Eating for mass: Protien VS total cals

[bigrand]

Ok bros,
Im about to start a cycle of test, fina, and perhaps winny and using anavar with clomid post cycle. Not i just spent the last year loosing hella weight (prior fat-ass here) and im in no hurry to gain anymore back if i dont need to. Now i know that protien builds muscle, so my question is, do i need to really up my total cal intake to make good gains, or is it basically the protien that counts. I can eat a good 250-300 grams of protien a day and not eat the 4000cals some bros eat. I dont see why total cals needs to be way up if the protien is what is synthesised to make muscle.
Let me know bros.

 

[GonnaBeAGearHead]

If you are not taking in more calories than you are using you will lose weight. If you want to add mass you need to be above your daily maintenance level of calories. You don't need to go overboard with the calories, but definitely take in enough. I would also up the protein a little too. 250 grams really isn't that much. What is your height and weight? That would help us make a better call on this one.

 

[serge]

total cals have to be up in order for you body to use protein to construct new muscle tissue instead of turning protein into glucose and using it for energy

 

[bigrand]

Well bro, what im getting at is a general idea of cal consumption VS protien consumption that everyone can use. I hear all the time that while on cycle you need to eat like a pig to grow (this means cramming a shitload of cals in anyway possible). Why not eat very healthy but just up the protien (like 2-3 more shakes a day). You can still have a decent caloric intake but have the protien intake really high.
So, what matters more TOTAL CALS, or TOTAL PROTIEN.
I think the cals dont need to be way up (still decent like 2500cals a day and not 4000), just protien.

 

[bigrand]

Ah serge, thats what i was looking for.
How does that work? (is there a cal to g/protien ratio or something)?

 

[CCrom]

It's really quite simple; your'e body will not start any new muscle tissue building before the energy requirements are met! Say you need 3000 cal./day for maintenance, then your body WILL NOT build NEW muscle tissue because there isn't any cal. left to build then from! If one were to eat an additional 50gr. protein, then you would have the building blocks to build new tissue since the energy requirements have been met. If you know excactly what your maintenance level is then it should be easy, but you will still gain more muscle if you allow just a little fat gain together with the muscle gain!

The thing is that your body will ALLWAYS prioritize restoring energy BEFORE building new muscle tissue, tha latter is simply not necessary from an evolutional point of view. This means filling up glycogen storages in the liver and the muscles comes first, after this the body will start handling excess calories by storing them in fat cells AND building new muscle. This is because building bigger muscles is not "economical" energy-wise since energy is easier recruited from glycogen and fat cells. The extra weight from bigger muscles is really just uneccessary weight - from the body's point of view! That's why we loose muscle if we don't excercise and also why it is VERY difficult to put on muscle mass WITHOUT putting on any fat!

Crom

 

[serge]

all the big boyz will tell you to take in 25cals per lb of bodyweight and 1-2g of protein pel lb of bodyweight. If you consume enouph food to meet both of those requirements the gains of your cycles will be nothing short of phenomenol.

with all bulking cycles (unless pushing shitloads of growth hormone) you will gain some fat so dont be afraid of that, come your cutting phase and all the fat will be gone.

happy growing

 

[bigrand]

Thanx for clearing that up for me bros, been wondering about it for a long time. Ill try your numbers on my cycle serge.

 

[Trevdog]

All I want to add is that it is tough to get all the nutrients in if you eat very "clean" (meaning low fat, avoiding sugar, etc.). If you need some fat to make all the food taste good enough to force it down, go ahead. For example, dry plain chicken breasts and plain tuna can make me want to puke after a while, I need to add bbq sause or something to get it down. I'll accept some fat and sugar to get the protein in.

However, some people seem to think that bulking is a green light to eating "everything in sight", like candy, ice cream, etc. IMO, that kind of eating is good for nothing but pleasure.

Listen to what the boys said about energy requirements. You need plenty of carbs for energy. Some fats are also great for energy but don't make you fat (e.g. flax oil). And even simple carbs have their place (e.g. dextrose in a post workout drink).

One more thing. Each pound of muscle burns about 30 calories per day at rest. That means that when you gain muscle, you increase the amount of food you can consume without putting on additional fat. Another reason why you don't want to go overboard trying to gain muscle while losing fat at the same time, it is very hard to do, and as someone mentioned, it is much easier to bulk up first, accepting some fat gain, and then burn off the fat while preserving as much muscle as possible.