Warning: If you do not plan on counting calories, or at least estimating your daily amount, read no further...
Figuring out the correct amount of calories you need in order to bulk, cut, or maintain can be a tricky thing to do. Eliminating errors and inaccuracies is a must for someone who is serious about their diet, and anyone who is serious about bodybuilding must be serious about their diet.
Often times on this forum, people may struggle with an HST cycle and not have the gains they wished for. If they followed HST principals, then the lack of weight gain/loss is because of an incorrect amount of calories consumed day-to-day.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
Your BMR, or Resting Metabolic Rate is the amount of calories your body burns at a sedentary state. There are many options for how to calculate this number. In my example, I will use two examples from the Eating for Size article on HSN.
The first equation multiplies your bodyweight in pounds by 11 or 12 to find your BMR. If you want to cut, times your weight by 8 or 9, and for bulking, times it by 14-16. The inaccuracies could be a lot for one week, let alone a whole cycle. The second equation has slightly less error and multiplies your bodyweight in kilograms by 24. Also, see this equation provided by need2eat.
To figure out your TDEE, you times your BMR by an activity level.
• Very active = 1.4 - 1.5 (Daily Intense exercise + construction work most of day)
• Active = 1.3 - 1.4 (Daily exercise + work on feet most of day)
• Light active = 1.1 - 1.2 (Regular Exercise 3 times/week + desk job or at home most of day)
• Sedentary = 1 (No exercise + desk job or at home most of day)
I have used the activity level approach myself and found large errors that I could not catch up to until my HST cycle was over. What these equations lack is the seperation between fat and muscle. The Katch-McArdle equation (which applies to men and women equally) uses your bodyfat% to figure out your BMR.
BMR = (((bodyweight in kg -(bf%*bw in kg))*21.6)+370)
However, even if you use the activity levels to find your TDEE, you can still have a lot of error. I suggest multiplying your BMR by 1.1 for your day to day light activities, and then adding the calories burned for exercises - see this Example.
Cutting
If I am cutting, I underestimate my TDEE and overestimate the caloric intake. To lose the optimal 1lb/week, you should eat 500 less calories than your TDEE per day (500*7 = 3500kcals = 1lb). This number may not be exact because it is an average for all people. Genetics play a role here. After all, your caloric intake, BMR, and TDEE are all estimates of actual statistics.
Bulking
Do the inverse of method laid out for cutting. You should eat 550-600 calories over your TDEE per day to account for the 10% Thermogenesis effect. If my body's weight is not changing within the goals, I would make some minor adjustments to the TDEE equation by shifting it +/- 100 calories based on the weight I should be at.
Notes
Whether you use an equation like Katch-McArdle, the calculator need2eat provided, or the bodyweight multipliers that are mentioned in the FAQ's; the same principals of estimation are constant:
1) The more strict that you count, the less error you will have.
2) It takes a few weeks to truely find your BMR no matter what method you use.
3) No estimate is ever 100% correct. This is why they are called estimates.
Also, the idea of overstimating caloric intake / underestimating TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) during a cut is commonly applied no matter what estimations you use.
Let me know what you guys think.
Figuring out the correct amount of calories you need in order to bulk, cut, or maintain can be a tricky thing to do. Eliminating errors and inaccuracies is a must for someone who is serious about their diet, and anyone who is serious about bodybuilding must be serious about their diet.
Often times on this forum, people may struggle with an HST cycle and not have the gains they wished for. If they followed HST principals, then the lack of weight gain/loss is because of an incorrect amount of calories consumed day-to-day.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
Your BMR, or Resting Metabolic Rate is the amount of calories your body burns at a sedentary state. There are many options for how to calculate this number. In my example, I will use two examples from the Eating for Size article on HSN.
The first equation multiplies your bodyweight in pounds by 11 or 12 to find your BMR. If you want to cut, times your weight by 8 or 9, and for bulking, times it by 14-16. The inaccuracies could be a lot for one week, let alone a whole cycle. The second equation has slightly less error and multiplies your bodyweight in kilograms by 24. Also, see this equation provided by need2eat.
To figure out your TDEE, you times your BMR by an activity level.
• Very active = 1.4 - 1.5 (Daily Intense exercise + construction work most of day)
• Active = 1.3 - 1.4 (Daily exercise + work on feet most of day)
• Light active = 1.1 - 1.2 (Regular Exercise 3 times/week + desk job or at home most of day)
• Sedentary = 1 (No exercise + desk job or at home most of day)
I have used the activity level approach myself and found large errors that I could not catch up to until my HST cycle was over. What these equations lack is the seperation between fat and muscle. The Katch-McArdle equation (which applies to men and women equally) uses your bodyfat% to figure out your BMR.
BMR = (((bodyweight in kg -(bf%*bw in kg))*21.6)+370)
However, even if you use the activity levels to find your TDEE, you can still have a lot of error. I suggest multiplying your BMR by 1.1 for your day to day light activities, and then adding the calories burned for exercises - see this Example.
Cutting
If I am cutting, I underestimate my TDEE and overestimate the caloric intake. To lose the optimal 1lb/week, you should eat 500 less calories than your TDEE per day (500*7 = 3500kcals = 1lb). This number may not be exact because it is an average for all people. Genetics play a role here. After all, your caloric intake, BMR, and TDEE are all estimates of actual statistics.
Bulking
Do the inverse of method laid out for cutting. You should eat 550-600 calories over your TDEE per day to account for the 10% Thermogenesis effect. If my body's weight is not changing within the goals, I would make some minor adjustments to the TDEE equation by shifting it +/- 100 calories based on the weight I should be at.
Notes
Whether you use an equation like Katch-McArdle, the calculator need2eat provided, or the bodyweight multipliers that are mentioned in the FAQ's; the same principals of estimation are constant:
1) The more strict that you count, the less error you will have.
2) It takes a few weeks to truely find your BMR no matter what method you use.
3) No estimate is ever 100% correct. This is why they are called estimates.
Also, the idea of overstimating caloric intake / underestimating TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) during a cut is commonly applied no matter what estimations you use.
Let me know what you guys think.