To Get Ripped and Build Muscle, Calculate Your Calories

I have spent my life fighting fat. From the age of seven when I discovered sugar coated cereals, I have been fighting the battle of the bulge. Even when I played football, entering cycling, and body building, I got too involved in eating from time to time. 

What I and others tend to do is calculate our caloric needs based on our total bodyweight. If you weigh 200 pounds, 5 feet 9 inches and work out for half an hour a day, you’ll usually come up around 3,900 to 3,500 calories a day. 

What most people would do is eat 3,900 calories a day. If you are looking to cut fat from your body, this is still too much even you are working out heavily.

You see, studies show that people tend to over estimate their workout and under estimate their eating volume. That means we think we are eating less than we really are and working harder than we are. 

Here’s another way to calculate your daily calories. Let’s say that you need to lose a lot of fat and you are working out daily. Use the following formula for a more effective result. 

Take your lean body weight and multiply it by 12. As a 220 pound man with an active lifestyle, you can easily function 2,640 calories a day. To shed your fat and keep your muscle, perform compound exercises at least three days a week and cardio for two days. 

If you want to gain more weight but not more fat, multiply your lean body weight by 19. Don’t forget to increase the intensity of your workouts and decrease your cardio while you are bulking up. 

The most important factor in either losing fat or gaining more muscle is to pay close attention to your body. If you are gaining mass and your fat level is dropping, you are doing it right. Adjust your diet to suit your goals.