Calorie/Macro Goal While On Cycle

Hey Everyone,

I've always followed the standard recommended calories for bulking, etc, for my height and weight, and usually eaten more just to be sure.

I'm 5'8, currently 159lbs, probably around 13% body fat if I had to guess.

My question is: While on a bulking cycle, do you all think I should go past the recommended 3,100 calories? Reduce it a little? Curious what others like to do as far as calorie intake goes.

How much are you eating now? Are you currently gaining weight or losing it? It’s impossible for anyone to give you an answer based off of what you’ve said. Everyone is different but when people ask questions like this and give no relevant information it makes me think they shouldn’t do gear at all.

zerologist said:

Hey Everyone,

I've always followed the standard recommended calories for bulking, etc, for my height and weight, and usually eaten more just to be sure.

I'm 5'8, currently 159lbs, probably around 13% body fat if I had to guess.

My question is: While on a bulking cycle, do you all think I should go past the recommended 3,100 calories? Reduce it a little? Curious what others like to do as far as calorie intake goes.

Click to expand...

At 5'8" and 159lbs. you're a little guy, so don't be afraid to experiment with eating. What I recommend is that you play around with your calories to find what works best for you. If nothing is happening at 3100, bump it up 500 calories. If you start gaining too much bf, drop it down 200 calories. This shit ain't rocket science bro, so try not to over think things.
How old are you and what are you running?

I didn't choose the swolle life, the swolle life chose me ~ Wesley Swolle

I know everyones different, but I'm 5'6 165 and 3100 cal wouldn't be enough to maintain my weight. When I did macros, I would weigh myself every morning to get an idea of where my weight was. If I was stagnant, I increased calories. I'm not afraid to eat a crappy meal to get my calories if I'm low, I just don't want to go a day without hitting my goal. You may be like me, small frame, fast metabolism - You add and drop weight fast. It's pretty convenient for finding your sweet spot.

Agreed. I feel like people just don’t want to put in the work of basically eating the exact same diet day in day out for at least two weeks to get an idea if they can gain off it and then recalibrate.

I’m interested to know what you’re eating because 3100 cal at 165 is really not bad and you should have no problem maintaining that weight if you’re eating right

zerologist said:

Hey Everyone,

I've always followed the standard recommended calories for bulking, etc, for my height and weight, and usually eaten more just to be sure.

I'm 5'8, currently 159lbs, probably around 13% body fat if I had to guess.

My question is: While on a bulking cycle, do you all think I should go past the recommended 3,100 calories? Reduce it a little? Curious what others like to do as far as calorie intake goes.

Click to expand...

This isnt a question that can be answered with out doing some work on your side. Have you figured out what your maintenance Cals are yet? this is probably the best place to start. figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight size and shape for an estended period of time like 2-3 weeks. Then if you want to bulk, you just add calories to that like wesly said 500 at a time if you find your getting fat(and dont want to get fat) reduce the calories a little.. but give your self some time to really see if the scale is going up or down. Then if you want to cut, go back to your maintenance cals and reduce calories.

For the most part its not as simple as to state height and weight and then say 3100 cals is what you need to bulk... You could work a physical job and do an hour of intense cardio everyday along with a weight lifting regimen 5 days a week or you could work at a desk for 12hrs a day and only lift 4 days a week... Combine that with genetics and its a crap shoot as to how many cals you need to bulk.

Personally I would stay away from eating too much junk. I just think that steroids are hard enough on you body with out eating shit food.

Another major question here is how clean are you calories? 3100 calories of chicken and rice is very different from 3100 calories of McDonalds and pizza. You are a self estimated 13%, so you should really be focusing on cleaning it up.