How Many Calories to Gain Muscle Without Fat?

How Many Calories to Gain Muscle Without Fat?

Now that you know what not to do with your bulking calories, let’s talk about how many calories you should eat to “lean bulk” successfully.
1. Maintain a moderate calorie surplus of 10 to 15% when bulking.

For most people, this works out to around 16 to 18 calories per pound of body weight per day.
If you’re a man or very active person, I recommend you use the upper end of this range (17 to 18 cal/lb/day). If you’re a woman or less active person, I recommend you use the lower end of this range (16 to 17 cal/lb/day).
Setting up your bulking calories like this allow you to gain 0.5 to 1 pound per week, which is a good goal if you’re a man. Women should shoot for half of this.
If you’re new to weightlifting, you can easily double those numbers for your first couple of months, but you should see them settle into this range after your first 6 to 12 months of weightlifting.
If you want a more precise method of calculating your bulking calories, use the Legion TDEE Calculator to determine exactly how much you should eat to maintain a 10 to 15% calorie surplus.
2. Don’t screw it all up with massive cheat meals or days.

A couple days of gorging per week while bulking is enough to cause you to bulk up fast, but you’ll gain fat at double or even triple the normal rate.
Don’t do this. Learn how to “cheat” intelligently instead, and control your calories while bulking the same way you would while cutting.
3. If you’re a guy and you’re over 15% body fat, reduce this to about 10% before bulking. If you’re a girl and over 25% body fat, diet down to ~20% before bulking.

This is ideal for several reasons:

It preserves insulin sensitivity and hormonal balance.
It allows you to maintain a calorie surplus for many months before having to reduce body fat levels.
It saves you from long, grueling cuts.
It allows you to look better during you bulks, which makes the process more enjoyable and makes it easier to see whether you’re gaining muscle or not.

If you’re not sure what your body fat percentage is, check this out:
How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage Easily & Accurately (With a Calculator)
4. Once you reach 15 to 17% (men) or 25 to 27% (women) body fat, stop bulking and start reducing body fat levels.

Don’t “slow cut,” either.
Do everything you can to safely and healthily lose fat as quickly as possible, like reducing your calories to about 20% below maintenance, eating plenty of protein, and continuing to lift weights just like you were while lean bulking.
5. Juggle your bulks and cuts like this until you’ve gained the size you want.

If you’re like most people, you’ll eventually reach a point where you’re happy with your overall muscle size and development.
The name of the game then becomes getting and staying lean while still training hard and progressing in your lifts and addressing weak points in your physique.
How to Set Macros for Bulking

In addition to eating the right number of calories, it’s also important that you eat the right amount of protein, fat, and carbs (“macros”) while lean bulking.
Here’s how:
Protein: Eat 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. This is enough to maximize muscle growth—eating more than this won’t help you bulk up faster. That said, there’s also nothing wrong with eating more than this, and some evidence shows that following a very-high protein diet (1.5 to 2 grams per pound) while bulking may help minimize fat gain. This usually works out to around 20 to 30% of calories for most people.
Fat: Eat around 20 to 30% of your calories from fat. This is enough to optimize health and add flavor to your meals, while still leaving plenty of room for protein and carbs.
Carbs: Get the rest of your calories (~40 to 60%) from carbs. The reason you want to follow a high-carb diet while lean bulking is that this keeps your glycogen levels topped off, which improves your performance in the gym and positively impacts genes related to muscle growth.
What to Do When You’re Not Gaining Weight

If you’re following your bulking calories but not gaining weight, the solution is simple: eat more.
Specifically, increase your daily calorie intake by ~100 calories per day for two weeks and see how your body responds. If you don’t start gaining weight, increase it by another ~100 calories, and continue until you’re gaining weight.
It’s also best to get these additional calories from carbs, as this will have a more positive affect on your training than getting them from protein or fat. For reference, 100 calories of carbs is about one large apple, a medium-size banana, or half-cup of cooked rice.
By gradually increasing your calorie intake in this way, you’ll find your body’s “sweet spot” for muscle growth without gaining much fat.
I should note, however, that some people (guys usually) need to eat downright hoggish amounts of food to gain weight steadily. I’m talking 160-pound guys having to eat 4,000+ calories per day just to gain 0.5 pounds per week (“hardgainers“).
Some people struggle to hit these calorie targets by increasing carbohydrate alone.
In such cases I recommend capping carbs at about 3 grams per pound and, if more calories are needed, increasing fat intake instead.
For example, a 160-pound guy would want to increase his carb intake up to around 480 grams of carbs per day, and then start increasing his calorie intake in the form of fat.
What About Building Muscle and Losing Fat at the Same Time?

Building muscle and losing fat simultaneously (or body recomposition or “recomp,” as it’s often called), is doable, even as a natural weightlifter.
However, there’s a catch: you may or may not be able to do it, depending on your body composition, training experience, and more.
The long story short is this:

If you’re new to weightlifting at all or to proper weightlifting—which emphasizes heavy, compound training with the primary goal of getting stronger over time—then you probably can recomp.
If you’ve been following a proper strength training program for a year or more, you probably can’t recomp to any significant degree.

Setting your bulking calories and macros is a good first start, but it’s also helpful to have a list of staple “bulking foods” you can use when preparing meals. Here are some of my favorites:
Lean Proteins for Bulking

Sirloin steak
Ground beef
Pork tenderloin
Chicken breast
Seafood (especially low-fat fish like tilapia, cod, catfish, etc.)
Egg whites
Chickpeas
Greek yogurt or Skyr
Cottage cheese
Low-fat milk

Healthy Carbs for Bulking

Quinoa
White or brown rice
Sweet potatoes
Whole grain pasta
Ezekiel bread
Potatoes
Oats
Granola
Broccoli
Spinach

Healthy Fats for Bulking

Avocados
Whole eggs
Olive oil
Almonds or almond butter
Peanuts or peanut butter
Pistachios
Coconut oil
Walnuts
Chia seeds
Cashews

What About Supplements?

I saved this for last because it’s the least important.
Unfortunately, no amount of pills and powders are going to help you bulk up fast. In fact, most muscle-building supplements are completely worthless.
But, here’s the good news:
If you know how to set your bulking calories to gain muscle without fat—following the steps we just covered—certain supplements can help.
Here are the best supplements for gaining muscle fast:

3 to 5 grams of creatine per day. This will boost muscle and strength gain, improve anaerobic endurance, and reduce muscle damage and soreness from exercise. If you want a 100% natural source of creatine, that also includes two other ingredients that will help you boost muscle growth and improve recovery, try Recharge.
Between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. You don’t need protein supplements to gain muscle, but, considering how much protein you need to eat every day to maximize muscle growth, getting all your protein from whole food can be impractical. If you want a clean and delicious source of protein, try Whey+.
One serving of Pulse per day. Pulse is a 100% natural pre-workout drink that enhances energy, mood, and focus; increases strength and endurance; and reduces fatigue. You can also get Pulse with caffeine or without.