# Eating above maintenance cals...



## Manticore (Aug 29, 2008)

Apologies If I'm going over old ground guys. Searched the forum looking for a similar thread but no success.

I've calculated my maintenance cals to be 2,145. I'm 135 pounds and 5'10.5" sound about right?

I'm looking to increase lean mass and have adopted a realtively clean bulk eating plan.

The question is, how many cals should I eat above my maintenance level? 300? 500?

Your wisdom is greatly appreciated!


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

to keep fat gains to a minimum id say 500 cals per day mate and go from there.


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## Manticore (Aug 29, 2008)

Cheers. I'll go with that. I'm willing to be patient!


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

it will be worth it mate im intending on doing a lean bulk over the next 3-4 months at least if not 6. Im doing cardio 3-4 times a week and keeping cals as clean as possible to keep fat gains to a minimum.


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## Manticore (Aug 29, 2008)

That's reassuring to hear. I had been doing 10-20mins on the treadmill after finishing on the weights after every sesh but stopped it worrying that it would offset the extra calories I was consuming.

I guess I should just take that into account and bear that in mind when trying to stay at 500 cals above maintenance?


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

yeh thats right mate. say you burn 200 cals just eat 700 a day over maint


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

I'd say 500 over maintenance as well, just worth mentioning as lean body mass increases so will your maintenance level, so increase the calories accordingly as you go along.


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## gym rat (Jul 10, 2007)

Aftershock said:


> I'd say 500 over maintenance as well, just worth mentioning as lean body mass increases so will your maintenance level, so increase the calories accordingly as you go along.


quality post... i think alot of people forget this once their weight starts to increase, then you get threads like... iv come to a plateaux etc


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## Manticore (Aug 29, 2008)

Aftershock said:


> I'd say 500 over maintenance as well, just worth mentioning as lean body mass increases so will your maintenance level, so increase the calories accordingly as you go along.


Thanks for the advice. Just wondering how lean body mass is estimated?


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## Aftershock (Jan 28, 2004)

Manticore said:


> Thanks for the advice. Just wondering how lean body mass is estimated?


Well there are numerous ways but for your purposes (no need to over complicate it at this stage) as you are gaining weight assume it is lean mass unless it obviously isn't :whistling:


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## leveret (Jun 13, 2007)

Whats the most accurate way of measuring what your maintainance kcals is?


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

counting your cals each day. start with say 3000 then keep adjusting every week based on your weight until you dont gain or loose any weight. a bit messy lol but the only accurate way to find out IMO.

there are formulas that will give you a starting point but it wont be accurate.


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