How many calories to eat to bulk: a surplus of 10 to 20% over maintenance, a target gain of 0.25 to 0.5% of body weight a week, and a table by body weight.
To bulk, eat about 10 to 20% above your maintenance calories, which is roughly 250 to 500 extra calories a day for most lifters, and aim to gain 0.25 to 0.5% of your body weight per week (about 0.4 to 0.8 lb a week at 160 lb). Beginners can use the top of that range, while advanced lifters should stay closer to 5 to 10%. Bigger surpluses mostly add fat, not muscle.
"Eat big" is the oldest bulking advice in the gym, and it is only half right. You do need more food than you burn. But muscle is built slowly, and every calorie beyond what your body can use for new tissue gets stored, mostly as fat.
This guide gives you the actual numbers: how big your surplus should be, how fast the scale should move, what that looks like at your body weight, and how to adjust when it does not go to plan.
Eat about 10 to 20% more calories than your maintenance, which works out to roughly 250 to 500 extra calories a day for most lifters. That is the range a 2019 review of off-season bodybuilding nutrition by Iraki and colleagues recommended for novice and intermediate lifters.
A second 2019 review by Slater and colleagues, which asked whether a surplus is needed to maximize muscle growth at all, reached a similar conclusion from a different direction. It noted that no study has pinned down the ideal surplus, and advised starting conservatively at about 1,500 to 2,000 kJ a day, which is roughly 360 to 480 calories, then adjusting based on body composition and strength.
So for a lifter who maintains at 2,600 calories, a bulk starts at around 2,850 to 3,100 calories a day.
Your maintenance is the daily intake that keeps your body weight flat, and the most reliable way to find it is to track what you eat for 1 to 2 weeks while weighing yourself most mornings. If the weekly average weight does not change, your average intake is your maintenance.
If you want a starting estimate first, two common shortcuts are:
Both can be off by a few hundred calories for any one person. Use them to start, then let your scale weight correct the number.
At most body weights, a bulk means eating roughly 200 to 600 calories more than maintenance. The table below uses the body weight × 15 shortcut for maintenance, a 10 to 20% surplus, and a gain rate of 0.25 to 0.5% of body weight per week.
| Body weight | Rough maintenance | Bulk target (+10 to 20%) | Weekly gain | Monthly gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | ~1,950 kcal | ~2,150 to 2,350 kcal | 0.33 to 0.65 lb | ~1.4 to 2.8 lb |
| 150 lb (68 kg) | ~2,250 kcal | ~2,480 to 2,700 kcal | 0.38 to 0.75 lb | ~1.6 to 3.2 lb |
| 170 lb (77 kg) | ~2,550 kcal | ~2,800 to 3,060 kcal | 0.43 to 0.85 lb | ~1.8 to 3.7 lb |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | ~2,850 kcal | ~3,140 to 3,420 kcal | 0.48 to 0.95 lb | ~2.1 to 4.1 lb |
| 210 lb (95 kg) | ~3,150 kcal | ~3,470 to 3,780 kcal | 0.53 to 1.05 lb | ~2.3 to 4.5 lb |
If you are more active than average, or you train hard and walk a lot, your real maintenance may be higher. Trust the scale over the table after the first two weeks. If you add cardio, see should you do cardio while bulking for how much and what kind.
Aim to gain about 0.25 to 0.5% of your body weight per week. For a 160 lb lifter, that is 0.4 to 0.8 lb a week, or roughly 1.7 to 3.5 lb a month. Iraki and colleagues recommended this range for novice and intermediate lifters, and closer to 0.25% a week for advanced lifters. They also cautioned that gaining about 2 kg (4.4 lb) a month may be too fast and add unnecessary fat.
Expect a jump of a few pounds in the first week or two. More food means more stored glycogen, water, and food in your gut, so the early gain is not all tissue. Judge your rate from week 3 onward, using the weekly average of morning weigh-ins rather than single days.
A lean bulk uses a small, controlled surplus and gains slowly; a dirty bulk means eating as much as possible, usually 700 to 1,000 or more calories over maintenance, and gaining fast. The research points the same way: past a modest surplus, the extra speed is mostly fat.
| Approach | Daily surplus | Typical weekly gain | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean bulk | ~5 to 10% (about 150 to 300 kcal) | ~0.25% of body weight | Slowest, least fat gain; suits advanced lifters |
| Standard bulk | ~10 to 20% (about 250 to 500 kcal) | ~0.25 to 0.5% of body weight | The usual starting point for beginners and intermediates |
| Dirty bulk | 700 to 1,000+ kcal | Often 1 lb (0.5 kg) or more | Fast scale gain, most of it fat |
Three studies show why:
Yes. Beginners can build muscle faster, so they can use a larger surplus and gain faster without as much fat. Advanced lifters build muscle slowly, so a big surplus mostly adds fat.
| Training level | Calorie surplus | Weekly gain target |
|---|---|---|
| Novice or intermediate | +10 to 20% above maintenance | ~0.25 to 0.5% of body weight |
| Advanced | +5 to 10% above maintenance | ~0.25% of body weight |
These targets come from Iraki and colleagues' 2019 review. If you are a true beginner and very lean, the top of the novice range is reasonable. If you have trained seriously for several years, start at the bottom.
Get enough protein first, then keep fat moderate and fill the rest with carbohydrates. Iraki and colleagues recommended about 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight a day (roughly 0.7 to 1 g per lb), 0.5 to 1.5 g of fat per kg, and the remaining calories from carbohydrates, at least 3 to 5 g per kg, to fuel training. Our guide on how much protein you need to build muscle covers protein in more detail.
For a 170 lb (77 kg) lifter eating 2,900 calories, that could look like 150 g of protein, 80 g of fat, and about 390 g of carbohydrates. Our ranking of the best bulking foods shows which foods make those numbers easier to hit.
Check your weekly average every two weeks and adjust in steps of about 100 to 200 calories a day. Small changes are easier to stick to and easier to read on the scale.
If you are a skinny beginner who struggles to eat enough, our guide on how to bulk up fast as a skinny guy has practical ways to add calories. When the bulk ends, a slow cut keeps most of what you built; see how to cut without losing muscle.
Alexandros is an iPhone app that works like a personal weightlifting coach you talk to in a chat. It does not track food, so your calories are on you. It handles the half of a bulk that turns extra food into muscle: making sure your training keeps progressing.
You log sessions in plain English, rate how hard each set felt, and it tells you the weight and reps for next time using double progression. Ask how a lift has progressed and you get a chart of top weight, estimated 1RM, or volume from your own log, which is the clearest way to see whether your surplus is building strength or just adding weight.
For most beginners and intermediates, 500 calories is at the top of a reasonable range, about 20% over maintenance for someone who maintains at 2,500. Advanced lifters will usually gain less fat with 150 to 300 calories.
Start at maintenance plus about 300 to 500 calories a day, and raise it in 100 to 200 calorie steps if your weekly average weight does not move for two weeks. Many skinny lifters underestimate how much they need.
Aim for about 1 to 2% of your body weight per month, which is roughly 1.5 to 3.5 lb for most lifters. Advanced lifters should aim for the lower end.
You can, but it is harder to control the rate. If you skip counting, weigh yourself most mornings and adjust portions so the weekly average rises about 0.25 to 0.5% of body weight per week.
Mostly, it is inefficient. Studies of large surpluses show most of the extra weight gained is fat, which you then have to diet off later.
