Bulking Macro Calculator

Find Your Bulking Macros for Free

Bulking Macro Calculator

Are you struggling to bulk up? And confused about how to calculate macros for bulking?

Then you’ve come to the right place. My bulking macro calculator is unlike any other macro calculator online.

This calculator uses new equations developed for bodybuilders. So you can gain lean muscle without the excess fat – and get the physique you desire.

bulking macro calculator

Bulking Basics

When it comes to bodybuilding nutrition, calories are king. Because if you don’t eat enough calories, you won’t gain muscle. Therefore, it’s essential to determine your calorie intake before we calculate macros.

First, determine how many calories your body burns at rest or your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Then add the number of calories you burn daily through activity and exercise.

Your daily calories burned are called total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). And for muscle gain, you need to eat more than you burn, called a calorie surplus.

Try the Bulking Calorie Calculator – find your calorie surplus, see how much weight you’ll gain, and get personalized bulking tips.

Find Your Macros for Bulking

After we find your ideal calorie intake, it’s time to calculate bulking macronutrients, or macros for short. These nutrients consist of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Carbohydrates

Eating enough carbs to fuel and recover from intense workouts is essential when bulking. But, at the same time, you don’t need as many carbs on rest days.

This simple concept is called carb cycling, and it’s most often used in fat loss, but it works just as well for building muscle without gaining fat. You make lean gains by adjusting your carb intake to your activity level.

The exact grams of carbohydrates you need depends on your body size and workout routine. But if you think of macros as a percentage of calories, most people will have similar targets when bulking.

For example, carbs should typically make up about half of your calories on high-intensity workout days. By comparison, rest days only need about 20% carbs since you don’t burn as much energy.

Carbs should be about 50% of calories on workout days and 20% on rest days.

Protein

High protein intake is required to build new muscle tissue on a bulking meal plan. So your protein target will only fluctuate a little between workout days and rest days.

Again, your protein target in grams could be significantly different than the next person’s. But in terms of percentage, protein should generally make up nearly 1/3 of your calories.

Protein should be around 30% of your calories on workout days and rest days.

Fat

As with carbs, your fat intake depends on your activity level. However, fat goes down when carbs go up and vice versa.

For example, it’s best to keep fat lower on high-carb workout days due to the type of energy required. Also, high-carb days raise insulin levels, and it’s typically a good idea to avoid fat when insulin is high to prevent body fat gain.

On the other hand, fat intake can go up on a rest day since carbs and insulin are low. This provides a steady energy source when you’re not undergoing intense training.

As a result, fat intake as a percentage of calories is the exact opposite of carbs.

Fat should be about 20% of calories on workout days and 50% on rest days.

Lean Bulk Macros Bodybuilding

Bulking Macro Calculator Example

Now you know the ideal macro percentages for bulking. But it can still be tricky to calculate your carb, protein, and fat targets by hand.

For this reason, you can use the bulking macro calculator to find your calorie and macronutrient targets automatically. And you can see your free results within seconds on the results page.

With the bulking macro calculator, you get two sets of macros. One set of macros for days you work out and another for rest days.

bulking macro calculator example

Example bulking macros for workout day and rest day.

Head back to the top of the page to try the bulking macro calculator. Or learn how to gain muscle even faster with a personalized Bulking Meal Plan.

metabolic confusion meal plan

Bulking Meal Plan

With a Custom Meal Plan, you’ll get a daily menu of meals formulated to fit your macros. So all you have to do is cook, eat, and make gains – no counting or tracking required!

More Bulking Tips & Info

This bulking macro calculator provides an excellent start for your muscle gain meal plan. But there is so much more that goes into optimizing muscle gain that I couldn’t fit into this article!

So check out these other articles that I know you’ll find helpful:

Bulk vs Cut: Choosing the Right Fitness Goal

7 Simple Steps to Meal Prep for Weight Gain

Dirty Bulk vs Clean Bulk Results

Lean Bulk Macros Calculated For You

13 Tactical Tips to Lean Bulk Effectively

Or if you’re confident in your bulking macros, feel free to move on to any of my other fitness-related articles. Below you’ll find more information on everything from workouts to supplements.

Recommended Daily Calorie Intake

Despite trendy diet advice, calories are still king. Learn how to find your recommended daily calorie intake for weight loss or weight gain.

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