Too many Calories, is it really necessary?

[Rebukeyourself]

Ok, So I've started working out, got me a weight bench and a bunch of weights. I have adopted T.H.T. work out regime which in a nutshell is a 5 day split hitting 1-2 body parts a day to failure.

Now my question is, I have also read that I need to eat ALOT of calories, i'm 6' 195lbs and it's telling me I need around 3k calories a DAY. This seems a lot to me and especially when I'm trying to stick to eating leans meats and vegetables, sure I'll throw in some peanut butter and maybe some starchy veg/rice but 3k calories seems very high to meet.

I just want to build muscle, not for any competitions or anything like that, I just want to be bigger and stronger. So do I need to eat more junk food to up my calories? or is 3k too much? I dont want my body to starve and start eating my muscles because I aint giving it enough calories, because that defeats the purpose so please can anyone give me tips/advice? I kind of want to low carb it for the 5 days I work out and carb up on my 2 day rest just to keep my metabolism on it's toes.

[Aisriyth]

Ok, So I've started working out, got me a weight bench and a bunch of weights. I have adopted T.H.T. work out regime which in a nutshell is a 5 day split hitting 1-2 body parts a day to failure.

Now my question is, I have also read that I need to eat ALOT of calories, i'm 6' 195lbs and it's telling me I need around 3k calories a DAY. This seems a lot to me and especially when I'm trying to stick to eating leans meats and vegetables, sure I'll throw in some peanut butter and maybe some starchy veg/rice but 3k calories seems very high to meet.

I just want to build muscle, not for any competitions or anything like that, I just want to be bigger and stronger. So do I need to eat more junk food to up my calories? or is 3k too much? I dont want my body to starve and start eating my muscles because I aint giving it enough calories, because that defeats the purpose so please can anyone give me tips/advice? I kind of want to low carb it for the 5 days I work out and carb up on my 2 day rest just to keep my metabolism on it's toes.

3k with a serious work out is about normal. I don't work out that hard and trying to shed weight pretty quickly so Im only at about 1600 a day. In summary, though if you want to build muscle but not to competition level stick to 2k-2.4k calorie diet, keep to lean meats and protein predominately though.

[Ravock]

If you want to build muscle then you need to eat at a calorie surplus, period. I suggest going to bodybuilding.com and looking in their nutrition forum to come up with a good estimation of how many calories you need.

Side note: Going low carb on your workout days is silly. Carbs are more important than protein when you are trying to actually build muscle.

[Trilicity]

Ok, So I've started working out, got me a weight bench and a bunch of weights. I have adopted T.H.T. work out regime which in a nutshell is a 5 day split hitting 1-2 body parts a day to failure.

Now my question is, I have also read that I need to eat ALOT of calories, i'm 6' 195lbs and it's telling me I need around 3k calories a DAY. This seems a lot to me and especially when I'm trying to stick to eating leans meats and vegetables, sure I'll throw in some peanut butter and maybe some starchy veg/rice but 3k calories seems very high to meet.

I just want to build muscle, not for any competitions or anything like that, I just want to be bigger and stronger. So do I need to eat more junk food to up my calories? or is 3k too much? I dont want my body to starve and start eating my muscles because I aint giving it enough calories, because that defeats the purpose so please can anyone give me tips/advice? I kind of want to low carb it for the 5 days I work out and carb up on my 2 day rest just to keep my metabolism on it's toes.

Dude I've been working out for a while before you go crazy on what your going to eat and your routine, first start with being consistant alot of people make the mistake of trying to get their workout or diet perfect. Here should be your focus.
1. Being consistant
2. Low fat high Protein food (average calories)
3 Dont worry about how exact your routine is lift until you can't lift. Obviously have a relative idea of what muscles your working.

Once you get those down (especially consistant) then worry about your diet and routine being perfect.

[Deleted]

"low fat" dont listen to him.
Fat is good because it contains alot of calories, which makes it easier to be in a surplus.
And i dont understand how you can think 3k calories is alot, im currently eating 3k calories and im not gaining weight at all, i weigh alot less than you.
If YOU want to bulk up, you probably need 4-5k.

[Deleted]

3000 kCal really isn't that much if you're lifting weights.

Over the last week I've average just over 3000 kCal per day and I've actually lost some weight over the last seven days.

[Gilian]

"low fat" dont listen to him.
Fat is good because it contains alot of calories, which makes it easier to be in a surplus.
And i dont understand how you can think 3k calories is alot, im currently eating 3k calories and im not gaining weight at all, i weigh alot less than you.
If YOU want to bulk up, you probably need 4-5k.

He thinks 3k calories is a lot (it is) because a normal person eats 2k - 2.5k. I eat around 2k calories a day and I still gained muscles quite fast just not as fast as when you would go die hard. But I don't want that anyway.

I would ask someone who knows what he/she is talking about before eating 4k calories a day and not ask it on a forum. If I eat 4k calories a day I would probably get fat eventhough I do weight training 3 times a week and cardio 2 times a week. My friend on the other hand probably eats 3.5k a day and is still as thin as a stick after a year and he only does weight training. Genes are the most important.

[fishface]

Have you trained before or are you completely new to it all?

Because if you're new then at 195lbs you are overweight. You'd be best off eating at a 500 calorie deficit whilst doing this routine, lowering your bodyfat% (if you work out you won't lose muscle, just your gains will be low) and then when you're at, say, 160lbs go up to 3k and make those gains.

Oh and like someone said, fat is fine. It's the combination of fat and calorie-dense, simple carbohydrates that gets you fat.

If YOU want to bulk up, you probably need 4-5k.

