“Macronutrients” is really just a cool way of saying protein, carbohydrates and fats.
Which is just a cool way of saying “the food we eat”.
And that should probably be “real food” – you know things that had a soul, walked the earth, came from the ground or exist normally in nature.
Meat, veg, nuts, seeds, a small bit of fruit, carbs in accordance with exercise levels, and then little or no sugar. Drink enough water so that your urine is clear or pale yellow. And sleep 8 hours a night. Pretty simple really.
That’s your baseline. If you’re not doing any of that, you can completely forget about building any serious mass.
LEVEL 1: eat real food
Then there’s the next step – eating enough. Because if you’re eating the right kind of food (ie good quality) you’re probably not going to get fat regardless of what you eat. So now you need to figure out how much you need to eat.
The starting point for that is your bodyweight in pounds, multiplied by 16. So if you’re a 200lb (90kg) guy, that’s 3,200kcals eat day. The biggest problem most people encounter when they come to weight gain is failing to track intake. If you don’t genuinely know how much you’re eating, then you can’t come back to me in 6 months and complain that nothing you do will help you gain weight…
LEVEL 2: eat enough food
…but if you do, there’s level 3. EAT MORE FOOD.
“Hard gaining” is really just another way of saying “undereating”. At the end of the day, assuming there’s no underlying medical condition, and that your training is on point, the only reason you’re not gaining weight is because you’re not eating enough (..but you better be sleeping 8 hours per night too – minimum).
So if you’re not gaining, quit complaining. Eat more. Add 10% to your previously calculated total for 2 weeks. And if you don’t move up, add another 10%. And keep doing it until you’re a jacked super beast.
LEVEL 3: eat more food
So let’s dial it down a bit… Here’s some general guideline macronutrient and calorie targets to follow for a dude looking to gain lean mass.
65kg – 2,300kcal – 180g protein – 222g carbs – 76g fat
75kg – 2,650kcal – 206g protein – 256g carbs – 88g fat
82.5kg – 2,900kcal – 227g protein – 281g carbs – 97g fat
If you’ve been struggling to gain weight for a while, or your training isn’t going the way you want, fill in the form here for your free 15 minute strategy session with me.