In other words, there is no set-in-stone answer. Whether you consume enough protein, train smart and hard enough, and get enough high-quality sleep.If you can take advantage of “muscle memory.” In case you lost muscle (e.g., due to an injury), it’s easier to regain that muscle, even at caloric maintenance, than if you would start from scratch.In this article, we’ll focus on natural lifters.
Whether you are a natural or enhanced lifter.What you mean by “building muscle.” Are we talking about building some muscle but not necessarily to your maximum potential? Or are we talking about 100% optimized muscle growth?.As a beginner trainee, it’s much easier to gain muscle while eating at caloric maintenance (or being in a deficit) than if you’re already close to your genetic potential. The answer, however, is that it depends on factors like: They either state that you must be in a calorie surplus to grow or that it doesn’t matter.
But first, let’s answer the question: Do You Need A Calorie Surplus To Build Muscle?Ī lot of people give a black and white answer to this question. We’ll look at whether maingaining is beneficial, and if so, how you should set up your caloric intake. Others consider a small energy surplus of 100 or 200 calories still “maingaining.” Some people say you should eat at exact caloric maintenance with no surplus at all. You eat around your caloric maintenance level year-round and focus on slowly adding muscle without gaining fat. The bulking phase helps them gain weight and muscle while the cutting phase causes them to lose weight and fat. Many people switch between bulking phases where they are in a calorie surplus and cutting phases where they are in a calorie deficit.
The idea behind “maintaining” goes against the traditional bodybuilding wisdom where you alter between bulking and cutting. In this article, we’ll cover what maingaining is, whether it can be beneficial, and if so, how you can implement it for optimal results. That causes them to slow down their muscle building results or even prevent them from making any gains at all.