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I'm still somewhat confused about caloric intake, and the ideal percentages of fat, protein and carbs for both cycling and off cycling.
For instance, If I have a TDEE of 3000 calories, what percentage would be fat, protein and carbs during a lean bulk cycle? And, how would that change for when I am not cycling?
Thanks guys; I have really received the very best info on this forum and I greatly appreciate all of your help.
hey scab.. :)
IMO a good bulking macro split would be either:
40/40/20 pro/carbs/fat
or
40/45/15 pro/carbs/fat
cutting strait low carb i prefer 60/20/20 pro/carb/fat
carb cycling is better when u get low bf IMO
the reason low carbs work well is cuz ur body has to burn bodyfat for fuel when carbs are kept low and muscle glycogen is depleted which is why carb cycles work so well..
also elevated carbs can mean elevated blood glucose which means the presence of insulin which inhibits ur ability to mobilize and burn bodyfat :)
There are no 'ideal' percentages IMO. We are all different, and as such, have different requirements, react differently to nutrients, etc. Some people do better with higher carbs, some better with higher fats, etc. It really boils down to the individual. Most important is to find what's best for you through trial and error.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scabtree
Having said that, I do have some general starting points that I recommend - but they will definitely require tweaking in most cases.
There are way too many approaches to diet to give a single answer to this. Sorry, I don't mean to make things sound complicated, and they're really not - but they aren't all black and white either, unfortunately. If it were that easy, everybody would be walking around with a great body.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scabtree
The first and obvious factor to consider is the person's stats. Age? Height? Weight? BF%?
The second and equally important factor to consider is the goal. Are you looking to cut bodyfat? Add mass? Both (recomp)? For the former, i'd personally go with a high protein, low-moderate carb, low fat approach. At 3000 calories and my current stats (5'11, 193lbs @ roughly 12-13%, ugh!!!), with a 500 calorie deficit would look something like:
250-275g protein
~200g carbs
45-55g fat
I like to keep fat in the 15-20% range, trying to stay closer to 15%, and not going under 10%. Protein is easy - 1.5-2g/lb of LBM. Carbs are always the big X factor for me; Although I state 200g above, I would manipulate those carbs via carb cycling, depending on my workout days, and what those workouts consisted of.
To add mass, this would change quite a bit, but again, carbs would be the only significant factor. I'd likely start around 3500 calories, keep protein on the higher side of my range (meaning 2g/lb of LBM), possibly bump fats a bit but not much - again, probably just keeping them on the higher end of the range, and making up the remainder of calories via carbs. We'd be looking at something like:
275g protein
60g fat
450g carbs
Again, these aren't exact (i.e. they don't exactly equate to 2500 or 3500 calories, respectively) and will definitely require some monitoring and tweaking. These are rough starting points that I feel work best for me.
Again, this would ultimately depend on the goal. If you were running a cutting cycle, you could drop calories even further due to the more efficient nutrient partitioning and muscle sparing properties of AAS. If you were bulking, you could increase calories a bit more because your body will be more efficient at adding lean mass vs. storing bodyfat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scabtree
Glad to hear that, hope this helps. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Scabtree
What i do is build my diet for my tdee at 40/40/20 p/c/f, This is for maint. Then if I am bulking I add carbs so it goes to 35/45/20 ish or so. I have only cut once and I ate at maint and upped my cardio. Got to 9.5% that way from 12.3%, but im lean to begin with so cutting bf is easy for me. Only took a few weeks. im sure I would have to adjust to get super low bf...
If your tdee is 3000, you should eat 1200 cals in protein, 1200 cals in carbs, and 600 cals in fat to eat at 40/40/20. I think pro and carbs are 4cals per gram and fat is 9 cals per gram if I rememvber correctly. So 300 grams protein, 300 grams carbs, and 67 grams of fat. Double check that but I think its right for maintanence
edit...DIdnt see that gbrice already broke it down for you, hes the man!!