Nutrition to bulk up. How much protein?

[Igor Irianto]

Hello everyone!

 

I had just recently joined GB. My goal currently is to bulk up lean muscle mass (no junk food).

I am 5'10 and weighs approximately 150 lbs. My biggest struggle is bulking up. I have been in the 150-155 range in the past 4 years. My goal is to bulk up to 170 lbs. I have recently bought F1 and it will be my main exercises (4 days/ week).

Right now I am making a comprehensive meal plan (something I should have done years ago). I am using Harris-Benedict equation to approximate my calorie intake and came up with ~2800 cal. Adding 500 cal (to bulk) I get roughly 3300 cal/day to gain 1lb/ week.

 

Most of the bulking plan is taken from this website

Here is my own plan to bulk up:

3300-3500 cal/ day

25% of Calories from Protein

30% from Fat 

The rest Carb.

 

 

The question is this:

 

When I do the math, I got 825 cal from Protein. Since Protein gives 4 cal/g, I am required to get 200g of Protein/ day. Now when I look around, some people say that I should be consuming 1-1.5 g protein/ lbs, which is what my math gives. Some websites however (even the same website ) says that I need no more than 100g/ day. Other fitness/ bodybuilding forums show both 1.5g/lbs and 100g max answer. I am not quite sure which to follow.

 

1. How much protein do I REALLY need? 1.5g/ lbs or 100 g? Or it doesn't matter?

2. Is my bulk up plan acceptable? (3500 cal/day, 25% protein cal, 30% fat cal, 45% carb cal) If not, how should I adjust it? 

 

Thanks!!

[Alexander Svensson]

Hi there!

 

I did not read the site you posted but I will give an answer to your protein question:

According to what I have read over the years the recommended number seems to be around 2g/kg bw when your weight is stable. If you are on a calorie deficit then it might be wise to increase that number to maybe 2,5 or 3. When bulking like you wanna do you might even be able to lower your intake since the calorie surplus will be in your favour.

Personally I would never go below 1g/kg but I aim for around 1,5-2g.

[Joshua Naterman]

Anyone engaging in F1 should consider themselves a strength athlete, and the recommendations are 1.2-1.7 g/kg.

 

People without pre-existing or latent kidney issues can tolerate up to 2.8g/kg without issue, and if you are on a calorie deficit there does appear to be a benefit to the increased protein.

 

Your best bet will be to get protein regularly throughout the day, preferably in 20-30g doses AND with carbs and some fat. Frequent, regular meals. 5 meals is better than three, but if you're getting 200g of protein your best results will come from 6 meals of 3og and one meal of 20g, spaced out evenly.

 

Take your time, even with this kind of diet it will take you at least 12 months to gain 20 lbs of muscle.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

 

 

Take your time, even with this kind of diet it will take you at least 12 months to gain 20 lbs of muscle.

true. I've been trying to find a way to find out just how much i've gained in terms of lean mass and also body fat% because i'm getting noticeably leaner but my legs seem less defined than before, albeit they are getting stronger. 

[Igor Irianto]

True. I guess I am going to do 2g/ kg recommendation. (converting it kg to lbs and taking into account my body weight in lbs seems to give me roughly 135 g/day). I think what I was lacking before was the fats and carbs. I was consuming close to 0 g of fat and very small amount of carbs and ate way too much protein (>2.5 g/kg). I hope by decreasing protein amount and increasing the carbs and unsaturated fats, I will start seeing some gains.

 

1 lbs/ week if I do additional 500 cal/ day, right?

[Joshua Naterman]

True. I guess I am going to do 2g/ kg recommendation. (converting it kg to lbs and taking into account my body weight in lbs seems to give me roughly 135 g/day). I think what I was lacking before was the fats and carbs. I was consuming close to 0 g of fat and very small amount of carbs and ate way too much protein (>2.5 g/kg). I hope by decreasing protein amount and increasing the carbs and unsaturated fats, I will start seeing some gains.

 

1 lbs/ week if I do additional 500 cal/ day, right?

That would be raw weight, not raw muscle. Muscle builds much, much more slowly than fat. 

 

If you are gaining 1 lb per month and skinfolds  on the arms, legs, and stomach are not changing, you are doing a really good job. If you are a true beginner you will probably see faster gains at first, but they will slow down over time.

 

If you are eating high protein low carb, you are wasting tons of the protein. Your body will just turn it into carbs, which means it cant' be used to build anything. That's just plain dumb, and anyone who says otherwise (when we are talking about building muscle in particular) should go jump head first into a brick wall.

 

You have limitations on how much protein you can absorb through your intestines on an hourly basis, which means there IS an upper limit of useful dietary protein. For a normal 5'8" person that's around 10.7g per hour. If you are consuming high quality proteins, there is literally no sense at all in consuming more than 20-30g every 2-3 hours. 

 

What you don't have severe limitations on are carb and fat absorption, but fat is primarily to be used for vitamin absorption, flavor, and hormonal support. All of your steroid hormones are made from cholesterol, which is made from fats. Do not go zero fat, that's a fast road to mediocrity and malnutrition.