Tracking Muscle Gain

[hwhiting]

Hello,

My name is Heather Whiting and I was hoping you could help me out with some questions that I have.

I work for a company located that makes a product called Crosstrainer which is a software training tool that tracks most aspects of an athletes' training (nutrition, workout scheduling etc.)

We are looking for methods for tracking muscle gain. We have a base of bodybuilders who use the software to track their workouts and progress, but I am hoping to add even more functionality for those who are mainly interested in gaining weight and muscle mass.

Do you know where I might find a reliable source for finding information like - the optimal protein to fat to carb diet ratio for muscle gain?

I am also looking for formulas that would tell not only how many additional calories one would have to eat to gain a "pound" of body weight, but whether there are additional calories needed to gain a pound of muscle.

Would tracking muscle gain need to be tied in with body fat percentage and would there need to be warning flags if the percentage starts to rise... etc.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Heather Whiting

 

[onerepmaximum]

In order to know what your lean body mass is, you would have to know what your body fat percentage is. It seems like the user would have to input their BF% and weight because the computer cannot measure that.

 

[casualbb]

the optimal protein to fat to carb diet ratio for muscle gain?

You probably won't find one definite answer on that one.

I am also looking for formulas that would tell not only how many additional calories one would have to eat to gain a "pound" of body weight, but whether there are additional calories needed to gain a pound of muscle.

Good question, I have no idea. I know it takes something like 3500 calories to build one pound of fat. But I have no idea if building protein macromolecules instead of fat ones requires a different energy input. That could be an interesting way of tracking what's being grown, assuming known weight gain and caloric surplus. Anybody?

Would tracking muscle gain need to be tied in with body fat percentage and would there need to be warning flags if the percentage starts to rise... etc.

The best way to track lean weight vs. fat weight gain is to use a combination of consistent caliper measurements and body circumference methods, a la the navy method.