Caloric requirements based on total body mass or in LBM?

I don't know for sure, but logically, I would assume total body mass. Whether you are walking around as a 300lb fat guy or as a 300lb bodybuilder, you're going to have to do the same amount of work to move that mass around. Specifically, your legs will have to do much more work simply to support a heavier weight, regardless of the form of the weight.
 
Interesting point of view.I never thought of it this way.But what if you are most of the day sitting or working in an office?
 
if you base it on what you are now,you will stay at that weight,unless you use that as a base then burn more cals.
IMO lets say you are 300lbs but want to be 200lbs then you should base your cals on 200lbs.
 
Well,this again is a completely different opinion but sounds smart.

I believe you should stick to LBM though.It's more accurate if you want to calculate calories for cutting or bulking.Especially for cutting the total mass will always decrease during diet but LBM must say the same if possible.So if you count the caloric requirements based on total weight,since the fat will be reduced overtime you will have to reduce calories and this way you will limit the required amount of nutrients to LBM with not so good results for it and health in general.That's my opinion :)

I would like to hear some expert here in dieting !!
 
on second thought...

Since your body burns calories during rest at a rate that corresponds with muscle mass, i would bass it on LBM. Referring to ZKD's comment, the 300 lb bodybuilder burns a lot more calories than the 300 lb fat man. More muscle = more calories burned while resting.\

edit: Faz' comment sounds logical, but logic and science don't always go hand-in-hand.

edit: if you're willing, you could attend a bodybuilding meet and try to ask one of the competitors for advice.
 
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All formulas used to predict caloric requirements are just estimates and are not very accurate. What they do is give you a starting point from which you can fine tune over time. You would need a metabolic chamber to know with any certainty how many calories a person burns in a day.
 
I am 15 years old 118 pounds, 5'4 and maybe 9-10% bodyfat. I am going to get started on this program the week after next. I have to take the 9-14 days off. I will be doing this workout tuesday, thursday, friday. I will be in wrestling after school everyday for about 30 mintues. What is my activity factor. I am looking to become bigger but I do not want to overeat or undereat. I calculated for me to bulk is about 2,800 calories. Is that too much. One more question. Some of my lifts were so bad that when using the hst calculator some days I would do 0 as my weight. How should I handle that. Help pleasee
 
Hey Fedor

I am no expret but will try to point you in the right direction,

You can use 18 cals per lb of bady weight as a starting point so 118 x 18 = 2124 calories as maintencance and build from there given your age and current % body fat. I would say you already have a high metaboliic rate and putting weight on maybe a challenge for you (It was for me at your age). Unlike me now at 40+ I have a problem in keeping weight off Hehe. I would have thought 500 cals above maintenance as a minimum and probably more like a 1000 maybe needed. Do a search on Stronglift 5 x 5 and read up on GOMAD but that might be a bit extreme. Hopefully some others can pitch in with dietary advice as it isn't my strongest area.

As for you weights dont worry about how heavy you are lifting as you have many years ahead of you and "slowly - slowly" will be your best approach. You would be looking overall for 1lb a week gain, now this won't happen week after week and you may put very little on until late in the cycle as everyone is different. It would be a good idea to start a training log and have a read of the thread "simplify to win" I think it is called.

Good luck and keep posting

Kev
 
Thank You, so are you suggesting about 3,000 calories a day. I personally think that that would be plenty including wrestling. Or should I add even more.
 
Hi Fedor

Suggest you monitor progress regularly and judge whether you are gaining weight or not, if you are gaining weight you need to take a views whetehr it is muscle or are you putting on too much fat with the weight. If it is muscle keep up the good work :D if it is fat :mad: you may need to drop some cals. It really is a case of trial and error to find what works for you.

I had a similar problem to you when I left school many years ago now, I ended up having to take a weight gainer as well as increasing my meals but I also did not really understand nutrition back in those days. I suppose what I am trying to say is dont worry about increasing the cals as I had to massively increase mine to gain weight. This was due to my acitivity levels and metabolism as I could literally eat and eat without an awfull lot happening.

I was not weight training back then but I was well into my Karate and we did a lot of ground work (Wrestling , mma) and I was racing motor-X bikes as well. The heaviest I got to in my teenage years and my twenties was around 67kg and I could really have done with another 5kg back then. Now I could really do with losing 5kg of fat. Hehe

Kev
 
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