Caloric surplus

[muscle99]

 How many calories above maintainance does everyone build with?

[Pseudonym]

Good question! I think you'll see quite a bit of variance here though. It really depends what your goal is.

 

For instance, bodybuilders will usually try to minimise fat gain, so they opt for a slow bulk - maybe 200 cals over maintenance. Powerlifters care more about strength than body fat, so they just try to maximise their gains - maybe 500+ surplus.

 

Personally, I go for the 200cal slow bulk until I get impatient with my slow progress, and then I just get fat. 

[HarryB]

I get my clients to increase their cals by 10% over their maintenance .. see what happens for 2 weeks then increase again if there's no gain. There's a point at which I feel that protein doesn't need to be increased so at that point it's just increasing carbs and fats. That's for the ones who are year around meticulous about their eating and they are few and far between :)