will probably be following a mass gaining diet, whilst trying to gain lean muscle mass. You will then cycle this diet with a cutting diet, when trying to reduce body fat percentage, to increase definition and striations, possibly in preparation for a show. The question is… how many calories are required per day for mass gaining and for cutting?
As a general rule of thumb, when following a mass gain diet, you will need to consume 15 to 20 calories for every pound you weigh, per day. If you have a slow metabolism, consume 15 times and if you have a fast metabolism, consume 20 times. Obviously you would have to tweak this number to suit your individual requirements. When following a cutting diet, consume 10-15 calories for every pound you weigh, again tweaked to suit your individual requirements.
However, calories are just one part of the recipe for optimum lean mass gains and cutting without losing muscle. You also have to ensure that your calories are based upon a macronutrient split of 50/30/20 for mass building. This means that 50% of your calories should come from carbs, 30% from protein and 20% from fat.
For example, if an individual weighs 180 pounds and wants to gain weight, in the form of lean muscle mass, without gaining weight and has a fast metabolism, then they would need 180 x 20 = 3600 calories per day. A macronutrient split of 50/30/20 would mean that 0.5 x 3600 = 1800 calories from carbs per day, 0.3 x 3600 = 1080 calories from protein per day and 0.2 x 3600 = 720 calories from fat per day. Bearing in mind protein and carbs are both around 4 calories per gram and fat is 9 calories per gram, it follows that in this example, the individual would need 1800/4 = 450g of carbs per day, 1080/4 = 270g of protein per day and 720/9 = 80g of fat per day.
For best results these nutrients should be spread evenly over 6-8 meals per day. So, continuing the example over 8 meals per day, each meal would need to contain approximately 450/8 = 56g of carbs, 270/8 = 34g of protein and 80/8 = 10g of fat. Further, carbohydrates should always be low GI, other than during and post workout, protein should be complete (i.e. chicken, beef, turkey, tuna, salmon, milk, whey protein, micellar casein, etc.) and fats should be from healthy sources, such as flax seed oil, olive oil, fish, etc.
If all of the above numbers have left you feeling confused, then use the calorie and macronutrient calculator!
