Muscle-gain calorie calculator
Calculate how many calories to eat per day to gain muscle: your maintenance (TDEE), the moderate surplus you need, your protein target and the healthy rate at which you should gain weight. Gaining muscle is not about eating a huge amount, but eating a bit more than you spend, with high protein and strength training. Here are your starting numbers.
Calories to gain muscle
2938
kcal/day
Maintenance (TDEE)
2663
Moderate surplus
+275
Protein target
135 g
Healthy gain rate
188–375 g/week
Gaining muscle is won on protein and the right surplus. Renzy tracks both from a photo of your plate.
Estimate (Mifflin-St Jeor + surplus). Gaining muscle also requires strength training and rest. Not medical advice.
How many calories should you eat to gain muscle?
First we calculate your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula (from sex, age, height and weight) and multiply by your activity level for your daily expenditure or maintenance (TDEE). To gain muscle you add a moderate surplus —around 250-500 kcal— on top of that maintenance. The classic mistake is the "dirty bulk": eating a huge amount thinking it builds more muscle. It does not work: the body builds muscle at a limited rate, and any excess above that small surplus piles on as fat. On top of that you need high protein (1.6-2.2 g per kg of body weight a day) for the material, and progressive strength training to give the order to build. A healthy clean-bulk rate gains about 0.25-0.5% of your body weight a week; if you gain much faster, you are gaining too much fat and should lower the surplus.
FAQ
How big a surplus do I need to gain muscle?
A moderate surplus of around 250-500 kcal above your maintenance is optimal for most. More is not better: the body only builds muscle at a limited rate, so extra calories go to fat. A beginner can stay at the low end of the surplus (or even at maintenance) and still gain muscle, because their margin for progress is huge. This calculator uses a contained, healthy surplus as a starting point.
How much protein to gain muscle?
Between 1.6 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight a day is the range the evidence supports to maximise muscle gain. For 75 kg, that is about 120-165 g a day. More important than the exact number is spreading it across several servings (4-5 of 30-40 g) and prioritising quality sources. Protein is the brick of muscle: without enough, the surplus goes to fat.
Can you gain muscle without a surplus?
If you are a beginner or coming back from a break, you can gain some muscle even at maintenance or a slight deficit, thanks to so-called body recomposition (losing fat and gaining muscle at once), because your margin for improvement is very large. But to maximise growth, especially once you have been training a while, a slight surplus delivers more. In both cases, high protein and strength training are non-negotiable.
How much weight should I gain per week?
Very little, and that is the secret of doing it well: a clean bulk gains about 0.25-0.5% of your body weight a week (for 75 kg, about 190-375 g). It may seem slow, but it is the rate at which most of what you gain is muscle and not fat. If the scale rises much faster, your surplus is too high: lower the calories a bit. Go by the weekly average, not a single-day weight.
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