Creating a calorie surplus
In a previous article we focused on how to work out your macronutrients and how to incorporate a calorie deficit to promote fat loss. In this article we’re going to look at how to incorporate a calorie surplus to promote weight gain/growth. A calorie surplus is eating more calories than you burn, by being in this surplus we’re giving the body more energy than it needs, this leftover energy can then be used to build new tissue, in this case muscle tissue!
calculating a calorie surplus
So, we’ve worked out our BMR and TDEE, and instead of removing calories we’re adding them. It’s always a good idea to run your TDEE for a couple of weeks to see where your body sits and how you generally react to the chosen macro setup. From this we can then reassess and add a suitable number of calories. It is very important that, when in a calorie surplus, we don’t increase the number of calories too quickly, as this could lead to unwanted weight gain (increase in fat mass instead of muscle mass).
Typically, your surplus will be anywhere from 5%-25% over your TDEE, but it is very important to understand how sensitive certain body types might be to weight gain. For example, if someone has a body type that is typically ectomorph then they can usually get away with a larger surplus, while people who gain weight easily, such as endomorphs, should stick with a smaller surplus to avoid excessive gain weight. Furthermore, the sensitivity of weight gain can be different between genders, a female will be more likely to put on fat mass over a male due to males having a higher metabolism as they have more lean muscle mass over females, which burns more calories over fat. Oestrogen is also commonly known to promote the storage of fat for reproductive reasons, therefore when looking at developing a surplus for yourself or someone else, gender is something that should be considered.
Furthermore, being in a calorie surplus also doesn’t mean you can eat anything and everything that comes your way, you have to make good food choices to ensure your body is getting the best type of fuel! Choosing whole foods such as rice, white/sweet potato, chicken, beef is important, granted we are all human so having other sources of food that you fancy is important but to avoid excessive weight gain the majority of your diet should be these cleaner food sources, see it as 80% clean foods and 20% everything else.
meal timing
To ensure the food we’re ingesting is used to the best of our ability, we want to make sure we have the correct timing for each meal. There is always the ongoing debate of whether you should eat smaller meals throughout the day or have 3 big meals, this is really dependent on your schedule and what you prefer, it is however, always a good idea to have higher calorie-based meals around your workout window. For example, if you train late morning, the majority of your calories will be in the morning. The reason for this is to provide energy for your training, replenish the energy you use and control blood sugar throughout the day, as blood sugar or insulin spikes can lead to unwanted weight gain.
Post workout is normally the best time to eat food that will cause an insulin spike as this is when we want musculature to be replenished quickly. Foods that have a high glycemic index such as gummy bears, are an ideal post workout snack as they provide fast digesting carbohydrates which hit the blood stream quicker causing insulin to spike.
Outside of the training window we want to avoid insulin spikes, so eating foods that elevate your blood sugar slowly (these include whole grains, vegetables that are low in sugar like broccoli) and meats.
Fat is also seen as a good way to control insulin spikes as it is released into the blood stream very slowly, healthy fats such as olive oil or a natural peanut butter are all examples of fats that should be used in your daily diet. Other meals, outside of your training window should consist of a complex carbohydrate, a lean source of protein and a healthy fat.
grow!
These are all components that need to be measured when putting your body in a prime position to grow, and as stated before, to avoid excessive weight gain it is important to make smaller adjustments to your TDEE, otherwise it can affect overall body composition, thus leading to body to be in a less efficient position to grow. I must state though, some fat gain is absolutely normal! Especially if you have just come from contest prep or a very low percentage of bodyfat, so do not worry if the abs start to fade!
I hope this article has been useful and if you have any other tips or advice for someone who is looking to incorporate a calorie surplus into the daily diet, then let us know! I am always happy to help!
Don’t forget I do have spaces available for coaching!
So, if you want to make a positive change to your lifestyle whether that be losing weight or putting on muscle (the list goes on!) I work with both competitive athletes, non-competitive athletes, male and females.
So whatever you need, and whatever you want to achieve let me help you realise your dream!
Thank you and I look forward to delivering more content in the future!
