Research

Energy balance

In competitive male bodybuilders, a high caloric surplus (67.5 kcal/kg/d) combined with resistance training produces significantly greater increases in both muscle mass and body fat compared to a moderate surplus (50.1 kcal/kg/d).

If you are an experienced bodybuilder trying to build maximum muscle, eating significantly more calories (approx. 67.5 kcal/kg) will build more muscle than eating moderately (approx. 50 kcal/kg), but you will also gain more body fat. There is no free lunch; higher muscle gains come with higher fat gains in this population.

LimitedSupportsLOW confidence
Results suggest that greater energy intake in combination with resistance training induces greater increases in both muscle mass and body fat in competitive male bodybuilders.
Alex S. Ribeiro et al. · Journal of Human Kinetics · 2019

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=11) and short duration (4 weeks) limit generalizability, though the pilot design is appropriate for the population.

Source

Effects of Different Dietary Energy Intake Following Resistance Training on Muscle Mass and Body Fat in Bodybuilders: A Pilot Study

Alex S. Ribeiro et al. · Journal of Human Kinetics · 2019

DOI 10.2478/hukin-2019-0038

rct · n=11Cited 16×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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