I’m going to end your confusion and set you on the right path in this quick post. (And if you’re confused about how to train to build muscle – don’t be – just use the routine that I and thousands of others are using. Click here to download THT training free)
I first need to let you into a secret…
Your body is not counting ratios – because it can’t. It’s not looking for a certain ratio.
Regarding building lean muscle, your body has 2 main interests:
(1) Your energy intake (total calories)
(2) Your protein intake
(note: I did state that this is true for a lean bulk. For cutting fat and getting abs, the gram amounts of carbs and fats DO come into play as there is an optimal diet/ratio for this)
BEST MACROS FOR LEAN BULKING
So if you know the amount of calories you need to lean bulk, and the grams of protein you need per day, the rest of your calories will come from fat and carbs.
- For a lean bulk, consume 200-300 Calories above maintenance.
- For a lean bulk, consume 1g protein per pound of body weight.
I have a free MuscleHack calculator that will do this math for you 🙂 If you would like access to it, just type in your email below.
You don’t have to go to your email to click a confirm link; the info you need will appear immediately after you enter your email. Enjoy the calculator…
If you prefer to work it out manually, you can find my formula for doing so here – it’s based on your resting metabolic rate, occupation, and level of exercise.
EXAMPLE
So let’s take a look at an example…
A 180lb man at 16% body fat will want to be getting 180g protein per day. There are 4 Calories in a gram of protein.
180 x 4 = 720 Calories.
According to my formula and needing 200-300 Calories above maintenance per day, this guy will shoot for 3100 to 3200 Calories/day.
Let’s use that lower figure to be on the safe side.
3100 – 720 = 2380 remaining Calories
So he has to get 2380 from fat and carbohydrate. How that breaks down ratio-wise is just not that important.
BUT…
It’s only not that important so long as…
- Those fats are naturally-occurring fats only
- Those carbs are good and naturally occurring carbohydrates (I’m not talking about donuts here)
So carbs like couscous, kidney beans, rye bread, oats, sweet potato…are all perfectly fine.
This is basically how I eat all the time (except my once-a-week cheat meals).
Would you like a long list of all acceptable carbs for this type of diet? Enter your info below and you can see the list immediately. You don’t have to go to your email to click anything, the info you need will appear immediately…
SUMMARY
To summarize, don’t be concerned with ratios.
Rather, be concerned primarily with calories and protein. Then get your remaining calories from good and natural carbs and fats.
If you’ve any questions, ask below and I’ll try to help you out.
Mark McManus
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HERE ARE THE SUPPLEMENTS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND
I highly recommend MyProtein for all your supplement needs.
GO TO MYPROTEIN UK/EUROPE
GO TO MYPROTEIN USA
- I also recommend to US readers this Optimum Nutrition whey (and here's a low-carb whey)
- And this quality, inexpensive creatine ~ Mark McManus
I intuitively always thought this but heard over and over 40/30/30. I wondered why cals and protein weren’t the real important factors.
Thanks for the clarification!
Thanks for that, I was worried my
Protein wasn’t enough and my macros were 43/33/24 ( C/F/P )