Many people believe that to build muscle, you need to eat everything in sight. This “dirty bulking” approach often leads to unnecessary fat gain that you’ll just have to lose later.
The Minimal Effective Surplus
The appropriate surplus depends on body size, training experience and progress. A review for natural bodybuilders suggests aiming for roughly 0.25–0.5% body-weight gain per week for novice and intermediate athletes, with more conservative gains for advanced athletes. These are population-specific recommendations, not a universal 200–300 calorie rule. Iraki et al., 2019
Prioritize Protein Quality
The ISSN position stand describes 1.4–2.0 g of protein per kilogram per day as sufficient for most exercising people, with different needs in some training and calorie-deficit contexts. Gourmang’s protein settings draw on exercise research and are adjusted for your goal and calorie budget; they are estimates rather than an individual assessment. ISSN, 2017