Yeah but you're going to gain an unwelcome amount of bodyfat that'll need to be removed through a cutting phase which will lead to some muscle loss which sucks. Not to mention the fact that fat cells don't disappear they can only shrink.

[Abominator]

If you can't understand how many calories you need to build muscle then you shouldn't be doing some weird premade workout (5 day splits generally target one major body part each) you should be doing some basic routine and researching everything you can find on diet and/or building muscle. You will not find that information here for many reasons.

[Rebukeyourself]

The workouts aren't really weird, each day just targets 1-2 muscle groups (Mon/shoulders Tue/legs Wed/chest&Abs) workouts usually only last no more than an hour. 2k calories seems a lot easier to hit, I just want to make gains in muscle but without adding more fat.

[fizzbob]

Ok, So I've started working out, got me a weight bench and a bunch of weights. I have adopted T.H.T. work out regime which in a nutshell is a 5 day split hitting 1-2 body parts a day to failure.

Now my question is, I have also read that I need to eat ALOT of calories, i'm 6' 195lbs and it's telling me I need around 3k calories a DAY. This seems a lot to me and especially when I'm trying to stick to eating leans meats and vegetables, sure I'll throw in some peanut butter and maybe some starchy veg/rice but 3k calories seems very high to meet.

I just want to build muscle, not for any competitions or anything like that, I just want to be bigger and stronger. So do I need to eat more junk food to up my calories? or is 3k too much? I dont want my body to starve and start eating my muscles because I aint giving it enough calories, because that defeats the purpose so please can anyone give me tips/advice? I kind of want to low carb it for the 5 days I work out and carb up on my 2 day rest just to keep my metabolism on it's toes.

3k calories a day isn't a big deal. for football i was eating 5500 calories a day for about 6 months. you get used to it and honestly with 3k calories a day, you won't notice it.

but you're going to put on weight and you're going to put on fat, lifting doesn't affect fat, it's anaerobic, better get that cardio or you just end up fat. anyone who has played college football and wasn't a 4.3 165lb corner will tell you that nearly everyone has to eat a lot. 3k a day is nothing.

---------- Post added 2012-10-05 at 11:56 AM ----------

He thinks 3k calories is a lot (it is) because a normal person eats 2k - 2.5k. I eat around 2k calories a day and I still gained muscles quite fast just not as fast as when you would go die hard. But I don't want that anyway.

I would ask someone who knows what he/she is talking about before eating 4k calories a day and not ask it on a forum. If I eat 4k calories a day I would probably get fat eventhough I do weight training 3 times a week and cardio 2 times a week. My friend on the other hand probably eats 3.5k a day and is still as thin as a stick after a year and he only does weight training. Genes are the most important.

you'd get fat because weight lifting rarely has your heart up in the 'cardio' range. you don't lose weight while lifting

[Deleted]

To the guy above me
you would get fat even if you got your heart up on a calorie surplus.
Surplus = gain weight, no way around it other than calorie deficit.

[jbhasban]

3k calories a day isn't a big deal. for football i was eating 5500 calories a day for about 6 months. you get used to it and honestly with 3k calories a day, you won't notice it.

but you're going to put on weight and you're going to put on fat, lifting doesn't affect fat, it's anaerobic, better get that cardio or you just end up fat. anyone who has played college football and wasn't a 4.3 165lb corner will tell you that nearly everyone has to eat a lot. 3k a day is nothing.

---------- Post added 2012-10-05 at 11:56 AM ----------



you'd get fat because weight lifting rarely has your heart up in the 'cardio' range. you don't lose weight while lifting

You can lose fat without cardio you know. And my heart rate jumps to 180-190 when lifting (for short periods of time) and rarely goes above 160 when running. In fact, I cut back on my cardio when I am trying to lose weight. It is hard to run more than 3 miles a day on a diet.

[Gorlak]

It depends on your metabolism, you could need 4000 calories a day, but judging by the fact that that you're 195, 6'2 and you haven't been working out, your metabolism is pretty low.
Yes, you need calories to gain strength and muscle, what people do is eat a lot for a while, gain so fat and muscle (it's called bulking), then don't eat much (it's called cutting) for another while to lose all the weight they gained.
In your case you could actually start by cutting so you don't get too fat when you're bulking, you're not gonna get too much strength, and muscle, but you won't become so fat that you'll have to cut for a year either. Or you could exploit those gains called "noob gains" that you get when you start working out, then cut.

[Fogkin]

To the guy above me
you would get fat even if you got your heart up on a calorie surplus.
Surplus = gain weight, no way around it other than calorie deficit.

Agreed, plus the comment he made about not losing weight while lifting is complete crap. Do an hour of intense weight lifting with compound lifts and the big muscles, and you will burn more calories than an hour on the elliptical. Cardio has nothing to do with losing weight, just making your cardio system healthy and strong

[Deleted]

If you haven't worked out before in any serious way, forget about diet at first. Getting a proper workout routine is enough to focus at first, and if you are anything like 90% of the people who have way too much body fat through their natural diet, you have enough substance to burn through for muscle building until you hit the first wall.

Disclaimer: if you only eat serious junk now, forget what I said above and get a better diet for the sake of your health...

[jbhasban]

Agreed, plus the comment he made about not losing weight while lifting is complete crap. Do an hour of intense weight lifting with compound lifts and the big muscles, and you will burn more calories than an hour on the elliptical. Cardio has nothing to do with losing weight, just making your cardio system healthy and strong

You overstate things. 1) intense lifting will not burn as much calories as intense cardio for the same time. 2) cardio does help you lose weight by burning calories but it can also induce a lot of hunger.